Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
CDC Data Show Teen Mental Health Crisis May Be Fading As Covid Wanes
Reuters: Teen Mental Health Emergency Visits Decline In U.S. As Pandemic Eases, CDC Says
U.S. adolescents made fewer weekly emergency department (ED) visits for mental health conditions in Fall 2022 compared to a year earlier, researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported on Thursday. By late 2022, pandemic restrictions had been loosened or lifted and adolescents had generally returned to schools, with better social engagement and reduced isolation linked with improved mental and behavioral health, the researchers noted. (5/11)
CBS News: Youth Mental Health Crisis May Be Improving, Early ER Data Suggests
The data is an early sign that the surge in suicide attempts and mental health conditions that filled emergency rooms with adolescent patients, many teen girls, in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic might be subsiding nationwide. But compared to a pre-pandemic "baseline" in the fall of 2019, the CDC's report also suggests average weekly emergency room visits remained as high or worse than they were for suicide and overdoses. (Tin, 5/11)
If you are in need of help —
Dial 9-8-8 for 24/7 support from the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. It's free and confidential.
In related news about teen health —
Colorado Sun: A Grand Junction School Board Rejects A New School-Based Health Center, Complicating Access To Care For Some Students
Clinic proponents — including some Central High students, who shared at school board meetings how they’ve benefited from having access to health care at school — were unable to convince the board’s conservative majority to proceed with plans to establish a school-based health center at Grand Junction High. (Sullivan, 5/12)
Minnesota Public Radio: How Mental Health Programs Focused On Cultural Identity Are Helping Minnesota Students
Abe Gebeyehu, a school-based mental health practitioner, started noticing things were not going well for his students in 2020.When Minnesota schools closed their doors to in-person learning, the time they spent on computers and other screens skyrrocketed. Their interactions with friends and teachers plummeted. They began, in the online meetings he had with them, describing symptoms of anxiety and depression. (Shockman, 5/11)
AP: Sex? Sexual Intercourse? Neither? Teens Weigh In On Evolving Definitions — And Habits
Situationships. “Sneaky links.” The “talking stage,” the flirtatious getting-to-know-you phase — typically done via text — that can lead to a hookup. High school students are having less sexual intercourse. That’s what the studies say. But that doesn’t mean they’re having less sex. The language of young love and lust, and the actions behind it, are evolving. And the shift is not being adequately captured in national studies, experts say. (Gecker, 5/12)
CNN: Planet Fitness To Give Teens Free Summer Workout Passes
The fitness center franchiser and operator, which runs 2,400 gyms in the US and Canada, has launched its third year of its High School Summer Pass program during Mental Health Awareness Month. Touted as a way to keep high schoolers active during summer in a “fun, safe and judgment-free zone,” the annual program is open to teens aged 14 to 19. (Williams, 5/7)
