What's Inside:
FDA Orders "Black Box" Warning on Antidepressants Prescribed for Children and Teens

President’s 2003 Report Languishes a Year Later

First Person: Acting in Our Own Best Interest

Back to School Kit Give Parents Practical Ways to Reach Kids

Campus Mental Health Problems On the Rise

Lessons Learned: MHA Takes Mental Health Back to School

From the MHA Field

June Meeting Drew Experts, Advocates to the “Fight for Justice”

NMHA Tools You Can Use

Research in Brief

College is a time of change and excitement, but for many students this life transition can trigger mental health problems. Recent research shows that college students are coming forth with more mental health problems than they did a decade ago.

A 2003 study of Kansas State University’s counseling center found the number of students seen each year with depression doubled, while the number of suicidal students tripled over a 13-year period. A 2003 National Survey of Counseling Center Directors found more than 80 percent of colleges report they are seeing more students with serious psychological problems than they did five years ago.

To help campuses deal with these challenges, NMHA’s“ mpower: musicians for mental health” youth awareness campaign, along with NMHA’s 340 affiliates across the country, are distributing free materials to college students, parents and campus counseling and health services that encourage young adults to be attentive to their mental health— and to take any symptoms seriously.

"If stress or feelings of uncertainty become unmanageable, students should talk about their concerns with someone they trust or a professional on or off campus," said NMHA President and CEO Michael Faenza, MSSW. mpower’s free materials include:

• Fact sheets on adjusting to school, Oxycontin abuse, depression and alcohol use
• Activity planner designed to help college organizers promote mental health on campus
• mpower public service announcements for college radio
• Tips on how to organize a concert to raise awareness of mental health issues
• Summary of NMHA’s “Safeguarding Your Students Against Suicide” report NMHA’s mpower program works with musicians to change youth attitudes about mental health and to fight the stigma
• facing the one in five youth who have mental health problems.

To download copies of the kit, visit www.mpoweryouth.org. For more information, call NMHA at 800-969-NMHA (6642).