- General Mental Health Articles
Every now and then you may wonder, where did the time go? Whether mystified at how quickly an afternoon slipped away or reflecting on years gone by at lightning speed, you’ve probably experienced periodic sensations of lost time. Yet, 44% of Americans feel they’ve lost time in their lives due to a known culprit: poor mental health. Among people diagnosed with depression and/or anxiety, this percentage nearly doubles to 78%. Read more here.
- The internet is ruining our lives, right? Not necessarily, according to a new study. “Nearly everyone seems to think that internet-powered technologies are driving an epidemic of ill-being and mental health problems,” stated lead study author Dr. Matti Vuorre, assistant professor of social psychology at Tilburg University in the Netherlands. “Our study of over two million individuals from 160+ countries runs contrary to this idea.” Read more here.
Youth Mental Health
- Americans under the age of 30 reported lower levels of happiness from 2021 to 2023 than those over the age of 60, according to this year’s World Happiness Report. Experts postulate that Gen Z’s misery could be due to coming of age during the Covid-19 pandemic, entering a polarized political climate, and inheriting a rapidly heating earth. Read more here.
- A recent study found that suicide is a growing cause of death among US collegiate athletes. Between 2002 and 2022, 1102 college athletes died overall and 128, or 11.5%, of these fatalities were identified as death by suicide. While the overall mortality for this population remained relatively stable during this 20-year period, the proportion of deaths by suicide doubled from just over 7.5% in the first decade, when 40 suicides occurred, to just over 15% in the second decade, when 88 occurred. Read more here.
- Parenting brings many joys, but sleep deprivation is not one of them. So, it’s no wonder that moms and dads are willing to take some drastic measures—in the form of sleep medications—when it comes to getting their kids down for the night. New survey results from Sleep Doctor reveal that 79% of parents have given their child a substance to get them to sleep—with 66% using melatonin, 35% using Benadryl, and 20% turning to prescription sleep aids. Others reported using everything from herbal and over-the-counter aids to CBD, THC, and even alcohol. Read more here.
- Senate leaders are gauging support for three bills promoting children’s online safety. The Kids Online Safety Bill, which Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) sponsored, would require social media platforms to prevent the spread of harmful content, such as material related to suicide or eating disorders, on their sites. Read more here.
Older Adult Mental Health
- While many people immediately picture young adults when thinking about the current addiction and overdose epidemic, this crisis is affecting all generations. In fact, more than seven million older Americans struggle with substance use disorders. Opioid use disorder, in particular, has skyrocketed among Medicare beneficiaries, with opioid overdose death rates rising higher among people 65 and older than in any other age group. Read more here.
Maternal Mental Health
- Jaqueline Sharp, 35, remembers her anxiety “went through the roof” shortly after she gave birth to her son in 2019. Sharp is one of the millions of women whose mental health declined after delivery. About 1 in 5 pregnant or postpartum women in the United States will experience a mental health disorder like depression, anxiety, or suicidal ideation, according to the American Psychiatric Association. However, very few of these women will receive treatment. Read more here.
- The Biden administration announced the first national maternal mental health strategy, seeking specific actions from Congress and multiple federal agencies to reduce the effects of untreated mental health and substance use conditions during and after pregnancy. The plan, and a report to Congress, come as conditions related to mental health and substance use account for the largest share of pregnancy-related deaths in the United States. The U.S. also leads among maternal deaths compared to other high-income countries. Read more here.
- The maternal mortality rate in 2019 was 20.1 deaths per 100,000 live births, and that rate steadily climbed throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). By 2020, the maternal mortality rate in the country reached 23.8 deaths per 100,000, eventually ballooning to 32.9 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2021. Suicide and drug overdose accounted for nearly a quarter of those deaths. Read more here.
- According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1 in 6 U.S. children ages 2 to 8 years has a diagnosed mental, behavioral, or developmental disorder, and among that group, boys are more likely than girls to have such a disorder. Read more here.
Homelessness and Mental Health
- The majority of people who are currently unhoused—67%—have mental health disorders, according to a systematic review and meta-analysis of 85 studies mainly from Canada, Germany, and the U.S. The lifetime prevalence of mental health disorders among people experiencing homelessness was 77%. The lifetime prevalence was higher among male than female individuals: 85% vs 69%, respectively. Read more here.
The Opioid Crisis and Addiction Issues
- The number of fentanyl seizures by law enforcement more than quadrupled between 2017 and 2023, with researchers finding the drug has continued to entrench itself in the country’s illicit drug supply. Seizures of fentanyl in the U.S. have followed an exponential upward trend since 2017, according to data from the federal High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTA) program. Researchers on the study, funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), sourced data from the HIDTA. Read more here.
- Fewer Americans died of drug overdoses nationwide, marking the first annual drop since 2018, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC estimated 107,543 U.S. drug overdose deaths in 2023, a 3% decline from the 111,029 deaths in 2022. CDC National Center for Health Statistics officials said the estimates are based on provisional data and are not comparable to finalized 2023 figures, which will be released later this year or early next year. Read more here.
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