Teen Suicide
The Ongoing Epidemic of Youth Suicide in America
Two recent youth suicides in rapid succession claimed the lives of a 19-year-old young man and a 14-year-old teenager in a small Northeast community. Both deaths, and thousands more across the country, beg the question that serves as the title for the 2021 book by Josie Jacob, Why Did You Choose to Die? A Personal Story of Reconciliation…
Read MorePost Pandemic: Why the Kids May Not Be OK
By Stephen Gray Wallace, featured in Psychology Today. Even with a new subvariant of COVID-19 (BA.2) speeding our way, there is an undeniable feeling among the broader population that the sunset of this pandemic is soon to set. People across the land are ditching their facemasks – except where mandates are reappearing – packing restaurants and…
Read MoreTriple Threat
By Stephen Gray Wallace COVID-19 has wrought so many unforeseen consequences for youth mental health that it’s almost hard to quantify them. Some were recently noted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which stated that mental-health related emergency room visits for children aged 12 to 17 increased by 31 percent from April…
Read MoreThe Long Arc of Misery
By Stephen Gray Wallace. Why resiliency is key for kids during, and after, the pandemic These days, it seems that every time we are about to turn a corner on COVID-19, we somehow miss the intersection. Such is the long, slow, agonizing slog that is the pandemic. By now, most people are familiar with the…
Read MoreNew Report Finds Positive Trends in Youth Substance Use – Young people are using drugs less often, but mental health remains a concern.
By Stephen Gray Wallace, featured in Psychology Today Since 1986, educators and public health proponents have used social norming theory to reduce youth risk behaviors. This theory holds that the behavior of young people is heavily influenced by their perception of what the norm is among their peers with regard to behaviors such as underage drinking…
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