A report has found Connecticut could do more to strengthen its youth behavioral health system.

Connecticut and the U.S. are facing an increasing child mental health crisis, which was brewing long before the pandemic made it worse. A 2022 report showed suicide was the leading cause of death for Connecticut teens age 15 to 19, but Connecticut is making strides to provide an adept youth behavioral health system.

Jason Lang, chief program officer for the Child Health and Development Institute, described one of the report's recommendations.

"The current reimbursement rates for many behavioral health services have not kept up with inflation over the last decade," Lang pointed out. "There's a large gap in terms of funding that's available to the providers, that in turn is limiting their ability to attract behavioral health clinicians and staff."

Almost half the population in the U.S. lives in a mental health workforce shortage area. KFF data showed Connecticut has 47 health care professional shortage areas, leaving more than 1.6 million people without access to coverage.

Other report recommendations included creating a central support to provide training for workers and keep up on employment trends.

In addition to the behavioral health industry taking action, Lang noted the General Assembly could take its own actions, too. Some of these include Senate Bill 2, which was passed this year. The bill created the Office of the Behavioral Health Advocate to help people in the state get mental health care.

"Some of the other things the Legislature could do are make an immediate investment in recruiting and particularly retaining the clinicians that are working in community mental health right now," Lang suggested. "Because I think if we don't do anything to support and retain them, we're going to continue to lose them to those other jobs."

Getting people to enter back into this workforce could be a problem. A report found 56% of public health workers are experiencing symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, brought on by the mental health crisis growing during the pandemic and in the years since.

Mental health counselors focused on Nebraska's high rate of binge drinking during Alcohol Awareness Month, which just wrapped up.

Alcohol abuse is often associated with other addictions. Nebraska's binge drinking rate is among the highest in the nation and the number of alcohol-related deaths is on the rise. Alcohol was blamed for at least 720 fatalities in 2020, the latest year data were available.

Aileen Brady, CEO of the Community Alliance in Omaha, said alcohol abuse and addiction affects families and friendships but can also lead to safety issues among employees who may be alcohol dependent.

"If their reactions are not as sharp, if they're not sleeping well and if they're distracted with the sense of needing to have that drink, it's going to affect our workplaces, as well," Brady explained.

Brady adds alcohol and other substance abuse disorders affect at least 65% of Nebraskans seeking mental health treatment at Community Alliance. Nationwide, the National Survey on Drug Use and Health said more than 224-million people 12 and older report having consumed alcohol during their lifetime.

Brady added it is common among alcohol addicted people or those who abuse it to assume drinking will improve their mood, which she said can happen temporarily, but long-term, has the opposite effect.

"That might last for a period of hours, and then once they stop the drinking and they are coming down off of that use of alcohol, then the depressant sets in," Brady observed.

Brady added Community Alliance continues to dispel myths about the effects of alcohol and raise awareness about the negative physical and mental health outcomes of drinking too much.


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Budding flowers, warmer temperatures and longer days are welcome signs to many in Maryland after the long, dark months of winter. Some people might believe warmer weather improves mental health after seasonal depression in the winter months, but that's not always the case. Many people experience increased mental-health struggles as spring rolls around.

When people's feeling in the springtime doesn't meet their expectations, said Cynthia Cubbage, director of family and post-adopt service for the Barker Adoption Foundation, it can make mental-health issues worse.

"When people are looking forward to spring because it's a time of renewal, and those expectations don't happen, and then nothing gets better for them because it's deeper than that," she said, "then they get really stressed and depression can really set in. And it's because of the expectations."

Suicide rates rise in the spring and not winter, according to Johns Hopkins Medicine. Researchers find that seasonal allergies play a role. A person with rhinitis, which causes allergy symptoms, is more than 40% more likely to be depressed.

Cubbage said there are many ways people can combat those feelings: Get outdoors as much as possible and get out socially as well. But she reminded folks that sleep is vital.

"Definitely prioritize sleep, even though we're having more daylight," she said. "It makes people want to stay up longer - that they should be doing things - and to remember that's a big transition for your body. They should still prioritize their sleep. If they were still going to sleep at eight or they were putting their kids down at eight, that should continue."

Cubbage added that, if you continue to feel depressed or down even after trying those suggestions, it's best to seek out professional mental-health help.

A bill headed to the Montana governor's desk would qualify post-traumatic stress disorder under workers' compensation for the state's first responders.

PTSD is a mental-health condition that someone may develop after a traumatic event. It can result in a range of symptoms from a negative mood and reactivity to flashbacks and difficulty sleeping. First responders report experiencing PTSD at about five times the rate of the general population, according to Relief Mental Health.

George Richards, who serves as president of both the Montana State Firefighters' Association and the Montana State Council of Professional Firefighters, said suicide is one of the top two leading causes of death among firefighters.

"Firefighters, police officers, paramedics, EMTs, experience - working on a gunshot victim or a fatality wreck or a kid death - major trauma-critical calls that really affect the brain," he said.

Richards said the bill had bipartisan support, although some opponents were concerned with the costs. The bill passed a House vote Friday, just before today's observance of Workers Memorial Day.

Until now, Montana was one of roughly a dozen states without a PTSD-related workers comp policy for first responders. Richards said treatment for PTSD will also help with worker retention.

"We want it recognized so they can get the treatment and return to work as a healthy individual with a clear mind," he said.

Treatment can take different forms, Richards noted, from peer-to-peer support to residential treatment programs.


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