Adults taking high doses of amphetamine-based medications for ADHD, such as Adderall, face a five-fold increased risk of developing psychosis or mania. The risk was highest for those taking 30 mg or more of dextroamphetamine, with 81% of psychosis or mania cases potentially avoidable by lowering the dose.

Researchers developed a highly selective fluorescent probe to image serotonin in cells and animal models, shedding light on its role in depression. The study revealed that while serotonin levels in normal and “depressed” cells are similar, depressive cells release significantly less serotonin.

A recent review of genetic and population studies reveals that premorbid cognitive deficits in schizophrenia, such as lower IQ, are largely due to neurodevelopmental disruptions rather than inherited genetic variants that directly increase schizophrenia risk. The findings suggest that non-familial factors, including rare genetic mutations and environmental influences, play a significant role in both cognitive impairments and schizophrenia risk.

Crisis. Fatalistic. Overwhelming.

That’s how some experts say the current national conversation about youth mental health is framed — and counter to its goal, that lens is hurting the ability to find solutions that help adolescents better weather mental health struggles.

They spoke during a media briefing on youth mental health organized by the FrameWorks Institute, a nonprofit that studies how people think about social issues.

One of the biggest challenges to making communities that are overall better for youth mental health is the very way the issue is talked about, says Nat Kendall-Taylor, CEO of the FrameWorks Institute and a psychological anthropologist.

Conversations tend to focus on how individual choices students make can impact their mental health, he says, rather than on how systemic problems and the environments where teens live contribute to stress on adolescents. They also tend to be fatalistic and focus on the crisis nature of the problem, Kendall-Taylor adds, and paint teens as a kind of “other” social group that’s detached from their communities.

These factors form a “toxic trio” that causes people to feel as though the problem is insurmountable, he explains, and then tune out. That creates a challenge in getting people supportive of changes, and use of public resources, for teen mental health support.

“It’s become a culture war issue, it’s become an existential problem,” Kendall-Taylor says, “and the interesting thing is the way in which that crisis- and urgency-focused narrative really gives no space and has no room for solutions.”

What Motivates the Adolescent Brain?

Andrew Fuligni is a psychology professor and leads the Adolescent Development Lab at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Science’s understanding of the adolescent brain is much different than it was 10 years ago, he says, and what the teen mind needs is connection, discovery and exploration. The motivation and rewards system is highly active, pumping out higher levels of dopamine than those seen in earlier childhood or in adulthood.

“It energizes our motivational region so we can explore the world and find not just how we can fit into the family but into the social world, community and so on,” Fuligni says. “We are designed to take risks during the adolescent years so we can learn. It’s important for adolescents to have those risks in safe and supportive ways, whether in school or the community, so they can find out how they can make a good contribution to the world around them.”

Fuligni says the public is still underestimating the importance of sleep, which is critical to the brain’s development, to adolescent mental health. Current evidence suggests there’s a far greater connection between quality sleep and mental health, he explains, than with another factor frequently named the root problem — social media usage.

“Many scientists believe that the focus on social media has led us to not pay attention to these other critical factors that may be driving these kinds of things,” Fuligni says.

But teens don’t necessarily control whether their environment is set up for a good night’s sleep, Fuligni says. How much noise or light pollution is present, or whether there’s tension at home, are all factors that can impact whether adolescents get sufficient rest.

“Sleep also shows very significant inequalities in American society,” he says. “When we look at economic inequalities, ethnic inequalities, sleep will follow every aspect of inequality across the nation. Light pollution, overcrowding, when you look at work schedules of parents, these will all drive poorer sleep within the household.”

Changing the Narrative

Kendall-Taylor says that one solution the FrameWork Institute recommends to address public disengagement around youth mental health is changing the framing from an individual problem to one that focuses on how our environment shapes us.

Educating people on how adolescent development works is key to getting buy-in for addressing issues that will improve teen well-being, he adds. There’s likewise a need to steer conversations around youth mental health from crisis to solutions, with more talking about what positive and resilient mental health experiences look like.

“We need to be careful that the young people in our stories are not passive recipients but active agents in the experiences of mental health,” Kendall-Taylor says, “that we don't fall into this ‘they need to be saved by us’ dynamic, which is a frequent trap that we fall into.”

View From a School District

Kent Pekel has spent a lot of time thinking about how stress on youth mental health gets in the way of students succeeding in class. As the superintendent in Rochester, Minnesota, he supported an overhaul of the district’s transportation system so that high school students could get more sleep with a school day start time of 8:50 a.m.

Before that change, the district tried its hand at convincing high schoolers to go to bed earlier by touting “the benefits of sleep.” The campaign didn’t land.

“The benefits of sleep were not resonating with high school kids,” Pekel says, “but recently as part of our mental health strategy, we’ve started to talk about wellness and being healthy.”

Pekel says he feels like he’s living through a second big paradigm shift in education. The first was the movement to implement early childhood education systemwide, rather than viewing it as a niche practice.

It was the framing around the importance of early childhood education, similar to what Kendall-Taylor describes for youth mental health, that helped it become more widely adopted, Pekel says. With mental health, he adds, the gap between what students need and what the education system can provide is even wider than what families faced at the onset of the early childhood education movement.

While it’s positive that students, parents and educators today are more aware of the importance of mental health, Pekel is also seeing more families that are willing to keep children home if they’re experiencing symptoms of anxiety. Like others around the country, he says his district is managing a chronic absenteeism problem. Educators like him need help differentiating between when students are experiencing true mental health problems versus when they are simply going through the typical challenges that come with being a teen.

“Not being in school has catastrophic implications for your ability to learn, and we are seeing parents using terminology that implies it’s really rooted in a mental health challenge,” Pekel says, “and sometimes our school social workers, school counselors, school psychologists say, ‘No, this is just a kid who needs a lot of support to go to class.’”

© mentalmind / Shutterstock

Challenging social environments and the size of the left hippocampus in children aged 9-11 contribute to an increased risk of depression. Researchers found that children with larger hippocampal volumes are more sensitive to negative social environments, amplifying depressive symptoms over a two-year period.

Researchers have discovered that nondeceptive placebos—placebos given with the full knowledge that they are placebos—can effectively manage stress, even when administered remotely. In a two-week randomized controlled trial, participants experiencing prolonged stress were divided into two groups: one group received nondeceptive placebos, while the other served as a control.

New research reveals that cognitive impairments in psychotic disorders, like schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, are connected to brain network organization. This connection is evident even before the first psychotic break in at-risk individuals, offering potential for early diagnosis and intervention. The study highlights a novel brain network-cognition relationship that could lead to targeted treatments for these often treatment-resistant symptoms.

A meta-analysis suggests that high doses of psilocybin may alleviate depressive symptoms similarly to the SSRI drug escitalopram. While the effect size was small, psilocybin outperformed placebo in clinical trials, though study design flaws could have led to overestimated results. The findings indicate that psilocybin, particularly in high doses, may offer a new avenue for treating depression, comparable to existing antidepressants.

Children with persistent inflammation are at a higher risk of developing mental health disorders like psychosis and depression in early adulthood. A study found that elevated inflammation markers, particularly around age 9, significantly increase the risk of these disorders, as well as cardiometabolic diseases such as insulin resistance. The research suggests that early-life inflammation could be a critical factor in later mental and physical health issues, prompting the need for further investigation into its role.

Educator wellness is more than buzzwords. Living a well-balanced and fully engaged life is essential for building a safe, supportive and collaborative school culture that positively impacts both student achievement and teacher retention. Learn the 4 dimensions of educator wellness and how they can help strengthen work-life balance and teacher efficacy.

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Click here to see the full infographic. / Graphic design by Erin Horlacher.

© Mediaphotos / Adobe Stock

Western classical music can significantly affect brain activity, particularly in people with treatment-resistant depression. By measuring brainwaves and neural imaging, scientists discovered that music synchronizes neural oscillations between brain regions associated with sensory and emotional processing, enhancing mood. This study suggests that personalized music therapy could be a powerful tool for treating depression, especially when integrated with other sensory stimuli.

Following the Mediterranean diet versus the traditional Western diet might make you feel less stressed, according to new research. The findings suggest that people can lower their perception of how much stress they can tolerate by following a Mediterranean diet.

I was in my twenties when I began my career as a child trauma psychotherapist on the south side of Chicago, right around the corner from the neighborhood where I grew up. As a young therapist at an outpatient psychotherapy practice, I was excited and thrilled to work in my community with a majority of my clients being Black children and families.

As a Black therapist, it was easier for me to empathize with them; in the process, I learned a lot about the prevalence of abuse, neglect and complex trauma within our community. I focused on acknowledging and processing the daily effects of trauma through narrative frameworks. The relationships and connections that I made fueled me through the heavy, difficult, yet rewarding days.

My job was not easy. I was one of the only Black therapists on the team and the majority of my colleagues were white. I entered this role excited for connection and the opportunity to create change. The more I learned, the more I experienced the effects of microaggressions and systemic racism within the foster care and mental health system. No matter how hard I pushed to create change, I seemed to find myself in a cycle where the families I worked with were being re-traumatized by systems that were designed to keep them under-resourced and in a state of chronic stress and trauma.

I would question these systems and the negative patterns that so many of our children and families seemed to be in, but many of my colleagues would simply shrug and state that there was nothing more to be done. Some of my colleagues spoke about leaving the work at work and driving home where they could separate their personal experience from their professional experiences. They even told me, “I could never do this job if I was working with the kids and families who live in my community.” I was proud to be doing important work in my community, and yet I felt as if I was not making a visible impact. Eventually, this disconnect led to vicarious trauma and burnout. I needed a break.

This led me to work within the independent school system. In 2016, I accepted a position as an early childhood counselor, working with a diverse group of children from nursery school through second grade. The young kids I work with call me their “feelings teacher.” I teach them about emotional identification, emotional regulation and identity formation. I begin each lesson with deep breathing techniques, teaching them how to pause and asking them to smell the flower and blow out the candle.

When I began this new role, I told myself that I deserved a break from the trauma of working within foster care and mental health systems where I felt ineffective and complicit in the cycle of harmful care. Often, I would make progress with a client and then they would need to move to another foster home or experience another trauma. The therapeutic work I did seemed to have no end. I understood that trauma psychotherapy was the foundation of my education and professional experience, but I went into this new role excited for a new opportunity to create change.

A Turn of Events

Coming into a predominantly white institution (PWI) as a Black woman is no easy feat. I was consistently called the wrong name, interrupted during meetings and my expertise was routinely questioned. Despite these micro and macro aggressions, I was able to make connections and build authentic relationships that allowed me to feel comfortable in my role. Eventually, I was in a position where I was able to effect change and create opportunities for myself and others to feel seen, heard and more appropriately valued.

Just as I was beginning to get settled into this new role of leadership, COVID-19 arrived in the spring of 2020 and completely changed the way we functioned as educators. When schools shut down, we shifted our work to online platforms and many of my colleagues were forced to develop new skills in working with computers and technology. One of my administrators looked at me solemnly and said, “School is going to look so different from what we know.” It all happened quickly, and we were unable to make time to pause and process.

Later that fall, many school systems remained remote, but as I was working with the youngest learners, my colleagues and I were required to come back to work in person. This was a stressful transition as we separated desks and split classrooms between two rooms. Teachers feared for their own safety and that of their families as they risked exposure on a daily basis and juggled evening Zoom sessions that were designed to calm classroom caregivers when a student tested positive for COVID-19. I was terrified as I thought about the possibility of bringing COVID-19 back to my mother and young son. I thought about the statistics that showed Black and Brown populations being disproportionately affected by COVID-19, “resulting in higher morbidity and mortality rates compared to other racial and ethnic groups.”

During this time, COVID was not my only worry. News channels outlined numerous instances of Black and Brown lives being unjustly taken, social unrest and relevant protests. Once again, I began each day with fear — fear for my well-being and fear for the life of my young Black son. I was afraid to discuss what was happening with my students, but I was more afraid of what would happen if I completely ignored my lived experience and that of so many others like me.

Black families were experiencing multiple traumas, both COVID and police violence simultaneously, which called for addressing this experience and combating fears through affirmation. So, I used my voice to create change. I read books affirming Blackness and spoke to kids, teachers and families about what was happening in our daily lives and their roles in speaking up.

I found myself in an impossible position: I was being asked to support and take care of my students, teachers and administrators while I was in a state of intense stress. As a Black woman, I feared for my life, and for that of my family. Yet, I still showed up to work every day and put myself at risk. I was dealing with my own trauma while needing to help others through their own at the same time. As was the case early in my career when I was working on the southside of Chicago, I felt a commitment to create change during COVID, because it was an opportunity for me to make positive movement forward, even if it was small.

In my school, I am able to sit with my teachers and take time to remember the ways in which we existed when we were in the middle of the pandemic. During team meetings, we are able to empathize with one another and understand that we are not alone in our experience. We discuss being isolated from those we cared about and things we do today that are still directly connected to our pandemic experiences. We acknowledge that educators have always carried a heavy load and that COVID has made that load almost unbearable. Sometimes, we talk over a cup of herbal tea and discuss tools that might help with stress management.

Having these conversations allows us to be vulnerable and creates opportunities for us to connect in a real and meaningful way. This allows us to be more present and emotionally available for our children.

Taking Care of Business

Earlier in my career, I was young and holistically and selflessly committed to the care and well-being of the children and families that I worked with. I cared so much about meeting their needs that I did not focus on my self-care, and I ultimately experienced burnout as a result. Now that I am more experienced, I have a clearer understanding of what self-care should look like and I am able to focus on identifying and exploring my feelings in times of crisis, understand the ways that my identity and lived experience shape my worldview, and center the importance of building a community that affirms and uplifts my voice and identity. Perhaps, I would have lasted longer in my early career if I had been able to do this sooner.

I realized the foundational importance of taking care of yourself before you can help others. If we can do this, we will be more present, grounded and available to the impressionable young minds for whom we are responsible. The same goes for identity formation; if we as educators can understand and recognize our identity and lived experience, then our students will be able to do this as well.

It was imperative for me to acknowledge my experience as a Black woman to work as a school counselor. This centers who I am, how I experience the world and what I do, no matter what the work might be. Accepting the role of identity in my work allows me to continue building the relationships and connections that I have always valued and prepares me for the heavy, difficult, yet rewarding days ahead.

© fizkes / Shutterstock

A recent review outlines the genetic complexity of schizophrenia, highlighting nearly 300 common genetic variants and over 20 rare variants linked to the disorder. Researchers emphasize that schizophrenia's genetic basis is multifaceted, involving multiple genes rather than a single cause. Environmental factors like lifestyle and stress also play crucial roles. This understanding underscores the need for comprehensive research to develop better interventions for schizophrenia.

A new study shows that Cannabigerol (CBG) significantly reduces anxiety without the intoxicating effects of THC. The clinical trial found that 20 mg of CBG reduced anxiety and stress in participants, with memory enhancement as an unexpected benefit. The study highlights CBG’s potential as an alternative anxiety treatment. Further research is needed to confirm these findings and explore additional benefits.

A recent study reveals that preteen suicide rates have increased by 8% annually since 2008, with the highest rises among female, American Indian/Alaska Native, Asian/Pacific Islander, and Hispanic preteens. The findings stress the need for culturally responsive prevention efforts, including risk screening and lethal means safety counseling. The study also found that hanging and suffocation are the most common methods, with firearms rapidly increasing. These insights call for targeted interventions to address this alarming trend.

A new study suggests that exercise reduces depression by boosting motivation through decreased inflammation and enhanced dopamine function. This understanding could lead to personalized exercise programs as treatment. The review highlights how aerobic exercise combats anhedonia and low energy in depression. Large trials are needed to further test this hypothesis and explore barriers to exercise.

As a school counselor, Leighanne Mainguy can never be sure what’s in store for her each day.

Some days, she arrives at her elementary school to learn that a student is in crisis and needs her full attention; she’ll clear her schedule. Occasionally, a tragedy in the community will leave students and staff shaken, and Mainguy will move swiftly to lend support.

The job can be heavy and hard. With so many young people today facing mental health challenges, such as anxiety, depression and stress, school counselors are in high demand. Yet their capacity is limited: School counselors in the U.S. have an average caseload of 385 students, based on the latest data available. (Mainguy’s caseload is slightly better than that, and the American School Counselor Association recommends a ratio of one counselor to 250 students.)

But the job also comes with regular doses of levity, joy and laughter — moments that Mainguy describes as “soul building.”

Every week, a student may interact with dozens of adults in their school, from counselors to custodians, bus drivers to paraprofessionals, food service workers to school nurses. These individuals are integral to a school community but rarely as visible as, say, teachers and principals.

In a new series, “Role Call,” EdSurge is elevating the experiences of the myriad school staff members who help shape the day for kids. This month, we’re featuring school counselor Leighanne Mainguy, who shares how she came into this work, what people get wrong about it, and what she wishes she could change.

The following interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.

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Name: Leighanne Mainguy

Age: 49

Location: Las Vegas, Nevada

Role: School counselor

Current age group: PreK-5

Years in the field: 12

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EdSurge: How did you get here? What brought you to this role?

Leighanne Mainguy: So I didn't start counseling until I was 38. I've always been a helper by nature. When I was a kid, I found a lot of joy in that. When I went to college, right out of high school, I got my degree in psychology and knew I wanted to do something in that realm, but circumstances didn't allow for that for quite some time.

For years, I was helping my husband through college, and we were having kids. We were living in Michigan, and I had a good job working in corporate America. Then we moved to Nevada, and with my husband’s support, I started a master’s program. In most states, you have to have your master’s degree to work as a school counselor.

I could have been a mental health professional as well — I could have gone into something like that. But I'll be honest with you, I love the school environment. I love working with kids. Plus, it's given me an opportunity to spend a lot of time with my husband and four children because they were in the school district (my husband is a teacher).

It's something that I think I was meant to do, but how I got here was just a long, long process.

When people outside of school ask you what you do — say, at a social event — how do you describe your work?

So in my profession, especially for people my age and older, the term used to be “guidance counselor.” We prefer to be called school counselors now, because previously a “counselor” would be considered somebody who supported you in finalizing your credits, who you might've only seen in high school and helped you maybe decide on which direction you were going to go after high school.

Now, many school counselors do tier one counseling, which is working with all students; tier two counseling, which might look like small group support; and then we might do tier three, which is individual counseling for short periods of time. I don't recall that ever being the case when I was a kid. I think I saw my guidance counselor once or twice, maybe, my senior year. Now we're in elementary schools, we're in middle schools, we're in high schools. So it's just a more well-rounded job.

Most of the time, I get a pretty good reaction to telling someone I’m a school counselor. They're like, ‘Cool, that's awesome. You're an educator.’ But if somebody allowed me to get that deep into it, that’s what I’d say.

What does a hard day look like in your role?

Hard days can be super emotional. I think most counselors are pretty good at compartmentalizing the bigger issues so we don't take it home at night, but we get to deal with some of the hardest things that a kid, or even a staff member, will see.

I've had kids come in the day after one of their parents died. I’ve had to talk to kids about some pretty horrific things that have happened in their homes. On top of that, days when we have to implement suicide protocols (after students have expressed thoughts of self-harm) are probably the most emotionally draining. We take that very seriously.

I mean, some days are kind of crazy just because you have a lot of busyness. I never know what my day is going to look like. I could come in one morning and have a plan to do three lessons and talk to five kids, and then find that a student is having some suicidal ideation first thing in the morning and have to support them through managing that, getting in touch with their family and managing the aftermath of that with their teachers.

Bigger events can be really difficult as well. We had a huge, traumatic event in our district with the Route 91 shooting in Las Vegas on Oct. 1, 2017. That affected a lot of families in our community. Over 500 people were shot and 59 died.

Those are big days where you're like, ‘OK, scrap it.’ You shift gears, you’ve got to manage everything. You’ve got to take a step back [and ask yourself], ‘How are we going to support our students as a school? How are we going to support our staff?’

What does a really good day look like?

Field Day is always a really great day. We've had some professional athletes come — from the Golden Knights and the Raiders. They have these events where, like, 50 kids get to practice with the Raiders out in our field. We have picnics where parents come into our school, and we all go out in the field and eat with the students.

Anytime that it can feel like we’re a community, anytime we can do something big with the kids, and you just see them smiling and enjoying themselves, I would say those are my best days. There's nothing like seeing a kid light up, to see a kid giggle. It's soul building to see them have fun.

What is an unexpected way that your role shapes the day for kids?

School counselors are out and about all the time at our school. The day starts, and we're in the hallways with the kids. I think knowing that there are other people in the school besides their teacher that care enough to know their name, know about their families, ask about how their soccer game went last night, know that they have a big test coming up — I think, for some kids, that’s unexpected. For some parents, that’s unexpected. And I think that makes them feel important and seen and heard.

What do you wish you could change about your school or the education system today?

I wish that more people were willing to ask questions about what we do — like you are doing — and listen to our answers.

There are a lot of assumptions about the education field currently — not just about teachers, but about my role too.

I guess if I could change something, it would be that people would listen better, because I think so many of the people [making decisions about] public schools haven’t spent any time in them, and aren’t asking good questions about what we need to support our students.

Your role gives you unique access and insight into today's youth. What is one thing you've learned about young people through your work?

They just give me hope, as an adult. I think that we get super clouded in the day-to-day stuff — paying your bills and being an adult, it can be a lot. I'm not even going to get into politics and all the really scary things that can happen. But kids give me joy and hope.

I know that's not insight, necessarily, but they remind me of all the good things in life. Even though I get to hear some of the worst things that have happened to them, they remind me of all the good things in this world. So I guess maybe my insight is that us adults need to be a little more present in our day and learn to be a little bit more like kids.

© Bibidash / Shutterstock

Visualizing breathing patterns can improve interoceptive awareness and mental well-being. Researchers used a spherical object on screens and spatial audio to mirror users’ breaths, significantly enhancing their bodily awareness and flow state. This immersive sensory experience highlights the connection between external stimuli and internal bodily signals, potentially aiding mental health.