January 2018

Once certain groups are labeled as criminal or undeserving, or “not like us,” it is easy to enforce supposedly fair and colorblind laws in a discriminatory manner, whether deliberately or subconsciously. It’s an exciting time to be an advocate for drug policy reform and harm reduction. For the first time in decades, people trumpeting the failures of the War on Drugs are being heard, while victories on overdose prevention, syringe exchange, medication assisted treatment, and more are passing...

Many of Ron Fleming’s fellow soldiers have spent the past five decades trying to forget what they saw — and did — in Vietnam. But Fleming, now 74, has spent most of that time trying to hold on to it. He’s never been as proud as he was when he was 21. Fleming was a door gunner in the war, hanging out of a helicopter on a strap with a machine gun in his hands. He fought in the Tet Offensive of 1968, sometimes for 40 hours straight, firing 6,000 rounds a minute. But he never gave much thought...

Trauma-informed care “shifts the way you look at human problems from ‘what’s wrong with you?’ to ‘what happened to you?’ and ‘how can we help?’” says Sandra L. Bloom, an associate professor of public health at Drexel University in Philadelphia. Much of the research into trauma is based on the landmark 1998 Adverse Childhood Experiences study. Adverse childhood experiences can range from experiencing sexual abuse and violence to witnessing violence or living with someone who is a substance...

Imagine having one of the worst days of your professional life play out in front of 5 million people. ABC News anchor Dan Harris doesn't have to. In 2004, he had a panic attack on live TV after years of working in war zones and using drugs to cope with the stress. But that mortifying moment led him to take up meditation. He wrote a book about it, 10% Happier: How I Tamed The Voice In My Head, Reduced Stress Without Losing My Edge, And Found Self-Help That Actually Works — A True Story. And...

Scholars know so much about the importance of early experience--you should too! Every animal has a nest, including humans. What does the nest look like and why does it matter? A 2010 symposium brought together anthropologists, clinical, developmental and neuro-scientists to discuss this question in light of evolution and human development. This is necessarily an interdisciplinary area of study because we have to know our history as social mammals, what optimizes our development in our...

Framed by the story of Mario Woods' grieving mother, this California Report article includes perspectives from Palo Alto pediatrician Rhea Boyd and community leaders in San Francisco and Alameda counties, on how police violence contributes to traumatization. What is the public health solution?

I have worked at helping to shape policy at the local, state and national levels. I have testified before city councils, state legislatures and congress. I’ve testified primarily about the structural externals that hobble so many Americans , millions of whom are ground down by poverty, poor schools, ill health, lack of access to child care and pre-school education and constant exposure to fear and instability in violence-ridden neighborhoods. I have helped to craft and pass legislation. Yes,...

There’s no one right way to make sense of a tumultuous year, but at least maps offer one kind of insight: Even in a digitally connected world, geography is still, frequently, destiny. From the effects of DACA elimination , to Hurricane Harvey’s impact on Houston , to Uber’s wild year , CityLab has reported many of the year’s top stories through the lens of physical place. As a special edition of MapLab , CityLab’s biweekly maps newsletter (sign up here ), I looked at some of 2017’s big...

Anthropologist Tina Lee immersed herself in the exotic culture of a child welfare agency, its folkways, “clients,” employees and contractors. She has returned with an eye-opening report. Anthropologists describe, not prescribe. Their expeditions yield close-up views of the rituals and radically different practices of far-away societies. With their help, we can reflect: Would we like to live like the Melanesians? How about the hunter-gatherer lifestyle? The tribes that Professor Lee studied...

Nearly one in 10 children in the United States are at risk of being removed from their home by a child welfare agency simply because their parent has a disability. In October, a lawsuit was filed on behalf of five parents with disabilities who had their children removed by New York's Administration for Children's Services, alleging widespread discrimination. What happened to these families is not unique or uncommon; rather, their tragic experiences are part of a national phenomenon: Parents...

Urban designers thus have a significant role to play in lowering these rates of mental illness, and the data on how nature affects our brains is central to changing the ways we design. As depression is the world’s biggest cause of disability , we cannot afford to ignore the impact of public environments on mental health. Multiple stressors associated with city living have been shown to increase activity in the parts of the brain corresponding to the ‘flight or fight’ response. How does...

Empathy is when we reach our hearts out to others and put ourselves in their shoes. However, being an empath goes even farther. Like many of my patients and myself, empaths are people who’re high on the empathic spectrum and actually feel what is happening in others in their own bodies. As a result, empaths can have incredible compassion for people–but they often get exhausted from feeling “too much” unless they develop strategies to safeguard their sensitivities and develop healthy...