Mental Health

We are at a critical moment in time: we must reshape mental health policy in the US

mthomp7 — Wed, 13 Nov 2024 17:59:26 +0000

We are at a critical moment in time: we must reshape mental health policy in the US mthomp7 Wed, 11/13/2024 - 12:59

In This Story

Stigmatized attitudes toward mental health have contributed to decades of harmful policies. Evelyn Tomaszewski, assistant professor in the Department of Social Work, advocates for a human rights-based approach to address outdated and harmful policy practices.

Evelyn Tomaszewski, assistant professor in the Department of Social Work, advocates for a human rights-based approach to address outdated and harmful policy practices.

Public policy plays a critical role in the protection and promotion of mental health. Research by Assistant Professor of Social Work Evelyn Tomaszewski analyzes over 80 years of national and global mental health policy trends. The study is the first comprehensive review of policy, noting the historical and ongoing impacts of stigma, discrimination, and the structural barriers to reaching mental health equity. The aim of the article is to shift perceptions of mental health care and advocate for future policy to be built upon a human rights-based approach.

“We are at a critical moment in time. Comprehensive, culturally relevant and engaged community-driven public health policy is being undermined, defunded, and devalued. Advocates for comprehensive mental health policies are committed to mitigating stigma and discrimination and reshaping the mental health landscape to focus on communities, prevention, and inclusion. Yet, major gaps still exist. This requires a call to action,” said Tomaszewski, MSW program director.

“Efforts to reform mental health policy require interdisciplinary and community-driven policies and practice initiatives that can promote and commit to mental health equity in the US,” said Tomaszewski.

The paper calls for commitment at the government level to address political determinants of health by developing legislation from an equity lens, and outlines action items for national and international governance, research, education, and outreach. Tomaszewski suggests expanding essential ACA services to include behavioral health into primary care, for the US to ratify several United Nations Conventions, including the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and engaging people with relevant lived experiences in program and policy development.

“Eighty Years of National Mental Health Policy: Exploring the Inclusion of a Human Rights Approach” was published in September in the American Journal of Orthopsychiatry as a part of a special issue in honor of the 100th Anniversary of the Global Alliance for Behavioral Health and Social Justice.

Topics

Mental Health

United Nations Sustainable Development Goals

United Nations

The Lost Art of Eye Contact in the Digital Age

mthomp7 — Fri, 08 Nov 2024 15:46:12 +0000

The Lost Art of Eye Contact in the Digital Age mthomp7 Fri, 11/08/2024 - 10:46

In This Story

Melissa J. Perry, Sc.D., MHS

Every day, as I walk down the halls of George Mason’s College of Public Health, I see the heads of students, faculty, and staff buried deep into their digital devices. Phones have made us always on and available, responding to the digital pings of friends, colleagues, children, parents, or caregivers seeking an immediate response to an idea, question, or post. So, while we might be working, sharing a like or a smile, a wink, or a hello, we also are missing an opportunity for simple eye contact.

I see this as a fundamental shift in our interpersonal communications capacity. Raised in a rural environment where greeting each person with a smile or a nod was commonplace, I find it increasingly difficult to catch someone’s eye. This has me wondering about the implications of our diverted gazes on our culture and social well-being, the capacity for deep connection and, therefore, empathy among the next generation, and how we might approach addressing this growing concern.

The Shift in Gaze

"As an educator, it concerns me deeply that the opportunity for spontaneous, genuine connections—so vital for building trust and understanding—is being overshadowed by the lure of glowing screens," says Perry, pictured here speaking with CPH faculty.

Our modern lifestyle locks our eyes more frequently on screens than on human faces. Whether it's in public transportation, cafes, or even during intimate gatherings, people are more often engrossed in a digital world. This change is not merely a shift in where we look but fundamentally how we connect and interact with others. In the academic corridors, this shift prompts a critical inquiry: when do we truly look at each other? As an educator, it concerns me deeply that the opportunity for spontaneous, genuine connections—so vital for building trust and understanding—is being overshadowed by the lure of glowing screens.

Scientific Insights Into Eye Contact

Eye contact is not just a social signal; it is a complex, brain-stimulating interaction that is vital for human connection. Neuroscience research shows that when two people make eye contact, their neural activity synchronizes, enhancing communication and understanding. This phenomenon, known as interbrain synchrony, fosters a shared sense of purpose and emotional state. As a dean, I ponder the implications of this science on our teaching methods and student interactions. Are we nurturing an environment that encourages these meaningful connections, or are we succumbing to the ease of digital communication?

Direct eye contact stimulates specific brain regions tied to social cognition and empathy. These areas include the prefrontal cortex and the superior temporal sulcus. They are essential for decoding another person's emotions and intentions, serving as critical components in the architecture of empathy.

The Shift in Gaze

Scientific Insights Into Eye Contact

This story was originally featured on Psychology Today in the Dean's recurring column The Mindful Epidemiologist.

Topics

Mental Health

Psychology Today

Why the Digital World Is Making Us Forget Things

mthomp7 — Fri, 08 Nov 2024 15:01:10 +0000

Why the Digital World Is Making Us Forget Things mthomp7 Fri, 11/08/2024 - 10:01

In This Story

Melissa J. Perry, Sc.D., MHS

Back in the old days—the 1980s—when I was a graduate student, the start-up whir of my Gateway computer focused my brain as I studied, wrote, and retained scientific information that would serve me in my future career in academia.

That type of concentration was possible throughout the ’80s, ’90s, and early 2000s—until the arrival of what Thomas Friedman described as our age of extreme acceleration in his book Thank You for Being Late (2016). After decades of computers becoming mobile, powerful, and ubiquitous, focus seems to be our most endangered mental commodity, leading to a collective memory loss, or what I call digital-induced amnesia, the inability to process, retain, or recall information due to chronic overconsumption of digital stimuli. As our world becomes ever more information-rich and time-poor, our inability to retain and analyze that information for ourselves has us relying on machines—potentially to our detriment.

Melissa Perry, ScD is a regular contributor to Psychology Today. Her column is The Mindful Epidemiologist.

The Way Things Were

When I started my academic career, I understood that command of information and deep knowledge of my field was paramount to my success. I dutifully read and filed away mounds of scientific journal articles into manila folders inserted into pea-soup green file folders that would hang suspended on metal rods in the filing cabinet. Eventually, I would spice things up with folders of different colors.

To meticulously maintain command of increasing amounts of information, every paper was placed in a folder and every folder in a category. Categories were assigned main numbers, and folders within categories got a decimal point added to the main number to give it a unique identifier. If I read a new article on injection drug use among adolescents, it was assigned the file number 600.007, 600 for the category “adolescents,” and 007 was the next available number after paper 600.006 on adolescents and smoking. The system legend was kept in a three-ring loose-leaf binder. Until recently, I knew all of the category numbers by memory. I was a blast at parties, I’m sure.

At the time, I believed—maybe a little smugly—that this system gave me a competitive edge as a scholar, scientist, and expert, and I was unfailing in my filing discipline. But gradually, and then seemingly all at once, the world changed around me, file folders be damned. My efforts to migrate my file folder system into this exponentially expanding digital world quickly fell apart.

Losing Our “Human Hard Drives”

At the same time, many people seemingly welcomed the ability to turn their memories and the contents of their “human hard drives” over to a machine. It freed up their mental capacities for higher-order creative thinking. Data processing steps and quantitative analyses now could produce results without a human touch. But I found that threatening to my very identity as a scientist who needed to stay on top of the field.

Now I recognize that they were right and I was wrong—human memory skills no longer are the asset they once were. Most technology analysts agree that changed in 2007 when the iPhone entered our pockets and transformed our relationship with information—it became more readily available and much more voluminous.

James Lang observes in his book, Distracted (2020), distractedness is the norm among American college students, and my students in the classroom and the lab at George Mason University sometimes tell me they can’t remember the sentences they just read. Not being able to shift from the sympathetic (reacting) to the parasympathetic (contemplating) parts of our brain long enough to retain information can leave one anxious, agitated, and without the secure feeling of being knowledgeable.

I consider these to be symptoms of the widespread problem of digital-induced amnesia.

What It Means to Rely on Machines

T.S. Elliot once asked, “Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?” That is an apt question that encapsulates what we are missing in our distracted digital age. Without the learned ability to acquire knowledge by commanding, synthesizing, and retaining information, our critical thinking skills are only as good as the machines we depend on.

It isn’t tragic that I no longer need to meticulously hand-file my articles and that I can search whatever pops into my head by effortlessly typing it into a search field. But it contributes to what Cal Newport describes in his book A World Without Email (2021) as the hyperactive hive mind. Our brains serve as human routers, receiving and transmitting data, day in and day out, as we search, find, forget, and repeat. It is a radically different set of behaviors from reading, contemplating, critiquing, synthesizing, physically filing, and ultimately retaining enduring knowledge.

Perhaps the loss of memory and retention at any age is the price we have accepted for the conveniences and instant rewards of fingertip information. Perhaps accessing it and knowing it for the moment is all that most people actually want. Some futurists foresee that the notion of lost human capacity is all short-term and that our brains will become more machine-like in time as we adapt to the constant conditioning of the thousands of digital acts we each perform every day.

If that is the case, we need to remember what we are losing even as we make forgetting our standard way of being in the world.

This story was originally featured on Psychology Today in the Dean's recurring column The Mindful Epidemiologist.

Topics

Mental Health

Psychology Today

Why connection still matters at work

mthomp7 — Fri, 08 Nov 2024 14:24:58 +0000

Why connection still matters at work mthomp7 Fri, 11/08/2024 - 09:24

In This Story

Melissa J. Perry, Sc.D., MHS

Emails and messages alone can’t replace the human connections that fuel true productivity.

by Dean Melissa Perry

Picture a freezing winter morning in Vermont. I’m 14, delivering newspapers on an icy road, bundled up against the chill with a heavy satchel over my shoulder. My neighbors are up early, waiting for their papers, and when I’m late, their frustration is palpable. But with a quick smile and genuine connection, I smooth things over. Those early mornings taught me grit, empathy, and the importance of trust—qualities that continue to guide my leadership today.

"Impact isn’t measured by clicks but by connections—like all-hands meetings, hallway conversations, and one-on-one chats. These interactions keep us engaged and thriving as a team," says Perry, pictured here having a hallway conversation with Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs, Cathy Tompkins.

As a university dean, I see the same need for connection, even in our fast-paced, digital world. It’s tempting to manage through quick taps on a screen, where emojis and read receipts replace face-to-face interactions. While I embrace tech for efficiency, I know that emails and messages alone can’t replace the human connections that fuel true productivity. Impact isn’t measured by clicks but by connections—like all-hands meetings, hallway conversations, and one-on-one chats. These interactions keep us engaged and thriving as a team.

Managing from "the palm of my hand"—through endless emails and notifications—often feels like a placebo for real human connection. My childhood paper route taught me that showing up and building trust matters, a lesson that’s only grown more relevant in our digital age, where some people go weeks without a real conversation.

The allure of managing from a digital control tower is hard to ignore. Hitting “send” is easy, but it’s not true communication. In our rush to respond instantly (or reply all), we lose the space for real problem-solving and strategic thinking. I’ll admit: I sometimes fall into this trap myself, relying on quick replies instead of deeper, more meaningful connections. It takes conscious effort to step back, refocus, and re-engage.

This isn’t just nostalgia for simpler days. Keeping human connections alive is essential for our teams’ well-being. Constant urgency without personal connection fuels stress, burnout, and disengagement.

Howard Gardner, in Five Minds for the Future, calls this approach the Ethical Mind: a way of thinking that prioritizes responsibility and integrity over convenience. Decisions should consider our impact on others, a reminder that human connection must come first—even in what often feels like a speed-of-light-driven world.

5 Strategies for Balancing Tech with Human Connection

Finding a balance between tech convenience and human-centered leadership is critical. Here are five strategies to foster a healthier, more productive approach:

Lead with Values: Following Gardner’s Ethical Mind, lead with empathy and responsibility. Foster a culture where choices are guided by values, not just speed.
Prioritize Face-to-Face Communication: Distinguish between urgent and non-urgent issues. For complex discussions, encourage in-person or video interactions to reinforce connections and reduce misunderstandings.
Set Aside Deep Work Blocks: Dedicate time for uninterrupted, deep work to encourage strategic thinking and creativity. A break from constant notifications allows focus on what truly matters.
Reward Human Connection: Choose in-person or video meetings for sensitive matters to build empathy and understanding—critical for a positive, supportive work environment. Reward by recognizing your team members’ efforts. This could be through collaborative problem-solving, organizing informal team gatherings, or mentoring a newer team member. By celebrating these actions, you reinforce the importance of relational skills alongside traditional performance metrics.
Model Work-Life Boundaries: Demonstrate a balanced approach to digital communication by setting clear boundaries. For instance, avoid sending non-urgent emails outside of business hours and encourage your team to disconnect after work. By modeling healthy boundaries, you show that well-being and presence in both personal and professional spaces are valued, fostering a more mindful work culture.

Conclusion

Managing from the palm of our hands may be a modern necessity, but it can’t replace the interpersonal and ethical skills essential to effective leadership. We must model a balanced approach, creating workplaces that are productive, humane, and mentally healthy. Just as my paper route taught me the power of trust, today I see these same lessons guiding me through the complexities of modern leadership.

This story was originally featured on Psychology Today in the Dean's recurring column The Mindful Epidemiologist.

Topics

Mental Health

Leadership

Psychology Today

Diabetes.co.uk: Raedeh Basiri quoted and her team’s research cited in story about the role of diet reducing risks linked to diabetes and mental health

tthoma8 — Fri, 12 Jan 2024 17:55:41 +0000

Diabetes.co.uk: Raedeh Basiri quoted and her team’s research cited in story about the role of diet reducing risks linked to diabetes and mental health tthoma8 Fri, 01/12/2024 - 12:55

In This Story

Raedeh Basiri, PhD, RDN

Study highlights pivotal role of diet in reducing risks linked to diabetes and mental health

Topics

Poor nutrition contributes to poor mental health and risk of diabetes

Mary Cunningham — Mon, 20 Nov 2023 22:20:16 +0000

Poor nutrition contributes to poor mental health and risk of diabetes Mary Cunningham Mon, 11/20/2023 - 17:20

In This Story

Raedeh Basiri, PhD, RDN

People with diabetes (Diabetes Mellitus) are two-to-three times more likely to have depression than people without, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Current treatment includes therapy, medicine, or both. However, the understanding of the multifaceted relationship between nutrition, mental health, and DM is relatively new in scientific discourse. Mason researchers sought to learn about the connection between nutrition, diabetes, and mental health.

Two literature reviews from assistant professor Raedeh Basiri show that poor nutrition plays a dual role, contributing to both the risk of developing type 2 diabetes and impacting mental health, including anxiety and depression. According to the findings, mental disorders, such as depression and anxiety, increase the risk of developing type 2 diabetes, and diabetes is also linked with an increased risk of developing depression and anxiety. Nutrition interventions can aid in both of these health issues.

“Our findings underscore the pivotal role of dietary choices in reducing the risks associated with both diabetes and mental health. The implications of these findings extend beyond the scientific community, as they hold promise for informing public health policies, health care practices, and dietary recommendations that can positively impact the general population, said Basiri, the lead author of the papers.

“Ultimately, the research seeks to empower individuals to make informed and health-promoting dietary choices that can serve as a proactive strategy for the prevention and management of diabetes, as well as anxiety and depression,” Basiri said.

More specifically, the team’s findings provide a comprehensive view of the relationship between dietary patterns, health outcomes, and the critical role of eating behavior in the context of type 2 diabetes and mental health.

The team found that eating foods rich in fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, lean protein, and low-fat dairy is associated with a reduced risk of type 2 diabetes and mental health disorders such as depression and anxiety. Conversely, a diet with a large number of processed foods was found to have a negative effect, increasing the susceptibility to type 2 diabetes, depression, and anxiety.

Additionally, the research team found that a diet with energy-dense foods but lacking in essential nutrients, such as omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin D, vitamin E, vitamin B6, vitamin B12, folate, selenium, chromium, and magnesium, is associated with the exacerbation of unfavorable symptoms in both mental health and the development of type 2 diabetes. This connection emphasizes the importance of nutrient-rich dietary choices for overall health and well-being.

“Current scientific evidence underscores the potential benefits of adopting a well-balanced dietary regimen in decreasing anxiety and depression symptoms while enhancing glycemic control in individuals with diabetes,” said Basiri.

“Exploring the Interrelationships between Diabetes, Nutrition, Anxiety, and Depression: Implications for Treatment and Prevention Strategies” was published in Nutrients in September 2023 with Mason Master of Science in Nutrition students Blessing Seidu and Mark Rudich as co-authors.

“Key Nutrients for Optimal Blood Glucose Control and Mental Health in Individuals with Diabetes: A Review of the Evidence” was published in Nutrients in September 2023 with Seidu and Mason Professor Lawrence Cheskin as co-authors.

Neither study received external funding.

Topics

Mason Researchers Create Digital Health Solution for Students Experiencing Academic, Mental Health Concerns

John Brandon Cantrell — Wed, 05 Jan 2022 14:33:33 +0000

Mason Researchers Create Digital Health Solution for Students Experiencing Academic, Mental Health Concerns John Brandon C… Wed, 01/05/2022 - 09:33

Topics

Center for Health Equity

In This Story

Lawrence J. Cheskin, MD

Hong Xue, PhD

The intervention tool uses machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms to detect a decline in undergraduate students' mental health and academic performance.

Students continue to feel the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has created additional barriers to their academic success and mental well-being. A team of researchers in the College of Health and Human Services is working to address these concerns with an early intervention tool specifically designed for students from underserved and underrepresented backgrounds.

The research team includes Lawrence Cheskin, Hong Xue, Erika Kennedy, Xiaolu Cheng, and Shuo-yu Lin.

The team has created a predictive mobile app that integrates machine learning and artificial intelligence algorithms to detect when students are encountering academic and mental health challenges. The app connects students who are exhibiting risk factors to appropriate resources, such as Mason’s Counseling and Psychological Services and students’ academic advisors.

Data suggests that minority and low-income students have a greater risk for developing a mental illness and a higher need for COVID-19 related interventions.

The research team leveraged data from the ongoing Health Starts Here research project to refine the machine learning analytics. The Health Starts Here cohort study collected information on 155 diverse undergraduate students’ mental health challenges caused by the pandemic. The team will compare that data with a new cohort of 582 Mason undergraduate students using the app throughout the fall 2021 and spring 2022 semesters.

"Offering earlier assistance through the app will increase retention rates of vulnerable populations, improve mental well-being, and provide new insight into the daily lived experiences of these groups," says Erika Kennedy, a Master of Public Health student and the user interface design editor for the app.

Lawrence Cheskin, chair of the Department of Nutrition and Food Studies, and Hong Xue, associate professor in the Department of Health Administration and Policy, serve as co-principal investigators for the research project. The research team also includes Mason alumna and former postdoctoral researcher Xiaolu Cheng and PhD candidate Shuo-yu Lin.

“Users are asked some pre-screen questions about their age, employment, how many credits they are taking, and so on,” says Cheng, who developed the app. “Upon completing the pre-screen, users access a survey about mental health within the app once per week.”

The app is programmed to detect inconsistencies in participants' survey responses, allowing for intervention if the app recognizes a student exhibits behavioral, emotional, and academic risk factors that will need addressing. All information that the app collects will be securely stored on Amazon Web Services (AWS).

“We chose to use the secure AWS environment to process, maintain, and store protected health information,” Cheng said.

The group of researchers examines the data to determine if the app is effective on undergraduate student success and mental well-being throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. The team is also analyzing demographic differences, such as race, in student success when accessing the digital health solution.

"Now that the app has been developed, the next step is focusing on [sharing] the tool so that other universities and students nationwide can access and benefit from it," says Kennedy.

Suicide and Depression has been Increasing among Adolescent Girls Since 2010: Challenging What We Think We Know

dhawkin — Fri, 14 Feb 2020 22:05:59 +0000

Suicide and Depression has been Increasing among Adolescent Girls Since 2010: Challenging What We Think We Know dhawkin Fri, 02/14/2020 - 17:05

Dr. Katherine M. Keyes was the second speaker in the College of Health and Human Services Dean’s Seminar Series on January 27, 2020. Keyes is an associate professor of epidemiology and co-director of the Psychiatric Epidemiology Training Program at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health. She shared her research and the current understanding on the increase of depressive symptoms and suicide in adolescent girls.

She challenged everyone in the room to come up with their own best explanations and then we can think of studies to test them.

What is happening with adolescent mental health?

Depressive episodes among males have remained constant, but they have increased among girls since 2010. The largest decrease in self-esteem was among girls who identify as a liberal or democrat following the 2016 election.

When looking at adolescent ER visits, the total number of visits for boys and girls has remained stable since 2010, while more of them have been for suicide attempts or ideation. In addition, completed suicides are increasing overall, and males are more likely to complete suicide than females.

Is the increase linked to drug and alcohol use (a historic predictor of depressive symptoms)?

Keyes is part of a long-time National Institute on Drug Abuse study, Monitoring the Future, which has been studying high school students since 1976 asking the same questions about drug and alcohol abuse so that they can be compared over time. They found that in the 90’s and early 2000’s, kids who binge drank were more likely to be depressed, but drug and alcohol have been going down since then.

“Declines in adolescent alcohol use are part of a broader decline in use of many substances and problem behaviors since the 90’s/2000’s,” Keyes explained. “We call this this ‘the great decline.’ And yet, depressive symptoms and suicide are increasing among this group, so this is a new trend we’re seeing.”

There are two exceptions to the great decline: use of cannabis and e-cigarettes. With the changes in legality for cannabis use within states, researchers questioned whether that had an effect. Both frequent use of cannabis and experimenting are increasing. Is this happening because certain states have legalized its use in one form or another? The consensus across the studies is that the legalization of cannabis has not increased adolescent use in the states it has been legalized in.

It appears that drug and alcohol use are not responsible for this 2010 increase. However, we need more research to understand the impact of e-cigarette use.

What about smart phones?

The iPhone was released in 2007, so this was one of the first questions researchers had – are smart phones responsible for these increases? While some studies have found a link between smart phone use and increased suicide, others have found a “goldilocks effect”—a little screen time is good, but too much has a detrimental effect on child and adolescent mental health.

In order to other potential influences on mental health, Orben and colleagues analyzed the many different ways adolescents spent their time and the effect on their mental health. They found that activities such as binge drinking were three times worse than smart phone use. Marijuana use was ten times worse for adolescent mental health. On the plus side, eating fruit was ten times better.

While excessive use of smart phones may have a negative effect on adolescent health, they are not solely responsible for the increase in depressive symptoms and suicide. There is something else going on here.

Keyes explains that while limiting excessive adolescent use of smart phones may be beneficial, we shouldn’t jump to taking away adolescent smart phones, as we have early indications that they can have a protective effect as well—offering a good way to deliver therapy.

Are adults experiencing a similar increase in depressive symptoms and suicide?

Yes and no. Adults in higher socioeconomic statuses (SES) are not seeing a decline in mental health. However, those in the lower SES certainly are. Adults in crisis have increased more than 30% in 10 years, and the group most likely to complete suicide are middle-aged men.

Adults are sleeping less. However, contrary to adolescent behavior, alcohol use among some adult groups has been increasing since the 2000)’s. Alcohol use has remained relatively constant among men (although they do drink more than women), and it has also remained constant among women with children or lower levels of education. The largest increase in alcohol use has been among middle-aged high-income and highly educated women who do not have children.

What can we do?

“The trends – adults drinking increasing, adolescent mental health, adult mental health, they’re not disconnected. These are the same people moving through historical time, and if you follow them as birth cohorts, you start to uncover critical trends,” Keyes explains. “This is why it’s so important to study people over the lifespan.”

Keyes recommends that we don’t stop with prevention efforts at age 18 and that we have programs—particularly for alcohol abuse prevention—beyond that.

“We still don’t know exactly why this increase in depressive symptoms and suicide is happening among young people in the United States, and so far, the research shows that it’s not due to any one thing,” Keyes explains.

Video Recording

View the full recording here. (YouTube)

Dean’s Seminar Series

This presentation was part of the College of Health and Human Services Dean’s Seminar Series. Learn more about the series, upcoming speakers, and RSVP.