Student Suicides Spur Schools to Confront Issue
from The Chicago Tribune
After six student suicides in seven years, School District 303 in St. Charles has decided it's time to confront the problem head-on. More than 200 people have attended two "summit" meetings on suicide prevention, looking for ways they can take a more active approach to preventing deaths. Two more meetings will be held. Supt. Don Schlomann said the conventional wisdom of his earlier years was that if adults discuss suicides with teens, deaths were likely to follow. More

Overtime Session...Once Again
from NASW IL
Overtime. That's usually an exciting prospect if you are watching the Chicago Bulls in the playoffs or your favorite sports team. It can connote hope that a victory is around the corner, but that it will take another block of time to accomplish. However, that may not be the feeling in our state capitol. Once again, the Illinois General Assembly ended its session without passing a budget or a tax increase that will help fund critical social service needs in the state, and would ultimately impact the many social workers statewide that provide these services. Thanks to all those social workers who made calls this past week to their elected officials urging revenue increases. More

Dementia Care Facilities Can Offer Comfort − At a Cost
from The Chicago Tribune
When John Bauer's memory and physical abilities slipped away to the point that he could no longer care for himself, his daughter did what any loving child would do: She found the best assisted-living facility she could. Although the facility offered what it dubbed "memory care," Marna Haas quickly realized that was a misnomer. The facility decided it could no longer care for Bauer, 78, in January, so Haas looked elsewhere. More

Carpentersville, Ill., Social Worker Earns Inaugural Award
from The Chicago TribuneChicago Daily Herald
Carpentersville's longest serving police department social worker has earned the inaugural Member of the Year Award from the Illinois Association of Police Social Workers. Griselda Hernandez, who has been with the department for almost 12 years, was recognized recently by village board members. More

Kids of Parents with Mental Issues at Greater Risk
from USA Today
Children of parents with anxiety disorders are up to seven times more likely than others to develop anxiety problems themselves, research shows, and kids of depressed parents are also at high risk for becoming depressed. Two new studies suggest that talking to therapists can break this cycle, reducing the risk of mental health problems in children and teens. More

Study: Depression Diagnoses Drop after FDA Warning on Antidepressants
from The Associated Press via The Chicago Tribune
A persistent decline in the rate of Americans, especially children, newly diagnosed with depression followed the first federal warning on risks connected with antidepressant drugs, a study suggests. In 2003, the Food and Drug Administration first warned about the risk of suicidal thoughts and behavior in young people taking the drugs. That action may have helped reverse a five-year trend of rising rates of diagnosis for depression, the researchers found. More

Your Pharmacist May be Switching Your Meds
from MSNBC
For months after the former social worker, 40, was diagnosed with epilepsy, her doctor fine-tuned the precise cocktail of meds that would keep her from having seizures — adding and subtracting drugs, calibrating doses, and carefully tracking how she responded. When her condition was finally under control, she filled a prescription for one of two drugs she took — Tegretol — and shortly afterward had a seizure while riding a bicycle. She fell off the bike, broke her leg, and had a hairline fracture in her left eye socket. While the doctors were treating her, they noticed the blood level of her medication had declined. Her pharmacist, she learned, had exchanged her Tegretol for a generic that worked a little differently. More

What Makes a Parent Negligent?
from Newsweek
The word "neglect" implies that someone has given up caring. But in cases of medical neglect by parents, it can be just the opposite. Recent, highly publicized cases of child medical neglect highlight this paradox. More

Study Finds Antidepressant Doesn't Help Autistic Children
from The Los Angeles Times
An antidepressant commonly prescribed to help autistic children control their repetitive behaviors is actually no better than a placebo, according to a recent report. Roughly a third of all children diagnosed with autism in the U.S. now take citalopram, the antidepressant examined in the study, or others that are closely related. More

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