Mental Health

[SubGod22]

Good news!

KAKE - Local mental health experts say Kansas teen suicide rates are trending down

North High senior Mia Cruz says the last five years have been a huge struggle for her as she's battled loneliness and depression after tragically losing her best friend in a car crash.

"I think the most difficult part for me was that the support system that I had had, was the person who had died. And I was looking for an outlet," Cruz said.

She says she was one of the lucky few who found a strong support system while going through her crisis.

"If I hadn't had a community that supported me, I don't know where I would be. And I want to extend that same opportunity and grace to other students who are struggling with similar things," Cruz said.

She's talking about Zero Reasons Why, a teen-led program she now works with to help support and mentor other kids who also struggle with mental health.

"There was a sudden increase that started around 2010. And it rose all the way up until about 2020 when it comes to teen suicide attempts and completions," said Zero Reasons Why Director Jeff Short.

Short says the program started in an attempt to normalize the conversation about mental health and make sure people struggling, especially kids, know that they're not alone.

Short, Cruz and a team of mental health experts got together Tuesday to discuss the ongoing problem of mental health in teens. Short says this time, the meeting comes with some good news.

[SubGod22]

I can't imagine doing this, but I get it and can see how it could help someone who would go through with it. It's a very different kind of exposure therapy than I do.

Woman With Fear of Rejection Cures Herself With Self-Esteem by Asking Odd Requests of Strangers

A young woman who was ‘crippled by a fear of rejection’ says she has cured herself by doing a series outrageous challenges in public.

Sophie Jones compiled a list of of dozens of challenges to undertake as therapy for the phobia which she has struggled with all her life.

So far, the 22-year-old managed to tick 45 things off her list—including walking into a lake fully clothed while people were swimming around her and asking shoppers to give her items from their cart.

Her favorites include challenging strangers to games of rock, paper, scissors and asking to make pizza in a pizzeria kitchen.

“Doing things that terrified me changed my life, and my confidence has skyrocketed,” she said.

Sophie, who lives in Warrington, England, said she experienced a lot of rejection throughout her teenage years. By the time she was 15, she was being bullying in school, which she says made her feel awful.

She said she became terrified of experiencing rejection and started shying away from friendships and opportunities. She didn’t want to put herself forward for things like new jobs or friendships due to low self-esteem.

“I was scared to make more friends. I felt I had no confidence within myself, I saw others with opportunities and thought, ‘why did I not have them?’”

“I felt like it was holding me back. I felt like I’d lost control of my life. I struggled with my mindset and outlook on life.”

In February, she became aware of a treatment called “rejection therapy,” that can treat a fear of rejection—from which she realized she was suffering.

This model is a form of exposure therapy that urges people to actively try to get rejected as much as possible.

After seeing another woman online asking for a free coffee in a shop, she decided to start her own “fear list”, which made the social media manager feel inspired, but also very nervous. (See her video below showing a few of her challenging moments…)

“The fact that someone could put themselves out of their comfort zone, I aspired to have that confidence. I knew it was possible.

There's a four minute video of some of her challenges should you be interested to see this in action.

[SubGod22]

Classical Music Lifts Our Mood by 'Synchronizing' Parts of the Brain, Says Study of Patients with Depression

Whether Bach, Beethoven, or Mozart, it’s widely recognized that classical music can affect a person’s mood.

Now, scientists are using brainwave measurements and neural imaging techniques to show exactly how Western classical music elicits its positive effects on the brain.

The discovery could lead to effective ways to use music as treatment to activate the brain in people with treatment-resistant depression.

“Ultimately, we hope to translate our research findings into clinical practice, developing convenient and effective music therapy tools and applications,” said Professor Bomin Sun, of Shanghai Jiao Tong University.

The study focused on 13 patients with treatment-resistant depression who already had electrodes implanted in their brains for the purpose of deep-brain stimulation.

The implants are placed in a circuit connecting two areas in the forebrain—the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST) and the nucleus accumbens (NAc).

Using the implants, the researchers found that music generates its antidepressant effects by synchronizing the neural oscillations between the auditory cortex, which is responsible for processing of sensory information—and the rewards circuit, responsible for processing emotional information.

“The BNST-NAc circuit, sometimes referred to as part of the ‘extended amygdala’—underscores the close relationship between this circuit and the amygdala, a central structure in emotional information processing,” said Prof. Sun, a corresponding author of the paper published in the journal Cell Reports.

“This study reveals that music induces triple-time locking of neural oscillations in the cortical-BNST-NAc circuit through auditory synchronization.”

This doesn't really surprise me at all. Music plays such a factor in so many lives and it goes beyond just lyrics and such.

[SubGod22]

Hopefully it's the start of a trend.

KWCH - Suicides drop in Sedgwick Co., still higher than national average

A report presented to Sedgwick County Commissioners on Wednesday by the Sedgwick County Suicide Prevention Coalition showed a decline in people who ended their lives.

The report revealed that in 2023, 94 people died by suicide, a 13% drop from the year before and the lowest since 2015. The number is still above the national average.
.....
Some notable points from the data presented on Wednesday:

• Suicide rates dropped for people 54 and under but went up for older than that.
• Men accounted for roughly 3/4 of suicide deaths.
• Firearms continue to be the leading method of suicide.
• 58% of the people had a known mental illness history. (ex. depression and anxiety)
• Half of the people had a known history of suicidal intentions.
• In general, younger people commonly experience relationship stressors, while older community members face physical health stressors that lead to suicide.
• COMCARE answered 44,000 “988″ calls in 2023.

“988″ is a suicide and crisis lifeline that will connect you with confidential emotional support 24/7.

[SubGod22]

I thought about putting this in the Sliver of Hope thread, but mental health wins today.

She Was Going to Take Her Own Life, Then Married the Train Driver Who Spotter Her on Tracks

Charlotte stood on the train tracks ready for a train to come sweeping down the rails and end it all.

However the driver of that train, 47-year-old Dave Lay, had other plans.

Slamming the brakes after receiving notice of a pedestrian on the tracks, Lay brought the train to a halt and got down to talk with the suicidal woman for nearly half an hour before eventually getting her safely to the next platform.

Local police met the pair, and helped Charlotte get in contact with local mental health support workers then and there. Shaken but feeling good about what he was able to do, Dave departed, imagining the episode had finished.

But Charlotte had other plans.

Looking him up on Facebook the following day, she sent a message thanking him for the kindness he showed her on the rails at Crossflatts Station in West Yorkshire, England.

“I walked down the tracks and sat down, waiting,” Charlotte told the British media service SWNS. “I’m unsure who raised the alarm about my presence but when the next train came, it slowed and stopped far from me. I’m so grateful to Dave for stopping that day and being so patient and understanding.”

After Dave returned Charlotte’s text telling her he was available whenever she needed to speak to someone, they began exchanging messages on a daily basis. They met for a coffee after chatting for two months.

Fast forward three years, and they tied the knot when Charlotte was 22 weeks pregnant with their first child.

I think this story shows that we're all capable of helping in some way when there's someone in crisis. Sure, those trained to handle it are better suited, but sometimes it just takes a patient person and some empathy to help someone through it.

Also, please seek help before choosing to try and end your life. I get the darkness and the pain, but there is hope out there. There are people who care, and more than you think.

[WuDrWu]

Add former Duke player Kyle Singler to the mental health list. I’m not sure how or why but he’s off the rails and I don’t think anyone will be surprised if it ends tragically, anytime.

[Kel Varnsen]

Add former Duke player Kyle Singler to the mental health list. I’m not sure how or why but he’s off the rails and I don’t think anyone will be surprised if it ends tragically, anytime.

That video was bizarre.

There are many, many things I disagree with Adam Silver and Bill Simmons on. But this video from the Sloan Sports Analytics Conference in 2019 was a fascinating discussion about mental health and the role money and social media both play. This discussion is more centered around NBA players, but it applies societally as well. The discussion starts around the 25:00 mark so I updated the embedded video to start then. Great watch if you have some time.

https://www.youtube.com/live/RJ1lFirN91E?si=wkWBqoOXIOojkZLA&t=1500