Lawmakers, community leaders announce legislation to strengthen student mental health with improved school-based supports

House DFL logoSAINT PAUL, MINNESOTA – A group of state lawmakers, students, educators, a police chief and mental health experts all gathered at the State Capitol Monday for a common purpose: to strengthen school-based support for students struggling with mental health.

“There is a significant urgency to us addressing this issue. Youth mental health struggles became very real for my family when my son’s friend took his own life. This is something no friend, classmate, teacher, neighbor, or family member should have to go through,” said Rep. Kelly Moller (DFL – Shoreview), chief author of two key pieces of student mental health legislation in the House. “We can’t solve the problem overnight, but we’ve identified shortcomings we’re able to remove right now to help students access the support they need for a strong social and emotional wellbeing.”

Chief Brian Podany of the Blaine Police Department noted six students in the Blaine area have taken their lives this school year alone.

“Our youth are under a greater amount of stress than virtually any time in history,” Chief Podany said. “Mental health challenges are rising at an alarming rate and we need to come together collectively to support our youth. Rep. Moller’s proposed legislation is an important part of this effort and I hope lawmakers will support it.”

Currently, only teachers in licensure Tiers 3 and 4 – the most experienced teachers – are required to receive suicide prevention training upon renewal of their license. Under HF 3001/SF 3236, this requirement would expand to all classroom teachers to help them more effectively understand key warning signs of mental illness, learn suicide prevention best practices, and over the long-term, develop a more in-depth understanding of trauma. Additionally, the Professional Educator Licensing and Standards Board (PELSB) would be charged with developing training standards.

“As a former teacher, principal and coach, I’ve seen kids struggle with mental health issues and the lack of resources and training for teachers to deal with these issues in our schools,” said bill author Sen. Greg Clausen (DFL – Apple Valley). “These bills are a great step forward in training teachers on what to look for and how to deal with mental health issues.”

Another bill lawmakers and community members are advocating for is HF 3219/SF 3069 which would create the position of Director of Comprehensive Mental Health Services within the Minnesota Department of Education to share high-level mental health guidance with districts. The individual appointed would develop and disseminate evidence-based resources, tools, and practices to school districts across the state, and implement a comprehensive, evidence-based approach to suicide prevention.

“Many students are struggling with issues related to their mental health. We are failing to provide the strong support they need and deserve,” said Sen. Chuck Wiger (DFL – Maplewood), bill author and DFL-lead on the Senate E-12 Education Committee. “We need to step up and give them more support for positive interventions they need to thrive—not just in the classroom, but in the rest of their lives. This is a step in the right direction, and would provide tremendous value to our students throughout Minnesota.”

Both bills will be considered at a public hearing of the House Education Policy Committee Tuesday evening. The meeting will take place at 6 p.m. in Room 5 of the State Office Building. In the Senate, action is pending in the E-12 Education Committee.

The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255, and provides free and confidential support for people in distress with prevention and crisis resources. In Minnesota, help is available via the Crisis Text Line by texting “MN” to 741741.

A Question of Mental Fitness

The following article by Kenneth T. Walsh was posted on the U.S. News and World Report website January 12, 2018:

President Trump and his advisers are lashing out at the press after questions about his mental health.

Credit: Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP

Official Washington is buzzing about whether Donald Trump is mentally fit for the presidency. This concern has plagued him since he emerged as a major candidate for the White House in 2016. It has persisted since he became president in January. And the question took on fresh urgency this week because of a new book, “Fire and Fury” by author Michael Wolff, that argues Trump is a dysfunctional leader who is too erratic, angry, unstable and disruptive to do the job.

“We didn’t disparage the press or the critics. The president let himself be defined by his deeds”

Continue reading “A Question of Mental Fitness”

What Should We Do About A Mentally Ill President?

The following article by Jim Hightower was posted on the National Memo website March 10, 2017:

It’s time to face up to the obvious: The President of the United States is deranged.

I don’t mean that he’s merely idiosyncratic or pushing policies that I think are crazy, nor do I say this as just another political jab. I mean that Donald J. Trump literally is mentally ill.

OK, I’m no doctor, but you don’t need a doctorate in mental disorders to see that his behavior in public and on Twitter is beyond abnormal — it’s psychotic. As we’ve seen, he routinely plunges uncontrollably into prolonged fits of petty paranoia; he succumbs to delusions of imperialist grandeur; he spouts absurd right-wing rumors as facts (while simultaneously denying that actual facts are true); and he is pathologically addicted to lying, bizarrely repeating his most blatant fabrications even after they’ve been totally debunked. Continue reading “What Should We Do About A Mentally Ill President?”

The Embarrassment of President Trump

The following column by Jeffrey Frank was posted on the New Yorker website February 15, 2017:

President Trump speaks on Monday before signing an executive order while surrounded by small business leaders in the White House. (Andrew Harrer / Sipa USA)

This can’t go on much longer, can it? In the past, the nation has had do-nothing Presidencies, and scandal-ridden Presidencies, and failed Presidencies, but until Donald J. Trump came along there hasn’t been a truly embarrassing Presidency. Trump himself looks out of place (that squinty-eyed frown, meant to bespeak firmness, or serious purpose, doesn’t succeed), and it’s easy to understand why he looks that way. He’s living a bachelor’s life in an unfamiliar house, in a so-so neighborhood far from his home town, surrounded by strangers who have been hired to protect him but cut him off from any sort of real privacy. His daughter Ivanka is close by, in the Kalorama neighborhood, but she has her own life to live, and her own problems—most recently, Nordstrom’s decision to stop carrying her fashion brand. His wife, Melania, is two hundred miles away, in Trump Tower; for the time being, according to the family’s public statements, she’s there to look after her son, Barron, who’s finishing the school year in familiar surroundings. Continue reading “The Embarrassment of President Trump”

Howard Stern says the presidency will damage Trump’s mental health because he just ‘wants to be loved’

The following article by Emily Chan was posted on the Daily Mail website February 3, 2017:

 

  • Radio host is old friend of Trump and has had him on his show a number of times
  • Stern does not believe presidency will be ‘healthy experience’ for Trump
  • The 63-year-old claimed the President ‘loves’ Hollywood and the press 

 

Photo: The Hill

Howard Stern says the presidency will damage Donald Trump‘s mental health because he just ‘wants to be loved’.

The radio host said on his show on Wednesday that he does not believe it will be a ‘healthy experience’ for Trump.

The 63-year-old is an old friend of the President and has invited him onto his show a number of times.  Continue reading “Howard Stern says the presidency will damage Trump’s mental health because he just ‘wants to be loved’”

Paul Krugman Just Said What We’re All Thinking About Trump’s Mental Health

The following article by Natalie Dickinson was posted on the Occupy Democrats website January 24, 2017:

Since taking office, President Trump’s behavior has become increasingly unhinged. Since ascending to the Oval Office, he has thrown a tantrum over the size of the Women’s March following his inauguration because it dwarfed his pitiful turnout and insisted to multiple audiences that his inauguration was massive despite the obvious photographic evidence to the contrary. Aides reporthe grows furiously angry over angry Twitter messages and grows bored with his work, instead preferring to watch television. 

The erratic temper of an old man? Or a sign of something else? New York Times columnist Paul Krugman is fed up with Trump’s rage-and-pony show and told us all how he really feels in one sledgehammer of a tweet: Continue reading “Paul Krugman Just Said What We’re All Thinking About Trump’s Mental Health”