Arts & Culture
Does “Shrinking” Have Any Real-Life Therapists? Nah, They’re Just Playing Them Onscreen
The comedy series “Shrinking” is a runaway hit, but many psychologists say its message about therapy is fatally flawed.
Twenty-five Years On, Author Hua Hsu Finds Solace in Writing About a College Friend’s Senseless Death
For Hsu, writing the memoir didn’t diminish his grief, but it did allow him to convey how much his friend mattered and to offer him the ultimate honor: staying true.
Hua Hsu’s Tender Elegy to a Lost Friend Resonates
The memoir Stay True is a powerful tribute to a friendship cut short by tragedy and to writing as a tool for survival.
Surviving the Tiger Pit: How a Journalist’s Family Story Pushed Her to Report on a Failed Mental Health System
In a moving memoir, journalist Meg Kissinger tells the story of her own family’s struggles with mental illness, and how those experiences fueled her passion to be an investigative reporter and storyteller.
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.
Breaking Away from Hate: A live panel discussion on the psychology of hate – and strategies that can combat it
Thursday June 15th | 10:00am PDT / 1:00pm EDT Hate crimes in the U.S. have been rising for years and white supremacist organizations represent by far the biggest domestic terror threat, according to the FBI and organizations who track the activities of organizations espousing hate and violence. So what leads…
‘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
From Fahrenheit 451 to Harry Potter, The Power of Fantasy Fiction for Youth Mental Health
Two young writers explore fantasy fiction’s soaring popularity during and after the pandemic and write about its importance to their own mental health..
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.
Young Readers Struggling with ‘Reality Overload’ Drive Surging Sales of Sci-Fi and Fantasy Books
During the pandemic, “our worlds became very small, and fantasy fiction provided this vast opportunity to delve into worlds unknown.”
Teen Expert Lisa Damour Wants Us All to Embrace Sadness
Damour wants us to realize that stress, irritability and unhappiness are as normal in teens as joy.
Famished for Care: Two Books on Eating Disorders from Experts Who Have Grappled with Them
The information on eating disorders is often complex, thorny and conflicting. Here are two recent books for parents that can help guide you and your child through this grueling time.
Traveling Play Helps Miami High School Students Talk About Mental Health
A theatre production designed to help teens find hope and comfort in each other and themselves has played to some 18,000 Miami students.
Mr. 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, a major theme of the show. They also made a brief appearance in the White House press briefing room.…
Youth Mental Health: A Live Conversation with MindSite News, Born This Way Foundation and BeMe Health
On Thursday March 30, join MindSite News and BeMe Health for a live discussion with youth advisory board members from Lady Gaga’s Born This Way Foundation. We’ll hear from young leaders about the mental health problems today’s youth are grappling with and learn what the Foundation is doing to support…
The Imposter Syndrome: Why Some Asian American Youth Destroy Themselves Trying to Live Up to the “Model Minority” Ideal
An interview with scholar erin Khuê Ninh about her remarkable book Passing for Perfect: College Imposters and Other Model Minorities.
The Myth of Normal
Gabor Maté’s book explores childhood trauma’s devastating impact on people and our society – and what we can do to reverse the damage.
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.
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.
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.”
Lonely in America
Loneliness is natural, “designed to alert its host to a need, just like sensations of hunger or thirst or exhaustion.”
State of Play: Companies & Clinical Trials, The Psychedelics Conversation Continues
MindSite News continues our conversations on psychedelic research and therapies with a live interview with Dick Simon and Josh Hardman. A replay of previous interviews in the series can be viewed on YouTube.
Curbing the Overdose Epidemic: An Author’s Call to Drop Our Moralistic Blinders and Save Lives
Author Maia Szalavitz makes a formidable case that embracing harm reduction will help end the opioid overdose epidemic.
“Crying in H Mart” Resonates in a Time of Endless Loss
“Crying in H Mart” helps a Korean-American family through grievous loss.
Netflix Series Explores Preschooler Rx for Lonely Elders
This captivating series shows how intergenerational care can bring both the very old and the very young joy and comfort.
MindSite News Psychedelics and Mental Health Live Conversation Series
MindSite News is excited to continue its series of conversations on psychedelic research and therapies with a live interview with David Bronner on October 13, 2022. A replay of our first conversation, with author and journalist Michael Pollan, can be viewed on YouTube.
How Psychosis and Internet Obsession Brought Two Girls to the Brink of Murder
In 2014, two 12-year-old girls lured a third into the woods and stabbed her repeatedly. The stabbings tell a tragic story about the deficiencies of the mental health and criminal justice systems in the U.S. – and the terrible things that often happen when they collide. Kathleen Hale tells this…
MindSite News, Ken Burns Presents and WETA present a live back-to-school event: A Conversation About Youth Mental Health and the Making of Hiding in Plain Sight
As students return to school after 2-1/2 years of pandemic stress and setbacks, concerns about the mental health of young people have never been greater. We invite you to join us for a MindSite News Live Interview focused on youth mental health. Our guests will be some of the people behind…
Reading Between the Lines: A Literary Mystery about Sylvia Plath
Sylvia Plath was lauded for her genius as a poet, but danger was lurking. This novel examines her profound legacy.
Michael Pollan Docuseries Explores the World of Psychedelics
Michael Pollan’s 2018 book How to Change Your Mind, a No. 1 New York Times bestseller, premieres as a four-part Netflix docuseries on Tuesday, with each episode devoted to a different hallucinogen.
Youth Mental Illness: Four Young People’s Views on New Documentary
A new PBS documentary aims to show how commonplace and universal youth mental struggles really are — and to encourage young people to get help.
“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.
Sam Quinones on How Fentanyl and Meth Hijacked Our Country
Sam Quinones offers a powerful journalistic account of how fentanyl and P2P meth came to ravage our country and users’ psyches – and how people addicted can recover.
Turning Red: A Quirky Coming-of-Age Tale of Breaking Through Intergenerational Pain
A teenage girl learns to embrace her inner panda — the weird, emotional, creative, messy parts that lie within us all.
OCD: From Memoirs to Big Screen, Misunderstood Mental Illness Finally Gets Its Due
There’s a culture shift in media coverage of OCD. Once played for laughs, it’s now recognized as exhausting, debilitating and relentless.
Crying on the Subway: A Journalist Explores Her Trauma History
Talented journalist Stephanie Foo thought she had conquered her demons from an abusive childhood. So why was she so bereft?
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.
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.
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.
‘There Is Only One Bus’: Reflections on a New Path to Mental Health
As with the fight for civil rights or climate change, it’s going to take a movement, with families at the core of that effort. We need to reframe this crisis as more than a medical challenge: It is an issue of social justice.
Intergenerational Trauma and Healing: Why Disney’s Encanto Resonates with Latinx First-Gens
An enthralling film for both children and adults, Encanto features a cast of Latinx females attempting to break the cycle of intergenerational trauma. As a Nicaraguan American, I know that most of us who identify as First-Gen often relate to “ni de aqui ni de allá” – a feeling of…
Why Is Mental Illness Dogged by Stigma?
In Nobody’s Normal, anthropologist Roy Richard Grinker makes a compelling argument to embrace neurodiversity while tracing the stigma of mental illness back to the Industrial Revolution.
Can Virtual Therapy Meet Our Need for Intimacy ?
Teletherapy not only increases access and affordability to therapeutic insights, the author argues, it generates a sense of safety for those who prefer anonymity.
Love in the Ruins
Caring for her brilliant husband who developed early onset Alzheimer’s, Pru is isolated, exhausted and lonely. But she has no intention of sending him to a nursing home.
The Empire of Depression
When should sorrow be considered sickness? Historian Jonathan Sadowsky ponders this question as he explores the history of depression treatments.
Introducing: MindSite News Review of Books
Welcome to the newest section of our arts and culture coverage: The MindSite News Review of Books. We’ll be bringing you the latest book reviews, recommendations, dispatches and author interviews about all things mental health from critics, authors and reporters. We also welcome ideas on new books to review –…
Cavetown Song “Boys Will Be Bugs”: Rx for Teen Boys’ Mental Health
The 2018 sleeper hit is the most important song about teen boys that most adults have never heard of.
Did a Rap Song Cut Suicide Rates?
Researchers studying three events where the song was highlighted found an association with 10,000 more calls to the Lifeline.
On the Couch with TV’s Ted Lasso: Hit Soccer Show Champions Therapy
Everyone, it seems, loves Ted Lasso. His fans include Diane Sawyer, Dolly Parton, and Ryan Reynolds — no small feat for a fictional football coach from Kansas City who finds himself in charge of a struggling English Premier League soccer team. “Ted Lasso”, the winsome Emmy-winning comedy series on Apple+…
Controversial Anthony Bourdain Film Explores the Mystery of Suicide
The film shows how Bourdain’s public image contrasted with his private, shy, introverted self.
Batsh*t Crazy: The Creator of Wakefield Draws On Her Own Experience For Psych Ward Drama
A streaming series set in an Australian psychiatric ward explores mental health with humor, compassion, and insider insight. Created by screenwriter Kristen Dunphy, the drama won over Aussie critics and premiered on Showtime Oct. 19. Wakefield was never going to be an easy sell. An intense drama unfolding in a mental…
