Tag: depression

Demand For Mental Health Resources Not Being Met On College Campuses

One mental health professional estimates that almost half of colleges students who need services are not receiving them.

College is a stressful transition for many—that’s apparent from recent mental health numbers.

According to Deseret News, greater numbers of college students are facing mental health challenges such as depression and anxiety, and as such, the number of students seeking help on campuses has increased.

Ben Locke, executive director of the Center for Collegiate Mental Health at Pennsylvania State University, tells Deseret News that the demand for mental health services is growing rapidly—about five to six times faster than enrollment. He says that since enrollment numbers help fund such services, it’s difficult for some colleges to fulfill the demand.

The Center for Collegiate Mental Health has found that of the students seeking help, 70% have anxiety. Of those, 25% consider anxiety their main concern. These numbers, according to Deseret News, are based on 2017 data covering 160,014 students at 160 colleges.

Additionally, a 2017 American College Health Association Survey of 63,000 students discovered that 2 in 5 students would say they are so depressed that they “struggled to function,” and 3 in 5 had felt “overwhelming anxiety” in the previous year.

According to experts, college students may be particularly prone to such mental health struggles because of the transition from adolescence to adulthood.

And it isn’t just the volume of students that’s an issue. According to Daniel Eisenberg, professor of health management and policy at the University of Michigan and director of the Healthy Minds Network, students’ symptoms are growing more severe.

According to Eisenberg’s data, almost half of students who need services are not receiving them.

Randy P. Auerbach of Columbia University and lead author of a study about mental health in college students worldwide, says the problem needs to be addressed.

“We are seeing debilitating levels of anxiety that are more and more common—where, by the time they get to college, students are so worried about different aspects of their lives it can be a real problem. Students struggling with very severe symptoms who don’t get treatment are likely to have consequences.”

On some campuses, students are taking the matter into their own hands. At the University of Michigan, student body president Bobby Dishell and some of his peers had begun a program called the Wolverine Support Network. The idea was that students could form small groups and offer one another support.

Sam Orley, whose brother George took his own life when he was a student at the university, served as the executive director of the program. Orley said that rather than being a program for mental illness, the Wolverine Support Network is a “holistic mental health and well-being effort.”

In some cases, the struggles college students are facing may be downplayed, according to Kelly Davis, director of peer advocacy, supports and services for Mental Health America.

“There’s a lot of condescension—dismissal of how hard that period of life is,” Davis told Deseret News.

Last spring, Deseret News sat down with students to discuss their fears and worries. Topping the list were fear of missing out, fear of failure and job competition.

“The bar is just so high for everything,” one student said in conclusion.

View the original article at thefix.com

11 October 2018
Everyday Changes That Can Improve Depression Symptoms

Experts offer a few tips on how to manage symptoms of depression.

Depression is a serious disease that can require treatment with therapy and pharmaceuticals, but mental health professionals also say that making lifestyle changes can help alleviate symptoms.

Considering that depression rates have increased 33% in five years, it seems that more people than ever are paying attention to their mental health and prioritizing their wellbeing.

Here are some changes that you can implement today in order to help control your symptoms of depression.

Focus on gut health.

Understanding how our microbiome works is the next frontier in medicine and it affects much more than just your gut health.

“There’s been an explosion of interest in the connections between the microbiome and the brain,” Emeran Mayer, a gastroenterologist at the University of California, Los Angeles, told The Atlantic.

Your gut contains large amounts of the same neurotransmitters that keep communication running smoothly in your brain, including GABA, dopamine and serotonin. That’s why Alison Stone, a New York-based therapist told Well and Good that the gut is basically the “second brain.”

Avoiding sugar, processed food and alcohol can help reduce inflammation and improve gut health, which in turn can reduce symptoms of depression.

“In addition to affecting our dopamine and GABA production [‘happy chemicals’ needed for healthy brain functioning] it’s estimated that the gut is responsible for up to 90% of the body’s serotonin production,” Stone said. “Since inflammation has been linked to depression, following an anti-inflammatory diet is an important step in creating a happy, healthy gut.”

Socialize in person, not online.

While social media has been linked to feeling down, getting together with friends in person will boost your mental wellbeing, especially during the cold winter months when people tend to hibernate inside.

“I cannot emphasize the importance of human connection enough, especially now that we’re living in a world where technology has replaced many face-to-face interactions and altered the way we belong to communities,” Stone said.

Meet a friend for a walk, attend a meeting or catch up over coffee. Research shows these social relationships will improve your health.

Care for your physical health with exercise and sleep.

Sleep and exercise are some of the most basic ingredients for healthy living, but too often they’re overlooked. This can have consequences for both physical and mental health. If revamping your sleep and exercise schedules feels overwhelming, start small.

“Even 15-20 minutes of moderate walking per day is better than nothing,” Stone said.

That small amount of physical activity, coupled with a bit more sleep, will help improve your mood.

View the original article at thefix.com

9 October 2018
Chance The Rapper Pledges $1 Million For Mental Health

“We want to change the way that mental health resources are being accessed,” Chance said at a summit for his nonprofit, SocialWorks.

As one of the more prominent hip hop artists to speak out about mental health, Chance the Rapper is putting his money where his mouth is by pledging $1 million to mental health services in Chicago.

According to Rolling Stone, this is part of a new mental health initiative that Chance has launched called My State of Mind, which could grow into a major resource for people in the Chicago area who need help.

As part of this initiative, six mental health wellness providers in Chicago will receive grants for $100,000 each.

Chance announced his pledge at a summit for his nonprofit SocialWorks, stating, “We want to change the way that mental health resources are being accessed. We need a new space where people can get information on how they feel, on where to go and a network for us to interact and review our mental health spaces, and create a community of people helping people.”

Chance has seen a lot of devastation in the south side of Chicago, a large part of the city which has been ravaged by gun violence.

Brad Stolbach, a clinical director at a Chicago treatment center, told The Root, “Every time a person gets shot, especially a young person, there are literally hundreds of people who are affected by that shooting.”

Stolbach adds that the victims left behind are “not thought about.”

Research studies showed that areas that have the most gun violence also have the highest rates of hospitalization for depression, anxiety, and PTSD, among other mental health disorders.

When Chicago cut $113.7 million in funds for mental health services, Chance spoke out against the Mayor Rahm Emanuel for closing down six mental health clinics in 2012.

Last year, Chance the Rapper told Complex, “A really big conversation and idea that I’m getting introduced to right now is black mental health. Cause for a long time that wasn’t a thing that we talked about. I don’t remember, when I was growing up, that really being a thing. Now I’m starting to get a better understanding of that part of my life.”

Even though Chance experienced traumatic events growing up, he added, “I don’t ever want to convince myself that I’m hindered by any of my experiences. There’s definitely a lot of things that have happened in my life that would cause me to think a certain way or feel a certain way. But I don’t label those experiences as traumatic events. They are events that were paradigm shifts in my life, but I don’t know if they caused a disadvantage.”

View the original article at thefix.com

9 October 2018
New Jersey May Require Depression Screenings For Students

A new bill aims to address undiagnosed and untreated mental health issues in school-aged children.

Some New Jersey lawmakers are taking a stand against undiagnosed depression in youth by drafting a bill that would require annual screenings.

According to New Jersey 101.5, if the bill were to pass, students in New Jersey would have to be screened for depression about six times in the time leading up to high school graduation.

The bill comes in the wake of a recommendation from the American Academy of Pediatrics, stating that young people should be screened for depression each year. If passed, it would require that public school students in grades 7 through 12 be screened once per year.

“Tragically, far too few people that suffer from mental illness actually get diagnosed,” Assemblyman Herb Conaway (D-Burlington), primary bill sponsor and chair of the Assembly Health and Human Services Committee, said at a recent hearing, according to 101.5. “For those who screen positive, information will be sent to the parents and the parents can get their child the care that they need.”

The screening would consist of a two-question survey and could be given by a “qualified professional” at public schools. By the bill’s definition, this means a school psychologist, school nurse, school counselor, student assistance coordinator, school social worker or physician.

According to Conaway, parents would have the choice of opting out of the screening for their child, which current laws also allow for other types of physical health screenings.

While the intent of the bill is understood, there is still some opposition, according to 101.5.

Debbie Bradley, director of government relations for the New Jersey Principals and Supervisors Association, tells 101.5 that the potential passing of the bill would impact understaffing at schools even more. As such, combining the screening with annual physicals is an idea that has been broached.

“Many of our members suggested that this system be integrated with the current annual physicals that many parents bring their students to,” Bradley said.

Conaway reiterated the importance of the bill by citing a study that discovered the number of children and teenagers hospitalized for thoughts of suicide climbed more than 100% from 2008 to 2015.

If passed, the bill would allow for confidential data collection. The data would be forwarded to the Department of Education and Department of Health, then studied for statewide trends.

View the original article at thefix.com

8 October 2018
Mayoral Candidate Leaves Race To Deal With PTSD, Depression

“I thought if I focused exclusively on service to my neighbors in my hometown, that I could fill the hole inside of me. But it’s just getting worse.”

A Kansas City mayoral candidate and veteran of the war in Afghanistan has dropped out of the race in order to address his post-traumatic stress disorder.

Jason Kander, a rising Democratic star, reached a campaign milestone last week, but instead of celebrating the occasion he found himself reaching out for help.

“Last Tuesday, I found out that we were going to raise more money than any Kansas City mayoral campaign ever has in a single quarter,” Kander wrote on Medium. “But instead of celebrating that accomplishment, I found myself on the phone with the VA’s Veterans Crisis Line, tearfully conceding that, yes, I have had suicidal thoughts. And it wasn’t the first time.”

Kander served as an Army Intelligence Officer in Afghanistan before leaving the army 11 years ago. His book about his service Outside the Wire, became a bestseller this summer. However, about four months ago Kander says he reached out for help, saying “my tour over there still impacted me every day.”

“I can’t have PTSD, I told myself, because I didn’t earn it,” he wrote. “But, on some level, I knew something was deeply wrong, and that it hadn’t felt that way before my deployment. After 11 years of this, I finally took a step toward dealing with it, but I didn’t step far enough.”

Kander filled out forms online to get treatment from the VA.

“But I left boxes unchecked — too scared to acknowledge my true symptoms,” he wrote. “I knew I needed help and yet I still stopped short. I was afraid of the stigma. I was thinking about what it could mean for my political future if someone found out. That was stupid, and things have gotten even worse since.”

Kander served as Missouri’s secretary of state from 2012 to 2016, defeating an incumbent Republican in the conservative state. Last year he started Let America Vote, a voting rights group. He will also be stepping back from day to day operations of that organization while he gets treatment.

“I’m done hiding this from myself and from the world. When I wrote in my book that I was lucky to not have PTSD, I was just trying to convince myself. And I wasn’t sharing the full picture. I still have nightmares. I am depressed,” Kander wrote. “Instead of dealing with these issues, I’ve always tried to find a way around them. Most recently, I thought that if I could come home and work for the city I love so much as its mayor, I could finally solve my problems. I thought if I focused exclusively on service to my neighbors in my hometown, that I could fill the hole inside of me. But it’s just getting worse.”

Kander said he knew that he wanted to be upfront about why he’s leaving the race.

“I decided to be public for two reasons: First, I think being honest will help me through this. And second, I hope it helps veterans and everyone else across the country working through mental health issues realize that you don’t have to try to solve it on your own,” he wrote. “Most people probably didn’t see me as someone that could be depressed and have had PTSD symptoms for over decade, but I am and I have. If you’re struggling with something similar, it’s OK. That doesn’t make you less of a person.”

Read Kander’s full announcement here.

View the original article at thefix.com

4 October 2018
Algorithm Can Identify Depression In Speech, Text

The technology could potentially be used to help more people get treatment for depression.

Researchers at MIT have developed an artificial intelligence system that can identify depression simply from listening to people talk or by monitoring their texts.

The technology, which uses a neural-network model, can listen or read natural conversations in order to identify speech and communication patterns that indicate depression.

“The first hints we have that a person is happy, excited, sad, or has some serious cognitive condition, such as depression, is through their speech,” Tuka Alhanai, first author of the paper outlining the technology, told MIT News.

Doctors diagnose depression by asking their patients questions and listening to their responses. Machines have been hailed as a way to improve diagnostics in recent years.

However, many of the existing systems require a person to answer specific questions and then make a diagnosis based on the answers that a person provides. “But that’s not how natural conversations work,” said Alhanai, a researcher at the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL).

The new system can be used in more situations because it monitors natural conversations.

“We call it ‘context-free’ because you’re not putting any constraints into the types of questions you’re looking for and the type of responses to those questions,” Alhanai says. “If you want to deploy [depression-detection] models in a scalable way… you want to minimize the amount of constraints you have on the data you’re using. You want to deploy it in any regular conversation and have the model pick up, from the natural interaction, the state of the individual.”

The new model works by analyzing speech and text from people who were depressed and those who were not. It then identified patterns in each group. For example, people with depression might speak more slowly or take longer pauses between words. In text messages they might use words like “low,” “sad” or “down” more commonly.

“The model sees sequences of words or speaking style, and determines that these patterns are more likely to be seen in people who are depressed or not depressed,” Alhanai said. “Then, if it sees the same sequences in new subjects, it can predict if they’re depressed too.”

The technology could potentially be used to help more people get treatment for depression. Although the condition is very common, 37% of people with depression do not receive any treatment.

Alhanai’s team said their technology could be used to develop apps that monitor a person’s conversations and send alerts when their mental health might be deteriorating. It could also be used in a traditional counseling or medical setting to assist medical professionals.

View the original article at thefix.com

2 October 2018
Mental Health Education Now Required In New York Schools

New York is the first state to require mental health education in all grades.

This fall, New York schools became the first in the U.S. to teach mandatory mental health education to students of all ages.

“All schools” across New York state are now required to teach mental health literacy in health class in elementary school, middle school, and high school.

New York enacted the requirement in July—same as Virginia, which now requires mental health education to be taught in the 9th and 10th grade.

There’s a growing movement to lessen the stigma of mental illness as suicide rates in the U.S. rise. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the national suicide rate increased by 30% since 1999. Suicide is the second-leading cause of death among 15 to 24-year-olds, and is the 10th leading cause of death in the U.S. overall, the agency has reported.

According to the New York law, “90% of youth who die by suicide suffer from depression or other diagnosable and treatable mental illness at the time of their death.”

It is “critical” to teach young people about mental health, said New York’s Education Commissioner MaryEllen Elia. “When young people learn about mental health and that it is an important aspect of overall health and well-being, the likelihood increases they will be able to effectively recognize signs and symptoms in themselves and others and will know where to turn for help—and it will decrease the stigma that attaches to help-seeking,” said Elia.

The purpose of teaching kids about mental health in schools is to “advance mental health literacy among young people statewide as schools prepare students with lifelong skills in mental health and wellness and increase their awareness of when and how to address treatment or support for themselves of others,” according to the New York State Center for School Health.

CNN reported in July that the curriculum should cover “the multiple dimensions of health and include the relationship of physical and mental health.”

In August 2017, the NYS Mental Health Education Advisory Council was established to provide guidance to educators. The new curriculum must teach nine key points, according to the Daily Mail. These include identifying the signs of mental health issues, finding resources for help and support, and addressing the negative stigma that surrounds mental illness.

“We need to change attitudes around mental health. Starting to educate children in schools makes sense,” said Meredith Coles, PhD, professor of psychology at Binghamton University.

View the original article at thefix.com

2 October 2018
Gwyneth Paltrow On Postpartum Depression: Antidepressants Were Not For Me

“It was really shocking to me because I never thought that I would be a person who got postnatal depression.”

Actress Gwyneth Paltrow rejected medication when it came to treating postpartum depression (PPD). Instead, she opted for a more holistic approach.

While the wellness guru, who began building her lifestyle brand goop in 2008, says that while she doesn’t reject the effectiveness of prescription medications, they just weren’t for her.

In a special edition of the goop Podcast, Paltrow described feeling depressed after the birth of her son Moses in 2006. She said it was a different experience than the birth of her daughter Apple, now 14 years old. “I was so euphoric when Apple was born, and I assumed it would happen with Mosey and it just… It took a while. I really went into a dark place.”

But when she was offered medication to treat her depression, she opted for a more holistic approach—true to her brand. “A doctor tried to put me on antidepressants and I thought, if I need them, then yes, I’ll come back to it,” she said.

“I thought, well, what if I went to therapy and I started exercising again, and I stopped drinking alcohol and I just gave myself a period of regeneration and I slept more? I really broke out of it,” she said.

While Paltrow acknowledged that medications “are lifesavers for certain people for sure, she was able to pull herself up without them. “It was really shocking to me because I never thought that I would be a person who got postnatal depression,” she said.

In a 2011 interview with Good Housekeeping, Paltrow credited then-husband Chris Martin with helping her see the problem. “About four months into it, Chris came to me and said, ‘Something’s wrong.’ I kept saying, ‘No, no, I’m fine.’ But Chris identified it, and that sort of burst the bubble,” she said at the time.

Ultimately, Paltrow discovered that there was more to PPD than she realized.“The hardest part for me was acknowledging the problem. I thought postpartum depression meant you were sobbing every single day and incapable of looking after a child,” she said. “But there are different shades of it and depths of it, which is why I think it’s so important for women to talk about it. It was a trying time. I felt like a failure.”

View the original article at thefix.com

2 October 2018
Selena Gomez Gets Candid On Instagram: "Depression Was My Life"

“I think before I turned 26 there was like this weird time in my life [where] I think I was kind of on auto pilot for about five years.”

In a recent Instagram post, pop starlet Selena Gomez announced she would be taking a break from social media. She also held a live stream to speak to her fans about what she’s been going through.

“Update: taking a social media break. Again. As much as I am grateful for the voice that social media gives each of us, I am equally grateful to be able to step back and live my life present to the moment I have been given,” she wrote in the post. “Kindness and encouragement only for a bit! Just remember- negative comments can hurt anybody’s feelings. Obvi.”

Gomez also hosted an Instagram live stream where she spoke with fans for the last time before her hiatus. Fans asked her questions in the chat about a wide variety of topics, including her mental health.

“Depression was my life for five years straight,” she revealed to her fans. “I think before I turned 26 there was like this weird time in my life [where] I think I was kind of on auto pilot for about five years. Kinda just going through the motions and figuring out who I am and just doing the best I could and then slowly but surely doing that.”

Having her every action put under the spotlight for public scrutiny led to an “annoying” pattern where she constantly dealt with a “fear of what people are going to say.”

To a fan who asked how to forget someone, Gomez offered a little advice.

“Well, you can’t really just like forget. You kinda have to figure out why you’re still holding onto them. Like why do you want to forget them? And that’s where you start,” she said, before adding “Sometimes forgetting can be a bad thing.”

This level of candidness from Gomez to her fans is not unprecedented. She has always been vocal about her struggles with mental health and her battle with lupus, an autoimmune disease. In February, the singer went to rehab for a mental health tune-up.

“She felt like she needed to get away and focus on herself with no distractions. She came back feeling very empowered. She wants to go again later this year. She feels and looks great. She’s still working on new music and is excited about it,” someone close to Gomez told People.

Gomez is also taking a social media break this time not because things are bad, but because they are good.

“I enjoy my life,” she said on Good Morning America. “I don’t really think about anything that causes me stress anymore, which is really nice.”

View the original article at thefix.com

1 October 2018
Experts Release New Guidelines For Treating Women With Depression

A panel of mental health professionals created new guidelines to get more women help with their mood disorders during middle age.

A team of medical professionals has released new guidelines for evaluating and treating depression in perimenopausal women, after finding that the condition is common in the years leading up to menopause.

“Perimenopause is a window of vulnerability for the development of both depressive symptoms and major depressive episodes,” Pauline Maki, lead study author and professor of psychology and psychiatry in the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine, told Chicago Tonight. “The recent suicide of Kate Spade at 55 years of age shows the seriousness of mental health issues in midlife women, a group that has shown a 45% increase in suicide rates over the past 15 years.”

Researchers found that in the three to four years before menopause, the time when periods become irregular and women experience symptoms including hot flashes, women are at an increased risk for depression. The risk is greatest for women with a history of depression, but it is also increased for those with no depressive background.

“If there is underlying low-level depression to begin with, perimenopause can increase the intensity of depressive symptoms,” Maki said.

Despite the prevalence, Maki said that depression during middle age has been largely ignored by the medical community. That’s why a panel from the North American Menopause Society and the National Network of Depression Centers Women and Mood Disorders Task Group came together to form the guidelines in hopes of getting more women help with their mood disorders during middle age.

Maki says the message from the research and recommendations is two-fold.

“If your mood is low, if you’re feeling irritable, I want (women) to understand there is a consensus that this is normal during menopause,” she said. However, “this is something women don’t have to live with,” she added.

Maki speculates that hormonal changes in the brain, combined with life stressors including caring for adult children and aging parents, increase the risk for depression in the years before menopause.

“When you add in hormonal changes that can affect the brain’s ability to cope with these stressors, it’s no surprise that depression is a common occurrence in midlife women,” she said.

Even low-level depression can have an impact on a person’s quality of life, so doctors and patients should be open to treating depression with antidepressants and therapy, Maki said. Hormone therapy to treat the physical symptoms of menopause—particularly hot flashes that interrupt sleep—can also improve depressive symptoms.

“It is important for women and their health care providers to recognize that these symptoms are common during perimenopause and can be treated,” she said. “By treating some menopausal symptoms, we can help overcome some of the depression symptoms.”

View the original article at thefix.com

13 September 2018