Letting a Thousand Flowers Bloom
We launched MindSite News to elevate the conversation around mental health issues and to focus attention on the need to fundamentally transform the way mental health and mental unwellness are viewed and treated in this country. We will do this with investigative and solutions-focused reporting and articles, but we will also do it by creating a platform for the sharing of ideas and by providing space for the voices of many people, including those with lived experience with mental illness and the mental health system.
The MindSite News Guest Essays page is a place for discussion, debate and the exchange of ideas, visions, policy proposals and life learnings – discussion and debate that can be frank and honest but always respectful. For now, we will be publishing written essays, but we also envision creating space for audio and video essays in the near future.
We invite you to submit your thoughts and ideas. To see our submission guidelines, please go here.
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.
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?
Good Grief: How to Mourn in a Healthy Way
The COVID-19 pandemic has claimed over one million American lives, casting a blanket of grief over the country. Despite its challenges, the pandemic has given us an opportunity to address the topic of grief and how best to cope with this unavoidable part of being human.
Trauma Expert Says Mental Health Scars from Latest Shooting Will Extend Beyond Those Directly Affected
Two more communities are stricken with grief in the wake of the Jan. 21 shooting at Monterey Park, Calif., that left 11 people dead and nine wounded, and the Jan. 23 shooting in Half Moon Bay, Calif., that killed seven and injured one. Families and friends of the victims, as well as those who were…
Can the Right Kind of Tech Help Address the Mental Health Crisis Among LGBTQ+ Youth?
Increased visibility of LGBTQ+ people and progress in policy change has allowed young people to define themselves and feel more confident expressing their identity. But here’s the downside: Most LGBTQ+ adolescents still come out to a hostile and rejecting world. Today, kids who don’t get support at home can connect with online supports and resources…
How Elon Musk is leading the charge against family-friendly workplaces
Some of us are old enough to remember the bad old days of startups that regarded children as impediments to parents being on call 24/7. I well remember being asked to stay up until 3 or 4 in the morning at home while engineers rebooted a startup’s system; when the baby began to cry, an…
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.
Designed to fail: Measurement of patient experience
If you were ever hospitalized for a medical condition, you probably received a survey asking you about your experience. What you thought mattered to the hospital staff treating you – unless you were hospitalized for a mental health condition. In that case, your experience doesn’t count and isn’t asked about.
Abortion bans will bring psychological harms – here’s what research shows will happen in post-Roe America
As a therapist and scholar specializing in perinatal mental health, I’ve witnessed the psychological impacts of reproductive traumas across pregnancy and after childbirth. This gives me insights into how new restrictions on reproductive health care affect psychological well-being.
What’s behind the gender gap in the teen mental health crisis?
“How did your teen do during the pandemic?” That’s a question I often ask other parents, and their answer is almost always the same: Their sons were fine – they even flourished during Zoom school, getting more sleep and spending more time playing video games. Their daughters imploded.
Blaming Mass Shootings on “Mental Illness” Is Harmful and Misguided
After acts of gun violence, questions often arise about whether the assailant had a history of mental health conditions. The public and policymakers must stop responding to gun violence and mass shootings by saying that mental health conditions are the underlying cause. The claim is false and discriminatory.
To Prevent Mass Shootings, Stop Hunting for Motive, Start Investigating Shooters’ History of Childhood Adversity
Searching for a motive as a way to prevent mass shootings will just get you a useless answer to the wrong question.The right question is: What happened to a child to turn him into a killer spouting racist hate?
The Mentor’s Mentor: A Life Tribute to Jeree Pawl
Some cases that you encounter as a psychotherapist you never forget. In 1986, as a trainee at the Infant-Parent Program, I worked with a family that almost broke my heart. Fortunately, I had an excellent teacher and mentor: Jeree Pawl.
