Invitations to Crucial Re-orientation
In this lecture for the Forum for Existential Psychology and Therapy, SÞren Hertz, a child and adolescent psychiatrist in Denmark, challenges our tendencies on to focus on individual...
Vets Who Receive Legal Aid Show Improved Mental Health
From Yale News: A new study shows that veterans who receive legal help with housing, benefits, and consumer or personal matters have increased income, fewer...
âDownstream Drugs: Big Pharma’s Big Water Woesâ
Writing for GreenBiz, Elizabeth Grossman reports on research on the increasing amounts of pharmaceuticals making their way into the environment. âThey report on opiods, amphetamines and other pharmaceuticals found in treated drinking water; antibiotics in groundwater capable of altering naturally occurring bacterial communities; and over-the-counter and prescription drugs found in water leeching from municipal landfills.â
The Link Between Opioids and Unemployment
From The Atlantic: A recent study found that increases in unemployment rates are associated with increased opioid overdoses and emergency room visits.
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How War Gets “Under the Skin”
In this piece, Patrick Larkin explores the impact of war on growth and human development. A study he conducted on Hmong refugees in French Guiana...
Here’s a Great This American Life Segment About Being Neurotic
From Science of Us: This week's This American Life, which addresses questions regarding whether extraterrestrial life exists, reveals a great deal of truth about what it...
Knowledge of Other Cultures is Changing the Field of Psychology
From The Conversation: Human behavior and mental processes have long been thought to be universal. However, recent studies show that culture plays an important role...
How Your Germs Control Your Politics
In this podcast for Cracked, Alex Schmidt and David Wong discuss how our fear of germs has shaped our politics, preferences, and personalities throughout history.
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Touches Early in Life may Make an Impact on Newborns’ Brains
From Science News: A recent study found that early tactile experiences are associated with important differences in infants' brain responses and and patterns.
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Reflections on the Cruel and Subtle Costs of Racism and Bigotry
In this essay for the Psychiatric Times, Dr. Edward Khantzian reflects on the pain and grief caused by all forms of racism and bigotry, from...
Staggering Levels of Health Spending in U.S.
From the Center for Health Journalism: In 2015, the U.S. spent a staggering $3.2 trillion on health care. This budget is often spent ineffectively; our spending...
âThe Curious Case of the Antidepressant, Anti-Anxiety Backyard Gardenâ
âMy vegetable beds have even buoyed me through more acute stressors, such as my medical internship, my daughterâs departure for college, and a loved oneâs cancer treatment,â writes Dr. Daphne Miller. Now neuroscientists are attempting to study the antidepressant effects of soil microbes in hopes of unlocking the secrets of a powerful mood enhancer.
Coping With Trauma in the Classroom
From the Stamford Advocate: Increasing numbers of students have been affected by trauma; almost half of American adolescents have experienced an adverse childhood event. It...
The Persistence of the Radioactive Bogeyman
From Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists: Since 1950, a noteworthy number of American and European horror movies have used radiation as a plot device. The...
Minority Groups Found Less Likely to Get Mental Health Care
From California Healthline: Although people of color are much more likely to suffer from severe psychological distress, they are less likely to receive mental health...
A New Paper Breaks Down the Effects of the Election
From Science of Us: A new research paper examines the mental and physical health effects of the 2016 presidential election, including the impact of toxic...
Protecting the LGBT Community is Good Health Policy
From The Hill: Research shows that LGBT individuals experience higher rates of physical and mental health problems than heterosexual people. Legislative policies that protect the rights of...
âKids in Foster Care Three Times More Likely to be Diagnosed with ADHDâ
PsychCentral presents a new study from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that found that foster care children are three times more likely than other children on Medicaid to receive a diagnosis of ADHD. Overall, more than one in four children in foster care receive such a diagnosis. CDC statistician Melissa Danielson interpreted these results as revealing a âsubstantial needâ for more medical and behavioral services for kids in foster care.
Time Spent in Green Places Linked With Longer Life in Women
From Harvard Health Blog: A 2016 analysis found that women living in areas with higher levels of green vegetation had lower rates of mortality. Spending time...
âPharmaceutical Prosthesis and White Racial Rescue in the Prescription Opioid âEpidemicââ
Critical psychiatry researcher, anthropologist and NYU professor Helena Hansen writes: âOpioid maintenance acts as a kind of pharmaceutical prosthesis which promises to return white âaddictsâ to regaining their status as full human persons and middle-class consumers. Meanwhile, black and brown users are not deemed as persons to be rescued, but rather dangerous subjects to be pharmaceutically contained within the public discipline of the state.â
âNIH Awards $150 million for Research on Environmental Influences on Child Healthâ
The National Institutes of Health announced $157 million in awards in fiscal year 2016 to launch a seven-year initiative called Environmental influences on Child...
âLoneliness May Warp Our Genes, And Our Immune Systemsâ
NPR reports how loneliness can change our bodies and affect our physical and mental health. "There are things we can do to get out of a depressed or lonely state, but they're not easy," they report. "Part of the reason is because these negative psychological states develop some kind of molecular momentum."
A Quiet Rise in Wildland-Firefighter Suicides
From The Atlantic: Over the past decade, there has been a quiet acknowledgement that suicide is widespread within the wildland firefighting community. Both the trauma...
Bringing Trauma-Informed Care to Children in Need
From STAT: Numerous studies have confirmed that adverse childhood experiences are common and can lead to negative long-term health outcomes. Many pediatricians and hospitals are working...
New Bill Targets Asian-American, Pacific Islander Community
From NBC News: Representative Judy Chu recently introduced the Stop Mental Health Stigma in Our Communities Act, a bill to reduce mental health stigma in...