Ohio plans to spend $20 million in taxpayer funds over the next 10 years to study the causes of depression, suicide and drug overdoses.
The research initiative, conducted with Ohio State University’s Wexner Medical Center and College of Medicine, along with several stat universities, is expected to study the role of biological, psychological, and social factors that underlie what officials call an epidemic.
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An official with the Tennessee Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services (TDMHSAS) said in a recent interview that mental illnesses among children are on the rise in the Volunteer State, as the state’s Attorney General works to tackle some of the potential root causes of those illnesses.
“The data from all sources point to that we see increased sadness and hopelessness among high school students,” TDMHSAS Deputy Commissioner Matthew Yancey told WKRN. “We’ve seen increases in emergency room presentations related to psychiatric emergencies, increases in suicidal ideation.”
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The following is a condensed version of “One Generation Passeth Away, and Another Cometh” by Sam Negus, published at Law & Liberty.
Three millennia ago, King Solomon wrote that “folly is bound up in the heart of a child.” It has ever been thus: the rueful old lament the apparent decadence of the young. In her new book Generations, social scientist Jean Twenge suggests an obvious explanation for this ageless trend: “It might be because they [are] always right. With technology making life progressively less physically taxing, each generation is softer…”
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Cannabis use disorder, also known as marijuana addiction, was strongly tied to psychiatric problems, including psychotic symptoms and bipolar disorder, in a population-based study of Danish citizens’ medical records from 1995 to 2021.
The study, which analyzed data of about 6.6 million people aged 16 and up, was conducted by Dr. Oskar Hougaard Jefsen of Aarhus University and his colleagues. Individuals with prior diagnoses of cannabis use disorder were up to four times as likely to be diagnosed later on with bipolar disorder and psychotic symptoms, the study found.
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A study from the UK finds women who began using the combined contraceptive pill as teenagers increased their risk of depression by 130 percent, while those who began to use the contraceptive in their 20s or older showed a 92 percent increased risk of depressive symptoms.
The population-based cohort study that utilized data from more than 250,000 UK Biobank women was published in Epidemiology and Psychiatric Sciences and online by Cambridge University Press.
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The kids aren’t alright, and it’s starting to show. Last week, the New York Post published a front-page story that heralded “The New Great Depression,” tracking the twin rise of social media and juvenile depression.
Since 1991, the University of Michigan has annually polled thousands of students in middle and high school, asking whether they agree with the following three statements: “I can’t do anything right,” “I do not enjoy life,” and “My life is not useful.”
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Women who started taking birth control pills as teenagers showed depression symptoms at a 130% higher rate than those who never used oral contraceptives (OC), according to a new study of more than a quarter of a million women.
Women who began taking oral contraceptives as adults had a 92% higher rate of depressive symptoms compared to those who never took the pill, while women who started taking the birth control pill “before or at the age of 20 had 130% higher rate of depressive symptoms,” according to a U.K. study published Monday by Cambridge University Press.
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Thursday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Leahy welcomed all-star panelist Gary Chapman in studio to comment upon the social media plague inflicted on kids and teenagers.
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Walt Heyer, one of the first transgender women when he transitioned four decades ago, has long since transitioned back to male.
Today he rejects the notion that there can be a transgender person, arguing a person struggling with gender dysphoria almost always an underlying issue.
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Wednesday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Leahy welcomed the original all-star panelist Crom Carmichael to the studio for another edition of Crom’s Crommentary.
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“Do you want a dead daughter or a live son?”
This question, which is really a threat, is the central tenet of the campaign selling gender ideology to parents.
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Monday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Leahy welcomed the original all-star panelist Crom Carmichael in studio for another edition of Crom’s Crommentary.
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Thursday morning, Brian Wilson, host of The Drive on 99.7 WWTN weekdays 3 pm to 7 pm, discussed the ongoing drama at the Metro Nashville Health Department as complaints and resignations abound as Communications Director Brian Todd is put on administrative leave due to an alleged complaint made by the Director of Equity and Inclusion, Dr. Stephanie Kang.
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Apple is reportedly working on iPhone technology capable of detecting and diagnosing depression, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The tech giant is developing the iPhone features to reliably detect and diagnose depression as well as cognitive decline, people familiar with the matter told the WSJ. The technology is being developed in partnership with researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and pharmaceutical company Biogen.
The technology is in its early stages of development, according to the WSJ, but will collect data on iPhone users’ mobility and sleep patterns, physical activity, and other behaviors. However, researchers are still unsure whether they can create algorithms that reliably detect the mental health state of users.
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Thursday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed Professor and author of Free to Learn Dr. Peter Gray to the newsmakers line to discuss how lack of childhood playtime is showing signs of increased depression and less creativity in kids.
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After Duke University decided to end recruitment of freshmen by Greek and non-Greek selective living groups, nine fraternities decided to disaffiliate from the Interfraternity Council, and thus from the university itself.
Duke University has made several changes to Greek life since the hiring of former Tufts University dean of student affairs Mary Pat McMahon. McMahon is now the vice president and vice provost for student affairs at Duke.
McMahon collaborated with the Office of Undergraduate Education to create a new committee called the Next Generation Living and Learning 2.0 Committee in 2020. The committee seeks to “build a joyful and intentional 4-year residential experience that promotes growth, meaningful inclusion, and health, and that is distinctly Duke.”
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Continuing with a national trend, a University of Michigan study found that college students reported record levels of anxiety and depression during the fall semester of the 2020 school year, during nationwide COVID-19 lockdowns.
“The UM Healthy Minds Study, an annual web-based survey looking at mental health and service utilization among undergraduate and graduate students, found that 47% of respondents screened positive for clinically significant symptoms of depression and/or anxiety – up from 44% last year and the highest since the survey started in 2007,” according to Michigan Live.
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The Virginia Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has released the results of a survey about the effects of COVID-19 lockdowns on children in the state, which it calls “alarming.”
“In the nine months since the issuance of the COVID-19 emergency declaration, our patients have experienced a major disruption in their lives, including disruptions to academic structure, participation in activities, peer interactions, lifestyle, and overall physical and emotional health,” the group explained. “To better identify and address the concerns of our patients and providers in Virginia, the Virginia Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics conducted a survey in December 2020 of 203 pediatric providers in the Commonwealth of Virginia.”
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Americans’ mental health has plummeted during the coronavirus pandemic as lockdown restrictions and social distancing measures remain in effect across the country, according to a survey published Monday.
Mental health is worse than any other point in the last two decades, Gallup reported on Monday. A survey conducted by Gallup showed 76% of Americans reported their mental health as either excellent or good, a decline from past surveys in which more than 80% of Americans reported positive mental health.
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Jobless claims in Ohio through the first week of April have nearly doubled what was filed during all of 2019, WKRC reported.
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With medicinal marijuana sales imminent in the Buckeye state, the Ohio State Medical Board is currently considering a slew of additional medical conditions for medicinal marijuana treatment. Currently, 21 conditions are approved for the controversial treatment. A number of the conditions cover a wide swathe of ailments. For example, cancer is an approved condition but it does not specify which of the more than 100 known forms of cancer that occur in humans are covered and which aren’t, so, presumably, all of them could be. It would ultimately be at the mercy of the prescribing doctor, though any doctor found overprescribing could be fined, lose their medical license, and even face jail time. Per Ohio Administrative Code 4731-32-05, every year the state is required to give citizens the opportunity to submit petitions for new conditions to be approved for marijuana treatment. Thus far, the Ohio State Medical Board has received 110 petitions. Forty-four of these documents were asking treaments that are already included in the Code. Fifty-four did not meet the final requirements or number of signatures but may be resubmitted. Among the new conditions being considered are anxiety, depression, and insomnia. Per a recent medical study, there is very little research on the…
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Mental health is not a subject we readily discuss with others. We keep it hidden. Yet, we must all still live in the real world, where mental illness affects 1 out of 5 people.
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