Category: mental health

Truly Random Drug Testing: ADHD Patients Face Uneven Urine Screens and, Sometimes, Stigma

Doctors have no national standards on when to order urine tests to check whether adult ADHD patients are properly taking their prescription stimulants. Some patients are subjected to much more frequent testing than others.

When College Athletes Kill Themselves, Healing the Team Becomes the Next Goal

Suicide is the second-leading cause of death among college students. Contrary to conventional wisdom, athletes aren’t immune from the risk factors. Players at Stanford University, the University of Wisconsin, and other colleges are learning how to protect their mental health and ask for help after their teammates killed themselves.

A Lot of Thought, Little Action: Proposals About Mental Health Go Unheeded

A recent report detailing problems with Florida’s patchwork mental health system had reached conclusions nearly identical to those of a similar report from more than 20 years ago. The echoes between the findings are unmistakable. And Florida isn’t the only state struggling with the criminalization of mental illness, a lack of coordination between providers, and insufficient access to treatment.

Mental Health Care by Video Fills Gaps in Rural Nursing Homes

In-person mental health care is hard to arrange in rural nursing homes, so video chats with faraway professionals are filling the gap.

Two Counties Square Off With California Over Mental Health Duties

The state wants to stop paying Kaiser Permanente for treating severely mentally ill Medi-Cal patients in Sacramento and Solano counties and force the counties to take on the task. The counties’ leaders say they can’t afford it.

Pandemic Stress, Gangs, and Utter Fear Fueled a Rise in Teen Shootings

With their brains still developing and poor impulse control, teens who carry firearms might never plan to use them. But some do.

Seniors With Anxiety Frequently Don’t Get Help. Here’s Why.

Older people often aren’t being screened for anxiety disorders, even though it is a common affliction — one masked by other problems when growing old.

California Offers Bipartisan Road Map for Protecting Kids Online Even as Big Tech Fights Back

Last year, state lawmakers adopted the country’s toughest online privacy restrictions. The law offers Congress a path forward on federal protections even as it serves as a cautionary tale for taking on Big Tech.

Virtual or In Person: Which Kind of Doctor’s Visit Is Better, And When It Matters

While there are no hard-and-fast rules about when to opt for a telehealth visit versus seeing a doctor face-to-face, physicians offer guidance about when it may make more sense to choose one or the other.

Guns Are the Biggest Public Health Threat Kids Face. Why Aren’t They Getting the Message?

Today’s public service announcements on gun safety feel somewhat sanitized. It’s time to act with the same kind of visceral public campaign that helped de-glorify smoking. Would filmmakers commit to making action movies without guns, just as filmmakers stopped making smoking glamorous in films?