June 8, 2018, Go Erie (PA): Erie needs dialogue about depression, mental health http://www.goerie.com/opinion/20180608/erie-needs-dialogue-about-depression-mental-health As a local behavioral health clinician and leader, I was very happy to see the Erie Times-News address depression among Erie residents in a recent editorial. It opens the door for a larger conversation about mental health needs in our community and resources our region offers. On a national scale, a March publication of the World Health Organization notes that depression is the leading cause of disability worldwide. A June publication by CNN reports that deaths by accident, suicide and homicide are all on the rise for young people nationwide. It’s crucial that as a country we start accepting depression and mental health overall as an important public health issue that impacts everyone in some way. In that regard, I am proud to be part of the Safe Harbor Behavioral Health of UPMC Hamot team. As an organization, we are dedicated to helping people with mental health disorders recover and be fully integrated into our community. At Safe Harbor, we have built integrated relationships to bring behavioral health services to schools, primary and specialty care offices and community organizations in Erie County. …
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Childhood Lost
Children today are noticeably different from previous generations, and the proof is in the news coverage we see every day. This site shows you what’s happening in schools around the world. Children are increasingly disabled and chronically ill, and the education system has to accommodate them. Things we've long associated with autism, like sensory issues, repetitive behaviors, anxiety and lack of social skills, are now problems affecting mainstream students. Blame is predictably placed on bad parenting (otherwise known as trauma from home).
Addressing mental health needs is as important as academics for modern educators. This is an unrecognized disaster. The stories here are about children who can’t learn or behave like children have always been expected to. What childhood has become is a chilling portent for the future of mankind.
Anne Dachel, Media editor, Age of Autism
http://www.ageofautism.com/media/
(John Dachel, Tech. assist.)
What will happen in another 4 years? How can we go on like this? This is a national (and international) problem of monumental proportions. We have an entire new class of children who cannot be accommodated by the system: many are manifestly neurologically impaired. Meanwhile, the government and the medical profession sleep on regardless.
John Stone,
UK media editor, Age of Autism
The generation of American children born after 1990 are arguably the sickest generation in the history of our country.
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
It seemed to me that with rising autism prevalence, you’d also see rising autism costs to society, and it turns out, the costs are catastrophic.
They calculated that in 2015 autism cost the United States $268 billion and they projected that if autism continues at its current rate, we’re looking at one trillion dollars a year in autism costs by 2025, so within five years.
Toby Rogers, PhD, Political economist
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