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.
What Martin Luther King, Jr. Knew But Never Said
The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was known for the soaring oratory he deployed as he led a movement for racial equity and social justice using the power of nonviolent protest. One thing he did not talk about was his mental health. In fact, King struggled with depression but rarely discussed it because of…
Boom! Bang! Tales From a Cell Below ‘The Crazy Unit’
The writer, incarcerated in New Jersey State Prison, wrote about a man descending into distress above him, in the prison’s mental health unit. “In the time I’ve been here,” he wrote, “I’ve heard three episodes that have been particularly concerning. The first one started in November 2022 with the guy above me at the time.…
Want to Strengthen the U.S. Mental Health Parity Law? You Have Until Tuesday 10/17 at Midnight to Submit Comments!
Public comment on a change to the mental health parity act has been extended to October 17. Here is how you can weigh in.
Philly’s Cherelle Parker, The Very Disrespectful Emails (and Me)
Our reporter in Philadelphia pursued an interview with leading mayoral candidate Cherelle Parker to find out how she planned to address the mental health needs of people impacted by gun violence. She got stonewalled – as the campaign’s internal emails admitted.
The federal government has been greatly underestimating the number of people with schizophrenia, our most serious mental illness. That’s a big deal
Every health policy decision depends on having an accurate estimate of how many people are living with a particular disorder. Yet for years the federal government has been erroneously measuring the number of people living with the most disabling mental illness – schizophrenia.
For Transgender Youth, Conversion Therapy Brings Greater Suicide Risk Than Hormone Treatment, Researchers Say
A research team finds that supportive family environments and hormone replacement therapy that affirm a transgender child’s gender identity decrease their risk of suicide or running away from home. Unsupportive family environments and conversion therapy that denies their gender identity increase these risks.
My Mother, the Impassioned Journalist
As Mental Health Awareness Month ends, a reflection on the ambiguities of love and loss.
ChatGPT Can Channel the Stock Responses of a Therapist, But It Misses What Makes Us Human
As a therapist, I’m impressed by how convincingly a bot powered by artificial intelligence can reproduce the responses of a human therapist. But I am also reminded of how special and uniquthe process of psychotherapy is for a human therapist and patient.
Shame of a City, and a Nation
Two ugly strains of American life came together this week on a New York subway: the fear and hatred of people with mental illness and the belief that vigilante action is justified against people who make others frightened or uncomfortable. Jordan Neely, a 30-year-old homeless man and street performer, fit all of these categories, and…
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…
