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To Improve Adolescent Mental Health, We May Need to Address Adverse World Events
It appears that the prevalence of mental disorders among adolescents has been increasing. The National Survey of Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) shows an increase in major depressive episodes.1 A study about children and adolescence who are eligible for SSI by virtue of mental disabilities found an...
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Depression, Suicide, Discrimination and Parity
In the immediate aftermath of the suicides of Kate Spade and Anthony Bourdain Gov. Cuomo issued a press release about new funding to address the rising rate of suicide. He stated: “Two high-profile suicides this week put mental illness front and center, but while those names were the ones in...
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Relief from Decades of Treatment-Resistant Depression Comes with Metabolite Replacement Therapy Trial
Bruce had tried everything. And yet, for three decades, he could not find any relief from his debilitating depression and suicidal thoughts. Twenty medications. Electroconvulsive therapy. Countless hours of counseling and cognitive behavioral therapy. Nothing had worked. Of the 15 million...
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We Need to Do More Than Just Talk About Mental Illness
Reprinted from The Hill There was a time when no one talked about mental illness. But, today, every tragic shooting is accompanied by calls for greater access to mental health treatment. The wheels of legislation turn slowly, but mental illness is a public health crisis that requires immediate...
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Deaths of Despair: Social Research Suggests Troubling Trends for the Next Generation of Older Adults
Recent social research suggests that the next generation of older adults may be more troubled than the current and previous generations. This, of course, is counterintuitive. 70 is the new 50, we say; 80 the new 60. We are living longer, and we are healthier, right? Yes, but will the next...
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Impulsivity as a Predictor of Suicidality
Few topics trigger more dread to the human experience than death. Discussing death brings up fears of the unknown and loss of personal control- two of the primary components of anxiety. We know that when anxiety arises, avoidance is one of the more predictable coping mechanisms and as such, death...
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Suicide and Substance Use
In America, one person dies by suicide every 13 minutes. According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), it is the 2nd leading cause of death for teens, and the leading cause of death among people with substance use disorders. There is a strong association...
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Shift in How We Think About Suicide Prevention Needed
Beacon Health Options 2017 White Paper Promotes Zero Suicide Model as Best-In-Class Approach for Suicide Prevention Beacon Health Options’ (Beacon) latest white paper, “We Need to Talk About Suicide,” (http://beaconlens.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Beacon-Zero-Suicide-White-Paper.pdf)...
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Suicide Prevention as a Core Responsibility
Every year more than 40,000 Americans die from suicide and suicide is the tenth leading cause of death in the United States (CDC, 2016). Over eighty percent of people who die from suicide have contact with health and behavioral health care providers in the year prior to their death and almost half...
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Suicide Prevention in the Aging
By 2040, it is estimated that 82 million Americans will be over the age of 65. Approximately 16 million of them will have mental health issues and/or substance use disorders (SAMHSA, 2017). It is also known that the highest rate of suicide is among those 65 years and older. 90% of those who die by...
