At least one in eight teens, and perhaps one in five, have a mental-health issue; ADHD tops, substance abuse also high

The most comprehensive report yet on mental disorders in children shows attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is the most commonly diagnosed problem in those aged 3-17, and the most common health issues for teenagers include addiction to drugs, alcohol and tobacco.

An estimated 13 to 20 percent of U.S. children experience a mental disorder in a given year, says a new report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and children are increasingly suffering from and being hospitalized for mood disorders like depression; that hospitalization rate has increased 80 percent from 1997 to 2010, says the report. And, while 3.5 percent of children under 18 have behavioral problems, almost 7 percent of them are diagnosed with ADHD.

About 4.7 percent of teens, or 1.7 million children aged 12–17, have disorders involving abuse and dependence upon alcohol, drugs or tobacco, says the report. Alarmingly, two-thirds of teenagers had an illicit drug use disorder, one million teenagers abused drugs or alcohol, and more than 695,000 were addicted to tobacco.

“This first report of its kind documents that millions of children are living with depression, substance use disorders, ADHD and other mental health conditions,” CDC Director Dr. Tom Frieden said. “No parent, grandparent, teacher or friend wants to see a child struggle with these issues. It concerns us all. We are working to both increase our understanding of these disorders and help scale up programs and strategies to prevent mental illness so that our children grow to lead productive, healthy lives.”

Bankruptcy filing by mental-health agency is a loser for Kentucky, where such services can be scarce and little used

By Molly Burchett
Kentucky Health News

The decision of Seven Counties Services Inc. to file bankruptcy to avoid paying into the Kentucky Employee Retirement System has created a "no win" situation for the state, and the issue may add yet another obstacle for Kentuckians to get the mental health care they need.

Louisville-based Seven Counties is one of the state's largest mental-health agencies, serving more than 30,000 adults and children with mental-health services, alcohol and drug-abuse treatment, developmental-disabilities services and preventive programs, according to its website.

And while Kentucky's mental-health system has received an F grade for its funding, the state pension system needs agencies like Seven Counties to pay in more because the system is just 27 percent funded. "Employers will have to ante up around 38 percent of annual payroll, compared with the 23 percent now required," Mike Wynn notes in The Courier-Journal.

Kentucky's need for mental health services is much greater than the supply, and an estimated 1.7 million Kentuckians live in areas designated as a "mental health professional shortage area," which means almost 40 percent of Kentucky residents lack proper access to such professionals, says a report by the Kaiser Family Foundation. About 24 percent of residents' mental-health care needs are under-served, and this situation could be worsened by federal health reform, which will expand mental-health and substance-abuse treatment benefits to more Kentuckians without adding to the number of providers.

Bankruptcy for Seven Counties is a lose-lose proposition: It could close its doors in 2014 and stop providing services to 30,000 Kentuckians or, if the bankruptcy goes through, the state's retirement system wouldn't get anticipated agency payments into the system, reports Ryan Alessi of cn|2, a news service of the Time Warner and Insight cable-TV companies.

“The only two paths this can go is we could stay in KERS until we have given them our last nickel, which is a year (or) year-and-a-half from now … (and) we close the doors and go out of business and KERS gets no more money because we’re out of business,” Dr. Tony Zipple, president of Seven Counties, told Alessi.

In addition to funding problems for mental-health services, many people with mental-health issues don't seek treatment because of its stigma, said Sheila Schuster, executive director of the Kentucky Mental Health Coalition, in a recent opinion piece sent to Kentucky newspapers.  Shuster calls on elected leaders to increase funding of mental health services and highlights the prevalence of mental health illness.

"At least one-fourth of us will experience a behavioral health issues (mental illness or substance use disorder) in a given year," Schuster writes. That number, and the number of people needing treatment, will continue to grow, she says.

Schuster also writes about the societal impact of not treating mental illness: "Depression is rated as the #1 cause of disability in this country, and is a leading cause of absenteeism and decreased productivity in the work force." Because some people avoid treatment due to stigma, they may self-medicate with drugs or alcohol, and "the effects of stigma and failure to treat the whole person can have catastrophic results," she writes.

In addition to calling for more mental health funding, Schuster asks all Kentuckians to get educated about mental illness so that its stigma can be erased. Click here to read more from Schuster about mental health and resources for help. For a PDF of her op-ed, click here; for a text version, here.

Childhood obesity is linked to more immediate health problems than doctors formerly realized

While a plethora of research on childhood obesity has linked it to long-term health problems, a new UCLA study focuses on the condition's more proximate consequences, showing that obese children are at a greater risk for immediate health problems than previously thought. That's important for Kentucky, which ranks poorly in many health measures and is third highest in child obesity. (Photo by Tara Kaprowy)

"This study paints a comprehensive picture of childhood obesity, and we were surprised to see just how many conditions were associated with childhood obesity," said lead author Dr. Neal Halfon, a professor of pediatrics, public health and public policy at UCLA.

Compared to kids who are not overweight, the study found that obese children have nearly twice the risk of having three or more reported medical, mental or developmental conditions. Specific medical conditions included bone, joint and muscle problems; asthma; allergies; headaches; and ear infections. Obese children also reported a greater tendency toward emotional and behavioral problems, higher rates of grade repetition, missed school days and other school problems, ADHD, conduct disorder, depression, learning disabilities, and developmental delays.

The study provides the first comprehensive national profile of associations between weight status and a broad set of associated health conditions, a UCLA release said. Halfon said these findings should serve as a wake-up call to physicians, parents and teachers, who should be better informed of the risk for health conditions associated with childhood obesity. (Read more)

Kentucky teens attempt suicide more often than those in all U.S.

In a 2011 update of a study done four years ago, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Adolescent Health (OAH) surveyed America's teenagers about their physical health and potentially risky behaviors. Broken down state-by-state, the study presents a picture of what ails us, if we are willing to pay attention.

In Kentucky, the numbers read as not terribly surprising. Our kids are a little more fat than the national average. They smoke and chew more tobacco. They have a little more sex while in high school. But one statistic is startling: Kentucky's teenagers are trying to kill themselves more frequently than other teenagers nationwide.

According to data collected by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last month, 11 percent of Kentucky youth have attempted suicide, compared to 8 percent nationally. Moreover, 5 percent of Kentucky's teenagers have had a suicide attempt result in an injury, poisoning or overdose that had to be treated by a doctor or nurse during the 12-month period before the survey was conducted. That compares to only 2 percent nationwide for kids responding who required the same treatment during the same duration.

If there is good news for Kentucky in the survey, it's this: The state's teenagers are in reasonably good health, but are not getting the physical exercise that the rest of the nation's teens are getting (39 percent vs. 49 percent) and they are playing fewer team sports (46 percent vs. 58 percent). They are heavier (16 percent vs. 13 percent) than the average American teen and more likely (36 percent to 28 percent) to drink a can, bottle or glass of soda or pop one or more times a day.

They are less likely to have never tried smoking (41 percent  to 55 percent) than other American teens, to have smoked on a least one day of the last 30 (24 percent to 18 percent), bought their own cigarettes (21 percent to 14 percent) and used chewing tobacco (17 percent to 8 percent). Eight percent of Kentucky teenagers report using pain relievers for non-medical reasons in the last 12 months. That's a bit higher than the national average of 6 percent of U.S. teens who report doing the same.

Kentucky's teenagers are also a bit more likely to have had sexual intercourse while in high school (52 to 47 percent) than the national average, more likely to carried a weapon on a least one day (23 percent o 17 percent), carried a gun (9 percent to 5 percent), though less likely to have been in a physical fight (29 to 33 percent).

To find each of these topics, go here. Look for the heading (physical health, mental health, substance abuse, healthy relationships), then go to the Kentucky site page. A more complete data picture will emerge.

Searching for a fundamental 'particle' of mental health

The discovery of the Higgs particle, which gives matter its mass, was a huge breakthrough for scientists since "confirming its existence was imperative to a full scientific understanding of the world," and its has an equivalent that has yet to be found when it comes to mental health, forensic psychiatrist Erik Roskes writes for The Crime Report.

The equivalent of the "Standard Model" of mental health — Higgs plays an essential part in the "Standard Model" of physics — is a world in which "people are not penalized for their illnesses but rather than an array of tools from which to choose and which they can use to become mentally healthy," Roskes writes.

Though those tools have not yet been identified, there are paths down which researchers are going to find them, including molecular and pharmaceutical research; psychotherapies and rehabilitation. Research has led to pharmaceutical approaches, "not perfect, but far preferable to a world without them," he writes. It has led to cognitive therapy to treat depression, anxiety and, in some cases, psychosis. It has also led to advances in rehabilitation of mental illnesses and developmental disabilities like autism.

Like the search for the Higgs particle, finding its equivalent in the world of mental health is worth the search, Roskes concludes. (Read more)

4 of 5 Kentuckians think child obesity is a problem, and more than half favor a statewide smoking ban, poll finds

More than four out of five Kentuckians think too many children are overweight, and more than half want a statewide smoking ban. These are two of key findings of the Kentucky Health Issues Poll, which also asked respondents about prescription drug abuse, depression and access to health care.

Poll findings are available by clicking here. Findings have been broken down by region: Western Kentucky, greater Louisville, greater Lexington area, Northern Kentucky and Eastern Kentucky.

Statewide, the poll found 54 percent of Kentuckians favor a statewide smoking ban, up from 53 percent the year before. In 2010, Kentuckians were split down the middle, 48 percent to 48 percent.

A whopping 84 percent of Kentuckians feel childhood obesity is a problem, which is timely since 33 percent of children, 60 percent of women and 80 percent of men in Kentucky are overweight or obese, "Shaping Kentucky's Future: A Community Guide to Reducing Obesity" reports.

The poll also found more than one in three Kentuckians know someone who has misused prescription drugs; 65 percent of adults dispose of their prescription drugs in an unsafe way; nearly half keep guns in their homes; and 1 in 2 Kentuckians have a family member or friend with a serious problem of depression. Nearly 90 percent of people asked favor providing access to affordable, quality health care for all Americans.

"The Kentucky Health Issues Poll provides an excellent snapshot of how various health related issues are viewed throughout the commonwealth," said Dr. Susan Zepeda, CEO of the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky, which helped fund the poll. "The survey's methodology lets us compare responses and learn about regional differences in Kentucky views about health."

The poll was also funded by The Health Foundation of Greater Cincinnati. It was conducted Sept. 27 to Oct. 27 by the Institute for Policy Research at the University of Cincinnati. A random sample of adults across Kentucky were interviewed, including 1,313 landline interviews and 308 cell-phone interviews.

Extensive series focuses on the many faces of mental illness

Mental illness in Rowan County is the subject of an eight-part series of stories written by Noelle Hunter for The Morehead News.

With Part 1 largely an introduction to the project, Part 2 gets into the facts and figures of the disorders that fall under the mental-illness umbrella. According to the Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration, 45.9 million American adults — one in five — experienced some mental illness in the past year. In Kentucky, 180,000 people live with a serious mental illness, which includes schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, major depression, obsessive compulsive disorder, panic disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Dr. Thomas Insell, director of the National Institute of Mental Health, described mental illnesses as "real brain disorders that result from complex genetic risks plus environmental factors." Neither prevalence nor mortality rates associated with mental illness have decreased over time. And though there have been advancements in treatments these disorders, most in the way of medication and therapy, there is still much that is unknown, Hunter reports.

That comes with larger cultural ramifications. In 2008, about 5,100 adults who have a mental illness were incarcerated in Kentucky prisons and almost 700 adults committed suicide, "almost always a result of untreated mental illness," Hunter reports.

The series is running on Tuesdays in the twice-a-week paper. Part 3 profiles a woman living with bipolar disorder; Part 4 will report on the views of clinicians and therapists; Part 5 will profile a man living with bipolar disorder; Part 6 will profile a person living with schizophrenia; Part 7 will focus on the effects on families; and Part 8 will look at treatment options and recovery. The website of the newspaper, part of Community Newspaper Holdings Inc., is here.