New England Psychologist - August/Sept. 2018

Page 1

PRSRT STD U.S. POSTAGE

PAID

PERMIT #22 Palmer, MA 01069

Change Service Requested P.O. Box 5464, Bradford, MA 01835

AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2018

AN INDEPENDENT VOICE FOR THE REGION’S PSYCHOLOGISTS

Isolation and LGBTQ youth: Social, psychological and financial implications By Phyllis Hanlon This project was supported by a grant from the American Society of Journalists and Authors (ASJA) and the National Institute of Health Care Management (NIHCM) Foundation. n a 2017 Washington Post article, former Surgeon General Vivek H. Murthy cited loneliness as one of today’s big public health worries.

While the average American might experience isolation and disconnectedness at various times during their lives because of intense career involvement, age discrimination, geographic remoteness or for other reasons, many youth who identify as LGBTQ endure isolation, broken relationships and disconnections on an ongoing basis, sometimes with devastating results. According to David Ober-

“I think in some parts of the country it may feel ‘safer’ for LGBTQidentified youth to come out, but for many, the issues remain the same.” Nicole Issa, Psy.D, founder, Center for Dynamic and Behavioral Therapy, New York City

leitner, Ph.D, chair, department of psychology, University of Bridgeport in Connecticut, isolation, or the perception of isolation, can be either an active or passive process. He explained that exclusion might entail directly being ignored or actively discriminated against by others, limiting access to social activities and school groups. “It can be less direct as well when the individual perceives that others do not respect them or do not want them around,” Oberleitner said, noting that the perception that others do not “see” or hear you can be just as powerful as being actively ignored. The perception of isolation, whether correct or not, is just as damaging as true or active exclusion. Categorizing isolation In 2013, then doctoral student Michael J. Johnson, MSN, RN, and Elaine J. Amelia, Ph.D, RN, FAAN, professor at the Medical University of South Carolina, conducted an analysis that identified five socially constructed dimensions of isolation in LGBT youth: “social, emotional, Continued on Page 10

Conversion therapy ban prompts different results in three NE states By Catherine Robertson Souter n a movement that seems to be growing, a ban on mental health professionals providing conversion therapy for people under 18 has been signed into law in 15 states. There have been five bans this year alone. In June, New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu signed a bill banning the practice in that state. “There has been a real cultural shift,” said Shannon

Bader, Ph.D, A.B.P.P., the legislative chair for the New Hampshire Psychological Association. “We were the 14th state with an outright ban.” Historically, conversion therapy has included everything from instruction on why and how to change to shaming the subject to physical punishment or inducing nausea to create aversion. Supporters of these bans point to a lack of research showing that the practice actually works, along with fears that it causes harm to

youth. “There is no credible evidence that conversion therapy can change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity or expression,” said Stephen Peters, senior national press secretary and spokesperson for the Human Rights Campaign. “To the contrary, research has clearly shown that these practices pose devastating health risks for LGBTQ young people such as depression, Continued on Page 9

VOL. 26, NO. 7

CDC Report: Suicide prevention goals will be difficult to accomplish By Janine Weisman he World Health Organization wants to reduce the suicide rate by 10 percent by 2020. The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention’s Project 2025 wants to reduce it 20 percent by 2025. The Zero Suicide movement aims to prevent 100 percent of suicides in the first 30 days after a patient is discharged from inpatient or day treatment. Are these goals realistic when new federal data show the reverse has actually been happening? Twenty-five states saw their suicide rates rise by more than 30 percent between 1999 and 2016, including four of the six New England states. That’s according to a study the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report on June 8, the same day celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain died by suicide in France and three days after fashion designer Kate Spade took her own life at her home in New York. “It shows we’re not winning, we’re not as a society yet reducing the rate but part of that is because the data is better,” said Robert W. Turner, the private sector chair of the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention. The alliance embraced the goal of Project 2025. Count

Turner among the optimists who believe it is within reach. That’s partly because he thinks what happened to him when he recently ended up in a hospital emergency room with a serious skin infection on his hand would not have happened just five or six years ago. “It’s 1:30 in the a.m. and the admitting nurse in my room is asking me mental health suicide questions: Have I ever thought about suicide? Have I been depressed?” said Turner, a Massachusetts native and a retired senior vice president of Union Pacific Corporation. The CDC report’s findings reinforced the need to address suicide prevention through a comprehensive and coordinated approach that combines health care system efforts with community efforts. The study examined suicide rates using data from the National Vital statistics System for 50 states and the District of Columbia. Additionally, data from 27 states covered in the National Violent Death Reporting System - including all six New England states – showed that 54 percent of suicide victims had no known mental health condition. Relationship, substance use, physical health problems and job, money, legal or housing stress were all identified as contributing factors. Vermont’s rate jumped 48.6 Continued on Page 11

INSIDE

Mass. high court upholds drug free sentencing ..........................................Page 6 Gender identity added to NH anti-discrimination law...............................Page 7 CE listings.................................................Page 13


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.