MHN Supports Red Ribbon Week

"One of the best ways to prevent youth drug and alcohol abuse is to take an active role in your child's life," says Juanell Hefner, president, MHN, Inc. "Simply being together is highly valuable. Spending quality time with children and staying connected helps to strengthen the family unit, which can be particularly important when children are faced with serious choices, such as drug and alcohol use."

MHN recommends the following tips to fit in quality time with your children:

-- Eat together -- this healthy tradition gives families the opportunity to reconnect and share the day's events with one another.

-- Read together -- kids love to be read to; and not only does it help them develop good reading skills and a thirst for knowledge, it creates undivided, quality time between children and parents.

-- Work together -- find a regular chore that is usually done alone and make it a job for two. This helps impart the values of responsibility and cooperation in children, and brings parents and children closer together by working as a team.

-- Play together -- Share a sport, exercise or hobby you and your kids love or try their favorite activity. When you find something you both love, make it part of your regular routine together.

-- Write together -- People often express themselves more freely in writing or show a different side of their personalities. Take a few moments each day to write your children a note or send them a quick text letting them know you're thinking of them.

-- Splurge together -- Surprise your child with an occasional, spur-of-the-moment treat. The real treat isn't the ice cream or movie, it's the unplanned, leisure time your child gets hanging out with you.

To educate parents about signs that may indicate drug and/or alcohol use, MHN has developed the following checklist. While some of these behaviors are considered typical teen behavior, they are more likely to be of concern if they appear together, suddenly, or are extreme in nature:

-- Less attention given to physical appearance

-- Poor appetite or unexplained weight loss

-- Bloodshot eyes or slurred speech

-- Frequent use of eye drops or breath mints

-- Decreased attendance and performance at school

-- Lack of interest in school, sports or other activities

-- Withdrawal from family and friends

-- New friends and a reluctance to introduce them

-- Stealing or lying

-- Irritability

-- Lack of concern about the future

-- Smelling alcohol on your teen's breath or finding it in your teen's room or backpack

-- Memory lapses, poor concentration and coordination

-- Discipline problems at school

If parents strongly suspect their child of drug or alcohol abuse, a family physician, school or behavioral health counselor can help decide the next steps to take.

About MHN and Health Net

As the behavioral health subsidiary of Health Net, Inc., MHN provides comprehensive behavioral-change solutions for individuals and organizations, including managed behavioral health and employee assistance programs. MHN has provided family counseling and advocacy services to military personnel and their families since 2004, and launched its Government Services division in January 2006 to support these programs. The Military & Family Life Consultant Program continues to serve and support hundreds of thousands of military personnel and families across the nation and abroad. For more information, visit www.mhn.com and www.mhngs.com.

Health Net, Inc. is among the nation's largest publicly traded managed health care companies. Its mission is to help people be healthy, secure and comfortable. The company's health plans and government contracts subsidiaries provide health benefits to approximately 6.7 million individuals across the country through group, individual, Medicare, Medicaid and TRICARE and Veterans Affairs programs. Health Net's behavioral health subsidiary, MHN, provides mental health benefits to approximately 6.6 million individuals in all 50 states. The company's subsidiaries also offer managed health care products related to prescription drugs, and offer managed health care product coordination for multi-region employers and administrative services for medical groups and self-funded benefits programs.

For more information on Health Net, Inc., please visit the company's Web site at www.healthnet.com.

SOURCE: MHN, Inc.

Health Net, Inc. 
Media Contact: 
Margita Thompson, 818-676-7912 
margita.thompson@healthnet.com 
or 
MHN Media Contact: 
Gina Clemente, 415-460-8054 
gina.clemente@mhn.com