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These days, American colleges are eager to boast about their number of women enrollees, their percentage of ethnic minorities, even their ratio of low-income students. They’re very proud of their inclusiveness and outreach. But many colleges are mum when it comes to the students on their campuses with criminal records. To be fair, it’s a very delicate issue, one that requires reassuring students and parents that safety has not been compromised while also ensuring that some students with...

[Photo by Bryan Jones ] The human brain begins as a neural tube that develops five weeks after conception. Years later, it is fully formed. On Tuesday, experts in neuroscience, genetics and social work met in Manhattan to talk about what can happen to it along the way, and what emerging research tells us about how children who seem broken can be made whole. Officially, the meeting was called Poverty, the Brain and Mental Health. It could have been called This Is Your Brain on Poverty. Or:...

Healthy Auburn for Life. That’s the vision of the new Blue Ribbon Committee of Auburn assigned to making Auburn the healthiest city in Washington by 2020. Alarmed by a recent King County report that gave Auburn a poor checkup, City officials have called for a plan of action. A committee has been formed with representatives from all sectors of the city and given this goal: make Auburn the Healthiest City in Washington by 2020. Its mission is to optimize the health and well being of all...

From sexism to sexual abuse , the media has dredged up some of the music industry’s most shameful truths in the last few months alone, but there’s still far more work to be done. While these issues are incredibly important and shouldn’t be discounted, mental illness continues to be stigmatized within the music community. Opening up about mental illness isn’t easy—it can be an overwhelming, emotionally draining struggle. But more often than not it’s also cathartic. An opportunity to...

If secrecy fuels the stigma that surrounds mental illness, Patrick Kennedy says, then speaking out about one’s illness can be a powerful tool to defeat it. “In my book, ‘A Common Struggle,’ I said that we are only as sick as our secrets,” said Kennedy, son of the late U.S. Sen. Ted Kennedy and former U.S. Congressman from Rhode Island, who will share his story of mental illness and addiction at the Southeastern Symposium on Mental Health Saturday in Greenville. “Today, that’s the mantra of...

You can hear the frustration — and need — in each of their voices as this group of young adults, who grew up in foster care, give youth workers some heartfelt advice on working with foster youth. These current and former foster youth participated in a two-day gathering focused on transitioning from care, hosted at New York University. One emphatic reminder they offer: "These kids need more resources, these kids need more help, these kids need someone they can trust." Watch What Happens When...

A clinic opening in San Antonio on May 10 is one of the first of its kind, offering free mental health services to military families. Family Endeavors is the organization opening the new Military Family Clinic. Marine Corps veteran Christopher Vidaurre got out of the service last year. "I joined in 2006. I went to Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2008 and then Operation Enduring Freedom in 2009," he said. He spent a lot of time away from his family and had trouble readjusting when he came back.

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors unanimously passed a motion Tuesday that bans the use of solitary confinement — in all but the most exceptional circumstances — in all the county’s juvenile detention facilities. Solitary confinement “doesn’t improve behavior,” said Board Supervisor Sheila Kuehl. “It doesn’t promote rehabilitation. … And [nationally] 50 percent of our young people who commit suicide were in room confinement at the time of their suicide.” Los Angeles County oversees...

Recovery experts Tian Dayton, Ph.D.; Steven J. Wolin, M.D.; Cynthia Morena Tuohy; and Anthony Dekkur, D.O. discuss the impact that mental or substance use disorders often have on several generations of the same family. Parental mental or substance use disorders can affect emotional, social, and behavioral well-being in children, who mature and pass on what they have learned to the next generation. Early intervention can interrupt these intergenerational patterns. To watch the episode, read...

Appearing before the powerful Senate Finance Committee in Washington, DC, recently, Dr. Maggie Bennington-Davis, psychiatrist and chief medical officer of Health Share Oregon, devoted a significant portion of her testimony to the role of adversity and toxic stress during childhood on adult health, both physical and emotional. She explained how Health Share Oregon—that state’s largest Medicaid coordinated care organization—examined the people with the costliest health bills and found them to...

C hronic sickness and staff retention problems among health and social care staff – social workers in particular – along with growing interest in mindfulness and meditation, have put the spotlight on building resilience in the professions. While there is cause for optimism about the benefits of practices such as mindfulness for social workers, it is important to recognise that this will not solve problems such as unfeasibly large caseloads. It is also important that we don’t allow...

The Tennessee Department of Health is observing National Teen Pregnancy Prevention Month in communities across the state this May to raise awareness about the impact of teen pregnancy as well as education and prevention efforts. On Wednesday, TDH will join partners from across the country in celebrating the National Day to Prevent Teen Pregnancy. This observance helps teens understand the consequences of unplanned pregnancy and think about how to best prepare for success in achieving their...