Letters to Lyla and Lottie: Two disturbing facts

welcome to my internet home. this blog used to be cool, with insights about mental health, social policy, pop culture and the like. now, it's a chaotic collection of my mis-spelled, scribbled-down notes on motherhood (who has time to proof read?). it's over-ran with goldfish cracker crumbles, slobery wet kisses, and un-edited pictures. and i would have it no other way. feel free to laugh and cry along side me while I balance a practice (mental heath) and motherhood, and their interconectedness

Monday, March 31, 2008

Two disturbing facts

Posted by Todd & Chelsea at 9:47 AM

#1. Got this e-mail from the director of the Counseling Center first thing this morning. Its a news article about a woman who came into her UNIVERSITY COUNSELING CENTER with a gun and took her FEMALE COUNSELOR hostage. Check it out HERE. Hearing of female counselors being held hostage in a University Counseling Center is always a good way to start out the morning. Not to mention my dream last night....One of my clients locked us in my office and tried to kill me. I'm not making that up either. WARM FUZZIES

#2. Read this study today, "Ranking the States: An Analysis of Depression Across the States" It was researched and written by Mental Health America and Thomson Healthcare. It looks at data from 2002-2006 comparing depression levels and suicide rates in all 50 states. WHO WAS RANKED NUMER ONE ON DEPRESSION STATUS COMPOSITE SCORES???

YOU GUESSED IT....UTAH

Here's an exerp from the study:

"Utah was the most depressed state. Among adults in Utah, 10.14 percent experienced a depressive episode in the past year and 14.58 percent experienced serious psychological distress. Among adolescents in Utah, 10.14 experienced a major depressive episode in the past year. Individuals in Utah reported having on average 3.27 poor mental health days in the past 30 days."

HOW STATES RANK.... (the lower the score the better)

SOUTH DAKOTA 1
HAWAII 2
NEW JERSEY 3
IOWA 4
MARYLAND 5
MINNESOTA 6
LOUISIANA 7
ILLINOIS 8
NORTH DAKOTA 9
TEXAS 10
GEORGIA 11
VERMONT 12
NEBRASKA 13
FLORIDA 14
CALIFORNIA 15
MASSACHUSETTS 16
PENNSYLVANIA 17
VIRGINIA 18
NEW YORK 19
NEW HAMPSHIRE 20
ALASKA 21
MICHIGAN 22
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA 23
DELAWARE 24
ARIZONA 25
ALABAMA 26
NORTH CAROLINA 27
SOUTH CAROLINA 28
KANSAS 29
WISCONSIN 30
TENNESSEE 31
MONTANA 32
MISSISSIPPI 33
COLORADO 34
WASHINGTON 35
NEW MEXICO 36
OREGON 37
CONNECTICUT 38
INDIANA 39
ARKANSAS 40
MAINE 41
WYOMING 42
OHIO 43
MISSOURI 44
IDAHO 45
OKLAHOMA 46
NEVADA 47
RHODE ISLAND 48
KENTUCKY 49
WEST VIRGINIA 50
UTAH 51

HERE'S TO UTAH...At least we're number one at something.