Perinatal Mood and Anxiety Disorders (PMADS)

Pregnancy and childbirth are often thought of as times of joy, yet mental health issues can complicate this experience. One of the most famous modern cases centered around a Houston woman named Andrea Yates, who a judge convicted of murder in 2002 after she drowned her five children. Yates was later found not guilty by reason of insanity. She was also diagnosed with postpartum psychosis. The 2023 news story of Lindsay Clancy is another example of the devastating consequences of pregnancy-related mental health disturbances. Lindsay was a normal mom regularly sharing photos of herself happily smiling and hugging her three kids. Yet Clancy was charged with murdering her children before attempting to take her own life. It is difficult to comprehend what led to this mother to lose her grip on reality and harm her children. At her trial, Clancy’s legal defense emphasized that since her youngest child was still a baby, this mother may have been suffering from undiagnosed postpartum psychosis. When reviewing this case in hindsight, it is clear that appropriate intervention may have prevented tragedy. This lawsuit has sparked a nationwide conversation regarding the importance of post-partum mental health education.

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Incivility in our Society

From small insults to more serious forms of aggression, acts of disrespect have consequences on our health, wellbeing and confidence. Take the example of being cut off in traffic, an experience that leaves one seething miles later or perhaps you have been rudely interrupted by a colleague in an important meeting. The magnitude of the effect it has on your decision making is not surprising, as most people replay the threatening scene repeatedly in their mind. When a person is rude to us, we feel targeted. The nervous system interprets these events as life-threatening and our ability to problem solve is compromised. ‘Anchoring’ is a term for cognitive bias describing the human tendency to rely too heavily on a first piece of information when solving a problem. For example, our outrage creates an overfocus (or anchor) on our initial interpretation ofwhat happened and ignores mediating information. The anchoring effect keeps us from logical solutions because of our judgment errors related to skewed expectations and dismissed information.

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Understanding and Overcoming Math Anxiety

Math anxiety manifests as a sense of increasing fear when solving equations, such as on a math test or just thinking about numbers. Usually one knows how to do the math, but the challenge comes when there is an emotional overreaction to working through the problems. When we are upset, we cannot access the parts of the brain necessary for solving problems. And…the ability to think is exactly what is needed to solve problems in the first place. Choosing to believe you are “just not a math person” can complicate your life. It is clear that math is used throughout our lifespan and can affect career choice, money management, calculating dimensions for home projects or planning for retirement.

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Youth Social Media Warning

At this moment, we are experiencing a national youth mental health crisis.

The U. S. Surgeon General has recently prioritized an advisory that a diversified effort be made to reduce the risk of harm to children’s mental health from the use of social media. Although it has its benefits, it has been concluded that the Internet is not safe enough to support the psychological wellness of children and teens ages 13-17. Kids are spending too much time on the Internet. More than 3.5 hours a day are occupied with social media sites and 1/3 of kids are using it almost ceaselessly. The type of content that may cause the most harm, as well as what may be touted as protective factors, are now being seriously researched.

What parents and caregivers can do
to mitigate this problem:

Create a family media plan to help establish healthy technology boundaries at home—including social media use.
Create tech-free zones and encourage kids to nurture their in-person friendships.
As an adult, model responsible social media behavior. for your kids.
Teach our young about technology and empower them to be responsible online participants at an age-appropriate level that corresponds with natural child development.
Report cyberbullying, online abuse and exploitation.
Work with other parents to establish shared norms and healthy online practices.
Support programs and policies surrounding healthy social media use.

Report - Current Priorities of the
U. S. Surgeon General on Social
Media and Youth Mental Health:
https://www.hhs.gov/surgeongeneral/priorities/youth-
mentalhealth/social-media/index.html#understand

How to create a family media plan:
www.healthychildren.org/MediaUsePlan.

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Talking to Children about School Shootings

Many caregivers are wondering how to address the Nashville school shooting with kids. Adults are uncertain about what to say when a child asks about community shootings they learned about in the news or from school friends. Children may be frightened by rumors or inaccuracies about what actually happened and require a special type of clarification. It is important to be proactive and truthful in talking with kids, but they definitely don’t need to know all the details of the event.

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Creating Balanced Relationships with Social Media →

How to craft online safeguards:
1. Prune your social media garden by deleting who and what provokes anxiety
2. Protect yourself by blocking
3. Remove toxic apps that focus on negativity. Counter these with daily positives, such as Nice News
4. Moderate exposure by taking periodic breaks to gain perspective and create balance in online activities
5. Turn off notifications that eat up time and create distractions that keep you from main goals
6. Remove blue-light screens to improve your sleep
7. Look at computer tracking that informs about the actual length of your screen time

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Suzette Turner-Clark, LCSW-S, RPT/S, RYT-200