RAD Lab Statement on George Floyd
The focus of the RAD lab is to understand and alleviate the suffering of adolescents who are distressed, depressed, or despairing. While these mental health challenges cut across our society as a whole, we want to bring light to adolescents in our community and across this region that carry additional burden due to marginalization, discrimination and other systemic injustices.
Teen Depression - By the Numbers
While you often hear about a rising prevalence in teen mental health disorders, it can be difficult to understand what that truly means. Media stories occasionally use scare tactics to make the problem sound new, intense, and overwhelming. Scientific studies can sometimes seem dense and difficult to read, offering little information for the general public to use in understanding the problem more fully.
The first step towards solving any problem is to have an understanding. Call this a quick, by the numbers, outlook on teen depression. This countdown, from five to one, can serve as a quick guide to the basics of teen depression.
Mental Health Resources
Here in the RAD Lab, we strongly encourage everyone to reach out and get help whenever you feel like your mental health is suffering. We often tell our participants, followers, fellow lab members, pretty much everyone we can find, “Don’t hesitate to reach out to a professional if you feel like your mental health is suffering.” We fully stick by this advice – it’s crucial to seek help for a number of reasons including: not letting the problem get worse, finding appropriate treatment, decreasing stigma associated with mental health care, and taking care of yourself. However, it can be incredibly difficult to know exactly where to go for this help.
What to Expect from Research Participation
Through our outreach work, we have realized that there are a lot of misconceptions about what it means to participate in research. Even though news outlets, blogs, and social media seem to refer to research studies quite frequently – “Studies show…”; “Scientists in Timbuktu have found…” – little time is dedicated to talking about how the process of research actually happens!
Ultimate Guide to the RAD LAB
Welcome to the official blog for the RAD Lab! We are so excited to begin our journey posting quality information to help answer questions about teen mental health, to peel back the curtain on scientific research, and to foster ongoing relationships with our participants and their families.
