Posts Tagged ‘Education’
ADHD, conduct disorder and smoking most strongly related to dropping out of high school
July 27th, 2010 | 
Author: Teens with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) — the most common childhood psychiatric condition in the United States — are less likely to finish high school on time than students with other mental-health disorders that often are considered more serious, a large national study by researchers at the UC Davis School of Medicine has found.
There are three types of ADHD: the hyperactive type, the inattentive type and the combined type. Symptoms include not being able to pay attention, daydreaming, being easily distracted and being in constant motion or unable to remain seated.
“Most people think that the student who is acting out, who is lying and stealing, is most likely to drop out of school. But we found that students with the combined type of ADHD — the most common type — have a higher likelihood of dropping out than students with disciplinary problems,” said Julie Schweitzer, an expert on ADHD at the UC Davis MIND Institute, an associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences and the study’s senior author. “This study shows that ADHD is a serious disorder that affects a child’s ability to be successful in school and subsequently in a way that can limit success in life.”
Published online in July in the Journal of Psychiatric Research, the study “Childhood and Adolescent-onset Psychiatric Disorders, Substance Use, and Failure to Graduate High School on Time” found that 32.3 percent of students with the combined type of ADHD — which incorporates hyperactive and inattentive symptoms — drop out ofhigh school. Fifteen percent of teens with no psychiatric disorder drop out.
“Understanding the factors that contribute to dropping out of high school has major public-health implications, given that a third of youth in this country do not complete high school on time. Supporting mental-health interventions for students may have a significant impact on reducing high school dropout,” said study author Elizabeth Miller, an assistant professor of pediatrics and an adolescent medicine specialist at UC Davis Children’s Hospital.
In 2006 an estimated 4.5 million children in the United States between 5 and 17 years of age were diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder , according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. An estimated 9.5 percent of boys and 5.9 percent of girls are diagnosed with the condition.
The next most at-risk teens are students with conduct disorder, whose symptoms include aggression, lying, stealing, truancy, vandalism and a general pattern of rule-breaking. Thirty-one percent of students with conductdisorder drop out, said Joshua Breslau, associate professor of internal medicine and the study’s lead author. Breslau said the research shows there are different pathways to poorhigh school performance.
“This study identifies multiple ways in which mental-health problems can affect education at the high school level. Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder impacts achievement because it affects how well students are able to perform basic classroom tasks from paying attention to turning in their homework,” said Breslau. “Students with conductdisorder are able to do just as well as everyone else academically but disciplinary issues and dealing with the routines of school life may cause them to drop out.”
For the study, the researchers examined the joint, predictive effects of childhood- and adolescent-onset psychiatric and substance-use disorders on failure to graduate high school on time, using data collected during 2001 and 2002 from the National Epidemiological Survey of Alcohol and Related Conditions. A total of approximately 43,000 racially diverse male and female participants over 18 from throughout the United States were interviewed by U.S. Census Bureau representatives about the age of onset of psychiatric diagnoses, substance use and high school graduation. Respondents were excluded if they had less than eight years of education or arrived in the U.S. after age 13. A total of 29,662 of the respondents were included in the UC Davis study.
Among childhood and adolescent psychiatric disorders, diagnosis with either the combined type of ADHD or the inattentive type — at 28.6 percent — resulted in the highest dropout rates. Students with mania, a mooddisorder, and panic disorder dropped out at 26.6 and 24.9 percent respectively. Students with other mental-health disorders had dropout rates in the high teen- to low 20-percent range. The disorders included specific phobias (like fear of water), social phobia (fear of people), post-traumatic stress disorder, generalized anxiety disorder and depression.
But more predictive of dropping out than all other mental-health disorders except ADHD and conduct disorder was tobacco use. The study found that 29 percent of students who used tobacco failed to complete high school on time. Only 20 percent of teens who used alcohol and 24.6 percent of teens who used drugs dropped out. However, when the three substances were examined together, the effect of drinking and using drugs was no longer significant, Breslau said.
“Kids who smoke had a much higher risk of dropping out than kids who drink alcohol or use other drugs. When we looked at smoking in combination with other substances, drinking and using drugs did not increase one’s risk of not completing high school on time. There’s no additional increment of risk of dropping out once you account for smoking,” Breslau said.
The reasons why this is the case merits further investigation, he said. However, existing literature suggests that poor educational performance contributes to smoking. If this is true, then breaking the connection between smoking and education may be essential to further reduction in the prevalence of smoking, Breslau said.
The implication of the findings, according to Breslau, is that the impact of mental health on education is likely to arise from a small set of conditions.
“This study suggests that focusing on a relatively narrow and hopefully more manageable range of mental-health conditions may have a consequential impact on improving school performance in secondary education.”
Schweitzer said that devising effective interventions to help students with ADHD graduate high school would have important long-term societal consequences.
“If you don’t have your high school degree, you’re going to have less income. You can’t buy houses and cars. People who drop out of high school are more likely to be reliant on public assistance. This is a disorder that has serious long-term impacts on your ability to be successful and contribute to society, not just in school, but for the rest of your life,” she said.
The UC Davis School of Medicine is among the nation’s leading medical schools, recognized for its research and primary-care programs. The school offers fully accredited master’s degree programs in public health and in informatics, and its combined M.D.-Ph.D. program is training the next generation of physician-scientists to conduct high-impact research and translate discoveries into better clinical care. Along with being a recognized leader in medical research, the school is committed to serving underserved communities and advancing rural health. For more information, visit UC Davis School of Medicine at www.ucdmc.ucdavis.edu/medschool/.Local group organizes free mental health support
SEBRING – Lois, a concerned grandmother, restlessly called local agencies for help when her 18-year-old granddaughter had a mental health breakdown.
She finally found a doctor who diagnosed her granddaughter with bipolar disorder and gave her the proper treatment. But after a year and a half of stress she had to find help for herself.
A friend led her to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) that recently formed a Highlands County chapter.
“It was such a relief to find support. It was a weight off my shoulders that I didn’t have to carry myself anymore,” Lois said.
NAMI is a national organization that offers education to families and caretakers of the mentally ill. They also provide support groups for those diagnosed with a mental illness.
“Mental illness is the most disabling disease out there,” said Mark W. Medick, executive director of NAMI Highlands County chapter and health educator for Florida Hospital Heartland Division.
Sufferers and families often isolate themselves because they are too embarrassed to talk about the illness.
The signs of other illnesses like Alzheimer’s are visible but you can’t see mental illness, said Anthony Vaccarino Jr., NAMI provider specialist.
Peggy, whose daughter was diagnosed with a mental illness 28 years ago, said the biggest challenge is for families to understand that the illnesses are not self-provoked bad behavior.
“I had to learn that my daughter was never going to go to medical school,” she said. “We had to lower our expectations and deal with it day to day. That’s part of understanding the illness.”
Peggy and her husband were in denial for years before finally hooking up with NAMI. Now she is a volunteer who helps other families coping with mental illness.
The National Institute of Mental Health estimates that one in four adults, or 57.7 million Americans, experience a mental health disorder in a given year.
Local estimates are unknown because many sufferers are reluctant to come forward, Medick said.
Breaking that stigma associated with mental illness is one of the goals of the support group.
“People need to know there’s help out there that wasn’t there 18 months ago,” Lois said.
Where to go for help
The National Alliance on Mental Illness is offering free weekly classes and support groups in Sebring and Lake Placid. The Connections support group for the mentally ill will be every Wednesday beginning on June 16 at 4023 Sun’n Lake Blvd. at 1 p.m.
The family-to-family 12-week course is for caregivers and family members of the mentally ill and helps them cope with the stress and emotional overload they may be facing.
In Lake Placid the family-to-family meetings are at 1346 U.S. 27 N., from 10:30 a.m. to noon.
In Sebring the family-to-family meetings will be held at 4023 Sun’n Lake Blvd. from 7 to 8:30 p.m. No registration is required and all meetings are anonymous.
For more information on National Alliance on Mental Illness Highlands County chapter, visit www.namihighlandsfl.weebly.com or call 863-386-5687.
Marge Brewster Center is in transition
Tri-County Human Services’ transition of the Marge Brewster Center to Highlands County Outpatient Clinic is in full swing.
Mental health workers are prepared to service patients beginning July 1. The outpatient clinic was primarily a substance abuse and prevention center, but with the transition will have the capabilities to provide routine mental health services.
After the transition, Tri-County will evaluate patients’ needs and expand or provide additional services if necessary and feasible.
“There are always going to be things that we will identify down the road,” said Robert C. Rihn, executive director of Tri-County Human Services.
Florida Department of Children and Families is covering 50 percent of the operating cost of the center. That will pay for the emergency care, crisis intervention, ongoing stability of current case load and routine care for patients.
The other half of the operating expenses will be paid through patient insurance and Medicaid.
To meet the demands of the mental health services Tri-County has hired an advanced registered nurse practitioner who has the ability to treat and prescribe medications to patients with the supervision of a doctor.
They are also working with one psychiatrist who will offer telepsychiatry sessions to patients. The outpatient clinic will not be a receiving center for patients who are Baker Acted. Those patients will continue to be sent to the Peace River Center in Bartow.
“Eventually I want to network with other agencies and providers to have more access to different specialties and capabilities,” Rihn said.
Highlands County Outpatient Clinic is located at 100 West College Drive in Bldg. E in Avon Park. For more information, call 863-452-0670.
Posted in Community Support | 
Tags: Education, families and caretakers of mentally ill, help for children, support groups | 
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Schools warned over how they handle mental health problems – News – East Anglian Daily Times
EXCLUSIVE – By Anthony Bond Wednesday, 9 June, 2010
SCHOOLS in the county have been warned over the way they handle pupils with mental health problems after a court found that Suffolk County Council discriminated against a boy with a ‘school phobia’.
At the end of last year, the Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal found that the county council and the governing body of the east Suffolk secondary school unlawfully discriminated against the boy, now 16, on four separate claims.
It followed an unsuccessful prosecution by the county council and the school against the boy’s parents for failing to ensure their son attended school regularly. The boy and the school involved cannot be identified for legal reasons.
Following the tribunal decision, the county council and school appealed against two of the four claims of discrimination which related to the prosecution against the boy’s parents.
But, despite the school winning its appeal, the tribunal judge rejected the council’s.
In his judgement, Upper Tribunal Judge Ward blasted the authority, saying it “proceeded obdurately” with the prosecution against the boy’s parents – despite being provided with medical evidence from the youngster’s GP and a child psychologist showing that he was suffering from mental health problems which affected his attendance at school.
Judge Ward said the council “closed its mind” by continuing with the prosecution.
Last night, the boy’s father, who can’t be identified, told the EADT: “This decision means that after all the heartache we have gone through, it might change the county council and the schools and the way that people like our son are dealt with from now on.
“Hopefully the council will have been shaken up so that it will not keep prosecuting parents of children with these sorts of disabilities.
“We have a son who needed help and all they could do was go through their silly procedures and instead of giving us help they made our lives very difficult.”
Judge Ward also warned that this case should cause the council to “revisit its approach to such prosecutions” and said that schools in similar situations in the future should “carefully consider” how it deals with such cases.
As a result of the appeal decision, the judge has ordered that Suffolk County Council send written apologies to the boy and his parents by June 18 which are to be signed by Eddy Alcock, the chairman of the council.
Despite winning this appeal, which found that the school could not have influenced the council to stop the prosecution, the school did not appeal against the earlier tribunal decision which found that it unlawfully discriminated against the boy by failing to make reasonable adjustments to his education.
As a result of this, the governing body of the school must also ensure that written apologies are sent to the youngster and his parents by June 18.
A spokesman for Suffolk County Council said: “Naturally the council was disappointed not to be successful in the appeal in this case. We have accepted the outcome of the Tribunal and will comply with its decision.”
THE boy involved developed chronic anxiety following time-off due to a viral illness when he first joined the secondary school.
He was diagnosed by a clinical psycholgist as suffering from a school phobia.
His parents always maintained that the school and the county council failed to offer their son the support that he needed because they never understood his mental health problems.
In June last year, the council took the parents to court for failing to ensure their son attended school reguarly.
If found guilty, they could have been sent to prison for three months and fined up to £2,500.
The council continued with the prosecution despite the child psychologist, to whom the boy was referred, saying it was worsening his mental health.
Despite this, and the fact that the couple have other children who successfully attended the same school, the decision was taken to prosecute the parents.
But following a one-day trial at South East Suffolk Magistrates’ Court in Ipswich, the parents were found not guilty.
At the same time, they took the council and school to the Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal for unlawfully discriminating against their son’s mental health by failing to make reasonable adjustments to the way in which he attends school.
via Schools warned over how they handle mental health problems – News – East Anglian Daily Times.
Posted in Education, Mental Health News |
Tags: children's needs, Education, mental health |
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