#youth mental health

#youth mental health

In early February, Canadian researchers reported that rates of severe mental illness among young people have risen alongside increased access to high-potency cannabis (Callaghan, et al., 2022). Around the same time, a new book, A Killing in Cannabis (Kohn, 2024), revisited a 2019 California murder and highlighted how violence tied to the marijuana trade has persisted even after legalization. On February 9, 2024, an opinion piece from the New York Times editorial board

"Prolonged Incarceration of Children Due to Mental Health Care Shortages,"

"If I had an intrusive thought, I'd restart the walk from the bus stop," she says. "I was genuinely terrified that if I didn't redo it and something happened, it would be my fault".

As parents, we did everything we could to teach our kids how to use social media responsibly and monitor their usage, but it still wasn't enough. Our sons, Carson and David, suffered from relentless cyberbullying that resulted in them taking their own lives. As we navigated our own grief and struggled to understand the pain that overwhelmed our sons, we met each other - and even more "survivor parents" who have experienced similar loss.

Following Setzer's death, for instance, his mother discovered that his last conversation had been with an AI chatbot styled after "Game of Thrones" character Daenerys Targaryen and had revolved around suicide. In his last messages to the bot, the Character.AI persona generated text asking Setzer to "please come home to me as soon as possible." "What if I told you I could come home right now?" Sewell replied. "...please do, my sweet king," the AI responded. Soon after, Setzer took his own life with his father's gun.

Sadmir and his board game companions are just some of the 300 patients at the gaming disorder clinic, Australia's only publicly-run institution of its type, helping patients wean themselves off excessive online gaming habits. The room where they meet is a simple space in a faceless hospital but in the corner, there's a pile of boardgames on a chair. Jenga, Uno and Sushi Go are also popular choices at the informal group which is attended by both patients and clinicians.