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Industry News
May 7th, 2012 |
To prepare for healthcare reform, many health communities around California are transitioning toward what they will resemble in 2014. The biggest change happening is that community clinics will be centers of care; low-income patients will have access to primary care, prescriptions and mental health and substance abuse services. California Health Report.
California Health Report |
May 7th, 2012 |
The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders has opened it’s website for public comments after dropping two controversial new diagnoses. The DSM classifies all mental disorders and determines those that are abnormal, need to be covered by insurance or need educational services. Time Healthland Article.
Time - Healthland |
April 18th, 2012 |
Diagnosis of depression in teenagers has always depended upon the teens willingness to report symptoms but researchers have now found that a blood test can diagnose depression. By studying rats with genetic and environmental predispositions for depression, researchers were able to identify 28 markers of depression. After studying teenagers, researchers found 11 of those markers in teens with depression. ABC News Article.
ABC News |
March 30th, 2012 |
Mental Health First Aid Colorado has won the 2012 Best Community Impact Award from Mental Health First Aid USA for combining private and public partnerships to train others to detect emotional crises. Mental health first-aid is a 12 hour training course that shows people how to help someone who is showing signs of emotional crises or developing a mental-health problem. The Denver Post article.
The Denver Post |
March 26th, 2012 |
A new study finds that diagnoses of ADHD in chilren have risen 66 percent in the last ten years. The study did not focus on new diagnoses, but rather the increase in the number of ADHD related doctor visits. This study fuels the ongoing debate of whether or not ADHD has a tendency to be over-diagnosed. Huffington Post article.
Huffington Post |
March 19th, 2012 |
A new study suggests that when used during precnancy, methamphetamine leads to higher risk of behavioral problems in young children. Meth babies are smaller in size, are prone to drowsiness and stress and when older, show signs of anxiety, depression and moodiness. Although it is unknown whether problems persist in “meth babies”, meth has a strong effect on the brain and it may be more likely than cocaine to leave lasting effects on children. Associated Press article.
Associated Press |
March 9th, 2012 |
A new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention find that victims of physical, psychological, sexual abuse or neglect as a child will cost them more than $200,000 over the course of a lifetime. This number takes medical care, criminal justice, child welfare and lost productivity as an adult costs into account. The report also finds that someone abused or neglected as a child will earn $5,000 less a year than someone who did not endure abuse.
Huffington PostHuffington Post article. |
February 24th, 2012 |
Mental health and depression are among the most common new issues facing youth today. What leads youth to mental disorders? Some reported that family break-ups, pressures of social media and having parents with mental disorders were among some of the reasons. The Independent article.
The Independent |
February 10th, 2012 |
A Stanford study suggests girls ages 10-14, who are at high risk of depression overreact to negative experiences and images. Through functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and video game experiments, the girls are able to control their negative thoughts and react less to stressors. Stanford University article
Stanford University |
February 2nd, 2012 |
In January, Sacramento County dedicated $800,000 on a campaign which will encourage individuals to seek treatment and increase awareness of mental illness. This County campaign is in conjunction with a statewide $12 million campaign. CaliforniaHealthline article.
CaliforniaHealthline |
February 2nd, 2012 |
A new definition of autism could significantly reduce the amount of people being diagnosed. This new definition would make it more difficult for many people who would not meet the new defintion to receive medical, educational and social services. NY Times article
NY Times |
January 31st, 2012 |
A new study says mentally ill patients may benefit from battery powered electrodes implanted into their brains which deliver small electrical charges to mood controlling brain circuits. The procedure called Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS), has treated movement disorders in the past but use for mental illness is experimental. Subjects who were studied were thought to be severely depressed, with a Hamilton score of 20 or above. After a two year test period, 92% of subjects experienced a response (a drop of 50% in Hamilton score) and 58% were in remission (Hamilton score below 8).
CNNCNN Article |
January 31st, 2012 |
As part of Governor Jerry Brown’s blueprint budget,California may become the only state to close all youth prisons. The responsibility of jailing youth would be turned over to local governments. The number of youths in custody has dropped significantly from 10,000 in 1996 to 1,100 today. Brown has given counties one year and $10 million to prepare for the changing needs of the jail systems if legislature approves this plan. San Jose Mercury News article.
San Jose Mercury News |
January 31st, 2012 |
A new study shows differences in the brains of teens and adults which could explain why adolescents are more prone to addiction, depression and schizophrenia. Researchers do not yet know how the brain changes from teen to adult but problems in transition may lead to addiction and serious diseases. LiveScience article.
LiveScience |
January 31st, 2012 |
In October 2011, 64.1 percent of children inSanta Clara County’s foster program were Latino compared to 46.8 percent statewide. A hearing was held by Assemblyman Jim Beall who is on a mission to find solutions to these overwhelming statistics. Ideas such as parenting classes for immigrant parents and more Spanish speaking social workers were among the many ideas voiced at the hearing and Jim Beall believes, “We’re going to get an action plan out of this.”
San Jose Mercury NewsSan Jose Mercury News article. |
January 30th, 2012 |
Research shows that 70% of youth who are aging out of foster care plan to attend college and only 3% to 11% actually graduate with a Bachelor’s Degree. Universities around the country have created support programs to aid former foster youth. Some schools, such as Cal State Fullerton are offering full scholarships and UCLA has created programs that connect former foster kids to increase support while attending college. USA Today acticle.
USA Today |
January 30th, 2012 |
A new report from Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services reveals 29.9% of people ages 18-25 experienced mental illness while only 14.3% aged 50 and up experienced mental problems in 2010. The study also found depression is a major issue among children ages 12-17. Almost 2 million kids experienced a major depressive episode and of those, illicit drugs were used at twice the rate of their peers who did not experience depression. LA Times article.
LA Times |
January 3rd, 2012 |
New findings in the childhood origins of adult illness “require a fundamental shift in the way the general public and policy makers view and invest in early childhood,” the American Academy of Pediatrics’ newest policy statement says. As trusted authorities in child health and development, pediatric providers must now complement the early identification of developmental concerns with a greater focus on those interventions and community investments that reduce external threats to healthy brain growth.” LA Times article.
LA Times. |
December 14th, 2011 |
Partnership with National Suicide Prevention Lifeline and Facebook to provide confidential chats with hotline counselors. Now, too, people can report when friends seem to exhibit suicide risk on Facebook by selecting “suicidal content” inside of the “harmful behavior” menu. The person at risk will receive a pop up notice to suicide hotline and offer to chat with counselor.
CNET News article.
CNET News |
December 10th, 2011 |
In a study in the journal Current Biology, researchers used brain scans to explore the impact of physical abuse or domestic violence on children’s emotional development and found that exposure to it was linked to increased activity in two brain areas when children were shown pictures of angry faces.
Previous studies that scanned the brains of soldiers exposed to violent combat situations showed the same pattern of heightened activity in these two brain areas — the anterior insula and the amygdala — which experts say are associated with detecting potential threats.
Reuters article.
Reuters |
December 10th, 2011 |
About 40 percent of young adults who’ve attempted suicide made their first attempt before high school, which suggests that suicidal thoughts and behavior may begin much younger than previously believed, according to a new study.
U.S. News article.
U.S. News |
December 2nd, 2011 |
The federal government has not done enough to oversee the treatment of America’s foster children with powerful mind-altering drugs, according to a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report to be released Thursday.
ABC News online article.
ABC News |
November 30th, 2011 |
California is taking steps to assure that foster youth are better positioned to make a successful transition to adulthood. Because California has the largest U.S. foster care population, what happens in our child welfare system is of national significance. SFGate article.
SFGate.com |
November 28th, 2011 |
Cutting, burning and other forms of self-harm behaviors occur in 8% of all teenagers, according to a study released Thursday. While common, however, the study suggests that the practice of self-harm typically vanishes in late adolescence — often without any mental-health treatment. Click to read the Los Angeles Times article.
Los Angeles Times |
November 9th, 2011 |
Forget everything you may have read about coping with children’s temper tantrums. Time-outs, sticker charts, television denial — for many, none of these measures will actually result in long-term behavior change, according to researchers at two academic institutions. Click to read the Wall Street Journal article.
Wall Street Journal |
October 6th, 2011 |
[...] Her story is far from unique. One in five Canadians under the age of 18 experiences a mental health problem. Although such problems occur along a spectrum of severity, even a mild depression can seriously hinder a child’s development. Yet fewer than one in four children requiring specialized mental health care actually receives it. [...]
Calgary Herald |
September 5th, 2011 |
Child Protective Services has dramatically reduced the number of children it seeks to remove from their homes because of abuse and neglect.
That's a big change for an agency that just a few years ago placed more children in foster care than any other large county in the state.
Sacramento Bee |
September 2nd, 2011 |
About half of Americans will experiencesome form of mental health problem at some point in their life, a new government report warns, and more must be done to help them.
MSNBC |
August 16th, 2011 |
Supervisor Dave Cortese is calling for a strike team, including the probation department, drug and alcohol treatment providers, attorneys, gang experts and intervention specialists, to review young offenders who commit violent, gang-related and other serious crimes. The team would look for alternatives to the juvenile hall, as well as create individually tailored treatment plans.
San Jose Mercury News |
August 15th, 2011 |
Short-stay hospitalizations of children with mental illnesses surged between 1996 and 2007, while psychiatric admissions among the elderly declined in that period, according to a new study examining changing patterns in psychiatric hospitalization in the United States.
Stony Brook University Medical Center |
Media Contact:
Kristine Austin, Director of Public Relations
(408) 364-4029 | pr@emqff.org
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