Coping After Trauma and Disaster: Mental Health Tips and Resources from APA

As heat waves, hurricanes and fires are impacting millions across the country, the American Psychiatric Association offers some tips and resources on coping with the mental health impacts of aftermath of disaster-related trauma.

Mental Health and Emergency Medical Experts Encourage Support for Clinicians Health During Pandemic

In a joint statement, emergency medicine and other leading medical associations, academics and psychiatry experts outline steps to support the mental health of emergency physicians and other health professionals currently risking their lives to treat patients during this pandemic.

About Half of Workers Are Concerned about Discussing Mental Health Issues in the Workplace; A Third Worry about Consequences if They Seek Help

• 2019 Annual Meeting

Roughly half of American workers say they are comfortable talking about their mental health in the workplace and more than one-third are worried about job consequences if they seek mental health care, according to a new poll released here today by the American Psychiatric Association (APA).

Recognizing Bebe Moore Campbell National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month

In 2008, Congress passed a resolution that established the month of July as Bebe Moore Campbell National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month. This month highlights the following aims: To improve access to mental health treatment and services. To address the need for improved access to care, treatment, and services for those diagnosed with severe and persistent mental health disorders. To enhance public awareness of mental illness and mental illness among minorities.

Family Involvement in Treatment Can Improve Outcomes

• Patients and Families

A recent column in APA’s journal Psychiatric Services recommends that patients and caregivers be involved in the decision making regarding the patients’ care. Authors Johannes Harmann, M.D., and Stephan Heres, M.D., concluded that “caregiver involvement might improve clinical decision making and health outcomes for both patients and caregivers.

Youth Mental Health: Prevention, Support and Intervention

• Patients and Families

Adolescence can be a vulnerable time for mental health concerns. The COVID-19 pandemic and its economic consequences have had an impact on the mental health of people of all ages, including teens, with continued distance learning, isolation and limited sports and activities. However, proactive preventive interventions can make a difference.

Caring for Pregnant Women: A Psychiatrist’s Guide

• Depression, Patients and Families, Treatment, Women

Every psychiatrist will see a pregnant woman or other patient who is pregnant someday. When that person presents to your office, will you be ready? Many of us received little if any training on the subject, so the American Psychiatric Association’s Committee on Women’s Mental Health would like to help. Read on for five things every psychiatrist needs to know before a pregnant patient walks in your door.

Sleeping Like a Pro

• Patients and Families, Sleep Disorders

Athletes are particularly adept at combining mind and body to maximize performance in sport. However, the same does not always apply to performance in sleep. Most researchers and doctors recommend 7 to 9 hours of sleep per night at a minimum, and less than that is considered insufficient sleep. While the overall rate of insufficient sleep in the general population is high, athletes are even more likely to suffer from lack of shut eye. Whether it’s due to traveling, practice schedules, or balanci

Returning to School as the Pandemic Draws on: Addressing Concerns, Fears and Worries

• Patients and Families

Across the country, communities and families are challenged by the prospect of sending children back to school amidst the ongoing pandemic uncertainties. You and members of your community may be wondering: what should I consider when choosing to return to the classroom? How do we keep students and teachers safe? How are students coping mentally and emotionally? How can we tell when a child or teen might need help and support from a professional?  How can we make sure children can access the help

Cannabis: Understanding the Risks

• Addiction, Patients and Families

At a recent session at the APA Annual Meeting, a panel of psychiatrists addressed many of the common misconceptions around cannabis. With more states legalizing cannabis and changing public perceptions, there is confusion around its safety and uses.

APA Access Agenda Update: Connecting Patients to Care and Coverage

• What APA is Doing For You

During the pandemic, Americans have experienced higher rates of anxiety, depression, and substance use. Our country needs to meet the increasing demand for early identification and treatment of mental health and substance use disorders. The federal government took a tremendous step forward in December, when it created new authority for the Department of Labor to ensure that mental health and substance use disorders were covered by insurance. Here are three more solutions to help meet the demand

Hoarding: A Look at the Motivations to Save Things

Possessions have a magical quality for all of us. Our most cherished ones contain an essence that goes beyond their physical qualities, like a ticket stub from a favorite concert, a gift from a dear friend or a piece of clothing belonging to a lost loved one. Most of us own many things of this sort, but our ownership does not interfere with our ability to live. For some people, however, ownership goes awry, and possessions accumulate and clutter living spaces, making them unusable.