Supporting Our Future

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FROM THE CHAIRMAN

Children are the world’s most valuable resource and its best hope for the future.

—John F. Kennedy

Once you become a parent, this quote becomes even more poignant. You recognize how your voice, actions, and presence affect your children—both negatively and positively—and you desire to protect them, invest in them, and nurture them. Indeed, research repeatedly shows how environment and social issues affect their growth, starting at the earliest ages.

It is, therefore, why this issue addresses so many facets of child and adolescent psychiatry. During the pandemic, children’s mental health has taken center stage. The media continue to feature stories on the rising number of youth suicides, the impact of quarantining and subsequent reentry, substance use and misuse, and issues associated with social media.

In the Special Report, Martin P. Paulus, MD, and colleagues tackle the complicated issue of screen time, asking, “Is it friend or foe?” Screens were vital in our attempts to hold onto normalcy during the pandemic, allowing children and teenagers to attend school virtually and visit with family. It helped maintain connections. Yet, studies have demonstrated that too much screen time can be deleterious, and social media’s role in depression and drug use among teenagers has been called into question. Paulus et al attempt to make sense of the data and provide useful tips for working with your patients. Chaired by Karen Dineen Wagner, MD, PhD, the Special Report also sheds light on new research in depression, digital therapeutics for autism, integrating well-being into child and adolescent psychiatry, and special issues in caring for immigrant children.

This issue also features pieces on issues that affect all patients, regardless of age. For instance, our popular Tales From the Clinic series is back, this time discussing how psychotherapeutic, pharmacological, and comorbidity factors interplay. Similarly, Dustin DeMoss, DO, and colleagues explore psychiatric implications of vitamin B₁₂ deficiency. And we look at the ABCs of vaping, as well as diagnostic challenges associated with bipolar disorder.

Hopefully the insights and clinical pearls you will find cover-to-cover in this issue of Psychiatric Times^TM will help you provide the best future possible for all of your patients—young and old alike. ❒