From WisPolitics.com/WisBusiness.com …
— State health officials are spotlighting the mental health of boys, who face a greater risk of suicide as anxiety and depression rates have risen.
The Wisconsin Office of Children’s Mental Health today issued a fact sheet highlighting these and other issues. The office also calls for action by policymakers, health care providers, schools and parents to help address the issues.
It notes rates of depression, anxiety, self-harm and suicidal thinking have all increased over time, with 36% of Wisconsin boys reporting anxiety and 25% reporting feeling “persistently sad and hopeless” in 2023.
Males in Wisconsin are nearly four times as likely to die from suicide as females, the fact sheet shows, and that difference is reflected in the data for Wisconsin youth and young adults. Over a three-year period, the rate of death by suicide per 100,000 residents aged 10-17 was 7.2 for boys and 3.5 for girls. For those aged 18-24, the rate was 27.1 for men and 6.2 for women.
The fact sheet points to “long-standing societal pressures” causing boys to bottle up their feelings rather than discussing mental health, and underlines the importance of trusting relationships as well as healthy coping skills. Depression in adolescent boys can present as fatigue or anger, and the office says “tailored interventions” can help reach boys that are struggling.
Health care providers are urged to include discussions of mental health in every care visit, while the office is calling on policymakers to expand resources for school-based suicide prevention and youth wellness, as well as supporting “robust” family leave policies.
See more in the fact sheet.
— State Superintendent Jill Underly is calling for more special education and mental health funding in response to a new Department of Public Instruction report showing double-digit increases in instances of students being secluded or restrained.
Starting in the 2019-20 school year, state law has required public school districts and private schools participating in the Special Needs Scholarship Program to annually report seclusion and restraint data for the previous school year.
Underly in a statement called the increases “alarming.”
“These troubling incidents reflect a system that needs more than just reactive measures; it needs proactive solutions,” Underly said yesterday. “Wisconsin students deserve more support than what our state legislature allocates to special education and what the school funding formula provides.”
Gov. Tony Evers has proposed increasing the special education reimbursement rate from 33% to 60% in the state budget. Underly had proposed raising the rate to 75% and then to 90% the year after. Evers is also seeking more than $167.7 million for mental health services in schools.
See more at WisPolitics.
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Press Releases
– Office of Children’s Mental Health: Understanding boys’ mental health
