2016

By ROBERT PEAR DEC. 8, 2016 New York Times WASHINGTON — With self-congratulatory zeal and smiles all around, huge bipartisan majorities in Congress have just passed legislation to speed the discovery of cures for killer diseases. At the same time, Republican leaders have been devising a strategy to undo the Affordable Care Act, which has...   read more

  By Pranay Sinha, MD Los Angeles Times December 8, 2016 I have been appalled by the swastikas, homophobic propaganda and lynching references mushrooming across the country, but the danger felt theoretical until recently, when I became a victim of hate speech from a patient. My patient's kidneys were failing and we needed to know...   read more

American Psychiatric Association December 1, 2016   The House of Representatives last night passed the 21st Century Cures Act by a vote of 392-26. This wide-ranging, $6 billion bipartisan health legislation includes significant mental health components and had the support of the Obama administration. The new act embeds medical leadership in the Substance Abuse and...   read more

  Erin Schumaker Nov. 17, 2016 Senior Healthy Living Editor, The Huffington Post In 1964, U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Luther Terry issued a landmark report on tobacco and health that changed the course of American history, spurring the decline of smoking in the United States. More than 50 years later, Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy...   read more

By JAN HOFFMAN Nov. 19, 2016 New York Times BOWLING GREEN, Ky. — Crosby J. Gardner has never had a girlfriend. Now 20 and living for the first time in a dorm here at Western Kentucky University, he has designed a fast-track experiment to find her.  He ticks off the math. Two meals a day...   read more

by Libby Hill Los Angeles Times October 10, 2016   From stars talking about their own struggles with mental health to TV shows and films dealing frankly with disorders such as depression, it seems that pop culture is actively engaging in the messy realities of psychological problems. In the past, mental disorders were often depicted...   read more

By GRETCHEN REYNOLDS New York Times OCT. 5, 2016   A single concussion experienced by a child or teenager may have lasting repercussions on mental health and intellectual and physical functioning throughout adulthood, and multiple head injuries increase the risks of later problems, according to one of the largest, most elaborate studies to date of...   read more

Today marks the start of National Suicide Prevention Week.  Suicide is the tenth leading cause of death in the United States, and the second leading cause among 15- to 34-year-olds. Although not all suicides are preventable, treatment and support can save lives. For more information, go to www.afsp.org and https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/suicide-prevention/index.shtml If you know someone in...   read more