Mental & Behavioral Health

Causes Mental & Behavioral Health

Fight the stigma, loneliness, and pain of mental health conditions

Too many people suffer from depression, substance misuse disorder, and other related illnesses. These conditions are often disabling and sometimes deadly but research and greater access to care offer hope.

A Dartmouth-Hitchcock psychiatrist talks with a child.

1 in 5

U.S. adults experience mental illness

93K+

drug overdose deaths in 2020

1/2

of people who will suffer from lifelong mental illness develop it by age 14

Healing the Hurt

Kids and young adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) are up to 60 percent more likely to experience trauma than neurotypical youth. Trauma-informed care is an evidence-based therapeutic practice that could be life-changing for kids with IDD, including those with autism spectrum disorders.

Mental health stock image

I want children to know they’re not alone. Talking helps and treatment works, so don’t be afraid to deal with how you’re feeling.”

John Broderick
Former Chief Justice of the New Hampshire Supreme Court and mental health advocate at Dartmouth Health
John Broderick, former Chief Justice of the New Hampshire Supreme Court and mental health advocate at Dartmouth-Hitchcock.

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Support for children with autism

It takes highly coordinated teams of specialists collaborating with parents and schools to help children with autism and neurodiversity thrive. The Behavioral and Neurodevelopmental Services (BANDS) team meets this need, providing critical support for children, adolescents, young adults, and their families living with autism spectrum and other neurodevelopmental disorders. These comprehensive services are possible only through the generosity of donors like you.

A child plays with developmental and behavioral pediatrician Nina Sand-Loud, MD.

Helping Kids in Distress

JoAnna Leyenaar, MD, MPH, PhD, noticed when the hospital beds began to fill with different sorts of kids. They came to the emergency department not with stomachaches and respiratory illnesses, but with anxiety, depression, and thoughts of suicide. She decided to do something about it.

Molly H., an LNA on the pediatric inpatient unit at CHaD, works with an adolescent patient on mental health interventions developed as part of the I*CARE project.

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