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ADAA’s 2025 conference in Las Vegas (April 3 – 5) will focus on youth mental health, which is currently a global crisis. Drs. Fitzgerald and Forbes, this year's conference co-chairs, are dedicated to and passionate about youth mental health. Read the blog to learn more about our 2025 conference topic.

An upsetting myth about Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) has been circulating online, saying that CBT “blames” individuals for their problems. Nothing could be further from the truth, and this profound misunderstanding could prevent people from seeking treatment that thousands of studies have demonstrated is effective in helping people get well and stay well.

The growing mental health crisis is indisputably affecting our youth. In fact, the pediatric mental health crisis has been called the “top patient safety threat” of 2023.

What happens in PTSD, is that the brain goes into the fight and flight mode and is constantly on alert to protect the person from recurrence of the highly dangerous experience. But the problem is that it cannot come down from that state of heightened arousal, even after leaving the dangerous situation, and coming back to the safe life environment. 

The headlines and the CDC report are indeed alarming, but they should serve as a wakeup call to all of us. Yes, we should think seriously about why we are seeing a steep decline in the mental health of teenage girls, but we have to come together now as parents, family, friends, educators, clinicians, providers, and as a society to support, enhance and establish more preventive measures for our youth.

Yet another community is stricken with grief. In addition to those who are experiencing direct loss, such events also take a toll on others, including those who witnessed the shooting, first responders, people who were nearby and those who hear about it through the media.

People who are not directly exposed to a disaster but who are exposed to the news can also experience distress, anxiety or even PTSD. We have seen this in instances such as 9/11.

The COVID-19 pandemic has been identified as a significant factor in the deterioration of mental health in children, but the long-term effects of COVID-19 on children's mental health has yet to be seen.