Recent posts

Celebrities are being more candid about mental health. Here’s how it can help us all be more empathetic.

By drwong
October 20, 2020

The New York Times/The Lily By Taylor Trudon October 13, 2020 Refusing to see celebrities as ‘real’ people is to risk dehumanizing them — and others — altogether Emily Ratajkowski has 26.8 million followers on Instagram. A cursory scroll of the supermodel’s account reveals a grid filled with bikini-clad photos on the beach, magazine covers bearing...   read more


Gov. Newsom signs law to expand mental health coverage in California

By drwong
September 30, 2020

Los Angeles Times By Associated Press, Adam Beam Sept 25, 2020 SACRAMENTO —   Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a law on Friday that for the first time in California defines the term “medical necessity” in a move aimed at requiring private health insurance plans to pay for more mental health and drug addiction treatments. State and federal...   read more


Chef David Chang Opens Up About Bipolar I Disorder in New Memoir: 'It Has Shaped Me In So Many Ways

By drwong
September 22, 2020

People By Ana Calderone August 26, 2020 In his upcoming memoir, Eat a Peach, excerpted in this week's PEOPLE, David Chang reveals that he has bipolar disorder—and explains how it has affected him in sometimes surprising ways Recently, David Chang, founder of the Momofuku restaurant empire, was preparing a hot pot for his wife, Grace, and their son Hugo, 17 months,...   read more


Uncertainty fuels anxiety, causing your mind to conjure up scary scenarios. The pandemic can magnify the angst.

By drwong
September 15, 2020

The Washington Post By Christine Achwanden September 12, 2020 As it has become clear that the coronavirus pandemic is here for the foreseeable future, we’re all learning to live in a cloud of uncertainty: When can we venture out safely? Visit loved ones? Go to the doctor? Send children back to school? Return to the workplace? Pay our...   read more


‘The volume has been turned up on everything’: Pandemic places alarming pressure on transgender mental health

By drwong
September 12, 2020

The Washington Post By Alyssa Fowers August 18, 2020 The surgery was supposed to be a turning point. Brenda Emery spent a year preparing for the vaginoplasty. To save up for it, she took jobs in food service straight out of college and moved in with her mother. She talked at length to therapists and...   read more


Why a little bit of exercise can help academically for kids with ADHD

By drwong
August 17, 2020

The Washington Post By Ben Opipari August 15, 2020 Because your child’s classroom this fall probably will be the dining room, it would be a good idea to send them outside before they start their school day. They’ll be primed to learn. In 2009, researchers found that as little as 20 minutes of moderate aerobic exercise at...   read more


Cannabis Use During Pregnancy Linked to Increased Autism Risk in Children

By drwong
August 17, 2020

American Psychiatric Association Mon, Aug 10, 2020 Women who use cannabis while pregnant have an elevated risk of having children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), according to a study published today in Nature Medicine. “Children with prenatal cannabis exposure had an increase of 50% in the risk of an autism diagnosis over the study period, and these associations...   read more


Want to Be a Doctor? Take Your Chances in a Closed Room With Strangers

By drwong
August 17, 2020

The New York Times By Roni Caryn Rabin Aug. 7, 2020 Admissions tests for many graduate schools have gone online. But not the MCAT, the exam for aspiring doctors. It must still be taken in person, pandemic or not. Students applying to graduate schools can take the GRE, the LSAT and other tests at home...   read more


With Eating Disorders, Looks Can Be Deceiving

By drwong
August 17, 2020

The New York Times By Jane E. Brody July 27, 2020 Distorted eating behaviors occur in young people irrespective of their weight, gender, race, ethnicity or sexual orientation. Appearances, as I’m sure you know, can be deceiving. In one all-too-common example, adolescents and young adults with disordered eating habits or outright eating disorders often go...   read more


FCC Approves 988 as Suicide Prevention, Mental Health Crisis Number

By drwong
July 21, 2020

American Psychiatric Association Fri Jul 17, 2020 Thursday, July 16th the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) unanimously approved 988 as a nationwide, three-digit phone number that people in crisis can call to speak with suicide prevention and mental health crisis counselors. All phone service providers are required to direct all 988 calls to the existing National Suicide Prevention...   read more