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Mental-health problems among college students have been climbing since the 1990s, according to the American Psychological Association. And with services increasingly stretched at campus health centers, students have been taking action themselves through peer-run mental-health clubs and organizations. The approach appears to be paying off, a new study finds. In what they describe as the largest study of its kind, researchers found that across 12 California colleges, such student-run efforts...

What the public knew about Emma Gatewood was already remarkable. She was the first woman to hike the entire Appalachian Trail by herself in one season. She was 67 years old, a mother of 11, a grandmother and even a great-grandmother when she accomplished the feat in 1955. And she personified the concept of low-tech, ultralight hiking, spurning a tent and sleeping bag, carrying only a small sack and relying on her trusty Keds. But what the public did not know was equally remarkable. Grandma...

(Cissy's note: grateful for all our Atlantic Canada Community is sharing with us all!) Excerpt from News release: Read more.

Very few among us will go through life without experiencing some sort of trauma. As uncomfortable as it is, it remains part of our human existence. But while trauma may be unavoidable, our responses to that trauma are what matter most. By examining the ways in which we react to trauma both as individuals and as part of our family systems, we can begin to understand our behaviors and move toward more healthy and productive relationships. Defining trauma Simply put, trauma occurs when an...

What are the rules of war? It's a timely question in the wake of attacks on civilians, aid workers and hospitals in conflict zones around the world. Just this week, three hospitals in southern Syria were bombed by pro-government forces, according to The Washington Post. After such incidents, there are many references to the "rules of war." [For more on this story by JOANNE LU, go to...

Kara Burns walked out of federal prison in 2013 with little more than a bus ticket and a few hundred dollars she’d managed to save inside. She needed to start job-hunting, but like many formerly incarcerated people, she had a problem that made rebuilding her life even more stressful: Bad teeth. Burns’ dental problems started long before her incarceration. For years, she used methamphetamine, which is known to cause devastating tooth damage and gum disease. While in prison for two and a half...

Surrounded by the vibrant, emerald trees that give the city its nickname, Seattle’s Ravenna Woods seem like the perfect place for homeless people to build shelter without disrupting metropolitan life. If not for a large, homemade banner at the entrance of the encampment that read, “ Do Homeless Lives Matter ?” you might not even have noticed they were there. Earlier this year, I visited the Ravenna Woods encampment, both to protest its removal and to interview homeless people about their...

Undercounting children under age 5 for the 2020 Census could have dire consequences for their public services, health and education, this year’s Kids Count Data Book warns. In 2010, the Census missed one million children under age 5 — the worst undercounting since 1950. Such undercounting, which has happened since 1980, has only gotten worse, said Florencia Gutierrez, senior research associate at the Annie E. Casey Foundation . “If they’re not counted, the government doesn’t know they...

I visited Dilley, Texas, in 2015 as part of a research team investigating practices at detention centers that housed migrants from Central America. Our study was commissioned by the Unitarian Universalist Church in order to report on and make recommendations regarding practices related to detaining migrants at that time. Again, remember that was 2015 and took place during the Obama administration. The findings of that study can be viewed in detail here . But, I would like to address...

It’s not just the kids at the border. America systematically shortchanges tens of millions of children, including homegrown kids. The upshot is that American kids are more likely to be poor, to drop out of high school and even to die young than in other advanced countries. We tear apart homegrown families, too, through mass incarceration, excessive juvenile detention and overuse of foster care. One black child in 10 spends time in foster care — and 61,000 foster kids have simply gone missing...

In your journey to understanding what it means to be human on this planet at this time, it came become quite overwhelming to think of the many ways of comprehending the nature of reality. What is life all about? How do we create well-being in our individual and collective lives? How do we stay aware of what is happening in a complex world, yet not lose hope? For my own journey, as a scientist and physician, as a psychotherapist and educator, I have found a process of weaving various...

From the outside, it seems puzzling that any person could develop an eating disorder like anorexia, bulimia or compulsive overeating. When we see someone starving themselves or eating themselves into obesity, the temptation is to criticize or correct them: “Just stop it! Can’t you see you’re hurting yourself?” But criticism or judgment is the last thing a person with an eating disorder needs. If we want to help people suffering to recover, the best, strongest healing forces we can bring are...