Zuckerberg Accused Of Blocking Efforts To Protect Teen Facebook, Instagram Users

CNN: Mark Zuckerberg Ignored Teen And User Safety Warnings From Meta Executives
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has personally and repeatedly thwarted initiatives meant to improve the well-being of teens on Facebook and Instagram, at times directly overruling some of his most senior lieutenants, according to internal communications made public as part of an ongoing lawsuit against the company. (Fung, 11/8)

The Wall Street Journal: Children In Mental-Health Crisis Surge Into Hospital E.R.s
Dr. Christopher Lucas shuttled from room to room, checking on the children with mental-health troubles who had streamed into his emergency department over the past 12 hours because they had nowhere else to go. There were eight of them that September day at Upstate University Hospital in Syracuse, N.Y. In one room, staff tended to a 17-year-old girl with chronic depression who had attempted suicide by overdosing on ibuprofen—her fourth trip to the E.R. for mental-health reasons in two years. Nearby was a 14-year-old girl who had started cutting herself after being bullied over social media. (Frosch and Evans, 11/8)

CBS News: New Treatment Center In East Bethel Aims To Address Teenage Mental Health
Minnesota is facing a gap in its mental health system. Pre-teens and teens who have significantly higher levels of needs, often caused by trauma, aren't getting the resources they need and an environment that promotes healing. A new treatment facility will respond to those needs. "This is not a place for judgment or a treatment that's just there for the sake of being there. This really serves a specific need," said Dr. Michelle Murray, president/CEO of Nexus Family Healing. (James, 11/8)

North Carolina Health News: Youth Psych Facility Opens With Specialized Units
Later this month, a new 54-bed youth psychiatric hospital in Butner will open its doors to help North Carolina’s children and teens struggling with mental health issues. The UNC Hospitals Youth Behavioral Health facility will include specialized units for patients with co-occurring mental health and substance use disorders, as well as a unit dedicated to serving children with intellectual and developmental disabilities with mental health needs. (Knopf, 11/9)

In other health and wellness news —

Fox News: Diabetes Screening May Be As Simple As Speaking Into Smartphone With New AI App, Researchers Say
Getting screened for type 2 diabetes could one day be as simple as speaking into your smartphone. Currently, gauging diabetes risk requires fasting, taking a blood test and waiting days for the results. In an effort to change that, researchers from Klick Applied Sciences in Toronto, Canada, have developed an artificial intelligence model that uses a 10-second voice recording to predict diabetes risk. (Rudy, 11/8)

CBS News: New Smartphone-Controlled Technology Could Help Alleviate Migraines
A study done by Allegheny Health Network's Neurosciences Institute is finding a new, smartphone-controlled technology could be an option for those who suffer from migraines. The 12-month study examined the clinical efficacy and safety of a device called Nerivio. Nerivio is a wearable "remote electrical neuromodulation" (REN) device that is used to reduce migraine symptoms. (Stanish, 11/8)

CNN: Some Kids Are Genetically Predisposed To Poor Sleep, Study Finds
Establishing healthy bedtime habits for your child early on is vital if at least one parent has chronic sleep difficulties, suggests new research on genetics and children’s sleep disorders. A genetic predisposition for sleep problems such as insomnia has been found repeatedly in studies of adults, leaving scientists wondering whether the same phenomenon occurs among children. (Rogers, 11/8)

KFF Health News: Underdiagnosed And Undertreated, Young Black Males With ADHD Get Left Behind 
As a kid, Wesley Jackson Wade should have been set up to succeed. His father was a novelist and corporate sales director and his mother was a special education teacher. But Wade said he struggled through school even though he was an exceptional writer and communicator. He played the class clown when he wasn’t feeling challenged. He got in trouble for talking back to teachers. And, the now 40-year-old said, he often felt anger that he couldn’t bottle up. As one of the only Black kids in predominantly white schools in upper-middle-class communities — including the university enclaves of Palo Alto, California, and Chapel Hill, North Carolina — he often got detention for chatting with his white friends during class, while they got only warnings. He chalked it up to his being Black. (Sibonney, 11/9)