PublicSource | News for a better Pittsburgh (https://www.publicsource.org/category/mental-health/page/2/)
Social isolation is challenging, especially for children and teens. With schools closed and many typical activities like playdates, museum visits and trips to the movies off-limits, it’s hard for parents to know what to do. We spoke to two local experts on how to manage your child’s social isolation. Here are their tips
Ermias “Nipsey Hussle” Asghedom was the man who taught me that when you have a dream or mission, the worst enemy you can have is idle time. That was 2009. Ever since then, I found myself listening to Nipsey Hussle every day. His messages of hope carried me through dark times. He was the voice that inspired for nearly a decade. Not just me, but millions. So when news broke that he was killed in his clothing store in March in Crenshaw, Los Angeles, I was not the only person who cried and mourned for the late great.
R, a second grader at Benjamin Franklin Elementary School in the Bethel Park School District, is like her classmates in many ways. She loves cheetahs, jumping in big piles of leaves and watching the Lego Avengers save the world from bad guys. Science is her favorite class, especially learning about weather, as she hopes to become a meteorologist one day.
R, whose first initial is used to protect her privacy, also identifies as non-binary. “I'm not a girl, not a boy,” R said. “I’m just me.”
GLAAD, a national nonprofit that promotes LGBTQ acceptance in media, defines non-binary as a term used by individuals “who experience their gender identity and/or gender expression as falling outside the categories of man and woman.” Non-binary is different from transgender, which GLAAD defines as people “whose gender identity and/or gender expression differs from what is typically associated with the sex they were assigned at birth.”
Because most research on population does not include non-binary as a gender category, it is hard to say how many Americans overall identify as non-binary.
A few dozen students sat at long cafeteria tables, each with a blank paper figure in front of them. They would spend the next hour decorating the figures in a way that represents their identities.
“The word of the day is ‘identity,’” art teacher Lauren Rowe said, giving directions to the West Mifflin Area High School students.
The activity was part of a November joint meeting with the school’s gay-straight alliance [GSA] and the Stand Together Team mental health club. After the meeting, the figures were displayed in the hallways. To protect students’ identities, there were no names attached to them. “We want our school to see how we proudly identify ourselves,” said Rowe, who also serves as the Stand Together Team faculty sponsor.
Kai Roberts was 17 years old when he entered Carnegie Mellon University in 2010 on a full tuition grant. By sophomore year, he began experiencing bizarre symptoms — heart palpitations, sleepless nights, intrusive thoughts and unexplained fears. Now he speaks out to reduce treatment barriers for students.
'For me, OCD is a daily and constant torturous disease.'
As someone who lives with depression and anxiety, I wonder: Could we be having a different conversation about mental health?
Involuntary mental health treatment is a highly controversial issue among practitioners, advocates and those who have sought and received treatment. Some argue that involuntary treatment is the only way to guarantee that certain people get the help they need. Others say it infringes on a person’s civil rights and can push them away from seeking help in the future.
Her son was one of the two gunmen responsible for the Columbine High School massacre. Twenty years later, Sue Klebold still carries the guilt with her every day.
Supporters of integrated care believe it will better serve patients. Proponents of the current system worry about the loss of local control and funds.
