MindSite News Interviews

NAMI Director Explains New Laws to Keep People with Mental Illness out of Jail

The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) is advocating for state laws to divert people with mental illness from jail and into treatment, highlighting Florida's Tristin Murphy Act as a national model.

Latest in MindSite News Interviews
At the Young Women’s Freedom Center, Sisters Are Doing It for Themselves: Listen to the Podcast

Congresswoman Lateefah Simon and leaders of the Young Women’s Freedom Center were in conversation with MindSite News at this Commonwealth Club panel.

New Report Finds Online Gambling is Undermining Mental and Financial Health for Millions, Especially Young People

The explosion in digital gambling is undermining both finances and mental health, especially among young people.

Youth Mental Health Crisis ‘Most Pronounced in Wealthier Countries’: An Interview with Sapien Labs

Owning cell phones at a younger age, eating ultraprocessed food, and the crumbling of family bonds are largely to blame, says founder and chief scientist Tara Thiagarajan.

AI Can’t Replace a Therapist, But Millions Use It Like One. Replika’s Founder Answers the Critics

Eugenia Kuyda built an AI companion app that acts like a friend, partner or therapist. She insists that industry standards, not lawmakers, should guide how AI therapy apps evolve.

The ICE Effect: Immigrants, Already Traumatized, Face Neglect in New York Jail

MindSite News spoke to a civil rights attorney about the harsh conditions for immigrants held at a New York jail.

Hidden ‘Tax Bombs,’ High Anxiety: Protecting Students’ Mental Health During the Student Loan Shake-Up

College financial expert Jennifer Finetti on how youth can best take care of themselves in the wake of Trump administration changes.

Coming Medicaid Cuts Spell Disaster for People Needing Addiction Services, Especially Coming Out of Jail

Medicaid cuts being advanced by the Trump administration and Congressional Republicans could gut addiction services.

‘A Public Health Emergency’: The Crusade to Assess Trump’s Mental Fitness for Office

Dr. Bandy X. Lee says Trump has deteriorated, and the level of danger has vastly increased — especially because his symptoms have spread. 

Kendra's Law in New York
Kendra’s Law in New York: Report Blasts Racial Disparities in Forced Mental Health Treatment

When someone is forced into treatment, it strips them of their autonomy, say critics of Kendra's Law in New York.

Photoshopped Images, Scientific Fraud Derail Quest for Alzheimer’s Treatments

A reporter uncovers evidence that research fraud on a massive scale has hyped the potential benefit of expensive drugs aimed at slowing or reversing the mental decline of patients with Alzheimer’s disease.

California Psychiatrist Says Black Kids Overdiagnosed with ‘Oppositional Defiant Disorder’

Black children are too often diagnosed with oppositional defiant disorder, labeling them as “bad kids” and perpetuating systemic racism, says a California psychiatrist.

New Report: Mental Health Philanthropy Inches Up, but Still Lags Far Behind the Need 

Mental health giving is rising slowly, but it's still a small percentage of overall giving.

That Crisis of Mentally Ill People Languishing in Jail? It’s Even Worse Than We Thought

The number of mentally ill people held in jails for weeks or months awaiting competency hearings is rising. Experts call it a crisis.

How Can We Combat the Rise in Suicides Among Black Youth? An Interview with Dr. Yolanda Lawson

Dr. Yolanda Lawson, president of the National Medical Association, talks with MindSite News about suicide prevention among Black youth.

A Student Journalist on How Her Team Coped with the Stress of Covering a Campus Under Siege

Isabella Ramírez, editor of the Columbia Daily Spectator, describes the stress experienced by her team of student journalists as they covered occupations and police actions – and coped with accusations of being anti-Semitic and anti-Muslim over the past eight months.

The Night Parade: A genre-bending memoir that helps reshape the cultural narrative on bipolar illness and grief

Jami Nakamura Lin has written a rich, exquisitely illustrated memoir that expands the cultural narrative on mental illness and grief.

A Former Hotline Counselor ‘Hands the Mic’ to Call-takers to Amplify Their Voices

The author of a survey of crisis hotline counselors talks about his experiences and why he wanted to tap into the wisdom of the people who answer calls to 988.

How Allen Ginsberg’s Poems About Madness Helped Change Psychiatry: An Interview with Biographer Dr. Stevan Weine

Dr. Stevan Weine talks about his recent book on how poet Allen Ginsberg's writings helped change psychiatry for the better.

‘Retaliation is a reality’: How agribusiness attacks on a Colorado farmworkers rights law erode ranch workers’ mental health

Anxiety and depression, among the most common mental issues in migrant farmworkers, may be exacerbated by the backlash against a recent farmworkers rights bill.

Voices of Transgender Prisoners

A 2021 California law aimed to reduce the violence and degradation experienced by trans prisoners, but reporter Lee Romney found that trans women transferred to a women's state prison in Chowchilla have suffered new forms of trauma.

Constant Fear, Death All Around: A Palestinian Psychologist Is Distraught For Her Family and the Impact of War on Gaza’s Children

Dr. Iman Farajallah, a California-based psychologist who grew up in Gaza, talks about her research on the widespread, severe trauma that was afflicting Palestinian children – even before the brutal war now underway.

A Therapist Who Puts Community at the Center of Healing Reflects on the Conflict in Israel and Gaza – and the Real Lessons of 9/11

Jack Saul led a community healing effort in New York after 9/11. He has seen the psychological impact of collective trauma throughout the world and worries that Israel is now making the same mistakes that the U.S. made back then.

Unpacking a ‘Watershed’ Legal Agreement to Improve Conditions for Mentally Ill People in L.A. County Jails

Advocates hail the settlement as a victory for mentally ill people and as a major step to reducing jail populations and improving conditions for those who remain.

Climate Change Can Harm the Mental Health of Older Adults

Climate change is expected to increase the severity and frequency of wildfires and other environmental disasters. San Francisco Public Press spoke with Robin Cooper, a psychiatrist and co-founder of the Climate Psychiatry Alliance, about what needs to be done locally to address climate change’s mental health toll.

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