#Amy Kulp

[jolieeason]

January 2024 Wrap Up

Here is what I read/posted/won/received/bought in January. As always, let me know if you have read any of these books and (if you did) what you thought of them. Books I Read: Books Reviewed: The Doom of Odin by Scott Oden—review here The Ball at Versailles by Danielle Steel—review here On the Plus Side by Jenny L. Howe—review here Second Duke’s the Charm by Kate Bateman—review here Public…

[siriuslygrimm]

Traded Trust

#BOOKREVIEW - Traded Trust - #Wanted #blog

An organization that’s run smoothly for years suffers from a complication and increased law enforcement attention that alters a young woman’s life yet again in Wanted by Amy Kulp. After a decade within a trafficking ring and leading hundreds of successful missions kidnapping girls, Y is confident in her abilities and due to her success becomes the third most wanted by the FBI. For her latest…

[stepsandstaircases]

Welcome to Poetry Friday, the visual edition!  Do you recognize the photographed pieces above? 

My exploration of grief began with the words that became the title of this poem, which led me to the familiar monopoly game piece.  I thought about incorporating one of the tokens in my poem (wheelbarrow), but decided to cut the stanza out.   

Grief is a house on a cul-de-sac

“Close your eyes and be still, now.  I’m going to give you a memory of a rainbow.” Lois Lowry, The Giver

*****

There is no monopoly

on sorrow.

Its properties are diverse.

 *

A double bind,

misfortune

casts a bittersweet shadow.

 *

There is no “pass go”—

no $200 salary to collect

as you round a corner.

 *

No trade

replaces

the loss.

 *

It is always

there

 *

a memory with many tokens.

Copyright   2017 Lisa Coughlin

The stanza I ended up cutting was:

Grief is carried in the heart:

(a heavy load

                in a wheelbarrow).

I left the wheelbarrow token in my photographs, though, as it brings to mind the stanza I cut and symbolizes how grief can feel.

Thank you for sharing your unique takes on the prompts I shared.  If you didn’t see it mentioned in Mary Lee’s poetry post last week, I encourage you to check out Amy Krouse Rosenthal’s Project 1,2,3.  Amy’s creative work has long inspired me and lifted my spirits.  After her passing, Amy’s daughter, Paris, continued Project 1,2,3.  Amy’s visual poem When Life Gives You Lemon Drops can be found here.

***** You can find more poems elsewhere (nod to The Giver -- I just read this book for the first time, and felt it connected to the subject of grief).

*Mary Lee Hahn shares a Pomegranate haiku 

*Brenda Davis Harsham’s poem celebrates the Super Moon and an art print her daughter loves, Moonlit Kitty 

*Tabatha Yeatts shares poems from The White Cliffs by Alice Duer Miller

*Kathryn Apel shares the gifts she received from Linda in the Poetry Swap exchange

*Sally Murphy shares an Aussie Christmas song

*Michelle Kogan offers her take on the lemons into lemonade prompt, as well as a lovely lemon illustration and a lemon poem by Pablo Neruda   

*Linda Kulp Trout joins Mary Lee in writing a haiku for healing on Christmas cards

*Laura Purdie Salas creates a lai and poemsketch for Jellyfish Dance 

*Laura Shovan turns to George Harrison for comfort and asks you to share who your favorite Beatle is, and what music helps you when you’re feeling down

*Renée LaTulippe debuts a new blog look and features poems by Matt Goodfellow, from his debut collection Carry Me Away

*Diane Mayr celebrates Christina Georgina Rossetti by sharing a seasonal sonnet  

*On Random Noodling (another blog of Diane’s), for extra credit, Mayr responds to the lemon prompt, inspired by the image of a label for Progressive brand lemons--from scratch, her Lemon Pie poem

*Linda Baie responds to the prompt with an original poem and visual, inviting you to look at a bouncing ball in a new way

*Catherine Flynn writes about Milkweed 

*Alan J. Wright discusses line breaks before sharing a poem, The Life of Leon, based on a childhood memory

*Linda Mitchell responds to the prompt “When Life Gives You Lemons” and hopes for energy from her fellow poetry friends

* Heidi Mordhorst’s Yellows poem was inspired by a painting through a SPARK collaboration

*Ruth shares a sonnet by Shakespeare 

*Jama Rattigan offers up a book review and giveaway of An Artist’s Night Before Christmas by Joan C. Waites

*Matt Forrest Esenwine shares a poem he wrote about something small and another one about an unlikely hero by Michelle Heidenrich Barnes--both from her poetry anthology, The Best of Today’s Little Ditty, 2016   

*April Halprin Wayland recommends a book in which poetry plays a role: Train I Ride by Paul Mosier--stop on over for a review, author interview and autographed copy giveaway

*Penny Parker Klostermann collaborates with her great nephew, Liam, who shares his sense of humor in his interpretation...you have to see what Liam draws in response to Penny’s poem, Santa’s Claus-it

*Donna JT Smith has a lemon haiku and talks about her gift from Michelle that her cat discovered, too

*Irene Latham woke up to snow this morning and is filled with glee!  She shares two new snow books, some pictures of today’s freshly fallen snow, and some lines she wrote about snow in the past

*Liz Garton Scanlon talks with her poetry sister, Sara Lewis Holmes, about the musical aspects of her new book The Wolf Hour, and offers you a chance to win a copy

*Kay McGriff participates in #haikuforhealing with Known 

*Little Willow shares lyrics from the song Unwind by Guy Garvey  

*Amy Ludwig VanDerwater whips up a recipe poem for joy and shares a snapshot from a running list she keeps of things that make her happy

*Jone Rush MacCulloch has an interview with Michelle H. Barnes 

*And another #haikuforhealing using lemons by Jone Rosh MacCulloch

*Bookseedstudio looks at coincidences and thinks of childhood star poems via the lens of recently reading a new novel

*Margaret Simon made swirls of pink and created 1, 2, 3 poems and a collective poem

*Ymatruz shares her take on when life gives you lemons

*Julie Larios shares the poem Mrs. Moon by Roger McGough

*Joy answers the question “What happens when a dog goes to Hogwarts?” with a poem and a sketch

*Tara shares A Picture of the House at Beit Jala by Ghassan Zaqtan

*Molly Hogan writes about ladybugs/ladybirds

*Carol Varsalona created a digital offering inspired by autumn

Friday is nearly over--I think that’s everyone!  Thank you for your patience with a different platform this week.

[tsgbaltimoreandannapolismaryland]

Mommy Makeovers at Any Age with ProMD Health

(Amy Fleming, PA-C, at ProMD Health. Photo credit: Lauren C Photography)

The physical and emotional stress of motherhood takes its toll on our bodies, inside and out. The biggest complaint heard by Amy Fleming, PA-C, of ProMD HEALTH, is that mothers want to look and feel refreshed and get their glowing skin back. Watch Ellen Kulp’s testimonial as an example of how she took steps to lessen her look of exhaustion. 

The team at ProMD Health, led by Dr. George Gavrila, offers a variety of treatments that range from weight loss coaching to lasers and Botox. 

We asked Amy how she helps mothers regain their sense of femininity without taking drastic measures. All of her recommendations below can help regain that sense of confidence, independence, and femininity that helps us feel whole. 

undefined

(Video credit: ProMD Health)

The Scout Guide (TSG): What treatment(s) do you recommend for a mother who wants to look refreshed and rejuvenated without undergoing a major surgical procedure, like a facelift?

Amy: I almost always recommend a muscle relaxer such as Botox or Dysport. This treatment will smooth away worry lines, the angry lines between the brows, and relax lines around the eyes. Women will see results within two weeks. I love to couple that with a Perfect Peel. This exfoliates the dead layer of skin resulting in brighter, smoother skin.

(Photo credit: Lauren C Photography)

TSG: As a mother yourself, how do you relate to your patients and help them celebrate their beauty at their stage in life?

Amy: No matter the age, we as women need to practice self-love and acceptance of ourselves. It's okay to pamper ourselves. We deserve it! When a woman has the confidence to carry herself with pride, she is ten times more gorgeous.  

(Photo credit: Lauren C Photography)

TSG: How can ProMD Health help women shed weight they may have gained during pregnancy and childrearing years? 

Amy: For many women, achieving a healthy weight after pregnancy can be a struggle. It can be stressful taking care of a newborn, adjusting to a new routine and recovering from childbirth. At ProMD Health we understand the struggle and we offer health and fitness coaching with products such as B12 shots and hormone regulating supplements. We help new moms, and seasoned moms,  develop a realistic and attainable plan to meet their health goals to keep up with their growing family.

TSG: Let's talk about regaining your sense of femininity after childbirth. When is a woman a candidate for Geneveve by Viveve for vaginal laxity?

Amy: Pregnancy, childbirth, genetic predisposition, and aging can have profound effects on the vaginal lining. There is a slow down of collagen production. When collagen decreases, the walls of the vagina lose their tautness. Fortunately, Genevieve stimulates the body to form natural collagen which will strengthen the vaginal walls. Women will notice an increase in sensitivity and lubrication, and a decrease in urinary leakage. I recommend starting these treatments as soon as possible to prevent significant collagen loss.

CONTACT: PROMD HEALTH

9515 Deereco Rd, suite 208, Timonium

410-449-2060

@ProMDHealth

[stephenmccull]

As Youth Suicides Climb, Anguished Parents Begin To Speak Out

Alec Murray was 13. He enjoyed camping, fishing and skiing. At home, it was video games, movies and books. Having just completed middle school with “almost straight A’s,” those grades were going to earn him an iPhone for his upcoming birthday.

Instead, he killed himself on June 8 — the first day of summer break.

Caleb Stenvold was 14. He was a high school freshman in the gifted and talented program. He ran track and played defensive cornerback on his school’s football team. Just two months into high school ― and four months after Alec’s suicide — Caleb killed himself on Oct. 22.

The teenagers, both from Reno, Nevada, didn’t know each other. But their families now do, bonded by loss. Their parents are haunted by what they don’t understand: why.

They ― along with mental health experts, school leaders and researchers — are trying to understand why suicide by children ages 10 to 14 has gone up and up. The suicide rate for that age group almost tripled from 2007 to 2017. Newly released 2018 data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show a 16% increase over the previous year.

“Every family needs to have a conversation about suicide with their children — starting very young. Don’t just spring it on them when they’re 10,” says Paige Murray.(Lauren Casto for KHN)

While experts point to a host of explanations for the alarming rise, scientific proof about cause isn’t conclusive. Some research shows correlations with social media use, cyberbullying and the internet, but studies citing them as a suicide cause are less decisive.

The parents of Caleb and Alec believe impulsivity ― very common in teens because their brains aren’t fully developed — played a role in their suicides.

Kerri Countess, Caleb’s mother, called his suicide “totally unexpected and unimaginable.” He was the youngest of her five sons.

Paige Murray said son Alec “showed no signs of mental distress or depression or anxiety.”

“We think it was an incredibly impulsive act by a hormonal young man,” she said, noting that Alec’s stellar grades were posted online the day of his suicide.

Caleb was a high school freshman in the gifted and talented program. Just two months into high school ― and four months after Alec’s suicide — Caleb killed himself on Oct. 22. Caleb’s parents, Storm Stenvold and Kerri Countess, created a website dedicated to preventing youth suicide by promoting conversation and human connection.(Lauren Casto for KHN)

Experts suggest that our celebrity culture, where suicidal thoughts are sometimes romanticized or normalized, also plays a role. Alec’s parents and Caleb’s parents say they need to speak out and warn other families.

When Caleb died, “we wanted everyone to know he died of suicide because if it can happen to my child who was not bullied and did not fit into the reasons people kill themselves, it can happen to anyone,” Countess said. “It was an impulsive and immature act.”

Amy Kulp, executive director of the Washington, D.C.-based National Center for the Prevention of Youth Suicide, said youth, in particular, “have very few experiences with dealing with outside stressors” and “tend to be quite impulsive.”

“If they have a precipitating event like they are bullied or don’t make a team or a friend stops talking to them or something is on social media that they’re embarrassed about,” she said, “they don’t know they will get through it.”

Email Sign-Up

Subscribe to KHN’s free Morning Briefing.

Sign Up

Please confirm your email address below:

Sign Up

Kulp said the rise in suicide among the youngest adolescents has spawned prevention programs targeting elementary and middle schoolers, teaching things like resilience, wellness, self-care and coping behaviors.

Psychologist Mary Alvord said she’s been seeing “younger and younger kids” in her practice.

“At ages 6, 7 and 8, I’m now seeing kids with depression,” said Alvord, of Rockville, Maryland. “It used to be suicide attempts were more in high school. Now, I’m seeing more completed suicides in middle school and even upper elementary school.”

The CDC data illustrate “a steady consistent increase,” that “deserves our focus and our attention,” said CDC statistician Sally Curtin. “It’s linear and has gone up every single year since 2010.”

The CDC also monitors suicide attempts and self-inflicted injuries, based on data from emergency rooms. The latest CDC report published Jan. 31 found that from 2001 to 2016 such visits for those 10 and older increased 42%, with “substantial increases occurring in younger age groups.”

( function() { var func = function() { var iframe = document.getElementById('wpcom-iframe-79b79243a21c2044b3616bfb38ab82d9') if ( iframe ) { iframe.onload = function() { iframe.contentWindow.postMessage( { 'msg_type': 'poll_size', 'frame_id': 'wpcom-iframe-79b79243a21c2044b3616bfb38ab82d9' }, "https:\/\/embeds.kff.org" ); } } // Autosize iframe var funcSizeResponse = function( e ) { var origin = document.createElement( 'a' ); origin.href = e.origin; // Verify message origin if ( 'embeds.kff.org' !== origin.host ) return; // Verify message is in a format we expect if ( 'object' !== typeof e.data || undefined === e.data.msg_type ) return; switch ( e.data.msg_type ) { case 'poll_size:response': var iframe = document.getElementById( e.data._request.frame_id ); if ( iframe && '' === iframe.width ) iframe.width = '100%'; if ( iframe && '' === iframe.height ) iframe.height = parseInt( e.data.height ); return; default: return; } } if ( 'function' === typeof window.addEventListener ) { window.addEventListener( 'message', funcSizeResponse, false ); } else if ( 'function' === typeof window.attachEvent ) { window.attachEvent( 'onmessage', funcSizeResponse ); } } if (document.readyState === 'complete') { func.apply(); /* compat for infinite scroll */ } else if ( document.addEventListener ) { document.addEventListener( 'DOMContentLoaded', func, false ); } else if ( document.attachEvent ) { document.attachEvent( 'onreadystatechange', func ); } } )();

During the most recent study period, from January 2017 to December 2018, such visits increased more than 25%. For girls ages 10 to 14, data from 2009 to 2015 reflects almost a 20% increase in emergency visits for self-inflicted injury.

Youth today are much more familiar with death, said Jonathan Singer, board president of the nonprofit American Association of Suicidology, citing more than 20 years of mass shootings at schools among reasons.

“Death has become public,” he said. “With the internet and social media, when somebody dies, it’s all over your newsfeed. Hundreds of millions knew within minutes that Kobe Bryant had died. Death is much more a part of their generation.”

Among those aiming to reverse the trend is the National Association of State Boards of Education, based in Alexandria, Virginia, which examined the 2017-18 school year and determined that 25 states and the District of Columbia required or encouraged school districts to develop suicide prevention policies.

The parents of Alec and Caleb are moving past blame into action. Lee and Paige Murray (on couch) are working with the Reno Behavioral Healthcare Hospital and other agencies to better coordinate local suicide prevention.(Lauren Casto for KHN)

According to the organization’s policy review, author Megan Blanco said only three of 10 states with the highest youth suicide rates (ages 10-24) had a suicide prevention policy. The youth suicide rate for Nevada — where Alec and Caleb lived ― is 14.4 deaths per 100,000, which is higher than the national average of 10.6 deaths per 100,000. Nevada was not among the 25 states with a prevention policy, she said.

Alvord, the psychologist, has conducted programs to promote suicide awareness as a joint effort of National PTA and the American Psychological Association. She also helped APA develop online advice for parents to talk to teens about suicide.

Dr. Kenneth Ginsburg, a pediatrician and an adolescent medicine specialist at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, co-founded the Center for Parent and Teen Communication.

“It’s never a mistake to ask a person about their emotions or whether [someone should] be worried about them,” he said.

“People think depression is always seen as sadness,” Ginsburg said. “While sadness is a very important clue, adolescent depression can present with irritability, rage or anger, instead of just sadness. Physical symptoms such as headaches, fatigue, belly pain, dizziness, loss of weight ― these are all things that can present as having problems with mood or depression. Parents may miss the signals.”

The day after his death, Caleb’s parents sought answers on his phone and computer, asking their son Matthew, then 16, to search Caleb’s history back to middle school for possible clues. They found one thing: a search for “suicide” the day before Caleb hanged himself.

Nadine Kaslow, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, said parents need to realize that kids communicate differently today and any thought of banning social media or phones isn’t realistic or wise.

“Parents often get mad at kids because they’re texting or Instagramming or Snapchatting,” she said. “I worry when kids are not doing those things. If they stop doing that, they’re not having fun.”

Jean Twenge, a psychology professor at San Diego State University and author of the book “iGen,” has a darker view of the effects of media consumption and technology, based upon her research. Studies published in several journals in recent years — including the Journal of Abnormal Psychology, Psychiatric Quarterly and Sleep Medicine — found detrimental connections between the omnipresent smartphone, social media, sleep disruption and depression.

A memorial to Caleb Stenvold, who took his life at age 14, holds a place of honor in his home.(Lauren Casto for KHN)

The mother of three (including a 13-year-old) believes technology should not be in a child’s room overnight, and she doesn’t believe anyone 10 to 14 “absolutely needs a smartphone.”

Twenge said it’s difficult to determine a reason other than technology for the suicide spike in recent years.

“Phones and smartphones check all the boxes of possible causes,” she said. “It’s something that’s affected a very large number of people and affected their everyday lives. It’s hard to think of anything else that fits that criteria.”

Perhaps the most significant analysis supporting Twenge’s worries appeared this month in the Canadian Medical Association Journal. The evidence from cross-sectional, longitudinal and empirical studies “implicates smartphone and social media use in the increase in mental distress, self-injurious behaviour and suicidality among youth.” The review also found that social media “can affect adolescents’ self-view and interpersonal relationships through social comparison and negative interactions, including cyberbullying; moreover, social media content often involves normalization and even promotion of self-harm and suicidality among youth.”

A Pew Research Center report on cyberbullying released in 2018 found 56% of 13- to 14-year-olds had experienced cyberbullying; more than one-third said they had been the victim of offensive name-calling or false rumors.

Their parents said neither Alec nor Caleb were bullied. But many others are.

“We don’t know if bullying is the cause, or if kids who are depressed make better targets for a bully,” said Justin Patchin, co-director of the Cyberbullying Research Center.

Henry Kautz, a professor of computer science at the University of Rochester in New York, sees a similar dynamic with technology.

“People have been quick to point to studies that show increases in screen time and increases in depression. But it’s really unclear which way the causation goes,” he said. “Are people who are bullied and isolated seeking refuge in more screen time or is it the other way around?”

Caleb’s parents created Forever14.org, a website dedicated to preventing youth suicide by promoting conversation and human connection. They have filed paperwork to create a nonprofit with the same mission.(Lauren Casto for KHN)

The parents of Alec and Caleb are moving past blame into action. The Murrays are working with the Reno Behavioral Healthcare Hospital and other agencies to better coordinate local suicide prevention. Caleb’s parents created Forever14.org, a website dedicated to promoting conversation and human connection in order to prevent teen suicide. They have filed paperwork to create a nonprofit with the same mission.

“Don’t think it’s too young to talk to your kids about if they might feel like hurting themselves. You might think you have time to tell them, but you can’t go back,” Caleb’s father, Storm Stenvold, said. “I don’t know what pain he was in for that time that he felt he needed to do this. He decided on this very quickly. He was rarely alone. He was home less than three hours by himself.”

Paige Murray agrees, which is why she and her husband, Lee, said they weren’t going to be silent about Alec’s suicide.

“Every family needs to have a conversation about suicide with their children —starting very young. Don’t just spring it on them when they’re 10,” she said. “It should be part of everyday conversation about loving yourself and making sure tomorrow is another day. Make sure it becomes a part of everyday knowledge.”

“This wasn’t a conversation that ever entered our house until June 8, but knowing what we know now, it should be. We were blindsided by it,” Lee Murray said. “It’s hindsight. We could have done better, but how would you know?”

As Youth Suicides Climb, Anguished Parents Begin To Speak Out published first on https://smartdrinkingweb.weebly.com/

[dinafbrownil]

As Youth Suicides Climb, Anguished Parents Begin To Speak Out

Alec Murray was 13. He enjoyed camping, fishing and skiing. At home, it was video games, movies and books. Having just completed middle school with “almost straight A’s,” those grades were going to earn him an iPhone for his upcoming birthday.

Instead, he killed himself on June 8 — the first day of summer break.

Caleb Stenvold was 14. He was a high school freshman in the gifted and talented program. He ran track and played defensive cornerback on his school’s football team. Just two months into high school ― and four months after Alec’s suicide — Caleb killed himself on Oct. 22.

The teenagers, both from Reno, Nevada, didn’t know each other. But their families now do, bonded by loss. Their parents are haunted by what they don’t understand: why.

They ― along with mental health experts, school leaders and researchers — are trying to understand why suicide by children ages 10 to 14 has gone up and up. The suicide rate for that age group almost tripled from 2007 to 2017. Newly released 2018 data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show a 16% increase over the previous year.

“Every family needs to have a conversation about suicide with their children — starting very young. Don’t just spring it on them when they’re 10,” says Paige Murray.(Lauren Casto for KHN)

While experts point to a host of explanations for the alarming rise, scientific proof about cause isn’t conclusive. Some research shows correlations with social media use, cyberbullying and the internet, but studies citing them as a suicide cause are less decisive.

The parents of Caleb and Alec believe impulsivity ― very common in teens because their brains aren’t fully developed — played a role in their suicides.

Kerri Countess, Caleb’s mother, called his suicide “totally unexpected and unimaginable.” He was the youngest of her five sons.

Paige Murray said son Alec “showed no signs of mental distress or depression or anxiety.”

“We think it was an incredibly impulsive act by a hormonal young man,” she said, noting that Alec’s stellar grades were posted online the day of his suicide.

Caleb was a high school freshman in the gifted and talented program. Just two months into high school ― and four months after Alec’s suicide — Caleb killed himself on Oct. 22. Caleb’s parents, Storm Stenvold and Kerri Countess, created a website dedicated to preventing youth suicide by promoting conversation and human connection.(Lauren Casto for KHN)

Experts suggest that our celebrity culture, where suicidal thoughts are sometimes romanticized or normalized, also plays a role. Alec’s parents and Caleb’s parents say they need to speak out and warn other families.

When Caleb died, “we wanted everyone to know he died of suicide because if it can happen to my child who was not bullied and did not fit into the reasons people kill themselves, it can happen to anyone,” Countess said. “It was an impulsive and immature act.”

Amy Kulp, executive director of the Washington, D.C.-based National Center for the Prevention of Youth Suicide, said youth, in particular, “have very few experiences with dealing with outside stressors” and “tend to be quite impulsive.”

“If they have a precipitating event like they are bullied or don’t make a team or a friend stops talking to them or something is on social media that they’re embarrassed about,” she said, “they don’t know they will get through it.”

Email Sign-Up

Subscribe to KHN’s free Morning Briefing.

Sign Up

Please confirm your email address below:

Sign Up

Kulp said the rise in suicide among the youngest adolescents has spawned prevention programs targeting elementary and middle schoolers, teaching things like resilience, wellness, self-care and coping behaviors.

Psychologist Mary Alvord said she’s been seeing “younger and younger kids” in her practice.

“At ages 6, 7 and 8, I’m now seeing kids with depression,” said Alvord, of Rockville, Maryland. “It used to be suicide attempts were more in high school. Now, I’m seeing more completed suicides in middle school and even upper elementary school.”

The CDC data illustrate “a steady consistent increase,” that “deserves our focus and our attention,” said CDC statistician Sally Curtin. “It’s linear and has gone up every single year since 2010.”

The CDC also monitors suicide attempts and self-inflicted injuries, based on data from emergency rooms. The latest CDC report published Jan. 31 found that from 2001 to 2016 such visits for those 10 and older increased 42%, with “substantial increases occurring in younger age groups.”

( function() { var func = function() { var iframe = document.getElementById('wpcom-iframe-79b79243a21c2044b3616bfb38ab82d9') if ( iframe ) { iframe.onload = function() { iframe.contentWindow.postMessage( { 'msg_type': 'poll_size', 'frame_id': 'wpcom-iframe-79b79243a21c2044b3616bfb38ab82d9' }, "https:\/\/embeds.kff.org" ); } } // Autosize iframe var funcSizeResponse = function( e ) { var origin = document.createElement( 'a' ); origin.href = e.origin; // Verify message origin if ( 'embeds.kff.org' !== origin.host ) return; // Verify message is in a format we expect if ( 'object' !== typeof e.data || undefined === e.data.msg_type ) return; switch ( e.data.msg_type ) { case 'poll_size:response': var iframe = document.getElementById( e.data._request.frame_id ); if ( iframe && '' === iframe.width ) iframe.width = '100%'; if ( iframe && '' === iframe.height ) iframe.height = parseInt( e.data.height ); return; default: return; } } if ( 'function' === typeof window.addEventListener ) { window.addEventListener( 'message', funcSizeResponse, false ); } else if ( 'function' === typeof window.attachEvent ) { window.attachEvent( 'onmessage', funcSizeResponse ); } } if (document.readyState === 'complete') { func.apply(); /* compat for infinite scroll */ } else if ( document.addEventListener ) { document.addEventListener( 'DOMContentLoaded', func, false ); } else if ( document.attachEvent ) { document.attachEvent( 'onreadystatechange', func ); } } )();

During the most recent study period, from January 2017 to December 2018, such visits increased more than 25%. For girls ages 10 to 14, data from 2009 to 2015 reflects almost a 20% increase in emergency visits for self-inflicted injury.

Youth today are much more familiar with death, said Jonathan Singer, board president of the nonprofit American Association of Suicidology, citing more than 20 years of mass shootings at schools among reasons.

“Death has become public,” he said. “With the internet and social media, when somebody dies, it’s all over your newsfeed. Hundreds of millions knew within minutes that Kobe Bryant had died. Death is much more a part of their generation.”

Among those aiming to reverse the trend is the National Association of State Boards of Education, based in Alexandria, Virginia, which examined the 2017-18 school year and determined that 25 states and the District of Columbia required or encouraged school districts to develop suicide prevention policies.

The parents of Alec and Caleb are moving past blame into action. Lee and Paige Murray (on couch) are working with the Reno Behavioral Healthcare Hospital and other agencies to better coordinate local suicide prevention.(Lauren Casto for KHN)

According to the organization’s policy review, author Megan Blanco said only three of 10 states with the highest youth suicide rates (ages 10-24) had a suicide prevention policy. The youth suicide rate for Nevada — where Alec and Caleb lived ― is 14.4 deaths per 100,000, which is higher than the national average of 10.6 deaths per 100,000. Nevada was not among the 25 states with a prevention policy, she said.

Alvord, the psychologist, has conducted programs to promote suicide awareness as a joint effort of National PTA and the American Psychological Association. She also helped APA develop online advice for parents to talk to teens about suicide.

Dr. Kenneth Ginsburg, a pediatrician and an adolescent medicine specialist at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, co-founded the Center for Parent and Teen Communication.

“It’s never a mistake to ask a person about their emotions or whether [someone should] be worried about them,” he said.

“People think depression is always seen as sadness,” Ginsburg said. “While sadness is a very important clue, adolescent depression can present with irritability, rage or anger, instead of just sadness. Physical symptoms such as headaches, fatigue, belly pain, dizziness, loss of weight ― these are all things that can present as having problems with mood or depression. Parents may miss the signals.”

The day after his death, Caleb’s parents sought answers on his phone and computer, asking their son Matthew, then 16, to search Caleb’s history back to middle school for possible clues. They found one thing: a search for “suicide” the day before Caleb hanged himself.

Nadine Kaslow, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, said parents need to realize that kids communicate differently today and any thought of banning social media or phones isn’t realistic or wise.

“Parents often get mad at kids because they’re texting or Instagramming or Snapchatting,” she said. “I worry when kids are not doing those things. If they stop doing that, they’re not having fun.”

Jean Twenge, a psychology professor at San Diego State University and author of the book “iGen,” has a darker view of the effects of media consumption and technology, based upon her research. Studies published in several journals in recent years — including the Journal of Abnormal Psychology, Psychiatric Quarterly and Sleep Medicine — found detrimental connections between the omnipresent smartphone, social media, sleep disruption and depression.

A memorial to Caleb Stenvold, who took his life at age 14, holds a place of honor in his home.(Lauren Casto for KHN)

The mother of three (including a 13-year-old) believes technology should not be in a child’s room overnight, and she doesn’t believe anyone 10 to 14 “absolutely needs a smartphone.”

Twenge said it’s difficult to determine a reason other than technology for the suicide spike in recent years.

“Phones and smartphones check all the boxes of possible causes,” she said. “It’s something that’s affected a very large number of people and affected their everyday lives. It’s hard to think of anything else that fits that criteria.”

Perhaps the most significant analysis supporting Twenge’s worries appeared this month in the Canadian Medical Association Journal. The evidence from cross-sectional, longitudinal and empirical studies “implicates smartphone and social media use in the increase in mental distress, self-injurious behaviour and suicidality among youth.” The review also found that social media “can affect adolescents’ self-view and interpersonal relationships through social comparison and negative interactions, including cyberbullying; moreover, social media content often involves normalization and even promotion of self-harm and suicidality among youth.”

A Pew Research Center report on cyberbullying released in 2018 found 56% of 13- to 14-year-olds had experienced cyberbullying; more than one-third said they had been the victim of offensive name-calling or false rumors.

Their parents said neither Alec nor Caleb were bullied. But many others are.

“We don’t know if bullying is the cause, or if kids who are depressed make better targets for a bully,” said Justin Patchin, co-director of the Cyberbullying Research Center.

Henry Kautz, a professor of computer science at the University of Rochester in New York, sees a similar dynamic with technology.

“People have been quick to point to studies that show increases in screen time and increases in depression. But it’s really unclear which way the causation goes,” he said. “Are people who are bullied and isolated seeking refuge in more screen time or is it the other way around?”

Caleb’s parents created Forever14.org, a website dedicated to preventing youth suicide by promoting conversation and human connection. They have filed paperwork to create a nonprofit with the same mission.(Lauren Casto for KHN)

The parents of Alec and Caleb are moving past blame into action. The Murrays are working with the Reno Behavioral Healthcare Hospital and other agencies to better coordinate local suicide prevention. Caleb’s parents created Forever14.org, a website dedicated to promoting conversation and human connection in order to prevent teen suicide. They have filed paperwork to create a nonprofit with the same mission.

“Don’t think it’s too young to talk to your kids about if they might feel like hurting themselves. You might think you have time to tell them, but you can’t go back,” Caleb’s father, Storm Stenvold, said. “I don’t know what pain he was in for that time that he felt he needed to do this. He decided on this very quickly. He was rarely alone. He was home less than three hours by himself.”

Paige Murray agrees, which is why she and her husband, Lee, said they weren’t going to be silent about Alec’s suicide.

“Every family needs to have a conversation about suicide with their children —starting very young. Don’t just spring it on them when they’re 10,” she said. “It should be part of everyday conversation about loving yourself and making sure tomorrow is another day. Make sure it becomes a part of everyday knowledge.”

“This wasn’t a conversation that ever entered our house until June 8, but knowing what we know now, it should be. We were blindsided by it,” Lee Murray said. “It’s hindsight. We could have done better, but how would you know?”

from Updates By Dina https://khn.org/news/teen-suicide-rates-increase-parents-become-activists/

[gordonwilliamsweb]

As Youth Suicides Climb, Anguished Parents Begin To Speak Out

Alec Murray was 13. He enjoyed camping, fishing and skiing. At home, it was video games, movies and books. Having just completed middle school with “almost straight A’s,” those grades were going to earn him an iPhone for his upcoming birthday.

Instead, he killed himself on June 8 — the first day of summer break.

Caleb Stenvold was 14. He was a high school freshman in the gifted and talented program. He ran track and played defensive cornerback on his school’s football team. Just two months into high school ― and four months after Alec’s suicide — Caleb killed himself on Oct. 22.

The teenagers, both from Reno, Nevada, didn’t know each other. But their families now do, bonded by loss. Their parents are haunted by what they don’t understand: why.

They ― along with mental health experts, school leaders and researchers — are trying to understand why suicide by children ages 10 to 14 has gone up and up. The suicide rate for that age group almost tripled from 2007 to 2017. Newly released 2018 data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show a 16% increase over the previous year.

“Every family needs to have a conversation about suicide with their children — starting very young. Don’t just spring it on them when they’re 10,” says Paige Murray.(Lauren Casto for KHN)

While experts point to a host of explanations for the alarming rise, scientific proof about cause isn’t conclusive. Some research shows correlations with social media use, cyberbullying and the internet, but studies citing them as a suicide cause are less decisive.

The parents of Caleb and Alec believe impulsivity ― very common in teens because their brains aren’t fully developed — played a role in their suicides.

Kerri Countess, Caleb’s mother, called his suicide “totally unexpected and unimaginable.” He was the youngest of her five sons.

Paige Murray said son Alec “showed no signs of mental distress or depression or anxiety.”

“We think it was an incredibly impulsive act by a hormonal young man,” she said, noting that Alec’s stellar grades were posted online the day of his suicide.

Caleb was a high school freshman in the gifted and talented program. Just two months into high school ― and four months after Alec’s suicide — Caleb killed himself on Oct. 22. Caleb’s parents, Storm Stenvold and Kerri Countess, created a website dedicated to preventing youth suicide by promoting conversation and human connection.(Lauren Casto for KHN)

Experts suggest that our celebrity culture, where suicidal thoughts are sometimes romanticized or normalized, also plays a role. Alec’s parents and Caleb’s parents say they need to speak out and warn other families.

When Caleb died, “we wanted everyone to know he died of suicide because if it can happen to my child who was not bullied and did not fit into the reasons people kill themselves, it can happen to anyone,” Countess said. “It was an impulsive and immature act.”

Amy Kulp, executive director of the Washington, D.C.-based National Center for the Prevention of Youth Suicide, said youth, in particular, “have very few experiences with dealing with outside stressors” and “tend to be quite impulsive.”

“If they have a precipitating event like they are bullied or don’t make a team or a friend stops talking to them or something is on social media that they’re embarrassed about,” she said, “they don’t know they will get through it.”

Email Sign-Up

Subscribe to KHN’s free Morning Briefing.

Sign Up

Please confirm your email address below:

Sign Up

Kulp said the rise in suicide among the youngest adolescents has spawned prevention programs targeting elementary and middle schoolers, teaching things like resilience, wellness, self-care and coping behaviors.

Psychologist Mary Alvord said she’s been seeing “younger and younger kids” in her practice.

“At ages 6, 7 and 8, I’m now seeing kids with depression,” said Alvord, of Rockville, Maryland. “It used to be suicide attempts were more in high school. Now, I’m seeing more completed suicides in middle school and even upper elementary school.”

The CDC data illustrate “a steady consistent increase,” that “deserves our focus and our attention,” said CDC statistician Sally Curtin. “It’s linear and has gone up every single year since 2010.”

The CDC also monitors suicide attempts and self-inflicted injuries, based on data from emergency rooms. The latest CDC report published Jan. 31 found that from 2001 to 2016 such visits for those 10 and older increased 42%, with “substantial increases occurring in younger age groups.”

( function() { var func = function() { var iframe = document.getElementById('wpcom-iframe-79b79243a21c2044b3616bfb38ab82d9') if ( iframe ) { iframe.onload = function() { iframe.contentWindow.postMessage( { 'msg_type': 'poll_size', 'frame_id': 'wpcom-iframe-79b79243a21c2044b3616bfb38ab82d9' }, "https:\/\/embeds.kff.org" ); } } // Autosize iframe var funcSizeResponse = function( e ) { var origin = document.createElement( 'a' ); origin.href = e.origin; // Verify message origin if ( 'embeds.kff.org' !== origin.host ) return; // Verify message is in a format we expect if ( 'object' !== typeof e.data || undefined === e.data.msg_type ) return; switch ( e.data.msg_type ) { case 'poll_size:response': var iframe = document.getElementById( e.data._request.frame_id ); if ( iframe && '' === iframe.width ) iframe.width = '100%'; if ( iframe && '' === iframe.height ) iframe.height = parseInt( e.data.height ); return; default: return; } } if ( 'function' === typeof window.addEventListener ) { window.addEventListener( 'message', funcSizeResponse, false ); } else if ( 'function' === typeof window.attachEvent ) { window.attachEvent( 'onmessage', funcSizeResponse ); } } if (document.readyState === 'complete') { func.apply(); /* compat for infinite scroll */ } else if ( document.addEventListener ) { document.addEventListener( 'DOMContentLoaded', func, false ); } else if ( document.attachEvent ) { document.attachEvent( 'onreadystatechange', func ); } } )();

During the most recent study period, from January 2017 to December 2018, such visits increased more than 25%. For girls ages 10 to 14, data from 2009 to 2015 reflects almost a 20% increase in emergency visits for self-inflicted injury.

Youth today are much more familiar with death, said Jonathan Singer, board president of the nonprofit American Association of Suicidology, citing more than 20 years of mass shootings at schools among reasons.

“Death has become public,” he said. “With the internet and social media, when somebody dies, it’s all over your newsfeed. Hundreds of millions knew within minutes that Kobe Bryant had died. Death is much more a part of their generation.”

Among those aiming to reverse the trend is the National Association of State Boards of Education, based in Alexandria, Virginia, which examined the 2017-18 school year and determined that 25 states and the District of Columbia required or encouraged school districts to develop suicide prevention policies.

The parents of Alec and Caleb are moving past blame into action. Lee and Paige Murray (on couch) are working with the Reno Behavioral Healthcare Hospital and other agencies to better coordinate local suicide prevention.(Lauren Casto for KHN)

According to the organization’s policy review, author Megan Blanco said only three of 10 states with the highest youth suicide rates (ages 10-24) had a suicide prevention policy. The youth suicide rate for Nevada — where Alec and Caleb lived ― is 14.4 deaths per 100,000, which is higher than the national average of 10.6 deaths per 100,000. Nevada was not among the 25 states with a prevention policy, she said.

Alvord, the psychologist, has conducted programs to promote suicide awareness as a joint effort of National PTA and the American Psychological Association. She also helped APA develop online advice for parents to talk to teens about suicide.

Dr. Kenneth Ginsburg, a pediatrician and an adolescent medicine specialist at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, co-founded the Center for Parent and Teen Communication.

“It’s never a mistake to ask a person about their emotions or whether [someone should] be worried about them,” he said.

“People think depression is always seen as sadness,” Ginsburg said. “While sadness is a very important clue, adolescent depression can present with irritability, rage or anger, instead of just sadness. Physical symptoms such as headaches, fatigue, belly pain, dizziness, loss of weight ― these are all things that can present as having problems with mood or depression. Parents may miss the signals.”

The day after his death, Caleb’s parents sought answers on his phone and computer, asking their son Matthew, then 16, to search Caleb’s history back to middle school for possible clues. They found one thing: a search for “suicide” the day before Caleb hanged himself.

Nadine Kaslow, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, said parents need to realize that kids communicate differently today and any thought of banning social media or phones isn’t realistic or wise.

“Parents often get mad at kids because they’re texting or Instagramming or Snapchatting,” she said. “I worry when kids are not doing those things. If they stop doing that, they’re not having fun.”

Jean Twenge, a psychology professor at San Diego State University and author of the book “iGen,” has a darker view of the effects of media consumption and technology, based upon her research. Studies published in several journals in recent years — including the Journal of Abnormal Psychology, Psychiatric Quarterly and Sleep Medicine — found detrimental connections between the omnipresent smartphone, social media, sleep disruption and depression.

A memorial to Caleb Stenvold, who took his life at age 14, holds a place of honor in his home.(Lauren Casto for KHN)

The mother of three (including a 13-year-old) believes technology should not be in a child’s room overnight, and she doesn’t believe anyone 10 to 14 “absolutely needs a smartphone.”

Twenge said it’s difficult to determine a reason other than technology for the suicide spike in recent years.

“Phones and smartphones check all the boxes of possible causes,” she said. “It’s something that’s affected a very large number of people and affected their everyday lives. It’s hard to think of anything else that fits that criteria.”

Perhaps the most significant analysis supporting Twenge’s worries appeared this month in the Canadian Medical Association Journal. The evidence from cross-sectional, longitudinal and empirical studies “implicates smartphone and social media use in the increase in mental distress, self-injurious behaviour and suicidality among youth.” The review also found that social media “can affect adolescents’ self-view and interpersonal relationships through social comparison and negative interactions, including cyberbullying; moreover, social media content often involves normalization and even promotion of self-harm and suicidality among youth.”

A Pew Research Center report on cyberbullying released in 2018 found 56% of 13- to 14-year-olds had experienced cyberbullying; more than one-third said they had been the victim of offensive name-calling or false rumors.

Their parents said neither Alec nor Caleb were bullied. But many others are.

“We don’t know if bullying is the cause, or if kids who are depressed make better targets for a bully,” said Justin Patchin, co-director of the Cyberbullying Research Center.

Henry Kautz, a professor of computer science at the University of Rochester in New York, sees a similar dynamic with technology.

“People have been quick to point to studies that show increases in screen time and increases in depression. But it’s really unclear which way the causation goes,” he said. “Are people who are bullied and isolated seeking refuge in more screen time or is it the other way around?”

Caleb’s parents created Forever14.org, a website dedicated to preventing youth suicide by promoting conversation and human connection. They have filed paperwork to create a nonprofit with the same mission.(Lauren Casto for KHN)

The parents of Alec and Caleb are moving past blame into action. The Murrays are working with the Reno Behavioral Healthcare Hospital and other agencies to better coordinate local suicide prevention. Caleb’s parents created Forever14.org, a website dedicated to promoting conversation and human connection in order to prevent teen suicide. They have filed paperwork to create a nonprofit with the same mission.

“Don’t think it’s too young to talk to your kids about if they might feel like hurting themselves. You might think you have time to tell them, but you can’t go back,” Caleb’s father, Storm Stenvold, said. “I don’t know what pain he was in for that time that he felt he needed to do this. He decided on this very quickly. He was rarely alone. He was home less than three hours by himself.”

Paige Murray agrees, which is why she and her husband, Lee, said they weren’t going to be silent about Alec’s suicide.

“Every family needs to have a conversation about suicide with their children —starting very young. Don’t just spring it on them when they’re 10,” she said. “It should be part of everyday conversation about loving yourself and making sure tomorrow is another day. Make sure it becomes a part of everyday knowledge.”

“This wasn’t a conversation that ever entered our house until June 8, but knowing what we know now, it should be. We were blindsided by it,” Lee Murray said. “It’s hindsight. We could have done better, but how would you know?”

As Youth Suicides Climb, Anguished Parents Begin To Speak Out published first on https://nootropicspowdersupplier.tumblr.com/

[jolieeason]

Wanted (Poster: Book 2) by Amy Kulp

Publisher: Amy Kulp Date of publication: January 1st, 2023 Genre: Suspense, Thriller Series: Poster Missing—Book 1 (review here) Wanted—Book 2 Purchase Links: Kindle | B&N | AbeBooks Goodreads Synopsis: What will bring down the most notorious female criminal in the world? Meet “Y,” FBI’s third most wanted criminal best known for being cunning, intelligent and unknown to most a mother of…

[jolieeason]

WWW Wednesday: January 2nd, 2024

WWW Wednesday is a weekly meme Sam hosts at Taking on a World of Words. The Three Ws are: What are you currently reading? What did you recently finish reading? What do you think you’ll read next? Here is what I am currently reading, recently finished, and plan to read from Thursday to Wednesday. Let me know if you have read or are planning on reading any of these books!! Happy…

[jolieeason]

January 2024 TBR

NetGalley: Indie Authors/Publishers

[jolieeason]

Missing by Amy Kulp

Publisher: Date of publication: November 1st, 2022 Genre: Crime Fiction, Psychological Thriller Trigger Warning: Kidnapping, Grooming, Racism, Abuse, Fat Shaming, Low Self Esteem, Human Trafficking, Torture, Blood, Drugging Purchase Links: Kindle Goodreads Synopsis: Perfect for fans of hit YA thrillers like Amanda Panitch’s Never Missing, Never Found and Natasha Preston’s The Cellar, Amy…

[siriuslygrimm]

Orchestrated Ordeal

#BOOKREVIEW - Orchestrated Ordeal - #Missing #blog

The seemingly ordinary life of a teenage girl is horrifically upended after she placed her trust in the wrong person and is betrayed in Amy Kulp’s Missing. Emily’s life in her small town has been fairly typical: she goes to school, plays soccer, and has a boyfriend, Chad, who’s on the football team. But when a new student, Miguel, arrives, things begin to get a little strange and Emily questions…