Mental Health Crisis in America

[China]

Pairing police with mental health program slashes ‘use of force’

 

A pilot program that pairs police officers with mental health professionals has resulted in “effectively… no uses of force” with no arrests or injuries so far, according to the attorney general.

 

Now that pilot program will expand to 10 more counties starting in May, Attorney General Matthew Platkin announced Wednesday at an event in Perth Amboy where he was joined by Gov. Phil Murphy, prosecutors, police officers and faith leaders.

 

The ARRIVE Together initiative, launched in Cumberland County in December 2021, was created to reduce the number of times police used force when responding to 911 calls during a behavioral health crisis.

 

Resorting to force
Two out of every three uses of force by police officers in New Jersey involved an individual suffering from mental illness or who was under the influence of drugs or alcohol, according to the attorney general’s office.

 

Currently, in areas where the program is in place, police join mental health screeners when responding to those calls. That has effectively reduced the use of force to zero, Platkin commented.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[China]

Mental health is not a partisan issue

 

No one is immune from a mental health or substance use challenge. 

 

Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) reminded us of that when he announced he will seek treatment for clinical depression. 

 

And the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) last week provided a harrowing reminder of how widespread our nation’s mental health crisis has become, reporting that nearly one in three high school girls in 2021 seriously considered suicide.

 

When it comes to mental health challenges, age, gender, race and status are merely details, and an enormous amount of work remains to help the growing number of people seeking treatment. We must connect more Americans to care, strengthen the capacity to provide treatment, overcome the workforce shortage and expand access to evidence-based prevention, harm reduction, treatment and recovery. 

 

Finding meaningful solutions to address our mental health and substance use crises will require a bipartisan approach. 

 

Substance use and mental health programs received the federal support they deserved in 2022. The year-end funding package passed in December 2022 and the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, signed into law in June 2022, resulted in more federal funding in a year for programs to help those with mental health and substance use challenges than we’ve seen in any session of Congress. 

 

That included funding to combat the opioid epidemic, supplement mental health block grants, invest in Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics (CCBHCs) and support the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s (SAMHSA) suicide prevention activities. 

 

In addition to funding, the legislation passed last year included expansion of the CCBHC demonstration program by allowing any state or territory the opportunity to participate in the program, while allocating additional planning grant funding for states to develop proposals to participate. It also included passage of the Mental Health Access Improvement Act, Mainstreaming Addiction Treatment (MAT) Act and Medication Access and Training Expansion Act, which lawmakers tucked into the year-end funding package. 

 

Click on the link for the full article

[China]

‘I want justice,’ says Michigan mother sentenced to life for killing daughter at behest of SpongeBob SquarePants hallucination

 

Having pleaded guilty to brutally stabbing her 3-year-old daughter to death at the behest of a vision of SpongeBob SquarePants, an Iosco County mother’s prison sentence was a foregone conclusion: life without the possibility of parole.

 

The mother in question, 23-year-old Justine M. Johnson, was accepting of the sentence, saying she wanted justice for her daughter. Even so, she hedged and implied doubt in her own culpability, something which dismayed the presiding judge.

 

Wearing glasses and with her hair in braids, a jumpsuit-clad Johnson on Monday, March 27, appeared before Iosco County Circuit Judge David C. Riffel for sentencing. Johnson in February pleaded guilty to first-degree felony murder and first-degree child abuse in connection with the homicide of her daughter, Sutton M. Mosser. Sutton turned 3 just two days before her death on Sept. 16, 2021.

 

Johnson told the judge that at age 13, she was diagnosed with borderline personality disorder, bipolar disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), anxiety, and depression. By September 2021, she had been without prescription mental health medication for a year, during which time she abused heroin and methamphetamine.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[Destino]

1 hour ago, China said:

Johnson told the judge that at age 13, she was diagnosed with borderline personality disorder, bipolar disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), anxiety, and depression. By September 2021, she had been without prescription mental health medication for a year, during which time she abused heroin and methamphetamine.

Quote

Psychotic symptoms and syndromes are frequently experienced among individuals who use methamphetamine, with recent estimates of up to approximately 40% of users affected. Though transient in a large proportion of users, acute symptoms can include agitation, violence, and delusions, and may require management in an inpatient psychiatric or other crisis intervention setting. 

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5027896/
 

meth addicts should not be trusted with children. 
 

 

[China]

Mental health is only part of the issue, but by all means lets address it as well:

 

Texas Gov. Abbott calls for addressing mental health issues in wake of Texas mass shooting

 

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott emphasized the importance of addressing increasing “anger and violence” in the wake of a mass shooting Saturday in Allen, Texas, that left at least eight dead and seven injured.

 

“What Texas is doing in a big-time way, we are working to address that anger and violence but going to its root cause, which is addressing the mental health problems behind it,” Abbott said during an interview on “Fox News Sunday.”

 

The Republican governor also called for increasing penalties for stricter laws “to get guns out of the hands of dangerous criminals and to increase penalties for criminals who possess guns.”

 

But notably absent from Abbott’s call for legislation that would prevent gun violence in his state were demands for stricter gun control laws. 

 

Click on the link for the full article

[China]

Meanwhile in Wisconsin:

 

GOP cuts to proposed education budget include funding for student mental health

 

This week, the Republican-led budget committee cut 38 items Gov. Tony Evers' proposed education budget, including more than $276 million for mental health services in schools.  

 

One of the biggest cuts was a plan that would have provided school districts and independent charter schools with money to create evidence-based mental health programs. 

 

School districts currently rely heavily on grant funding to provide mental health care for students.

 

During a March 28 hearing of the Assembly Committee on Mental Health and Substance Abuse Prevention, Linda Hall, director of the state Office of Children’s Mental Health, testified that school districts need a set funding source for mental health services. She said 75 percent of kids who access mental health treatment get it at school.

 

Evers increased grant funding in the 2021-23 budget from $6.5 million to $10 million. In 2019-20, 106 grants were awarded to 97 individual school districts and another eight consortia representing an additional 23 districts and one independent charter school.  

 

But Hall said the grant funding is not equal across districts. Districts that have grant writers or programs already in place often benefit.  

 

"This is a special burden for rural schools that don’t have as many people on staff to help them write these grants," Hall said. "We need to have more sustainable funding." 

 

Click on the link for the full article

[China]

A Proclamation on National Mental Health Awareness Month, 2023

 

During National Mental Health Awareness Month, we honor the absolute courage of the tens of millions of Americans living with mental health conditions, and we celebrate the loved ones and mental health professionals who are there for them every day.  Treatment works, and there is no shame in seeking it.  Together, we will keep fighting to get everyone access to the care they need to live full and happy lives.

 

     As Americans, we have a duty of care to reach out to one another and leave no one behind.  But so many of our friends, colleagues, and loved ones are battling mental health challenges, made worse by the isolation and trauma of COVID-19.  Two in five adults report anxiety and depression, and two in five teens describe experiencing persistent sadness or hopelessness, exacerbated by social media, bullying, and gun violence.  Drug overdose deaths are also near record highs, and suicide is the second leading cause of death among young people.  It does not have to be this way.

 

     As President, I released a new national strategy to transform how we understand and address mental health in America — supporting and training more providers, improving access to care, and building healthy environments that promote mental health.  This work is a core pillar of the Unity Agenda that I outlined in my first State of the Union Address.  Mental health is health; it affects everyone, regardless of race, gender, politics, or income.  Promoting it is one of the big things that we can all agree to do together as Americans to make our country stronger.

 

     The United States has long faced a shortage of mental health providers.  It takes an average of 11 years to get treatment after the onset of symptoms, and less than half of Americans struggling with mental illness ever receive the care they need.  This is especially true in rural and other underserved communities.  That is why the American Rescue Plan made our Nation’s biggest-ever investment in mental health and substance use programs — recruiting, training, and supporting more providers at the State and local levels, including in our schools.  Last year, when we passed the Nation’s first major gun safety law in nearly 30 years, it contained measures to further increase the number of school psychologists and counselors available to our kids, to make it easier for schools to use Medicaid to deliver mental health care, and to expand the Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics that deliver 24/7 care.  Additionally, we have invested in training more first responders to address mental health-related issues.

 

Click on the link for the rest

[China]

Their Families Said They Needed Treatment. Mississippi Officials Threw Them in Jail Without Charges.

 

In Mississippi, serious mental illness or substance abuse can land you in jail, even if you aren’t charged with a crime. The state is a stark outlier in jailing so many people for so long, but many officials say they don’t have another option.
 

When sheriff’s department staff in Mississippi’s Benton County took Jimmy Sons into custody several years ago, they followed their standard protocol for people charged with a crime: They took his mug shot, fingerprinted him, had him change into an orange jumpsuit and locked him up.

 

But Sons, who was then 20 years old, had not been charged with a crime. Earlier that day, his father, James Sons, had gone to a county office to ask that his youngest son be taken in for a mental evaluation and treatment. Jimmy Sons had threatened to hurt family members and himself, and his father had come across him sitting on his bed with a loaded shotgun.

 

On Sons’ booking form, in the spot where jailers usually record criminal charges, was a single word: “LUNACY.”

 

Click on the link for the full article

[abdcskins]

I really like working in the mental health field, I feel like I am truly helping people. I got a new client the other day, broke my heart with what she has been through. Endured years of bullying, had to be home schooled it was so bad. Attempted to take her life a couple of months ago, got referred to our program.

 

Bullying is an epidemic, which is why I am posting about it in this thread. This poor girl was tormented for years, her self-esteem destroyed. All she ever wanted was a friend. I loved meeting with her and just talking about whatever. I told her she is an awesome person. Might have been the first time she ever heard that. 

 

Anyway, if anyone ever hears about a bullying situation, either with children or adults, please intervene. No one deserves to be hurt like that.

Edited July 28, 2023 by abdcskins

[Ball Security]

1 hour ago, abdcskins said:

I really like working in the mental health field, I feel like I am truly helping people. I got a new client the other day, broke my heart with what she has been through. Endured years of bullying, had to be home schooled it was so bad. Attempted to take her life a couple of months ago, got referred to our program.

 

Bullying is an epidemic, which is why I am posting about it in this thread. This poor girl was tormented for years, her self-esteem destroyed. All she ever wanted was a friend. I loved meeting with her and just talking about whatever. I told her she is an awesome person. Might have been the first time she ever heard that. 

 

Anyway, if anyone ever hears about a bullying situation, either with children or adults, please intervene. No one deserves to be hurt like that.

In what capacity do you work, if you don’t mind sharing?

[abdcskins]

31 minutes ago, Ball Security said:

In what capacity do you work, if you don’t mind sharing?

 

Sure, thank you for being interested.  I am an MFT Intern.  I work at a community mental health clinic.  Work with many court-mandated people, including parents who have lost custody of their children.  We also get walk-ins from the community who are seeking help, we are a DMH-funded site.  Get a lot of different clients, I have a mix of children and adults.  I have a ways to go before I am licensed, need to earn 3,000 supervised hours.  I think I am at like 250 or something.  Took me a while to finish grad school for various reasons, but this is my final quarter!  Being a therapist is challenging, I feel sometimes at a loss for words and don't know what to say or ask, but I am always learning.  But I am also a big believer of core therapeutic values like trust, empathy, warmness, congruence (being genuine), collaboration, and unconditional positive regard.  Just being a reliable caring, trusting person goes a long way, some people sadly don't have that in their lives.  Carl Rogers was one of my favorite psychologists, person-centered therapy is my go-to modality if I had to pick one.  Pretty much every class they emphasize the relationship between the client and therapist is the most important component in therapy and is what facilitates change.

 

I don't really have a population I want to work with.  I have worked with kids my entire career so I sort of gravitate towards them, but I am interested in the other end of the life spectrum and might want to work with geriatrics.  I feel that is a neglected population.

 

Mental health comes in many forms.  I am a big believer in self-care and the mind-body connection.  Our thoughts, feelings, and beliefs can positively or negatively affect our biological functioning.  And vice-versa, taking care of our physical health (exercise and nutrition) can impact our mental state.  People with chronic illnesses are at a higher risk of mental health problems, namely depression.  I always encourage diet and exercise with my clients.

 

Love yourselves and one another!  🙌

 

[Die Hard]

46 minutes ago, abdcskins said:

 

Sure, thank you for being interested.  I am an MFT Intern.  I work at a community mental health clinic.  Work with many court-mandated people, including parents who have lost custody of their children.  We also get walk-ins from the community who are seeking help, we are a DMH-funded site.  Get a lot of different clients, I have a mix of children and adults.  I have a ways to go before I am licensed, need to earn 3,000 supervised hours.  I think I am at like 250 or something.  Took me a while to finish grad school for various reasons, but this is my final quarter!  Being a therapist is challenging, I feel sometimes at a loss for words and don't know what to say or ask, but I am always learning.  But I am also a big believer of core therapeutic values like trust, empathy, warmness, congruence (being genuine), collaboration, and unconditional positive regard.  Just being a reliable caring, trusting person goes a long way, some people sadly don't have that in their lives.  Carl Rogers was one of my favorite psychologists, person-centered therapy is my go-to modality if I had to pick one.  Pretty much every class they emphasize the relationship between the client and therapist is the most important component in therapy and is what facilitates change.

 

I don't really have a population I want to work with.  I have worked with kids my entire career so I sort of gravitate towards them, but I am interested in the other end of the life spectrum and might want to work with geriatrics.  I feel that is a neglected population.

 

Mental health comes in many forms.  I am a big believer in self-care and the mind-body connection.  Our thoughts, feelings, and beliefs can positively or negatively affect our biological functioning.  And vice-versa, taking care of our physical health (exercise and nutrition) can impact our mental state.  People with chronic illnesses are at a higher risk of mental health problems, namely depression.  I always encourage diet and exercise with my clients.

 

Love yourselves and one another!  🙌

 

As a physical therapist and body-mind coach specializing in chronic pain, I could have written your post. Well done.

[China]

Hear from employee who says kids at psychiatric hospital weren’t allowed outside for months

 

Local 4 spoke with an employee from a psychiatric hospital who revealed major concerns about the care being given to its children.

 

The children were patients at the state-run Hawthorn Center in Northville Township, but have been moved while the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services builds a new psychiatric hospital on the Hawthorn site.

 

On Dec. 21, 2022, the Hawthorn Center held an unannounced active shooter drill. Parents, and most of the staff, were not told that drill would be conducted. Many people inside the center said they were terrified when an announcement came on the loudspeaker that active shooters were on the premises.

 

Even police had not been notified that a drill was taking place. Lawsuits have been filed against the center, and records show at least 13 patients have broken out of the center over the last three and a half years.

 

The children were moved to the Walter Reuther in June. An employee reached out to Local 4 with concerns about how the children are being treated there.

 

“Someone has to stand up for what’s right. They have lost their mission plan, which is to help these kids and adults increase their management of stress levels and depression. They’ve forgotten it’s a healthcare facility and not a correctional facility,” Christal Bonner said.

 

Bonner is a teacher inside the Walter Reuther. They said the children have not been allowed outside to get some fresh air for months.

 

Click on the link for the ful article

[China]

Young adults twice as likely as teens to suffer from anxiety and depression, study finds

 

While there have been warnings about the state of children and teenagers' mental health over the past several years, a new report says another age demographic is suffering even more.

 

Adults ages 18 to 25 are nearly twice as likely as teenagers to suffer from anxiety and depression, according to data released Tuesday by the Making Caring Common project, an initiative of Harvard University's Graduate School of Education.

 

The project's survey of more than 700 young adults found that more than half said financial worries and the pressure to achieve had "negatively influenced their mental health."

 

In addition, 58% of respondents said they lacked "meaning or purpose in their lives."

 

Dr. Richard Weissbourd, a psychotherapist on the faculty of Harvard's Graduate School of Education, who directed the study, told ABC News' Deborah Roberts that young adults are experiencing a "high rate of loneliness."

 

"I think it's a world that seems off the rails to them. I think it's unclarity about their job prospects," Weissbourd said of the obstacles young people face. "And I think social media turbocharged us all of this."

 

Click on the link for the full article

[China]

ApparentlyTrump has a plan:

 

Stuart Varney: Donald Trump has a bold plan for the mentally ill

 

During his "My Take," Tuesday, "Varney & Co." host Stuart Varney discussed Donald Trump's "highly controversial" plan to bring back psychiatric hospitals, arguing the move is a step to address our nation's mental health crisis while a "dithering" Biden administration remains racked by internal conflict.

 

STUART VARNEY: Every day when I walk the streets of New York City I see disturbed people roaming the streets. 

 

It's a very sad sight. It's a waste of a human life. 

 

Some are dangerous. There have been unprovoked attacks. Even murders.

 

Donald Trump has a plan. 

 

If he gets a second term, he would bring back mental institutions where people could be committed involuntarily.

 

He says, "For those who are severely mentally ill and deeply disturbed, we will bring them back to mental institutions where they belong, with the goal of reintegrating them back into society once they are well enough to manage."

 

He believes that modern treatment, even if forced, offers hope of a return to sanity.

 

That's a bold plan and highly controversial. 

 

Back in the day, these places were known for abuse and failure. They were ugly holding pens.

 

Some were closed, and the rules were changed so many disturbed people could not be held against their will. 

 

Civil liberties activists approve of this. Committing people, they believe, takes away their freedom. 

 

Click on the link for the full article

[Captain Wiggles]

Make full frontal lobotomies and electro shock therapy great again? 🤔

[Bang]

I can think of one malignant narcissist/ complete sociopath with delusions of grandeur and no discernible grip on reality that could use a good committing.

 

~Bang

[Jabbyrwock]

1 hour ago, Bang said:

I can think of one malignant narcissist/ complete sociopath with delusions of grandeur and no discernible grip on reality that could use a good committing.

 

~Bang

 

Only one?

[China]

Authorities arrest suspect in threats that set off series of University of Minnesota safety alerts

 

A man suspected of targeting the University of Minnesota with deadly threats to students was arrested Thursday afternoon at his home in southwestern Minnesota following an apparent standoff with authorities.

 

The suspect, identified by law enforcement as Joseph Rongstad, was arrested just after 4:15 p.m., "safely, without incident," according to a Facebook post by Chippewa County Sheriff Derek Olson.

 

Starting on Wednesday, according to the sheriff's office, Rongstad began posting threats on Facebook to shoot students. That set off a series of Thursday morning alerts from the University of Minnesota to stay away from campus, though it was later determined he never came to the Twin Cities.

 

Rongstad is a former mayor of the small town of Watson, in Chippewa County, with a population of less than 200 people. He also posted on Facebook about about the standoff before it was resolved.

 

Olson confirmed earlier in the day that Rongstad is a former mayor of the tiny town of Watson and still lives there, and said he made the flurry of threatening posts on Facebook starting on Wednesday. At that time, the Sheriff's Office notified the university of the postings.

 

Olson said then that he had deputies "staged at the [man's] residence" should Rongstad show up there. The sheriff said Rongstad's relatives were at the home as well.

 

Ricker said he was not immediately aware of any connection Rongstad has to the university. The threats, he noted, did not single out specific individuals but rather amounted to "the general threat of gun violence."

 

Olson told the Star Tribune that Rongstad's hours-long threat-filled rant was on his landscape company's Facebook page.

 

Other postings made explicit threats to Sheriff Olson, and Chippewa County judges Thomas Van Hon and Keith Helgeson. In 2016, Van Hon ordered Rongstad civilly committed for six months as mentally ill and chemically dependent.

 

Court records show that Rongstad has a criminal history in Minnesota that includes convictions for burglary, theft, drunken driving and illicit drug possession.

 

In 2021, he was convicted of burglary for driving a tractor through the narthex of a Lutheran church in Watson, where he was elected mayor in 2012. A police officer went inside and found the man on the altar wrapped in a blanket, the criminal complaint read.

 

A judge gave him 15 months in prison, but set aside the sentence, ordered him jailed for 30 days and put him on probation for five years. The threats to the university are a violation of his probationary terms.

 

In 2016, Rongstad was sentenced to nine months in jail after pleading guilty to burglarizing the home of a man who followed him as mayor. The deal also dismissed charges from when he allegedly fired a rifle through the sunroof of his truck while he was "trying to get away from the corpses that were after him," according to court documents.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[China]

The ketamine economy: New mental health clinics are a 'Wild West' with few rules

 

In late 2022, Sarah Gutilla's treatment-resistant depression had grown so severe that she was actively contemplating suicide. Raised in foster care, the 34-year-old's childhood was marked by physical violence, sexual abuse and drug use, leaving her with life-threatening mental scars.

 

Out of desperation, her husband scraped together $600 for the first of six rounds of intravenous ketamine therapy at Ketamine Clinics Los Angeles, which administers the generic anesthetic for off-label uses such as treating depression. When Gutilla got into an Uber for the 75-mile ride to Los Angeles, it was the first time she had left her home in Llano, Calif., in two years. The results, she says, were instant.

 

"The amount of relief I felt after the first treatment was what I think 'normal' is supposed to feel like," she says. "I've never felt so OK and so at peace."

 

For-profit ketamine clinics have proliferated over the past few years, offering infusions for a wide array of mental health issues, including obsessive-compulsive disorder, depression and anxiety. Although the off-label use of ketamine hydrochloride, a Schedule III drug approved by the Food and Drug Administration as an anesthetic in 1970, was considered radical just a decade ago, now between 500 and 750 ketamine clinics have cropped up across the United States.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[China]

Robert Thibodeau's brother shares what led him to call police to arrest his brother

 

A day after police stopped a Plattsburgh man from going into CVPH with a loaded shotgun, the man who alerted officers is speaking out.

 

Robert Thibodeau's older brother was the one who called police.

 

Robert called his brother early Tuesday morning.

 

He learned in that phone call that Robert was terminated at his job as a senior electrician at CVPH.

 

“He was upset," said Robert Thibodeau's brother, who we are choosing to not name. "He was agitated.”

 

Robert was passed over for a promotion, so he put in his three weeks notice.

 

During the conversation, his brother said he could feel Robert's demeanor was off.

 

“It just wasn’t him," said Robert's brother. "It would be like you having a conversation with your brother, sister, father, or mother and you know something is wrong.”

 

Things quickly escalated with the sound over the phone of Robert loading up a gun.

 

His brother said that Robert specifically said "That Upper Management at CVPH was dead."

 

“I felt compelled that I needed to go and be there and hopefully change some of his actions," said Robert's brother.

 

He then drove to Robert's Plattsburgh house from his home in Mooers.

 

After unsuccessfully trying to block Robert's vehicle from leaving the driveway, he then followed Robert.

 

He called 9-1-1 and directed state police on Robert's route.

 

Police ended up arresting Robert near Broad Street off Prospect, less than a mile from CVPH's campus.

 

“It’s a sad choice where I have to choose between making a decision to put him where he needs to be or people dying," said Robert's brother. "You have to make the decision to do what you have to do that’s right.”

 

He also didn't notice any major concerning signs leading up to this incident.

 

Robert Thibodeau remains in the Clinton County Jail.

 

His brother hopes he gets the help he needs.

 

"I hope that they’ll handle the case the way they’re preaching- focus on mental health awareness and treatment versus putting someone in prison and not getting the actual help that they need," said Robert's brother.

 

Click on the link for the full article

 

--------------------------------------------------

 

Why Americans Suddenly Stopped Hanging Out

 

In its earliest decades, the United States was celebrated for its citizens’ extroversion. Americans weren’t just setting out to build new churches and new cities. Their associations were, as Alexis de Tocqueville wrote, “of a thousand different types … religious, moral, serious, futile, very general and very limited, immensely large and very minute.” Americans seemed adept at forming social groups: political associations, labor unions, local memberships. It was as if the continent itself had imbued its residents with a vibrant social metabolism—a verve for getting out and hanging out. “Nothing, in my view,” de Tocqueville wrote, “deserves more attention than the intellectual and moral associations in America.”

 

Something’s changed in the past few decades. After the 1970s, American dynamism declined. Americans moved less from place to place. They stopped showing up at their churches and temples. In the 1990s, the sociologist Robert Putnam recognized that America’s social metabolism was slowing down. In the book Bowling Alone, he gathered reams of statistical evidence to prove that America’s penchant for starting and joining associations appeared to be in free fall. Book clubs and bowling leagues were going bust.

 

If Putnam felt the first raindrops of an antisocial revolution in America, the downpour is fully here, and we’re all getting washed away in the flood. From 2003 to 2022, American men reduced their average hours of face-to-face socializing by about 30 percent. For unmarried Americans, the decline was even bigger—more than 35 percent. For teenagers, it was more than 45 percent. Boys and girls ages 15 to 19 reduced their weekly social hangouts by more than three hours a week. In short, there is no statistical record of any other period in U.S. history when people have spent more time on their own.

 

And so what? one might reasonably ask. Aloneness is not loneliness. Not only that, one might point out, the texture of aloneness has changed. Solitude is less solitary than ever. With all the calling, texting, emailing, work chatting, DMing, and posting, we are producing unprecedented terabytes of interpersonal communication. If Americans were happy—about themselves, about their friends, about their country—then whining about parties of one would feel silly.

 

But for Americans in the 2020s, solitude, anxiety, and dissatisfaction seem to be rising in lockstep. Surveys show that Americans, and especially young Americans, have never been more anxious about their own lives or more depressed about the future of the country. Teenage depression and hopelessness are setting new annual records every year. The share of young people who say they have a close friend has plummeted. Americans have been so depressed about the state of the nation for so many consecutive years that by 2023, NBC pollsters said, “We have never before seen this level of sustained pessimism in the 30-year-plus history of the poll.”

 

I don’t think hanging out more will solve every problem. But I do think every social crisis in the U.S. could be helped somewhat if people spent a little more time with other people and a little less time gazing into digital content that’s designed to make us anxious and despondent about the world. 

 

Click on the link for the rest

[China]

Americans who live alone report depression at higher rates, but social support helps

 

People living alone are more likely to report feeling depressed compared to those living with others, according to a new study by the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics. And that effect is particularly stark for people living alone who say they have little or no social and emotional support.

 

"The most interesting takeaway from this study was the importance of feeling supported," says social scientist Kasley Killam, who wasn't involved in the new study. "And this is consistent with other evidence showing that social support and emotional support really play a pivotal role in people's overall health and well-being."

 

The new study comes at a time when the number of single person households in the U.S. has skyrocketed. In the decade from 2012 to 2022, the number of Americans living alone jumped by nearly 5 million to 37.9 million.

 

The study relies on 2021 data from the annual National Health Interview Survey, which interviews people in a nationally representative sample of households across the country. It found that a little over 6% of those living alone reported feelings of depression, compared to 4% of people living with others.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[China]

What is popcorn brain? How being chronically online is killing focus

 

Struggling to focus on a single thought or task? Finding yourself constantly distracted by social media? You may have what is known as “popcorn brain.”

 

Coined by researcher David Levy in 2011, the term popcorn brain refers to a person’s attention quickly jumping from thought to thought like the kernels popping in popcorn.

 

A 2003 study by the University of California Irvine found the average attention span was two minutes and 30 seconds. In 2012, the average attention span dropped to 75 seconds. Now, the attention span for most people is about 47 seconds, according to UC Irvine.

 

“Over time, this constant demand for attention and the rapid switching between tasks can lead to a feeling of mental restlessness or the brain ‘bouncing around’ as it struggles to maintain focus on any one task for an extended period,” Psychologist Dannielle Haig told Glamour UK.

 

Social media is a major contributing factor to the declining attention span, according to Dr. Kamil Atta, a psychiatrist at Plainview Hospital in New York.

 

“The experience is extremely addictive, more addictive than any other activity because you have these small amounts of dopamine being stimulated on a very frequent basis, and to stop the pattern is extremely difficult,” Atta told Fox 4.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[Ball Security]

Yep I believe it. Also working from home where it’s easier to get distracted definitely increases it.

[China]

And in the UK as well:

 

Untreated mental health issues too often leading to violent crimes, says Khan

 

Too many people with mental health issues who have committed violent crimes missed out on treatment as a result of cuts to support services, Sadiq Khan has warned.

 

In an interview with the Guardian ahead of this week’s local elections, he said such crimes were preventable and said years of austerity has left NHS mental health provision on its knees.

 

The mayor of London’s remarks came after a “devastating” attack by a man armed with a sword left a 14-year-old boy dead and four others injured in east London, including two police officers who sustained serious wounds.

 

“We’ve had too many examples in recent years of people responsible for the most serious crimes having mental ill-health,” he said.

 

Click on the link for the full article