Update your contact information and get ready to renew your Medicaid coverage now!

(LITTLE ROCK, Ark.) — Many Medicaid clients across Arkansas will soon receive phone calls from Arkansas Department of Human Services (DHS) representatives working to update clients’ contact information so they will not miss important renewal letters in the coming months.

Hurting yourself—or thinking about hurting yourself—is a sign of emotional distress. These uncomfortable emotions may grow more intense if a person continues to use self-harm as a coping mechanism. Learning other ways to tolerate the mental pain will make you stronger in the long term. Self-harm also causes feelings of shame. The scars caused by frequent cutting or burning can be permanent.

Having worked with adolescents for several years, this fall felt different.  Young people have always gone back to school with changes and new goals. Often, once school starts, they quickly get back into old friendships and familiar routines, and soon all of the resolves are forgotten.  Not in 2021!  In my work with adolescents, I have been amazed and impressed this fall by many young people.

Since we’ve been in the midst of a pandemic for a year and a half, it is difficult to remember how important feeling safe is to our mental health. But safety is vital, and if needs like safety aren’t met, a mental health condition may develop.