Resources from McLean: Winter Blues, Mindfulness, and More

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From: Your Friends at McLean <email@mclean.org>
Date: Tue, Jan 24, 2023 at 10:17 AM
Subject: [What's New] Overcoming Winter Blues, Mindfulness Webinar, and Lots More!
To: <kwilson-fey@ttsd.k12.or.us>

Resource Update: January 2023 Experiencing Winter Blues? You’re Not Alone Multiple studies show that when people are exposed to less sunlight, they can develop certain mental health issues. Seasonal affective disorder (SAD), a fitting acronym for the condition, involves symptoms such as depressive moods, low energy, increased need for sleep, and irritability. With the right help, most people with seasonal affective disorder can control their symptoms and make the most of the winter season. Webinar: Introducing Mindfulness to Kids & Teens Whether they’re navigating school, extracurriculars, or social relationships, our kids live stressful and fast-paced lives. For children and adolescents, the mental flexibility learned from mindfulness can help them have better focus, manage symptoms of stress, have better emotional regulation, and be more positive. In a recent webinar, Gillian C. Galen, PsyD, shared ways to introduce mindfulness to children and teens, provided tips and tricks to make mindfulness practices more second nature to the whole family, and answered questions about how mindfulness can make a positive impact both on our kids and ourselves. Deconstructing Stigma: Celebrating New Participants Have you seen the newest stories from our Deconstructing Stigma campaign? Each story is told through the eyes of the campaign’s participants as they bravely share their mental health experiences in hopes of helping others. Not just statistics or nameless faces, the volunteers in this project are everyday people—just like you. Learn about Lindsay, Omri, Jude, and more! Suicide: Know the Signs & What To Do Suicide is among the leading causes of death in the United States and it is actively becoming more common among particular groups. Society can view those who attempt or complete suicide as “not normal” and therefore apply this view onto the survivors. Avoidance, shaming, stereotyping, and distrust toward those affected by suicide only help to reinforce the idea that they are different, even though suicide can affect any family at any time. With such prevalent stigma, it is important to have a discussion about why people take their lives and how to prevent suicide. Recordings of Our Virtual Suicide Course Are Now Available! The suicide rate has increased significantly over the past two decades, with nearly 50,000 people currently dying from suicide in America each year. To respond to our field’s most pressing clinical challenge, we asked national suicide experts to present the most recent, cutting-edge advances in suicide-focused assessment and treatment. You can now watch this course on-demand!