How To Talk — And Listen — To A Teen With Mental Health Struggles
If you are worried about a teenager you care about, here’s how to start the conversation and when to get professional help. Read more ›
Suicide Awareness & Prevention
DBT: One Parent’s Journey
Currently, Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) is the only well-established, evidence-based treatment for self-harming adolescents at high risk for suicide. In this podcast episode, hear one mom’s brave story of helping her teenage daughter through panic attacks, PTSD and self-harming behaviors using DBT skills like mindfulness, interpersonal effectiveness and communication, emotion regulation, and distress tolerance. Read more ›
Computerized Screening May Help Identify Youth at Risk for Suicide
Suicide rates for adolescents have risen over the past two decades. In 2019, nearly 1,600 adolescents between the ages of 12 and 17 died by suicide. Only about 40% of adolescents who die by suicide have been treated for a mental health concern. To help ensure that at-risk youth receive help, it is important to screen broadly for suicide risk. Read more ›
Dialectical Behavior Therapy Fact Sheet [downloadable]
Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) is a type of cognitive-behavioral therapy. DBT was originally developed in the 1980s by Marsha Linehan, a psychologist at the University of Washington. Although initially intended to help chronically suicidal individuals diagnosed with borderline personality disorder (BPD, DBT has since been adapted for and used to effectively treat a number of other psychological problems. Read more ›
How To Help Someone At Risk Of Suicide
If you know someone struggling with despair, depression or thoughts of suicide, you may be wondering how to help. You don’t have to be a trained professional to help, says Doreen Marshall, a psychologist and vice president of programs at the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. Read more ›
Bipolar Disorder in Teens and Young Adults: Know the Signs [downloadable]
Bipolar disorder is a mental disorder that causes unusual shifts in mood, marked by episodes of mania and depression. Bipolar disorder is not the same as the typical ups and downs every kid goes through. The mood swings are more extreme and accompanied by changes in sleep, energy level, and the ability to think clearly. Know the signs and symptoms. Read more ›
Virtual Signs of Serious Mental Health Problems: A Teacher’s Guide to Protecting Students
With much of education being delivered in a virtual environment during the pandemic, monitoring students’ mental health is harder, but more critical than ever. Some of the same indicators of distress apply as much in the virtual classroom as in the physical one, such as difficulty participating in class, poor attendance, frequently reporting illness and not completing assignments. But other indicators, such as on-screen interactions with family members and turning off the camera, are new to distance learning. Read more ›
Pandemic Places Alarming Pressure on Transgender Mental Health
Even as the coronavirus has upended lives throughout the country, it has taken a deep toll on the transgender community, a population that has long struggled with higher rates of mental illness and poor medical care because of discrimination and abuse. Read more ›
CDC Study Sheds New Light on Mental Health Crisis Linked to Coronavirus Pandemic
The Covid-19 crisis has brought with it a mental health crisis in the United States, and new data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show just how broad the pandemic’s impact on mental health might be. Read more ›
Racial Discrimination Linked to Suicide
In this age of racial reckoning, new research findings indicate that racial discrimination is so painful that it is linked to the ability to die by suicide, a presumed prerequisite for being able to take one’s own life. However, the ability to emotionally and psychologically reframe a transgression can mitigate its harmful effects. Read more ›
