In a special piece for CNN (8/19), Melinda Ring, MD, FACP, medical director of the Osher Center for Integrative Medicine and the Drs. Pat and Carl Greer Distinguished Physician in Integrative Medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, writes that according to a recent review of 10 studies published “in the journal JAMA Pediatrics, 23% of teens report they are or have been the target of cyberbullying.”

But, in Dr. Ring’s personal experience as the mom of two adolescents, “allowing a teen access to social media can also be a crucial part of recovery from depression and anxiety.” When Dr. Ring’s son Matthew dealt with “anxious and depressive feelings,” the family and Matthew’s therapist successfully worked with him “to find sites that were an actual support, offering messages of ‘staying strong.’” Dr. Ring also points out that according to the NIMH, “in 2012, an estimated 2.2 million adolescents, or 9.1% of the US teen population (ages 12 to 17), had at least one major depressive episode in the past year.”

Related Links:

— “Teen depression and how social media can help or hurt,” Dr. Melinda Ring, CNN, August 6, 2015.

CNN (8/19, Wallace) reports in a piece focused on Rosie O’Donnell’s daughter Chelsea, a 17-year-old with a mental illness who ran away from home and was found, that about “one out of five adolescents has a diagnosable mental health disorder, and nearly one in three shows symptoms of depression, according to an overview by the Department of Health and Human Services of the latest research.” Unfortunately, “less than half of adolescents with psychiatric disorders received any kind of treatment in the last year, the Department of Health and Human Services reported.” If parents think their youngsters are “suffering from depression or any other mental health issue, the most important thing…is get them treatment.”

Related Links:

— “Teen depression and how social media can help or hurt,” Dr. Melinda Ring, CNN, August 6, 2015.

HealthDay (8/18, Preidt) reports, “Family problems early in life might raise boys’ risk of depression and anxiety, which is also tied to altered brain structure in their late teens and” into early adulthood, according to a study published online Aug. 17 in JAMA Pediatrics. The study, which “included nearly 500 males, ages 18 to 21,” found that “those boys who faced family problems during” the years from birth to age six “were more likely to have depression and anxiety at ages seven, 10 and 13.” Such boys “were more likely to have lower volume of…’gray matter’ in the brain by the time they reached ages 18 to 21.”

Related Links:

— “Family Struggles May Affect Boys’ Brain Development,” Robert Preidt, HealthDay, August 17, 2015.

Kids Who Grow Up In Military Families During Wartime May Have An Increased Likelihood For Risky Behaviors.
The Wall Street Journal (8/18, A3, Hackman, Subscription Publication) reports that a study published online Aug. 17 in JAMA Pediatrics suggests that youngsters who grow up in military families during wartime may have an increased likelihood for risky behaviors.

The Stars And Stripes (DC) (8/18, Svan) reports that such children appear to be “more likely than their nonmilitary peers to abuse drugs and alcohol, get into fights or bring guns to school, among other risky forms of behavior.” For the study, researchers “mined data from nearly 689,000 middle and high school students who took the 2013 statewide California Healthy Kids Survey, including more than 54,000 who were part of military families.”

Related Links:

— “Study: Military Children More Prone to Risky Behavior,” Michelle Hackman, Wall Street Journal, August 17, 2015.

The New York Times (8/18, A15, Shear, Subscription Publication) reports that the White House announced on Monday a new initiative to help counter the “surge in heroin abuse” in 15 states in the Northeast. According to the Office of National Drug Control Policy, the Federal government will spend $2.5 million, directed to five “high intensity drug trafficking areas,” including Appalachia, New England, Philadelphia/Camden, New York/New Jersey, and Washington/Baltimore. The funding will “hire public safety and public health coordinators…in an attempt to focus on the treatment, rather than the punishment, of addicts.”

The Los Angeles Times (8/18, Toman-Miller) reports that an additional $1.3 million in funding will “go to fight trafficking on the border with Mexico, drug czar Michael Botticelli said.” Under the program, public health coordinators “will monitor heroin use and issue warnings regarding dangerous batches of the drug,” while public safety coordinators “will work with law enforcement to stem illegal imports.”

Related Links:

— “U.S. Budgets Cash to Treat Heroin Abuse in Northeast,” Michael D. Shear, New York Times, August 17, 2015.