Disparities

Your Teen Depression Questions Answered

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What are the warning signs of teen depression? How do you talk to your child about his or her mood swings? How do you know when it’s the right time to consult a social worker? Kimberly Nelson, a licensed clinical social worker at the Wheeler Clinic, has provided answers to various questions regarding how to both spot and treat teen depression. In May, C-HIT hosted a forum on teen depression: Uncovering Our Kids: Towards A Better Understanding Of Teen Mental Health.

Disparities

View Our Forum On Teen Depression

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If you missed our teen depression forum last week you can view it online. Thanks to CT-N, “Uncovering Our Kids: Towards A Better Understanding Of Teen Mental Health” is available for viewing.   Learn about the warning signs, various treatments and programs for teen depression from our stellar panel: Dr. Harold Schwartz, psychiatrist-in-chief of Hartford Hospital’s Institute of Living; Kim Nelson, social worker, Wheeler Clinic; Jill Holmes Brown, director, school-based health center; Jeff Vanderploeg, vice president, Child Health & Development Institute; and Nancy von Euler, a mom, who lost her daughter to suicide. The forum is available here.  

Disparities

Indicators Of Teen Depression, Earlier Suicides, On The Rise

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While the number of youths in Connecticut who die by suicide has declined since 2007, the average age of the children who kill themselves has decreased from 17 to just over 14, and the percentage of youths who report self-injury or feelings of hopelessness has risen in recent years, according to a new report by the Office of the Child Advocate. In the new Public Health Alert, Child Advocate Sarah Eagan urged, “We must sound the alarm about the prevalence of youth anguish and despair . . . We must ensure that a helping hand is part of every child’s life, and that no child or family suffers in silence.”

Her office and the state’s Child Fatality Review Panel called for increased screening of youths for depression and suicidal thoughts by health care providers and schools, expanded access to “timely and effective” clinical care, and an annual child fatality legislative hearing to address child deaths and prevention strategies.

Disparities

Depressed, Anxious Teens Get Help Calling 2-1-1

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This much we know: Boys and girls are different. We also know this: Adolescence is the most challenging time of life, and teen girls are particularly challenged to get through those years unscathed. Suicide attempts spike during the teen years, yet even with all that, it’s tough to know what’s “normal,” and what is cause for alarm. And that’s even truer for girls. By the time girls and boys hit their teen years, girls are more than twice as likely to be diagnosed with a mood disorder than are teen boys.

Disparities

May 7 Forum On Teen Mental Health Open to Parents, Teachers, Clinicians

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As state policymakers debate ways to improve mental health services for youths, the Connecticut Health I-Team (www.c-hit.org) is hosting a forum May 7 that will bring together parents, clinicians, educators and others to discuss ways to identify, treat and prevent teen depression. “Uncovering Our Kids: Towards a Better Understanding of Teen Mental Health,” will feature a panel of experts in adolescent behavioral health who will lead a discussion about teen mental health screening, intervention and treatment. The Conn. Health I-Team, in collaboration with ConnectiCare and Hartford Hospital’s Institute of Living, invites the public to come “talk openly about teen mental health, learn from experts, and help Connecticut reduce the stigma of depression and mental illness,” said C-HIT co-founder and editor Lynne DeLucia. The event will run from 5 to 7:30 p.m. at the Lyceum Conference Center in Hartford.