Tag Archives: anxiety

The Untold Truth: How Parental Mental Illness Affects Children’s Mental Health

July 29, 2022

Mental health among the population has reached new lows. The COVID-19 pandemic had a profound and prevailing toll on the mental well-being of children, well-documented by parents, pediatricians, and psychologists. Suicide has become a leading cause of death for children above the age of 10, and mental health issues were the reason behind a surge of children’s emergency room visits during the first portion of the pandemic.

Congruently, adult mental health has plummeted in recent years with rising rates of substance use disorders, overdoses, and mental health conditions. According to the latest statistics from Mental Health America, nearly 50 million American adults are currently experiencing a mental illness, and over half do not receive any treatment.

Neither of these populations struggles in a vacuum, yet the impact of caregivers’ mental health on that of their children can range from protective to debilitating. As recent research reports, declines in pediatric mental health are strongly associated with parent-driven factors, from maltreatment to parental mental illness.

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Mental Health Awareness Month: New Breakthroughs in Gene Editing for Alcohol-Related Damage and Anxiety

May 13, 2022

The topic of mental health has been catapulted to the forefront of the healthcare community, with chronic stress, burnout, and loneliness rising significantly due to the pandemic and its long-lasting aftereffects. Each year, May celebrates Mental Health Awareness Month, a national movement working to raise awareness about mental health and its escalating prevalence, combat stigma, provide support, and educate the public.

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Weighted Blankets for Insomnia and Anxiety

May 2, 2019

In an era of continuous over-stimulation and high stress, a good night’s sleep is becoming increasingly hard to come by. More and more individuals are developing sleep apnea, chronic insomnia, and other sleep disorders, creating a “sleep market” — worth $28.6 billion in 2017 — focused on curing sleepless Americans. Over-the-counter and non-prescription drugs are on the rise, while sedatives such as Ambien and Lunesta remain as the most commonly prescribed drugs for insomnia.

As the side effects of sleep medications can be debilitating, insomniacs are increasingly turning to more natural solutions. A new, drug-free approach to targeting insomnia and other anxiety-related sleep disorders has been growing in popularity over the past two years.  Weighted blankets, or gravity blankets, are being marketed as the latest solution for insomnia, nighttime anxiety, and stress. Filled with plastic beads or pellets, these blankets tend to range in weight from 3 to 20 pounds and are meant to mimic a comforting hug, lulling users to sleep naturally.

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