Viewpoints: Too Much Mental Health Awareness May Be Harmful To Teens; Health Care Is Too Hard To Access
Editorial writers discuss mental health awareness, accessing health care, developmental milestones, and more.
The New York Times:
'High-Functioning Anxiety Isn't A Medical Diagnosis. It's A Hashtag.'
Amid an enormous societal push to destigmatize mental illness and encourage more conversation about emotions, young people have been flooded with mental health information on social media and elsewhere. But much of it is unreliable and counterproductive. (Amanda Su and Adam Westbrook, 5/14)
The Boston Globe:
Let’s Integrate Primary Care And Mental Health Care
Behavioral health care and primary care are among the most important medical specialties to keep patients healthy and avoid exacerbating illnesses. Yet both are in crisis. It is difficult to find a primary care doctor. According to data from Massachusetts Health Quality Partners and the Center for Health Information and Analysis’s primary care survey, in 2021 more than one-third of residents reported difficulty obtaining necessary health care in the prior 12 months. (5/12)
Scientific American:
Meeting Developmental Milestones Early Doesn’t Always Predict Success
One study of children with achondroplasia found that 100 percent of them commando crawled when they first started crawling. As a parent, I didn’t know what to think. I felt more than a little scared, and I had no idea what to do. Developmental milestones, like crawling, seemed so straightforward—but only as long as my son was passing them. Did my son absolutely have achondroplasia? (Chris Sheldrick, 5/13)
Dallas Morning News:
New Nursing Home Staff Mandate Is Important But Flawed
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services released the long-awaited final rule on nursing home staffing standards last month. There is good news: nursing homes are now required to have a registered nurse on duty 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. This is a significant improvement providing clinical and leadership expertise around the clock. (Elizabeth Halifax and Lori Smetanka, 5/13)
Stat:
Health Care Needs A New Profession: Neuroimaging Counseling
Until recently, getting an MRI meant traveling to the hospital. But a new generation of more affordable and highly portable MRI (pMRI) devices are rapidly reshaping neuroimaging research and clinical care. The scanner will now come to you. That means the time is ripe for a related innovation: neuroimaging counseling. (Nancy Lu, Sumita Strander and Francis X. Shen, 5/14)
