skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Friday, March 29, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

The latest on the Key Bridge collapse, New York puts forth legislation to get clean energy projects on the grid and Wisconsin and other states join a federal summer food program to help feed kids across the country.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Republicans float conspiracy theories on the collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge, South Carolina's congressional elections will use a map ruled unconstitutional, and the Senate schedules an impeachment trial for Homeland Secretary Mayorkas.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Mental Health Awareness Month: Catching Conditions is Early Key

play audio
Play

Thursday, May 9, 2019   

BISMARCK, N.D. – May is Mental Health Awareness Month and North Dakotans are spreading the word about this stigmatized health issue.

Attention is focused on children this week, which is Children's Mental Health Awareness Week.

Carlotta McCleary, executive director of Mental Health America of North Dakota, says at any given time, one in five young people have a mental health condition, showing just how common this issue is.

She says mental health issues should be treated like other chronic conditions such as heart disease or diabetes.

"We need to get to people when they are in the beginning stages of their disorder,” she stresses. “Mental health is the only chronic health condition where we are waiting to stage four of the disorder before we're doing anything."

McCleary says folks should have a conversation with their primary care provider if they feel they are experiencing a mental health issue.

Her organization is holding an event at the Ramada Inn in Bismarck on Saturday to mark Mental Health Awareness Month.

Another issue related to mental health is suicide. A report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) finds North Dakota had the country's largest increase in suicide rates – 57% – between 1999 and 2016.

McCleary says it's the second leading cause of death for people ages 15 to 24 in the state.

However, she says stigma on this issue and other mental health conditions is a big barrier.

"Oftentimes, it's a stigma that causes people to delay in getting help and getting treatment,” she states. “The stigma also is associated with the lack of funding sometimes around a particular issue."

McCleary adds that up until this legislative session, North Dakota lawmakers weren't properly funding the issue, saying the state was in a “mental health crisis.”

But McCleary praises legislators this year for supporting things such as community-based services, crisis response and early intervention.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments this week about the popular abortion pill Mifepristone and will weigh in on whether the U.S. Food and Drug Administration was correct in how it can be dosed and prescribed. (Ascannio/Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Missouri residents are worried about future access to birth control. The latest survey from The Right Time, an initiative based in Missouri…


Social Issues

play sound

Wisconsin children from low-income families are now on track to get nutritious foods over the summer. Federal officials have approved the Badger …

Social Issues

play sound

Almost 2,900 people are unsheltered on any given night in the Beehive State. Gov. Spencer Cox is celebrating signing nine bills he says are geared …


The U.S. teaching workforce remains primarily white while the percentage of Black teachers has declined. However, the percentage of Asian and Latinx teachers is rising.(WavebreakMediaMicro/Adobestock)

Social Issues

play sound

Education advocates are calling on lawmakers to increase funding for programs to combat the teacher shortage. Around 37% of schools nationwide …

Environment

play sound

New York's Legislature is considering a bill to get clean-energy projects connected to the grid faster. It's called the RAPID Act, for "Renewable …

Many factors affect a customer's bill amount, including energy usage, weather, and the number of days in a billing period, according to Arizona Public Service. (Jason Yoder/Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…

Social Issues

play sound

A mix of policy updates and staffing boosts has helped to put wage theft enforcement on the radar in Minnesota, and officials leading the efforts are …

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021