Black mothers trapped in unsafe neighborhoods signal the stressful health toll of gun violence in the U.S.

Black mothers trapped in unsafe neighborhoods signal the stressful health toll of gun violence in the U.S.

Photo Editorial credit: Whitney Welshimer BY Ruby Mendenhall and Loren Henderson Black mothers are the canaries in the coal mine when it comes to the mental and physical harms of stress from living with gun violence in America. In the U.S., Black people are likelier than white people to reside in impoverished, racially segregated communities with high […]

Undocumented Immigrants and Mental Health

Undocumented Immigrants and Mental Health

May is Mental Health Awareness Month. In this article, we highlight aspects of the mental health of immigrants based on a Stress & Trauma Toolkit for Treating Undocumented Immigrants in a Changing Political and Social Environment from the American Psychiatric Association. Mental health risk factors Immigrants experience trauma and stressors before, during, and after immigration. […]

Warning Signs for Young Children

Warning Signs for Young Children

By Rainn Every 9 minutes, government authorities respond to another report of child sexual abuse.1 Child sexual abuse can include sexual contact with a child, but it may also include other actions, like exposing oneself, sharing obscene images, or taking inappropriate photos or videos of a child. These crimes can have a serious impact on the life […]

The Long Tail of COVID: Mental Health and Culture

The Long Tail of COVID: Mental Health and Culture

Photo credit: PP/IQ INC. By Manuel Holguin During a recent briefing, the new NYC Health Commissioner, Dr. Ashwin Vasan, addressed questions from ethnic media from all five boroughs. They asked questions regarding concerns affecting ethnic and immigrant communities; vaccines, boosters, mask mandates, new variants, rise in cases, and mental health. “Our mental health system, I […]

Midlife Isn’t a Crisis, but Sleep, Stress and Happiness Feel a Little Different After 35 – or Whenever Middle Age Actually Begins

Midlife Isn’t a Crisis, but Sleep, Stress and Happiness Feel a Little Different After 35 – or Whenever Middle Age Actually Begins

By Soomi Lee, The Conversation Fewer than one-fifth of Americans say they actually experienced a midlife crisis. And yet there are still some common misunderstandings people have about midlife. I study midlife, and especially how people in this stage of life experience sleep and stress. In my research, I have also found that midlife brings […]