American Medical Association Archives

A new study says the COVID pandemic is taking a toll on our collective mental health.

Per NPR:

Nearly a quarter of people in the United States are experiencing symptoms of depression, according to a study published Wednesday. That’s nearly three times the number before the COVID-19 pandemic began.
And those with a lower income, smaller savings and people severely affected by the pandemic — either through a job loss, for example, or by the death of a loved one — are more likely to be bearing the burden of these symptoms.
When a population experiences something traumatic, such as a pandemic or a natural disaster, researchers usually expect a rise in mental illnesses in the weeks and months following the event.
But the mental health toll of the coronavirus pandemic seems to be far greater than previous mass traumas, says Catherine Ettman, a doctoral student in public health at Brown University and an author of the study, which was published in the current issue of the American Medical Association journal JAMA Network Open.

The impact for teens can be devastating.

Suicide is the second-leading cause of death among teens, but experts are fearing the worst as young adults prepare to face unknown challenges that the return of school may bring – from coping with varying curricula, stressing over grades, and continued social isolation from friends and trusted teachers.

In Raising Global Teens, Dr. Anisha Abraham analyzes key subjects facing today’s teens, in the context of our modern, mobile world. Dr. Abraham shares some real-world examples with practical solutions, drawing on her latest research and personal experiences to help teens thrive in school despite COVID-19 and the eradication of their daily lives.

Some points from the book include:

1. Stop Comparing – Remind your teens that no one is perfect. Everyone is “uneven”, meaning they excel in some areas, but not others, and that is OK.

2. Time Management – Encourage your teen to set goals, prioritize tasks, break large assignments into smaller steps, work for designated time periods and take breaks, and use a reminder system for deadlines.

3. Unwinding – Make sure your teen is taking time to fill their “anti-stress toolbox” with healthy ways to unwind. This could be as simple as talking to trusted friends or watching a funny show.

4. Mind & Body Care – Ensure your teen is getting adequate sleep, eating well, and exercising to regulate mood and energy levels.

5.Resilience – Support your teen during these times of uncertainty and help them to build resilience and get “bounce”

6. Conversations – Have important conversations with teens about challenging topics such as pubertal changes, sexting, vaping, planning for the future and more

7. Signs of Depression & Suicide Risk – Understand warning signs which include: mood swings, withdrawal, poor sleeping or appetite, trouble with memory and concentration, talking or writing about suicide, and giving away belongings.

8. Get Help and Support. Know when and where to get professional support if you believe your teen is depressed or suicidal. Each city, county, state and community have resources, some free, some paid that are available. Don’t wait too long. Do some research online and get help sooner than later. It could mean the difference between life and death.

Mental health is a serious thing to consider especially in this pandemic era. Consider these tips and purchasing Dr. Abraham’s book at Amazon here!

We are all in this together.

With all the recent focus on bathroom access for transgender individuals, it is interesting to note that there is another fight in the gender fluidity world: a push to end a practice in the medical culture of performing gender assignment surgery on infants born with genitalia that don’t quite meet definitions of typically male or typically female bodies.

In the past, we used the now-considered derogatory pejorative term hermaphrodite to describe what is now, more appropriately termed “intersex”. Like the outdated term, the current medical paradigm is also based on outdated medical theories popularized in the 1960s, states Kyle Knight, a researcher at Human Rights Watch.

“Doctors perform surgery on intersex children – often in infancy – with the stated aim of making it easier for them to grow up “normal.” Knight tells Bellyitch. “The fact that it is being challenged now is rooted in patients’ rights advocacy, understandings of bodily autonomy, and in part due to an opening up of dialogues about gender and sexuality. Much of the desire to make intersex people’s bodies ‘normal’ was rooted in homophobia—in that, a vagina had to be deep enough to take in a penis, a clitoris couldn’t be so big that it looked like a penis, etc. Those are not medical reasons, but biased interpretations of what a ‘normal’ body is.”

Knight’s organization recently released a report with InterACT, a group advocating for intersex youth, aimed at educating the public on surgeries on intersex children deemed “unnecessary” and that urges Congress to ban the practice.

Essentially, the procedures were the traditional and common way of dealing with children born with sexual characteristics that do not neatly align with a typical boy or girl.

But HRW and InterACT’s argument is that before rearranging anatomy in medically unnecessary procedures to fit into the “normal” construct, parents should be informed and should wait until a child is old enough to have a say in the decision.

As Associated Press recently reported, the practice is actually now under “assault” as the American Medical Association is currently considering a proposal to discourage it. Also, according to that news report, three former U.S. surgeons general say it’s unjustified.

AP also references the Human Rights Watch report which calls “the results” of these surgeries “catastrophic” and asserts they “can inflict irreversible physical and psychological harm.”

The surgeries carry the risk of nerve damage, scarring, decreased sensitivity when adults and more.

And if you ever wondered whether some transsexual adults may have been intersex at birth but were operated on as a child to remove aspects of their true gender, then a recent out-of-court settlement may prove your hunch to be true.

This week, a family reached a $440,000 settlement against the Medical University of South Carolina for operating on their adopted son at 16-months old to look like a girl. Their son, M.C., now identifies as a boy.

There is also support groups out there for parents of intersex kids, the biggest one is AIS-DSD.

Members include some of Faith who decide against surgery because of their faith.

Knight agrees.

“Parents come to the conclusion to push back on surgery from a number of different perspectives—some say God made their baby perfect, God doesn’t make mistakes, and doctors should not try to play God with their child’s body,”he offered. “Others understand that while their child may transition in their gender identity later in life, the best support and care they can provide for their infant has nothing to do with adult gender identity and everything to do with love and support just like any other kid.

“Support groups and connections with other parents in similar situations is a crucial resource. Parents are understandably confused and afraid—there are daunting social situations in the immediate and on the horizon—but there is good advice out there, it’s just a matter of doctors referring to these groups and not bludgeoning parents with threats of hypothetical social outcomes like bullying and ‘middle school locker room’ teasing instead.”

This video shares the stories of two intersex children and give more insight on the campaign to stop surgeries on intersex children in infancy. Check it out.

American Medical Association

Do Pandemic Mental Health Checks With Your Teens in These 8 Ways