Overdose Prevention Centers Don’t Boost Neighborhood Crime, Study Finds
Safe injection centers not only haven't led to more crime in nearby blocks, crime and trespass complaints have declined. And more.
Don's Latest Articles
Inching Toward Mental Health Parity
Novel enforcement of the federal parity law requiring most insurance plans to cover mental health on par with physical health. Ukraine war widows and their children try mountain climbing to work through grief. And more.
An Epidemic has Become a Crisis
What’s worse than fentanyl? Fentanyl + meth + THC + xylazine. The physician leading the team assisting newly released Israeli hostages talks about their needs.
U.S. Soldiers’ Damaged Brains the Cost of a Secret War
U.S. soldiers who fired massive quantities of artillery at the Islamic State in Syria damaged their brains in the process.
Doulas Help Moms, Ease Stress
Doulas ease stress and reduce pregnancy complications, especially for Black moms-to-be. And many reasons, none of them good – led to the failure to prevent last month’s mass shooting in Maine.
The Mental Health Toll of Brutal War
Continued coverage of the mental health impacts of the Israel-Gaza war. And children who are allowed more independence may be less anxious and depressed.
At LA General, Unrestrained Use of Restraints
At Los Angeles General hospital, psychiatric patients are restrained more than 50 times the national average.
Stopping the Cycle of Violence
Therapist Jack Saul worries that Israel is making the same mistakes that the U.S. made after 9/11. Also in this issue: The Kennedy Forum aims to transform mental health care in America. And more.
Sending You Light
As hatred, violence and killing envelop Israel and Gaza, we share a brief thought and a healing song. High school students skip school due to anxiety, depression.
Mental health and democracy
Seven U.S. Surgeons General say the mental health crisis is a threat not just to individuals, but to our democracy. Why feeling that you matter ... matters. The Peace Corps draws a lawsuit for mental health-related discrimination.
Stonewalled in Philadelphia
A MindSite News reporter pursued Philadelphia's leading mayoral candidate for an interview. She got stonewalled – and became part of the story. And in a challenge to conventional wisdom, a study found that trying to push negative thoughts out of your head can help your mental health.
Schizophrenia Far More Common than Previously Thought, Study Finds
Schizophrenia is a lot more prevalent than we thought. MDMA moves closer to approval to treat PTSD. A look at the impact of childhood poverty in rural Northern California, quite different from the city.
Federal Appeals Court Revives Legal Battle for Health Insurance Parity
A federal court case that initially produced a landmark ruling in favor of mental health patients against the nation’s largest health insurer – only to be gutted on appeal – moved back in the plaintiffs’ favor this week.
Millions Being Cut off Medicaid: How Will it Impact Mental Health?
In the midst of a mental health crisis, states kick millions off Medicaid. Overwhelmed by troubled kids, ER doctors and nurses plead for help. In Ukraine, “How are you?” is an invitation to talk about how you're coping. And a subtle way to help older people uncomfortable discussing their “mental health.”
Soda bad for mental health, study finds
Drinking more soda is linked to more depression. What makes for a good mental health break – if you’re not Simone Biles? And the lasting effects of parental favoritism.
Now There’s a Pill for Postpartum Depression
The FDA approved the first pill to treat postpartum depression. Teens left to detox cold turkey after ERs reverse their overdoses. Families hire private detectives to find their troubled adult children. And psychiatrists prescribe weight-loss drug to treat weight gain caused by psychiatric meds.
RIP Sinéad O’Connor: Mourning a Courageous Songwriter
Tributes pore in for the late Irish singer-songwriter, who battled trauma and mental illness. Extreme heat can rock your mental health. And Mississippi routinely jails people for being mentally ill.
One year, 4 million conversations: the 988 suicide & crisis helpline
Teens who largely ignored the 1-800 suicide hotline are reaching out in droves to the 988 lifeline. Family's bills for mental health care tops $100K, 15 times more than they had agreed to pay. How we might treat the loneliness epidemic. And more.
A Therapist’s Paean to Taylor Swift
A psychiatrist celebrates the therapeutic power of Taylor Swift. Psychedelics head for the mainstream. And a new report underscores the link between long Covid and mental illness.
An Interview with New York City’s Health chief
MindSite News sits down with with New York City Health Commissioner Ashwin Vasan. Black mental health experts have some advice about how to heal racial trauma.
Easing Girls’ Trauma at School
A school-based program for teen girls successfully reduced trauma-related distress. The class of drugs that includes Ozempic offers tantalizing, if unproven, possibilities for a different kind of opioid addiction treatment.
An Awakening – and a Wakeup Call
In an astonishing development, a woman who was catatonic for two decades with a diagnosis of schizophrenia was treated for lupus and…woke up, opening a new avenue of psychiatric treatment. Plus: The biggest problem with plans that force people into mental health treatment is also the simplest, an opinion writer declares: It’s forced.
#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.
Does Therapy Really Work?
A deep look at therapy. The mental health crisis for North Carolina kids. And drug overdose deaths were virtually unchanged last year – again claiming more than 100,000 lives.
Can a Psychedelic Clinical Trial Really Be Blinded?
The APA offers guidance for parents on their kids’ social media use. Good news and bad on psychedelics. And what’s behind the mysterious “gender well-being gap”?