General Mental Health Articles
- Few people leave the world with as much grace or influence as Rosalynn Smith Carter, who died Sunday at the age of 96. While she called her autobiography “The First Lady of Plains,” to many she was also the first lady of mental health reform. Decades ago, she took bold stances on mental health topics that, today, have become conventional wisdom: Mental health is health, stigma is deadly, and people with mental illness deserve to be part of society instead of hidden away in overcrowded, dangerous facilities. Read more here.
- We've long said that dogs are man's best friend — but studies finally back it up. Why it matters: At a time when loneliness has become a serious health concern, recent research suggests there's something special about the way canine buddies boost our mood and longevity. Between the lines: It's not just association — the idea that dog people might already be happier — but some causation is at play, says Jen Golbeck, University of Maryland professor. Read more here.
- Christopher Brandon Propst, a 44-year-old at Piedmont Correctional Institution, died of an apparent suicide on Saturday, Nov. 18. The N.C. Department of Adult Correction announced the death in a news release on its website the following Monday. Propst is the latest to die by suicide in the state prison system. Five other suicides happened earlier this year. But this public, real-time reporting of suicides in prisons isn’t happening across the country. Only North Carolina and 15 other states provide information on suicides that is frequently updated, detailed and freely given. Read more here.
The Opioid Crisis and Addiction Issues
- Our nation is facing the most dynamic and complex illegal drug environment in history, one that takes the life of an American every five minutes around the clock. Compared with plant-based drugs, which humankind has endured for centuries, modern synthetic drugs like fentanyl are extremely potent and highly lethal. They are manufactured outside of the United States, and brought across our borders and into our communities by a variety of means. And today, the ability of an American teenager to find illicit drugs is as simple as opening a social media app. Read more here.
- For those who follow drug use trends, 1979 was known as the highwater mark of dangerous and illegal drug use, with 14.1 percent of our population regularly abusing drugs. To almost no headlines, we actually beat our 1979 apex of regular drug use in the data that came out this time last year. With the release of this year's National Survey on Drug Use and Health, we have beat our record again. We now have over 16 percent of Americans regularly using these poisons—and they are dying in record numbers. Read more here.
- Oregon’s first-in-the-nation law that decriminalized the possession of small amounts of heroin, cocaine and other illicit drugs in favor of an emphasis on addiction treatment is facing strong headwinds in the progressive state after an explosion of public drug use fueled by the proliferation of fentanyl and a surge in deaths from opioids, including those of children. Read more here.
988 Hotline
- While the 988 Lifeline has likely helped millions of people in crisis since its launch in July 2022, mental health experts say the nationwide public health program is far from perfect. The lack of stable funding, lack of awareness and the absence of mental health resources have prevented the lifeline from realizing its full potential, experts say. Read more here.
Climate Change
- As the annual U.N.-led climate summit known as COP is set to convene later this month in Dubai, activists are urging policymakers to respond to climate change’s disproportionate impact on women and girls, especially where poverty makes them more vulnerable. Read more here.
Medicaid Redetermination and Related Issues
- The largest-ever purge of the nation's Medicaid rolls has exposed major cracks in the system for covering the poorest Americans — and is prompting some states to rethink how they connect vulnerable residents to benefits they're entitled to receive. Why it matters: Millions have been booted from the safety-net program seven months after the expiration of pandemic-era protections, most often due to bureaucratic reasons and not necessarily because they no longer qualify. Read more here.
- If not for Medicaid, the majority of residents of Robeson County wouldn’t have health insurance. Fifty-four percent of people in this rural community — home to 116,530 at the 2020 Census — are beneficiaries of the government-funded program. The county had 63,549 Medicaid enrollees in October, the eighth highest number recorded of the state’s 100 counties. Even more are expected to join the rolls after Medicaid expansion takes effect on Dec. 1. Read more here.
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