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Mental Health

2022 AAPI Month: Celebrating Mental Health, DEI

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Mental Health and Asian American and Pacific Islander Month

Mental Health + AAPI Heritage Month Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month is celebrated in the United States during the month of May, recognizing the incredible ways that Asian Americans and Pacific Islander Americans have contributed and influenced the culture, history, and achievements of the United States. California has a significant and diverse AAPI population. “AAPIs are the fastest-growing racial/ethnic group in the U.S. and an immensely diverse group of people in terms of income, ethnicity, migration status, and education.” Why Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month? As readers may be aware, the AAPI community was subject to a rise in hate crimes with the progression of the COVID-19 pandemic. “The most effective response to harmful rhetoric and attacks against the AAPI community is for our government and industry to collaborate in promoting a diverse, inclusive environment that is reflected in the policies we implement, our workforces, and …

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National Children’s Mental Health Awareness Week

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children's mental health awareness

What is National Children’s Mental Health Awareness Week? National Children’s Mental Health Awareness week spans May 1st through May 7th, seeking to raise awareness about the importance of children’s mental health while urging that positive mental health is imperative to a child’s healthy development. Positive mental health refers to good functioning in individual and social domains as well as the presence of positive emotions. Children’s mental health. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), “ADHD, behavior problems, anxiety, and depression are the most commonly diagnosed mental disorders in children” (2021). In fact, approximately 9.4% of children ages 2-17 have received an ADHD diagnosis; 7.4% of children ages 3-17 have been diagnosed with a behavioral problem; 7.1% of children ages 3-17 have an anxiety diagnosis; 3.2% of children 3-17 have been diagnosed with depression (CDC, 2021). Mental health in childhood means meeting emotional and developmental milestones, learning healthy …

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Spring Cleaning and Mental Health: Decluttering Your Mind, Body, and Soul

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Spring cleaning and mental health

Why does it feel so good to do a spring cleaning each year? Why throw out items you spent time collecting? Why do you spend hours or days cleaning every part of your home, knowing it will eventually get dirty again? And most of all, how do spring cleaning and mental health impact your life? Spring Cleaning and Mental Health Some reports say the answers lie within your mind and that your living environment directly reflects your mental health. Based on this theory, if you have a lot of unanswered emails or voice mails, you have disconnected from others socially. If you struggle to stay focused, you are more likely to lose essential items, like your car keys. The COVID pandemic is an example of how what happens in your personal life is directly related to your mind, body, and soul. Remember the people hoarding toilet paper? Their minds were filled more …

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Adolescent Mental Health

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Adolescent Mental Health

Impact. One of the populations that the pandemic has impacted the most is adolescents ages 10 to 19, as their experience in the last couple years has shifted dramatically in terms of school and social development. The pandemic has resulted in school behind screens, less opportunity to interact with friends, and perhaps a general sense of isolation. While teens may have been connected to wifi, that doesn’t mean that they felt connected mentally or emotionally. Many adolescents report missing out on opportunities they would have otherwise gained from being in person, feeling isolated, feeling depressed, and many also report experiencing anxiety pertaining to returning to in-person school. According to the CDC, “more than 1 in 3 high school students had experienced persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness in 2019, a 40 percent increase since 2009” (CDC, 2021). This percentage is expected to have increased in light of the challenges in …

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Geriatric Mental Health

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geriatric mental health

What is geriatric healthcare? Geriatric healthcare describes the attentive medical care given to those over the age of 65 who are also referred to as seniors. Many individuals don’t seek geriatric healthcare until well into their 70s, 80s, or even 90s. A subspecialty in geriatric healthcare is geriatric psychiatry. The American Psychiatric Association (APA) describes geriatric psychiatry as addressing the “biological and psychological aspects of normal aging, the psychiatric effect of acute and chronic physical illness, and the biological and psychosocial aspects of the pathology of primary psychiatric disturbances of older age” (APA, 2021). Main focal points in geriatric psychiatry pertain to the “prevention, evaluation, diagnosis and treatment of mental and emotional disorders in the elderly and improvement of psychiatric care for healthy and ill elderly patients” (APA, 2021). Some of the most common psychiatric concerns that present in this population entail mood disorders such as depression and neurocognitive disorders …

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