APA Blogs
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Microaggressions: Subtle, Pervasive, Harmful
- By Jai Gandhi, M.D.
As rapper and songwriter Kanye West stated in “Never Let Me Down:” “racism’s still alive, they just be concealin’ it.” The subtle, yet insidious, nature of “concealed” forms of discrimination has garnered increasing attention in popular media. Recent films and television shows such as “Get Out” and “Dear White People,” have showcased the occurrence and effects of microaggressions. Despite intermittent attention in news outlets, this pervasive form of discrimination is often misunderstood and criticized.
The ‘Q’ in LGBTQ: Queer/Questioning
Most people are familiar with the term LGBT—lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. The acronym increasingly includes the letter Q, LGBTQ, referring to queer and/or questioning individuals. The terms queer and questioning are important because they encompass a larger number of individuals who identify as having same-sex attraction and behaviors.
APA and Coalition Outline Policy Reforms to Improve Mental Health Care in Criminal Justice System
- By Saul Levin, M.D., M.P.A., FRCP-E, FRCPsych
The criminal justice system bears an alarming share of the load of mental health care in the United States, often placing people with mental illness and substance use disorders in systems that have neither the resources nor the expertise to provide them the care they need. An estimated two million people with serious mental illness are booked in our jails each year. The Bureau of Justice Statistics reports that only a third of inmates with mental illness receive treatment, and for those that do, too often they receive less than the optimal care.
New Postage Stamp: Healing PTSD
Today, Dec. 2, the U.S. Postal service begins selling a new stamp, the PTSD Healing stamp, that will help raise funds for people diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorders (PTSD). About 7-8% of people will have PTSD at some point in their lives, including about 10% of women and about 4% of men..
Is Social Jet Lag Dragging You Down?
Social jet lag refers to the mismatch between a person’s internal clock and their daily schedules. For most people that means the difference in sleep schedules between weekdays (school or workdays) and weekends (non-workdays).