An analysis by The Associated Press, Stanford University’s Big Local News project and Stanford education professor Thomas Dee found an estimated 240,000 students in 21 states whose absences could not be accounted for. These students didn’t move out of state, and they didn’t sign up for private school or home-school, according to publicly available data.

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought mental health issues to the fore. But as more people have been willing to acknowledge their struggles, the provision of mental health services has become a major challenge.

A majority of candidates hoping to oust Mayor Lori Lightfoot from City Hall’s fifth floor office have pledged to reopen public mental health clinics. Lightfoot said her network of nonprofit Trauma-Informed Centers of Care provide better and more accessible service. 

Since transitioning to a new line, in the past six months, about 2.1 million calls, texts and chats to the new 988 number have been routed to a response center and, of those, around 89% were answered by a counselor, according to a CNN analysis of data from SAMHSA, which oversees 988. 

Organizations across the city are working to provide more mental health services to Black and Latino Chicagoans. Part of that effort involves growing a more diverse pool of therapists.

Three Chicago police officers died by suicide in the last week. That brings the total number of Chicago Police Department officer suicides to seven this year.

The study found that visits to the ER with suicidal thoughts increased 59% from 2016-17 to 2019-21. There was a corresponding increase in cases in which suicidal ideation was the principal diagnosis, which rose from 34.6% to 44.3%.

Despite an influx of COVID-19 relief money, school districts across the country have struggled to staff up to address students’ mental health needs that have only grown since the pandemic hit.

Medical students looking to enter the medical field can be particularly vulnerable to the everyday stressors and pressures of entering and working in the profession, according to those in the field. 

In another move signaling the nation’s ongoing mental health crisis, a national panel of health care professionals is recommending all kids get screened for anxiety, starting as young as 8 years old.

Sales of books for young readers on violence, grief, and emotions have increased for nine straight years, with nearly six million copies sold in 2021 — more than double the amount in 2012, according to NPD BookScan, which tracks U.S. retail sales of print books.

According to Defense Department data, suicides among active-duty service members increased by more than 40% between 2015 and 2020. The numbers jumped by 15% in 2020 alone.

There are growing concerns about how COVID-19 has affected children’s social-emotional development and wellbeing as students, parents and teachers have navigated the return to in-person learning.

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, an independent panel of health care experts, is recommending that adults under 65 get screened for anxiety.

September is Suicide Prevention Awareness Month — a time professionals and community voices raise awareness of this stigmatized, and often taboo, topic. A new film explores powerful stories of those impacted by suicide and takes viewers to the front lines of research with scientists whose work is leading to better prevention and treatment. 

Highland Park’s Fourth of July Parade turned into a tragedy Monday. That sudden shift from a celebratory mood to one of imminent danger can make it difficult for people to process in the aftermath, according to clinicians.