Let’s Talk about the Impacts of the Current Mental Health Crisis

Today, on World Mental Health Day, the American Psychiatric Association Foundation (APAF) is launching a new monthly podcast to engage the public in conversations about the current mental health crisis. Each episode of Mentally Healthy Nation will be centered around an aspect of mental health that impacts the community, where people live, learn, work and worship.

APA Offers Tips for Understanding Prolonged Grief Disorder

Americans are currently facing several ongoing disasters that have caused death and suffering, such as COVID-19, the wind-down in Afghanistan, floods, fires, hurricanes and gun violence. While many Americans are mourning, some may experience prolonged grief disorder, which is characterized by incapacitating feelings of grief.

Nation’s Top Child-Focused Organizations Strongly Urge California Federal Court to Oppose Trump Administration’s Move to End Flores Settlement

On behalf of a coalition of the nation’s leading organizations dedicated to protecting the health and welfare of children, Arent Fox LLP filed an amicus brief in the US District Court for the Central District of California in support of the Plaintiff in Jenny Lisette Flores, et al., v. William Barr, Attorney General of the United States, et al. More than 20 organizations adamantly oppose the Trump Administration’s new regulations that overturn protections guaranteed to immigrant children under t

Providing Veterans with Video-Enabled Tablets Leads to Improved Mental Health Care Access

A Veterans Health Administration (VHA) program that provides tablets to veterans with mental disorders leads to improved access and continuity of care. A new study published online in Psychiatric Services in Advance finds that video-enabled tablets can improve mental health care access for patients who experience barriers because of geographic, social, or health-related circumstances.

Mental Health Impacts of Increasingly Severe Storms: Lessons from the 2017 Atlantic Storm Season

The 2017 Atlantic storm season provides important lessons on the need to anticipate and prepare for the mental health impacts of increasingly severe weather events, according to new research presented here at the American Psychiatric Association’s 2019 Annual Meeting.

Microaggressions: Subtle, Pervasive, Harmful

• Patients and Families

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 cri

Body Dysmorphic Disorder and a Culture of Perfection

• Eating Disorders, OCD, Patients and Families, Women

Body dysmorphic disorder is an obsessive-compulsive related disorder that has garnered some media attention recently. Contrary to the offhand way it sometimes referred to in the media, body dysmorphic disorder is a serious mental health condition with potentially severe consequences. Individuals with body dysmorphic disorder are preoccupied with what they see as flaws in their physical appearance. They believe they look ugly or abnormal. These flaws are not noticeable to others or only seem to

Overtraining and Under Eating: Athletes at Risk of RED-S Syndrome

• Eating Disorders, Patients and Families

Regular exercise typically improves mood, promotes better sleep, and prevents health problems such as high blood pressure. However, if people exercise too much, as Katie Kirk did, they can experience a wide range of negative health effects.

Twelve-Step-Based Programs Effective for Substance Use Problems

• Addiction, Patients and Families

Spiritual or religious based programs, such as those based on the principles of Alcoholics Anonymous, are effective for treating people with substance use disorders, according to the first systematic review of such programs. In the U.S., more than 20 million people 12 years and older (about 7.4%) have a substance use disorder and among 18-to-25-year-olds, 15% have a substance use disorder, according to the 2018 National Survey on Drug Use and Health.

Mental Health Education for Youth: Focus on Mental Wellness

• Patients and Families

Despite frequent media coverage, public understanding of health and mental health issues is still lacking, according to recent study in the Journal of Mental Health. Overall, they concluded that people are “equally and relatively poorly informed” about relatively common mental and physical health conditions. A new study finds that education efforts for teens that specifically focus on mental health and well-being, rather than mental illness, can help.

Study Finds Sharp Increase in the Number of Adults with Autism Receiving Disability Benefits

The number of adults with autism receiving Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits has risen steadily in recent years, according to a recent new study published in Psychiatric Services. The study found that between 2005 and 2015, the number of adults with autism receiving SSI increased by nearly three-fold, significantly greater than the increase in SSI recipients with intellectual disability and other mental disorders.

Mental Health Resources for the Latino Community

• Diverse populations, Patients and Families

There are more than 60 million Hispanic/Latino individuals in the U.S., making up about 18% of the population. Latinos have experienced disproportionate economic, physical, and mental health impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic.