Mental Health Disorders Include:

• Anxiety Disorders • Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) • Depression and Bipolar Disorder • Eating Disorders • Paranoid Disorders • Personality Disorder • Stress • Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder • Schizophrenia • Substance Abuse • Suicide

Visit the National Mental Health Association's website for more.

Her Battle, My Battle
Five years ago, when Youth Radio's Quincy Mosby was 14, his mother told him she was HIV positive. He and his younger sister still live with their mother in Oakland, California. Sometimes it's been rough for the family but they've managed to stay together. Even as his mom copes with her illness and tries to embrace life, Quincy says that sometimes, all he can see is her death.

Hunger's Diary
Lauryn Silverman is a 16-year-old high school junior from Berkeley, California, and one of eight million Americans, seven million of them women, who suffer from eating disorders every year. Lauryn says she’s beaten her eating disorder, but statistics show only half of those with anorexia fully recover. Lauryn was recently recognized by American Women in Radio and Television (AWRT) with a prestigious 2005 Gracie Allen Award for this piece on her struggle with anorexia.

Living with PTSD
23-year-old Jesus Bocanegra spent four and a half years in the military, including a year as a cavalry scout in Iraq. He’s now out of the military and living with his family in the town of Elsep in South Texas. But the war is still with him, so much so that he’s been treated for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. He shares this story.

Losing My Mother
"Never did I realize that my life would be so messed up before I was legally an adult. Waking up everyday I face the struggle of not wanting to live. Losing your mother to cancer when you’re only 15 turns your life upside down and it never returns to normal...."

What Do You Do If You Think Someone is Suicidal?

1. ASK

Ask the person: "Are you feeling so bad that you are thinking about suicide?"

If the answer is yes, ask:
• "Have you thought about how you would do it?"
• "Do you have what you need to do it?"
• "Have you thought about when you would do it?"
• "Have you told anyone else?"

2. ASSESS
The more planning that someone has put into suicide, the greater the risk. If the person has a method, means and a time in mind, the risk is extremely high. Get immediate help by calling 911. If the risk is lower, tell the person that you will need to let others know about your concerns right away. Continue to talk to them about their suicidal feelings as time goes on.

3. GET HELP
• Don't handle the situation by yourself. Consult with a supervisor, and parents/guardians, emergency services, mental health providers as necessary.
• Don't keep it a secret. If someone tells you that he or she is suicidal, and asks you not to tell anyone, it is important to let them know you will be telling others so they can stay safe and get the help they need.

Scars, As a Battle Wound
"I rescued a baby from the jaws of an angry lion. I have a homicidal cat. I was chopping carrots and the knife slipped - a lot. For the past couple years, I have come up with tons of ridiculous, unconvincing explanations for the scars on my wrist. But the truth is that once upon a time, I was a cutter...."

Black Market for ADD Drugs
Sales of popular Attention Deficit Drugs like Ritalin and Adderall added up to over 2.7 billion dollars in 2004, with more than 33 million prescriptions filled in the U.S. That’s according to the prescription auditing firm IMS Health. Youth Radio’s Michelle Jarboe is part of what some people call the “Ritalin generation” because her peers have been familiar with Attention Deficit drugs since elementary school. Now that her generation has hit college, ADD drugs have become a hot commodity as a study aid and even a party drug. Michelle reports from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, her alma mater, on the black market for these drugs on campus.

A Map of My Mind
Youth Radio’s Belia Mayeno remembers the first time she began feeling out of control—a multi-colored transcription of a Raymond Chandler novel into Theban script on her bedroom walls brought great satisfaction. As her behavior became more sporadic, she began taking pain-killers mixed with alcohol to calm her nerves—but soon found out that the war inside her brain was not something she could easily heal by herself. Belia was recently recognized by American Women in Radio and Television (AWRT) with a prestigious 2005 Gracie Allen Award for this piece on her struggle with hypomanic depression.

What Do You Do If You Suspect Child Abuse?

1. ASK

• Ask the youth: "Is someone hurting you or touching you in ways you don't want them to?"
• Give them space to tell you what has happened/is happening.
• Be non-judgemental.

2. ASSESS
• Do you suspect the youth has been abused based on what the youth told you and what you observed?
• If unsure about your suspicions, consult with your supervisor or the National Child Abuse Hotline: 1-800-4-A-CHILD
• Assess the current physical/psychological safety of the youth; make a safety plan if necessary.

3. GET HELP
• Don't keep it a secret. Let the youth know that you will report the abuse for their safety and because it is required by law.
• Let your supervisor know that you will be making a child abuse report.
• Report suspected abuse by calling your local child abuse agency ASAP. If you live in Alameda County, you can contact the Alameda County Child Abuse Hotline at 510-259-1800.
• Fill out and send the Suspected Child Abuse Report (SCAR) form to Child Abuse Hotline within 36 hours.

Teen Talk Mental Health Show
The hosts of Teen Talk, a show from Youth Radio DC and the Latin American Youth Center, get together to talk about mental health and youth. They tackle this taboo subject by exploring what it means to be mentally ill -- sharing stories of depression and substance abuse, and speaking to counselors about ways to get help.

Bi-Polar Two Disorder
"I had already sown my oats in high school; drinking and smoking myself into various states of consciousness, I experimented with just about anything I could get my hands on. By the time I ended up at Sarah Lawrence, I was done with that stage of my life and ready buckle down; but nobody else was. The apathy permeated everything; was I the only one who’d turn down an invitation to chug Colt 45’s in the woods to read in my room? I locked myself away, living on coffee and Chinese take-out. I was experiencing intense mood swings--periods of mania and depression that were only later diagnosed as symptoms of a disease called 'bi-polar two disorder,' a sort of mixed-manic depression...."

Lost Luster
When Army Specialist Abby Pickett was discharged from military service, she returned home knowing something was wrong. She was depressed, suicidal and on medication. During her youth, Abby had a very light and naive sensibility of the world. But now, she shares a different perspective because her experience with the war has changed her outlook on life, school and America.