The new school year is just around the corner. WTTW News asked pediatricians and physicians in the Chicago area to share what they think parents should keep in mind as their children head back to school.
Mental Health
A state-run mental health center in Springfield is being renamed to honor the woman who publicized its former namesake’s abusive methods.
It’s estimated that each year in the U.S., more than 400,000 babies are born to mothers who are depressed. Without any treatment, postpartum depression can last for months or even years, according to the National Institute of Mental Health.
A decade-long push to reopen public mental health clinics closed in 2011 and expand efforts to respond to 911 calls for help not with police officers but with social workers and counselors was center stage at City Hall Monday.
Teen girls are in crisis. Research found nearly 40% of girls studied in Chicago high schools are experiencing signs of post-traumatic stress disorder as well as anxiety and depression from exposure to violence.
Exposure to violence is traumatic for everyone involved and can cause both immediate and long-term psychological damage. That damage can lead to depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, sleep and substance abuse disorders and even suicide.
Chicago CRED aims to approach violence reduction by engaging with those most at risk of being shot. The nonprofit organization, which has nine locations, provides young men in the city with opportunities to change their lives through services like life coaching and education.
Adults ages 19 to 64 in the U.S. should be screened for anxiety disorders, according to a new recommendation from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, a group of independent medical experts whose recommendations help guide doctors’ decisions and influence insurance plans.
Experts cited several possible reasons for the increases, including higher rates of depression, limited availability of mental health services and the number of guns in U.S. homes.
Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy recently issued a warning that social media presents a “profound risk of harm” to kids’ mental health. He’s calling on families to set limits on social media use and for lawmakers to issue tougher standards on technology platforms to protect kids.
Chance the Rapper’s nonprofit is trying to make sure Chicagoans have access to mental health care in an initiative called My State of Mind. It has offered nearly 3,000 different wellness programs since its 2019 inception.
The Department of Veterans Affairs found Black veterans may be more likely to develop post-traumatic stress disorder than their White counterparts. However, an internal VA report shows Black veterans were more often denied benefits for PTSD.
With Mayor Brandon Johnson vowing to reopen the city’s shuttered mental health clinics, some advocates are looking at the administration to reinvigorate and reimagine the city’s approach to providing mental health services.
“We are going to reopen the mental health clinics,” Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson said in an interview with WTTW News, putting it first in a list of his top priorities.
Over the first four months and six days of this year, 115 people have died in 22 mass killings — an average of one mass killing a week. That includes the bloodshed Saturday at a Dallas-area mall where eight people were fatally shot.
Researchers studied 1,200 elementary and middle school CPS students over the last four years and found that Latino students are up to twice as likely to be at risk for depression and anxiety.
