SUICIDES IN THE US AND MISSISSIPPI: DISTURBING TRENDS
Sudhakar Madakasira, MD, DLFAPA Suicide is a terrible human tragedy and potentially preventable. As suicide rates have steadily increased over the past few decades, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline was established in 2004 to provide 24/7 suicide crisis intervention and support via a toll-free telephonic hotline. The US Surgeon General in 2012 announced a National Strategy for Prevention of Suicides (1). Suicide prevention is becoming recognized as a public health responsibility rather than that of the clinical settings (2). A previous study reported that suicide was the tenth most common cause of death in Mississippi (MS) in 1996 and the…
Types of Anxiety & Best Treatments
Anxiety is a common mental health disorder that can manifest in different ways, affecting people from various backgrounds and causing them to experience negative feelings of worry, fear, apprehension, and uncertainty. There is a wide range of causes of anxiety, including genetic predispositions, life events, and environmental stressors. Some anxiety is experienced at such a high level of severity that quality of life and ability to function are impacted, while other forms of anxiety are low-level and manageable. The most important thing to know about anxiety is that you’re not alone in experiencing anxiety. Millions across the globe face anxiety…
Smash the Stigma Was a Smashing Success!
We had a blast watching everyone play tennis and connect with each other! We can't wait to see you all again when we take Smash the Stigma to our Biloxi and Southaven locations later this year. Keep an eye out for details, and remember, together we can make a difference!
“Who’s On Your Team?”
“Team Work makes the Dreams Work” a popular saying some of you may have recognized throughout the years. Its reference has been related to people working together to achieve more than they could individually and or independently. One could say that could not be a truer statement in terms of today’s prevalence in childhood mental health disorders. You’re not alone. A team approach — with families, healthcare professionals, mental health providers, educators, and social-emotional support sources all working together — we can change lives and outcomes during these formative years in our children’s lives. In today’s society we have come…
Psychiatric Partial Hospitalization Programs: A Primer
Partial Hospitalization, sometimes referred to as “Day Hospital”, is neither an inpatient service nor a strict outpatient service, rather a mid-ground along the range of treatment intensity between the two traditional types of psychiatric services. Partial hospital programs (PHP) render acute care and intensive therapies as an alternative to inpatient hospitalization. They also provide transitional treatment between an inpatient episode and outpatient treatment in order to shorten inpatient length of stay andenhance potential for renewed productivity of the individual. They also function as a supplement to traditional outpatient treatment. Although required to be a core component of the Community Mental…
Self-Care – When taking care of yourself is the No.1 thing you can do for your child
When the responsibilities in life allow us to forget to take care of our personal needs, it’s time to do a self-care check- up. This is most commonly true for moms, who have many caregiving responsibilities, but none the less we moms certainly don't own the “letting life get in the way of taking care of ourselves” monopoly. Educators too often easily loose themselves in the mission of education, many times feeling the need to do more or work harder for their students, which can easily lead to a burn out, if self-care measures are left out. No matter if…
Coping through Covid-19
The current pandemic of Covid-19 is stressful for many of us. Fear and anxiety can be overwhelming and can cause strong emotions in adults and children. Learning how to cope with stress and getting help when you need it will make yourself, your family, and your friends better for it. The Center of Disease and Control and Prevention (CDC) suggest that stress during an infectious disease outbreak can include any of the following: fear and worry about your own health and the health of your loved ones, changes in sleep or eating patterns, difficulty sleeping or concentrating, worsening of chronic…
