NPR (8/31, Anderson, Cardoza) reports in the first part of its NPR Ed series on mental health in schools that “up to one in five kids living in the US shows signs or symptoms of a mental health disorder in a given year.” What’s more, “nearly 80 percent who need mental health services won’t get them.” According to experts, “schools could play a role in identifying students with problems and helping them succeed.” Unfortunately, “many schools are not prepared” to take on this role.

Related Links:

— “Mental Health In Schools: A Hidden Crisis Affecting Millions Of Students,” MEG ANDERSON and KAVITHA CARDOZA, National Public Radio, August 31, 2016.

TIME (8/31, Rhodan) reports that “young adulthood is a critical period for mental health,” and students heading off to college may end up facing “a pending mental health crisis.” The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration has found that 75% “of mental illnesses are onset by age 24 and 43.8 million adults, about one in five, experienced a mental illness in 2012.”

But, “the experiences students and parents have in dealing with mental illness can vary greatly from campus to campus, making it important for people to gain knowledge about what to expect, and what to look out for, imperative.” On Aug. 31, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, in partnership with the Jed Foundation, “released a guidebook for students and parents that outlines warning signs for mental illness, resources available to students, and information parents need to know about getting access to their children’s health information.”

Related Links:

— “Why College Is a Risky Time for Students’ Mental Health,” Maya Rhodan, Time, August 31, 2016.

The AP (8/29, Thomas) reports that on Monday, Hillary Clinton unveiled “a comprehensive plan to address millions of Americans coping with mental illness, pointing to the need to fully integrate mental health services into the nation’s health care system.” The proposal seeks to ensure that Americans need “no longer separate mental health from physical health in terms of access, care and quality of treatment.” In addition, it aims “to enforce mental health parity laws and provide training to law enforcement officers to deal with people grappling with mental health problems while prioritizing treatment over jail for low-level offenders.”

Psychiatric News (8/29) reports the American Psychiatric Association applauded Clinton’s proposed comprehensive mental healthcare plan. APA president Maria A. Oquendo, MD, stated, “We welcome the attention Clinton is giving to mental health, an issue that affects Americans from all walks of life.” Dr. Oquendo added, “Our mental health system needs to be discussed this election season. Americans deserve to know how the candidates plan to address this important issue.”

Related Links:

— “APA Applauds Mental Health Plan Unveiled Today by Hillary Clinton,” Psychiatric News, August 29, 2016.

In “To Your Health” in the Washington Post (8/29), psychologist Juli Fraga, PsyD, writes that many people are unaware that “postpartum depression (PPD), the mental health disorder that affects up to 20 percent of new mothers…often begins during pregnancy.”

Research indicates that “women who develop depression before or during their pregnancies suffer from a more severe version of this mental-health concern and experience more intense feelings of sadness, along with sleep concerns and, in rare instances, paranoia.”

Recently, “the US Preventive Services Task Force recommended that all expectant and new mothers receive maternal mental-health screenings.”

Related Links:

— “Prenatal depression may be the most severe form of maternal depression,” Juli Fraga, Washington Post, August 29, 2016.

The CBS News (8/29, Marcus) website reports that “too often,” people “who have depression aren’t actually getting the treatment they need,” researchers found after analyzing “data from 46,417 adults who responded to a survey in 2012 and 2013.”

The survey results revealed that “more than eight percent screened positive for depression, yet less than a third of that group (28.7 percent) received any kind of treatment.” American Psychiatric Association president Maria Oquendo, MD, pointed out that a shortage of mental health professionals may interfere with a depressed person’s ability to get treatment. “In many communities, there aren’t” any mental healthcare professionals. It can also be difficult for people with depression to get motivated enough to find a mental healthcare professional.

Dr. Oquendo said, “The onset of depression is so insidious and often times it’s not identified until it’s serious. Then a lack of motivation and apathy interfere.”

Related Links:

— “Many with depression have something else in common,” MARY BROPHY MARCUS, CBS News, August 29, 2016.