The MentalSpace School Podcast

The data on ADHD inequity is clear: Black and Latino students are diagnosed later, treated less, and disciplined more for the same behaviors that earn other peers an evaluation. Combined-type ADHD — inattention plus hyperactivity — is one of the most treatable pediatric conditions when caught early. Generated from MentalSpace School: Georgia K-12 Mental Health and Compliance Guide #MentalSpaceScho...

If a child in your classroom or your home has tics — sudden movements, throat clearing, blinking, vocalizations — please know: they cannot 'just stop.' Tics are neurobiological, not behavioral, and discipline-based responses cause harm. There is a real evidence-based treatment: Comprehensive Behavio Generated from MentalSpace School: Georgia K-12 Mental Health and Compliance Guide #Menta...

A myth worth challenging: 'They're just shy — they'll grow out of it.' Many will. Many won't. Childhood Social Anxiety Disorder, untreated, frequently develops into adolescent depression, school refusal, and adult social avoidance. The good news: CBT with structured exposure is highly effective, esp Generated from MentalSpace School: Georgia K-12 Mental Health and Complian...

Parents and educators: dyslexia and the mental health load it carries often go unaddressed for years. A child who can't read at grade level — but is plenty intelligent — internalizes shame fast. Anxiety, depression, and school avoidance frequently follow. The reading piece needs structured literacy Generated from MentalSpace School: Georgia K-12 Mental Health and Compliance Guide #MentalSpace...

Pediatric OCD often hides in plain sight: repeated handwashing, 'do-over' rituals, endless reassurance-seeking, intrusive scary thoughts kids are too afraid to share. The first thing parents need to know: generic talk therapy is NOT the right treatment. The evidence-based standard is Exposure and Re Generated from MentalSpace School: Georgia K-12 Mental Health and Compliance Guide #Menta...

Teachers, coaches, school nurses, and counselors — you are often the first adults to notice an eating disorder. Anorexia, Bulimia, and ARFID don't only show up in one demographic. They appear across body sizes, races, and income levels. Look for: rapid weight shifts, food rituals, bathroom trips aft Generated from MentalSpace School: Georgia K-12 Mental Health and Compliance Guide #MentalSpac...

Conduct Disorder is one of the most stigmatized — and most misunderstood — pediatric diagnoses. It is not a character flaw. It's a clinical condition driven by neurobiology, environment, and frequently untreated trauma. The most effective evidence-based treatments (Multisystemic Therapy, Functional Generated from MentalSpace School: Georgia K-12 Mental Health and Compliance Guide #MentalSpace...

Every 'problem child' is a child with a problem that no one has solved yet. Oppositional Defiant Disorder is a real diagnosis, and so are the conditions that often hide underneath it — ADHD, anxiety, trauma, learning differences. Evidence-based treatment (Parent Management Training, Collaborative Pr Generated from MentalSpace School: Georgia K-12 Mental Health and Compliance Guide #Menta...

If a student speaks freely at home but never at school — even after weeks or months — please don't write it off as shyness. Selective Mutism is an anxiety disorder, not a personality trait, and it responds well to early evidence-based treatment: CBT, gradual exposure, and coordinated coaching with p Generated from MentalSpace School: Georgia K-12 Mental Health and Compliance Guide #MentalSpac...

A truth that needs more airtime: autism is dramatically under-diagnosed in girls and in Black, Latino, and bilingual students. The signs are real — they're just often misread as 'shy,' 'rude,' 'lazy,' or 'just quirky.' Early identification opens doors to neurodiversity-affirming support, social skil Generated from MentalSpace School: Georgia K-12 Mental...

If a teen in your life has experienced trauma — and is now angry, withdrawn, sleepless, or 'not the same person' — please don't write it off as 'just being a teenager.' Adolescent PTSD is real and highly treatable with TF-CBT, EMDR, and CPT, delivered by a licensed clinician. The biggest barrier mos Generated from MentalSpace School: Georgia K-12 Mental Health and Complian...

A common myth we want to retire: 'They'll grow out of it.' Separation Anxiety Disorder doesn't always resolve on its own — and untreated, it often becomes panic disorder, school refusal, or social anxiety in later years. Look for: clinginess past developmental expectations, nightmares about being ap Generated from MentalSpace School: Georgia K-12 Mental Health and Compliance Gu...

When a child cries every morning before school — or vomits, or 'can't breathe,' or hides — please know: this is rarely manipulation. It's School Refusal Anxiety, and it's one of the most treatable childhood anxiety presentations IF addressed early. Graduated exposure, CBT, and tight coordination bet Generated from MentalSpace School: Georgia K-12 Mental Health and Complian...

Parents — if your teen has been 'not themselves' for more than two weeks, please don't dismiss it as a phase. Adolescent Major Depression often shows up as irritability, withdrawal, sleep changes, or sudden academic decline. It is treatable. CBT, IPT-A, and (when a licensed clinician determines it's Generated from MentalSpace School: Georgia K-12 Mental Health and Compliance Gu...

Quick question for educators: when you picture an ADHD student, do you picture the kid bouncing in their chair? You might be missing half of them. Pediatric ADHD — Inattentive Type rarely looks 'hyper.' It looks like daydreaming through math, half-finished worksheets, and lost homework. Without diag Generated from MentalSpace School: Georgia K-12 Mental Health and Compliance Guide #Menta...

Childhood Generalized Anxiety Disorder is often missed because anxious kids tend to be 'the good ones' — quiet, compliant, hyper-prepared. But look closer: morning stomachaches, perfectionism that paralyzes, sleep that won't settle. Research shows CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy) is first-line tre Generated from MentalSpace School: Georgia K-12 Mental Health and Compliance Guide #...

Friday evening education — Adolescent Substance Use Disorder (SUD) is a serious medical condition, not 'experimentation gone wrong.' The DSM-5 criteria are the same as adults: 2+ of 11 signs over 12 months — using more or longer than intended, unsuccessful attempts to cut back, time spent on substan Generated from MentalSpace School: Georgia K-12 Mental Health and Compliance Guide #Menta...

Midday education — Body-Focused Repetitive Behaviors (BFRBs) are a category of conditions that includes Trichotillomania (hair-pulling disorder) and Excoriation Disorder (skin-picking disorder). Both involve recurrent body-focused behaviors that result in damage (hair loss, skin lesions), despite re Generated from MentalSpace School: Georgia K-12 Mental Health and Compliance Guide #MentalSpaceScho...

Friday morning education for parents, educators, and pediatricians — Non-Suicidal Self-Injury (NSSI) is intentional self-inflicted injury without suicidal intent. The DSM-5 lists NSSI as a 'condition for further study': self-injury on 5+ days in the past year, with at least one of the goals being re Generated from MentalSpace School: Georgia K-12 Mental Health and Compliance Guide #Menta...

Thursday evening education — Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) is a framework from the landmark CDC-Kaiser study. The 10 ACE categories include: physical abuse, emotional abuse, sexual abuse, physical neglect, emotional neglect, parental divorce/separation, parental mental illness, parental subst Generated from MentalSpace School: Georgia K-12 Mental Health and Compliance Guide #MentalSpaceScho...

Midday education — Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder (DMDD) was added to the DSM-5 in 2013 specifically to address the over-diagnosis of pediatric bipolar disorder in chronically irritable kids. Clinically, DMDD is severe, recurrent temper outbursts (verbal AND/OR behavioral, grossly disproport Generated from MentalSpace School: Georgia K-12 Mental Health and Compliance Guide #MentalSpaceScho...

Thursday morning education — Pediatric ADHD comes in three presentations, and the Combined Type (both inattention AND hyperactivity/impulsivity) is what most people picture as 'classic ADHD.' DSM criteria: 6+ inattention symptoms (doesn't pay close attention to details, difficulty sustaining attenti Generated from MentalSpace School: Georgia K-12 Mental Health and Compliance Guide #...

Tuesday evening explainer — Pediatric OCD is much more than 'a tidy kid' or 'germaphobe.' Clinically, OCD involves obsessions (intrusive, unwanted thoughts, images, or urges that cause significant distress) and/or compulsions (repetitive behaviors or mental acts done to reduce that distress) — takin Generated from MentalSpace School: Georgia K-12 Mental Health and Compliance Gu...

Midday education for parents and educators — Eating Disorders in teens are serious and far more common than people realize. The major DSM categories: Anorexia Nervosa (restriction of energy intake leading to significantly low weight, intense fear of weight gain, distorted body image — even when emac Generated from MentalSpace School: Georgia K-12 Mental Health and Compliance Guide #MentalSpaceScho...

Tuesday morning education for parents, educators, and youth-serving professionals — Conduct Disorder (CD) is a more severe pattern than ODD and represents one of the higher-risk childhood/adolescent diagnoses. Clinically, CD is a repetitive, persistent pattern of behavior violating others' basic rig Generated from MentalSpace School: Georgia K-12 Mental Health and Compliance Guide #MentalSpac...