June 2017

Drugs, mainly opioids, are killing Americans at a record rate. The number of drug overdose deaths in the country quadrupled between 1999 and 2010—and compared to the numbers we’re seeing now, those were the good old days. Some 30,000 people died of drug overdoses in 2010. According to a new estimate from the New York Times, double that number died last year. And the rate of increase in overdose deaths was growing, up a stunning 19% over 2015. The Times estimate of between 59,000 and 65,000...

Finding children’s books with characters that look like her daughter has not been easy for Felisha Burleson of Dallas, Texas. Burleson says trips to the library with 9-year-old Niyah, who’s Mexican and African American, are often discouraging. Like many parents of color, she rarely can find books featuring people like them. “I haven't found any books so far for [Niyah] to read that reflect either my family's racial or structural composition,” Burleson said. “I think it’s very important she...

The relentless pressures of prison life on inmates’ mental health — gang violence, solitary confinement and arbitrary discipline, among them — have long been subjects for psychological and academic research. But the cumulative impact on corrections officers, including an apparent high rate of suicide, has rarely been studied in depth . That is about to change. In California, one of the nation’s largest prison systems — housing about 130,000 people on a given day— the union of active and...

You should be happy. You should be thinner. You should always be filled with joy. You should be breastfeeding. You should be equally attentive to your other children. You should be socializing. You should be stronger. You should be more resilient. You should be more than what you are. Sound familiar? We live in a society that tells women how they should feel, think and look as mothers, even in early motherhood. Such repeated messages are easily internalized and, inevitably, they lead to...

The father arrived at the clinic with one child in his arms and another in a stroller. Obviously distraught, he would not let the stroller out of his sight. It took a few moments for me to register the gravity of what had happened: the children had been hit in a crossfire — one of them fatally. The father, faced with the inconceivable decision of having to seek care for one wounded child and burying the other, had no choice but to bring both to the clinic. The sound of mortars crashed in the...

Depression affects about one-third of hospital patients and could slow their recovery, according to research published recently in the Journal of Hospital Medicine. A review of 20 studies on depression screening in hospitals showed that 33 percent of patients had symptoms of depression. [For more of this story go to http://www.psychiatryadvisor.com/depressive-disorder/depression-symptoms-hospital-patients-affects-recovery/article/667890/]

People in these states have some of the lowest smoking and mortality rates, and some of the best mental health. [For more oft his story, written by Casey Leins, go to https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/slideshows/these-10-states-have-the-healthiest-populations-in-the-us]

(Part 8) What does it mean to be “tough on crime”? As we moved away from the “crimequake” of the ’90s and watched the juvenile crime rate fall, the fear that once pushed us off the slippery slope and into a lock ’em up frenzy was replaced by evidence-informed policymaking that emphasizes community-based solutions. The calm after the quake has afforded us the opportunity to rethink what works in crime and punishment while simultaneously exposing hardliners who push a tough on crime mantra as...

This is second of a four-part series on Community Commons highlighting the impact of climate change on human health, communities, and economies. The series is co-authored by Chris Paterson of Community Initiatives. In our previous article on the health impacts of climate change , we discussed implications on our physical health- heat waves, floods, and drought can give way to heat-related illnesses, contaminated water supplies, and respiratory illnesses, for example. But when we dive deeper...

Nearly 10 million American adults have a serious mental illness , and a similar number have considered suicide during the past year, according to a new government report on the nation's behavioral ills. The report also said that 15.7 million Americans abuse alcohol and 7.7 million abuse illicit drugs. The nation's growing opioid epidemic was also a focus in the report. The researchers found that 12.5 million people are estimated to have misused prescription painkillers such as oxycodone...

Women who have suffered verbal, emotional or physical abuse are more likely to have their ovaries removed by their mid-40s for reasons unrelated to ovarian cancer than women without a history of abuse, according to a new study from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester. This finding is troubling, for it suggests that women are undergoing unnecessary surgery that may put their health at risk. “The ovaries weren’t only invented to make children. They are also an endocrine organ — a kind of gland — that...

In the minds of many, the South Side of Chicago has descended into a type of madness. While crime doesn’t define the vibrant, inspiring city, violence clings to certain South Side streets where shootings have become commonplace. President Trump referred to parts of the city as “worse” than areas in the Middle East. A few weeks ago, two men shot a young man named Daniel Cardova, and when a group gathered to mourn Cardova some hours later, yet another shooting occurred, killing two people and...