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Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder affects approximately 1.8 million Canadians, including children and youth. And it doesn’t look the same for everyone.

This October, ADHD advocacy organizations are uniting around the theme “A Community of Support,” celebrating the power of positive connections to help people with ADHD feel understood and empowered. Their goal is to reduce stigma, build better public understanding and create a strong network of support.

The ADHD Awareness Month Coalition has compiled resources to answer common questions about ADHD and address myths. Visit their website to learn more.

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A study of the computer game MindLight showed positive signs that it may help prevent childhood anxiety. The game uses neurofeedback, which involves teaching children to relax their bodies using real-time feedback through an EEG headset. Specifically, as children show success in calming themselves, light levels in the game increase. MindLight also exposes children to fearful obstacles and rewards them when they pay attention to them. As well, the game uses attention bias modification training, which includes teaching children to focus on happy faces instead of threatening ones.

The study found that MindLight was as effective as Coping Cat, a cognitive-behavioural therapy program, in preventing anxiety symptoms, with both interventions producing medium to large effects on all study outcomes.

Still, caution is warranted given there is to date only one high-quality study supporting this intervention. As well, MindLight is associated with costs for the game itself and also requires equipment, including a relatively new computer or tablet as well as a specific headset that can support neurofeedback.

For more information, see Vol. 18, No. 4 of the Children’s Mental Health Research Quarterly.

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Today, on World Mental Health Day, mental health organizations will come together to advocate for better supports under this year’s theme, “Lived experiences heard: real voices, real change.”

This theme centres on meaningful engagement with people who have lived experience of mental health conditions. It recognizes their knowledge as an important form of expertise and calls for them to be included in decisions that affect their lives. It also focuses on strengthening accountability, challenging stigma and building more community-based, person-centred mental health services.

You can learn more and find campaign resources on the World Health Organization’s website.

To learn more about a variety of children’s mental health topics, visit our Children’s Mental Health Research Quarterly archive.

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Sept. 30 is a day to honour the Survivors of Canada’s residential school system and to remember the children who never came home.

Marking both Orange Shirt Day — Every Child Matters and the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, this day invites everyone in Canada to learn about the lasting harms of residential schools and deepen their commitment to reconciliation.

Orange Shirt Day is a grassroots movement that began in Williams Lake, British Columbia, in 2013. By wearing an orange shirt on Sept. 30, participants help promote awareness of the intergenerational impacts of residential schools and share the message that “Every Child Matters.”

The National Day for Truth and Reconciliation was established in response to Call to Action 80 of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. It recognizes Survivors, their families and their communities, and is intended to ensure that the legacy and enduring harms of the residential school system are publicly remembered.

To learn more, read the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s 94 Calls to Action. You can also mark the day by taking part in commemorative events in your community.

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Cognitive-behavioural therapy, or CBT, has long been recognized for its success in preventing childhood anxiety. In a systematic review of anxiety prevention programs, the Children’s Health Policy Centre not only found that CBT reduced anxiety symptoms for at-risk children, but also that its effects were enduring, often lasting at least one year.

For more information, see Vol. 18, No. 4 of the Children’s Mental Health Research Quarterly.

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Early childhood is a time when several risk factors for anxiety disorders emerge and can be addressed. For example, being withdrawn or wary in new situations coupled with shyness — known as behavioural inhibition — has long been recognized as a potent early childhood risk factor. One study, which followed nearly 1,000 children from ages four to six, found behavioural inhibition increased the risk for developing an anxiety disorder. Having a parent with high levels of anxiety also increased children’s risk.

These findings can be applied to help parents and other caregivers support children who are behaviourally inhibited. For example, parents can encourage children to face situations that cause them anxiety. This could include a father creating opportunities for his shy daughter to meet new children at a playground and supporting her to play with others. Similarly, educators can structure activities so that anxious children are paired with socially skilled and supportive peers. Parents and educators can also encourage children to be more confident in new situations by praising them for being so. As well, parents can support their children by addressing their own anxiety, so they are better able to model coping well in situations they find fearful.

The previously noted study identified other factors that influence the development of childhood anxiety that are particularly relevant for educators. For example, being a victim of bullying behaviour put children at risk while having good social skills protected them. These findings are salient for educators since bullying behaviours often occur in school and many effective antibullying programs can be delivered in schools. Educators are also well positioned to effectively teach children social skills.

For more information, see Vol. 18, No. 4 of the Children’s Mental Health Research Quarterly.