Mental Health News
Ukraine: Life During Wartime
War isn’t only about bombs, bullets and deaths on the battlefield. It’s also about people away from the fighting, struggling to maintain a modicum of normalcy and hope in their daily lives. In this three-part series, we learn about the lives of people living away from the front line and we hear from a Ukrainian…
Solutions Lab
Making churches more welcoming for members with dementia: ‘We don’t want them to think they’re forgotten’
A nurse-led program based in Atlanta equips Black churches across the country with funding and support to make their services more welcoming to people living with dementia and their families, challenging the stigma that often accompanies the disease.
Solutions Lab
Breaking Away From Hate
Trauma, abuse, and mental health problems can make people more vulnerable to violent extremism. Here’s how a movement founded in part by former white supremacists is helping extricate Americans from violent hate groups.
Peer Court Keeps Youth Accountable, Removes Shame and Stigma
Marin County’s Peer Solutions program works to keep young people out of the criminal justice system, encouraging responsibility and transformation.
Investigation
Hidden Expulsions? California Schools Kick Students Out but Call it a ‘Transfer’
Thousands of California students are being transferred for disciplinary reasons – with little or no legal protection. The transfers are demoralizing, advocates say. “Any disruption to a child’s education program is a problem,” said Chelsea Helena, an attorney at Neighborhood Legal Services of Los Angeles County.
Mental Health News
Backdoor Expulsion: Even Preschoolers are Being Transferred as Punishment
It’s not just teenagers being pushed out of schools. Research suggests pre-schoolers may be most likely to be transferred out as a form of punishment.
Keep reading
Students Weigh in on Idea of Taking ‘Mental Health Days’ from School
Since 2019, 12 states have passed legislation to allow students to take excused days off from school for their mental health. A few, such as New York and Maryland, have bills pending. Reporters for Youthcast Media interviewed their peers and professionals for their views on the idea.
Keep readingGuest Essay
Spare the Child: Spanking Harms Both Children and Caregivers
More Black millennial parents are rethinking corporal punishment. Research shows spanking is far from harmless. It increases aggression, rage and hostility in children and may contribute to violence in later life.
Keep reading
Depression Too Often Gets Deemed ‘Hard to Treat’ When Medication Falls Short
Three in four people who take antidepressants drugs don’t get complete relief – and then are often categorized as having “treatment-resistant depression.” Many patients are demoralized by the notion that their depression is “incurable.” But what if they’re trying the wrong treatment?
Keep readingInvestigations
How I Passed a Test to Be a Grief Therapist Without Really Trying
As an investigative reporter, I wanted to see how hard it would be to game the system and pass the test without taking the course. It turned out to be ridiculously easy.
Keep readingArts & Culture
Prince Harry and His Decade of Magical Thinking
The memoir Spare explores the young prince’s prolonged grief over the loss of his mother and his fervent belief that she was still alive.
Solutions Lab
Therapy as Reparations: Working for Free Mental Health Access for Black Americans
Black Americans are descendants of people who have experienced unprecedented trauma for generations. Dr. Brian Dixon is calling for free psychotherapy as reparations.
Keep readingMental Health News
Teens at Cook County Juvenile Jail Face Force, Isolation and Other Abuses, Watchdog Finds
A review of practices inside Cook County’s temporary juvenile detention center found dangerous forms of restraint and isolation, failure to keep adequate records, and “inhumane” treatment of incarcerated teenagers. Many of them struggle with learning disabilities and mental health conditions.
Keep reading
Older People are Often Invisible in Mental Health Settings. Here Are Some Tips to Get Care
The feeling of being ignored or dismissed in medical and mental health settings is common, but it is particularly prevalent among older adults. Some older people are infantilized by mental health providers. And real issues may be downplayed.
Keep reading
New Mexico Cities Hope to Reduce Tragedies by Sending Trained Civilians to Answer Mental Health Calls, Instead of Police. Will it Be Enough?
Las Cruces has become the latest city in New Mexico to start a program using mental health workers instead of police to respond to people in crisis. A similar program in Albuquerque, started in 2020, has not led to a reduction in police shootings of people with mental illness.
Immigrants in New York Cope with Grief after Deadly Border Crossings
In the 2022 fiscal year, more than 800 people died attempting to cross the southern border, making it the deadliest year on record for border crossings. Surviving family members now living in the U.S., must cope with the grief and loss.
Solutions Lab
Shootings, Lockdowns, Anxiety: Kids Are Not Alright – But They’re Working On It
America’s children are living in a time of anxiety, climate change, lockdown drills and school shootings. Yet some kids are fighting off the worries by spreading kindness, taking action and talking about their feelings.
Keep readingMindSite News Interview
A Healed Black Man Works to Heal Others
During his six decades on the planet, Douglas Reed has worn many uniforms. He spent two decades in Army fatigues, then did a tour in federal prisons as a corrections officer. Nowadays he tours the U.S. talking about his mental health journey. MindSite News Reporter Josh McGhee spoke with him about his path.
Keep reading
State of Play: Companies and Clinical Trials in Psychedelic Research
Developments are happening rapidly in the world of psychedelic research and commercial development. We spoke with Josh Hardman, founder of the consultancy firm Psychedelic Alpha, and Dick Simon, co-founder and CEO of Sensorium Therapeutics, to unpack it all.
Keep readingPolicy Tracker
Congress Passes End-of-Year Package, Including Major Mental Health Funding
The annual dance in Congress over passing a bill to avert a government shutdown carries extra importance for mental health advocates this year. The proposed package would complete a historic year of funding and policy-making in mental health.
Keep readingLoading…
Something went wrong. Please refresh the page and/or try again.
Arts & Culture
In “Stutz,”Actor Jonah Hill Shares His Therapist With the World
The young star suffered from anxiety, depression and panic attacks. Therapy and “The Tools” helped him find relief.
Keep reading
In the Limelight, Selena Gomez Grapples With Bipolar Disorder
Actor and singing superstar Selena Gomez chronicles her mental health struggles in the unsparing documentary “My Mind and Me.”
Keep readingBook review
‘Hope Was Still Waiting for Me’: Finding a Sanctuary in Fantasy Fiction
“Watching the protagonists try to solve world-threatening problems made my own feel smaller and easier to handle.” -Kendall Covington, writer
Keep reading
No Illusion: Fantasy Fiction is My Safe Space
“By reading fantasy fiction, I got to see people like me overcome obstacles I thought impossible.” –Hermes Falcon, writer.
Keep readingLoading…
Something went wrong. Please refresh the page and/or try again.
News
As Ketamine Clinics Expand, Concerns Grow About Staffing, Protocols and Take-it-at-Home Models
As companies rush to open or buy ketamine clinics to treat mental health conditions, concern is growing about protocols, staffing levels and the safety of the newest approach: take-home ketamine.
Keep readingPeer Hub
Can Peers Power the Mental Health Workforce of the Future?
As communities across the country set up new ways to respond to mental health emergencies and the federal government increases funding for mental health programs, the shortage of clinicians looms as a major barrier. One potential solution: training and hiring large numbers of peer support providers.
Keep readingLoading…
Something went wrong. Please refresh the page and/or try again.
Guest Essay
The Hole Ruined Me
In 2019, more than 55,000 incarcerated Americans had spent the past 15 days in solitary confinement. Jeffrey McKee was one, and he writes about the impact it had on his psyche.
The Confess Project: Barbers Help Black Men Talk About Mental Health
The barbershop is the cornerstone of the Black male community. What better place to offer mental health counseling?
Keep readingMindSite Daily News
Ukraine: Life During Wartime
War isn’t only about bombs, bullets and deaths on the battlefield. It is also about people away from the fighting, struggling to maintain a modicum of normalcy and hope in their daily lives.
Keep readingMindSite Daily News
#DisabledJoy Lives On
Two new MindSite News stories look at #DisabledJoy and the slow progress of 988 awareness campaigns. Plus a diversion program is getting people with mental illness out of jail and into treatment. The latest news on ketamine, and more.
Keep reading
The 988 Crisis Lines’s Growing Pains
A MindSite News Original explores the first 9 months of the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.
Keep reading
New warning on teen mental health
The Surgeon General calls for immediate action on social media dangers for kids The grief of parenting without our own parents. Millennial dads stop up to the plate. And more.
Keep reading
Do Grief Dreams Help Ease Loss?
A look at how racism affects the mental health of Black youth, sometimes at an early age. Scientists challenge the “toxic culture” and mental health crisis in academic science.
Keep readingMr. Lasso goes to Washington to talk mental health
The cast of Ted Lasso, the hit Apple TV+ show about a fictional British soccer team, came to the White House to meet with President Biden and talk about mental health. Read more…
Elly Waters, a peer counseling pioneer, wants YOU to support MindSite News
My amazing mom turned 95 a few months ago and no one has inspired me more.
Awards
MindSite News Wins Two Awards from San Francisco Press Club
MindSite News contributors won two awards from the San Francisco Press Club including the top prize in the Series/Continuing Coverage category for our compelling stories on the changing views of mental illness in films, streaming series, novels and television.
Keep readingMindSite News in your inbox.
Featured Stories
‘I Can’t Have a Child In This Climate’
The Supreme Court’s ruling on abortion greenlights the criminalization of pregnancy.
Keep reading
“Hiding in Plain Sight” Takes Us Inside the Youth Mental Health Crisis
This documentary looks at the youth mental health crisis through the eyes of more than 20 young Americans who have struggled with mental illness.
Keep reading
What’s Behind the Protests Against Schools Trying to Boost Kids’ Mental Health?
A close look at protests over mental health programs at school suggest that the powerful forces driving them are anything but grassroots.
Keep reading
Librarians’ Mental Health Threatened By Book Bans, Abuse And Harassment
Some librarians used to make jokes about Fahrenheit 451 as they pushed back on threats of censorship. But now it hits too close to home.
Keep reading
TikTok’s Narcissism Obsession…
Narcissism as a topic is breaking out on TikTok with billions of page views. The NarcTok community is teeming with therapists and “healers” of all kinds, along with self-identified survivors.
Keep reading
We Interrupt This Program to Bring You #BlackJoy
We Black people—Black Americans in this case—know hard times, but our lives also sparkle with joy. Black joy, and not just Black trauma, is our inheritance.
Keep reading
When Positivity Becomes Toxic
We are in the #GoodVibesOnly age, and it’s kind of a bummer. The book Toxic Positivity points the way toward authenticity.
Keep reading
What to Do When the World Is Ending
I am part of a generation that feels, constantly, and even in the most mundane moments, that the world is ending. Almost every article I read these days begins with the same preamble listing all of the overlapping crises, topped off by the…
Keep readingRead more…
Solutions Lab
Pets Rx: How Furry Companions Can Help Protect Kids Against Stress
Research suggests that pets can promote mental health and resilience in children.
Keep readingLoading…
Something went wrong. Please refresh the page and/or try again.
Investigations
The Unspoken Toll Migration Has on Mental Health
Since last spring, more than 30,000 migrants have been processed at NYC shelters. Many are grappling with serious mental health problems, stemming from their migration, language barriers and housing insecurity.
Keep readingLoading…
Something went wrong. Please refresh the page and/or try again.
Peer Hub
Combating veteran suicides with peers, therapy, housing – and a little horse sense
Since 1974, Swords to Plowshares has helped veterans with PTSD or other problems find jobs, benefits and a place to live.
Keep readingLoading…
Something went wrong. Please refresh the page and/or try again.
Arts & Culture
Revisiting #DisabledJoy Five Years Later: How a Hashtag of Pride Continues to Resonate
This festive hashtag has become the go-to place for disabled people to affirm and celebrate their lives.
Keep readingLoading…
Something went wrong. Please refresh the page and/or try again.
Policy Tracker
The 988 Crisis Hotline is Coming. Will States Answer the Call?
With the deadline for launching the 988 line just 7 months away, only a few states have enacted legislation to create and fund call centers and other services.
Keep readingResearch Roundup
A Friend Who’s More Boss than BFF May Be Harmful for Teens’ Mental Health
Friendships are extremely important relationships for teens, but are they always a positive influence? To investigate, we surveyed 388 adolescents at U.S. high schools to learn about their close friends’ dominating behaviors
Keep readingLoading…
Something went wrong. Please refresh the page and/or try again.
News
Few People Know About the 988 Lifeline – and Many Who Do Fear Calling it Will Lead to a Police Response
Almost a year after the launch of the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, only 13% of U.S. residents know the line exists and what it’s for – and many of those who do know are afraid that calling it will summon the police, according to a new survey.
Keep readingLoading…
Something went wrong. Please refresh the page and/or try again.
Essays & Interviews
My Mother, the Impassioned Journalist
As Mental Health Awareness Month ends, a reflection on the ambiguities of love and loss.
Keep readingLoading…
Something went wrong. Please refresh the page and/or try again.
