Introduction 9 Nonsuicidal Self-Injury and Suicidal-Behavior Disorders: Girl in Pieces (2016) by Kathleen Glasgow and Suicide Notes (2008) by Michael Thomas Ford. CONCLUSION In a 2014 article in the APA’s Monitor on Psychology, Amy Novotney draws attention to an increase in the number of college students seeking mental-health services. She explains that more young adults are attending college in the 21st century, citing the National Center for Education Statis- tics’ report of a 32-percent increase in enrollment between 2001 and 2011. However, colleges and universities, like high schools in the United States, have limited budgets, and counseling and other mental-health care services are already stretched thin. The National Association of Secondary School Principals, in a published position statement about mental-health care, expounds on the problem, stating that 20 percent of high schools have no school counselor, and many others have to share specialized personnel such as school psychologists and social workers, which increases their caseloads and limits their availability to help youth who need services. This book aims to offer information about selected 21st-century young adult literature focused on mental illness for those in schools and public libraries, education and teacher training, various mental-health professions, as well as others who work with high-school adolescents. The chapters in this book aim to help librarians make well-informed collection development and readers’ advisory decisions and to assist classroom teachers in choosing novels for inclusion in their curricula. Therapists and mental-health workers should find the textual analysis in this book beneficial when considering rec- ommendations of literature for teenaged clients, their families, or friends. Moreover, each chapter includes lists of additional young adult books, non- fiction texts, and adult literature focused on the specific mental illness dis- cussed. The appendices included feature strategies for incorporating young adult novels about mental disorders into existing curricula and community initiatives focused on confronting stigma associated with mental illness. Teachers, librarians, counselors, and community-health specialists are also invited to investigate the professional resources shared in the appendices. This book offers insight into how mental illnesses are portrayed in young adult fiction published in the 21st century. With the National Insti- tute of Mental Health estimating that one in five teens experiences a debil- itating mental disorder, readers should pay attention to possible indications. Warning signs can include the teenager frequently feeling worried or hav- ing trouble sleeping, struggling in school, avoiding spending time with friends, having spells of intense activity, harming him/herself or others, engaging in risky behavior, hearing voices, or having thoughts of suicide.
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