SAC Corner
Issue No. 6
click the title for an article link
- Mindfulness program included 2.5 hrs of weekly classes and 45min of daily at home practice
- Medication included the generic drug sold under the brand name Lexapro
- Results measured after 2 months via a severity scale
- Both groups saw a 30% anxiety decrease at 2 months and continue to see a decline during following 4 months
- Participants were 200 adults for a 6 month study
- https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapsychiatry/article-abstract/2798510
Did you know that mental illness is a leading cause of disability?
Mental health impacts everyone differently. Physically, emotionally, financially, interpersonal relationships, substance use, medical conditions, etc.
If you remember in a previous SAC Corner issue, we talked about the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force's recommendation for routine anxiety screening in adults.
Remember that mindfulness does not equal self-care. Sometimes it does, but not always. Mindfulness is about focusing on the present moment, acknowledging & dismissing intrusive thoughts, breathing, allowing the mind and body to psych speeds, and changing the relationship you have with your own mind and thoughts.
Vagus Nerve Icing
What?
Vagus nerve icing is often achieved by placing ice on the face, chest, or dunking the face in ice water. it is used as a way to ease anxiety via the longest cranial nerve in the body.
Says Who?
It's being talked about everywhere. TikTok, celebrities, public officials, you name it. Those aren't experts. However clinical psychologist Dr. Jenny Taitz says it is similar to a techniques she and other psychologists have recommended for years.
How?
So vagus nerve icing stimulates the vagus nerve by imposing a dive response. A dive response is a reduction in heart rate because of an increase in cardiac parasympathetic nerve activity, peripheral vasoconstriction on the arterial vascular tree, and an increase in sympathetic activity triggered in response to the cessation of respiration and, but not necessarily including, simulation of facial cold receptors. (Foster, Sheel 2005)
This dive response is startling for sure, can help conserve oxygen, but also can work like a reset for your mind and body.
Dr. Taitz recommends holding your breath and dunking the face for 15-30 seconds in the ice water. That's it! Embrace the cold and pay special attention to how you feel afterwards. How your mind feels and how your body feels. Likely you'll notice a drop in heart rate.
Sounds Familiar
You may be thinking of TIPP. TIPP is a DBT technique used to reduce anxiety.
T emperature: cold water or ice on your face or hand
I ntense exercise: at least 60 seconds of something like jumping jacks
P aced breathing: inhale for 4 seconds, hold for 4 seconds, exhale for 4 seconds
P rogressive muscle relaxation: tensing and releasing parts of the body for about 5 seconds each (some mindful body scans utilize this)
Check First Always
If you have health conditions, you might not want to try this technique out. It's a good idea to always ask a doctor first. Especially for heart conditions or migraines.
Additional: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1600-0838.2005.00440.x
TikTok Consequences
Self Diagnosis
Diagnoses Commonly Self-Diagnosis via TikTok all with billions of views
- ADHD
- Autism
- Trauma
- Narcissistic Personality Disorder
- Emetophobia
- Tourette Syndrome (tic disorders)
- Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID)
- Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
- Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD)
- Bipolar Disorder
TikTok is often used by creators as an avenue to raise awareness. Sometimes this includes describing what symptoms of something are, what the typical experience is, the definition of certain conditions and disorders, the creator's own personal story, acted out examples, recorded actual episodes or behaviors, etc.
This can create a sense of community, acceptance, and education. It has created a sense of community and connectedness, been a grounds to receive support, and served some as a motivation to seek treatment.
This can also be hazardous in regards to impressionability. Ages 11-17 are particularly susceptible to social influence according to Dr. Adelayo, a practicing psychiatrist with Banner Behavioral Health Hospital. Some of the videos spread misinformation, or information out of context. Some creators also pose as something they are not. A PhD as a MD, self proclaimed life coaches or nutrionists without any background, training, or certifications.
“It creates this horoscope type of effect. People see enough of these videos, they start to relate to any number of the potential symptoms and even begin to present with some of the same symptoms,” Dr. Adelayo said. “The thing is psychological illnesses don’t happen that way. Just because you pee a lot, doesn’t mean you have diabetes. You just don’t have diabetes because you say you have diabetes.”
Self-diagnosising and self-treating/prescribing can be dangerous and also discouraging. You may believe you are immune to treatments but it may be because you have misdiagnosed yourself and been using the wrong treatments. If you think you have ADHD and use ADHD treatments, but really you have anxiety, you need anxiety treatments not ADHD treatments. Even scarier is if the incongruent treatment you have been given for your incorrect self-diagnosis ends up worsening your mental health and wellbeing.
Sometimes, being that we are a susceptible and easily influenced species, people can subconsciously adopt the behaviors in the videos they watch. Sometimes descriptions are ambiguous and left to interpretation if they fit you the same way or not. There is a level of social contagion here.
Advice
- Check the credentials of people you get advice from online
- Fact check information
- Monitor your "For you" page and reset it altogether every once in awhile
- TikTok IS NOT THERAPY, it is good for community but if you believe you may have mental health needs, talk to a health care professional such as a licensed therapist
- Set time limits when using and for total usage in a day
- Be honest with your mental health professional about any online discovery or resonation
(click the title for an article link)
Financial sextortion is being extorted for money after being coerced into sending explicit images. DOJ says 7,000 reports in the last year alone, with at least 3,000 victims, and 12+ related suicides.
Who is targeted?
It can be anyone, but reports show mainly boys (think ages 10-17). Offenders often target boys on social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and gaming sites.
Who is doing this?
The majority of offenders are from West Africa (specifically Nigeria & Ivory Coast).
But this can happen close to home too. During my SAC internship a police officer was a guest speaker for the students and shared a case. In this case a young boy was groomed over a gaming site by a strange man. The man was friendly, non-invasive (at first), and then over time began sending the boy money to use for his game. After having accepted the money, the boy was then asked for sexually explicit pictures. When the boy refused he was threatened, guilted and extorted from the money he was sent (but did not ask for). The man tracked the boy down and showed up at the house. The mom could tell something was wrong and called the police. Upon arresting the man, the police searched his car and found rope, tape, and weapons for a planned kidnapping if not more. If I recall correctly there was a plan to murder the child.
Not My Kid
It's true, most of our kids know all the obvious answers.
Never get in the car with a stranger. Don't tell anyone where you live. Don't send someone naked pictures of yourself.
Our kids are smart! But they're also kids. the brain doesn't fully develop until the ages 25-27. So until then, the pre-frontal cortex responsible for reasoning, judgement, problem solving, impulse control, and emotional regulation has not yet fully cooked. Cookie dough brains. Sometimes their in the moment answer/action is different than what they know on paper to be the right answer.
Offenders use this to their advantage. They sometimes start with a threat, but more often than not will pose as a same age peer. Once the criminal gains information, pictures, and/or videos they begin threatening to publish the content, violence, etc. in order to gain more content or money. They use shame, fear, and confusion which without a fully cooked pre-frontal cortex is hard to navigate properly. Children feel trapped in this cycle and that trapped feeling mixed with the shame, fear, and confusion can prevent them from asking for help or reporting the abuse.
Hot to Get Help
If young people are being exploited, they are the victim of a crime and should report it. Contact your local FBI field office, call 1-800-CALL-FBI, or report it online at http://tips.fbi.gov.
click the title for the Wall Street Journal Article
Refresher: Teenage boys who got in trouble with the law could go to juvenile hall (juvy) or to Camp Green Lake where all they did was dig holes.
Well as readers we learn about the corrupt warden's motive for making them dig holes. Well fast forward to 2022 and into reality (not a fictional story), and it turns out digging holes may be therapeutic. Go figure!
One group of young people started digging holes on the beach for no other purpose than "it's just relaxing" - Charlie Mone. Now every couple of weeks they do just that and see how deep they go before seeing the tide comes in. Mindful of beachgoers and the environment, they always fill them back in.
Even TikTok now has videos of hole digging that are sometimes 5+ feet deep.
Why could it be therapeutic? Well it is a very concentrated focus visually, mentally, and physically, that can help dismiss the distractions of the world.
Some highly intelligent people have used it to solve problems they were stuck on. Such as:
- Leanne Wijnsma - Dutch graphic artist and director
- Seymour Cray - pioneer in supercomputers
- Harrison Dyar Jr. - pioneering entomologist (his tunneling became so extensive it left his property into town and a truck sank into it!)
Minecraft player Minthical spent 4+ years turning his world into one big hole. Even in the virtual world hole digging is a compulsion/interest.
During the Cold War, the SU and US raced to see who could dig the deepest hole.
(click title for article)
Imaginary Audience: “Everyone is watching me all the time”
The imaginary audience is a psychological state in which people have the mistaken impression that throngs of people are intently listening to or watching them. While this state may occur at any age, all adolescents experience it.
This belief causes adolescents to construct imaginary situations in which they anticipate others’ reactions to them in social situations that have not yet occurred. Their visions of how others will respond to them form the imaginary audience. These situations rarely unfold the way teens imagine, however. In truth, all eyes are rarely on them.
Personal Fable: “No one understands me, because I’m not like anyone else”
According to Elkind, the personal fable is the corollary to the imaginary audience. Seeing themselves as the center of attention, adolescents adopt a complex set of beliefs about their personal uniqueness. They feel special, as if no one else has ever experienced such deep emotions and could therefore never understand how they feel. The notion that their feelings are unique operates as a kind of fable, a story they tell themselves.
This illusion of grandeur causes adolescents to believe that the rules that apply to others don’t apply to them. They feel invulnerable and immortal, and therefore lack impulse control—engaging in risky behaviors without fear of the consequences.
Things to Remind Our Teens
- You only ever have one brain. It's arrogant to think that our one brain is going to be able to solve everything, think of everything, or understand all experiences. So recruit another brain when you're feeling some type of way and get some extra brain power to help you through it
- The human brain isn't fully developed until the ages of 25 - 27 years old. You have cookie dough brain! Don't be hard on yourself for not having it all figured out, and try to recognize that the part of your brain firing the brightest is the amygdala - you're emotional based right now. Be kind to yourself. You're amygdala needs you to be sensitive to yourself. Also, don't be too proud to go find someone with a full developed brain so you can benefit from some pre frontal cortex expertise in decision making.
- Preoccupation with your appearance, being self-conscious, wanting to disappear/excessively shy/private, risky behaviors, conformity, etc. are typical behaviors and feelings from this.
- It's okay to not be okay. Happens to all of us. Ask for help! If you'd let a lifeguard rescue you from drowning in water, let a trusted adult help you from drowning in your emotions and experiences.
click link for article
LASIK Warning
If considering this surgery, make sure to stay up to date on FDA guidelines, recommendations, and current research.
Being Proactive
Sensitive Content?
https://triggerwarningdatabase.com/ for books
http://www.doesthedogdie.com before watching a new movie, tv show, or reading a new book. It lists a wide variety of content warnings. It is public/user driven - like Wikipedia.
Substance Users
Check this SAC Corner guide out here:
The website includes therapy connections, including free therapy, resources for suicide, crisis, substance use, and more specifically labeled ones such as for: LGBTQ+, Black Girls, Black Men, and more.
Vaping Education Online Class - Sign Up!
Have students go to everfi.com/register, enter code 8bdfd959 and click Next.
This is a Truth course supported by EverFi and monitored by our district SAC (me).
Teen Mental Health Temperature Check
**Disclaimer**
They do provide a lot of free information and resources that I share when appropriate.
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2022 - 2023
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2021-2022
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Special Editions
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Haddonfield School District SAC - Holly Penna
Email: hpenna@haddonfield.k12.nj.us
Website: https://haddonfieldschools.org/
Location: A104 HMHS
Phone: 856-429-3960 . 1155