Tag Archives: awareness

Neuroscientist Carl Hart Offers Radical Take on War on Drugs

Carl Hart was starting his career as a neuroscientist and beginning a professorship at Columbia University when he first heard reports of the crack epidemic that was supposedly wreaking havoc across black America. Motivated by a desire to help the community he came from, Hart began researching drug addiction and ways to help people. But […]

#14 Days on the Wagon

Are you ready to take a dare? Can you go two weeks without hoisting a pint, sipping chardonnay, or slinging a shot? What would it be like to abandon alcohol for two weeks? Parvati Shallow of CBS News challenges viewers to do just that. She writes, “Nearly 23 million Americans need treatment for a drug or […]

New Anti-Smoking Shock Campaign Unveiled by CDC

Brett quit smoking four years ago, well after losing most of his teeth. By his mid-30s, gum disease from tobacco smoking had ravaged the bones and tissue supporting his teeth — 16 removed in one surgery. At 42, nearly toothless, Brett still smoked. He soberly looks at the viewer in a new “scared straight” television […]

Alcohol Kills One Person Every 10 Seconds

A sobering new report finds that 3.3 million people — one in 20 worldwide — died from alcohol consumption in 2012, prompting calls this week for global action. The World Health Organization issued its findings at a special meeting Monday, calling for governments to take aggressive action to reduce excessive drinking. Leading the findings was […]

How to Help Someone With Mental Illness

With the holidays upon us, families dealing with mental illness or addiction face special challenges. Often, as friends and loved ones, we want to help, but we don’t know how. Mental illness isn’t like cancer or surgery. Do you bring over a casserole or a pan of brownies because your neighbor’s husband is an alcoholic? […]

Racism Takes a Toll on a Child’s Mental Health, Study Finds

In order to determine the effects of racism and prejudice on the psychological health and welfare of children and adolescents, a team of researchers from the University of Melbourne in Australia reviewed 461 case studies that explored potential links between racially-motivated discrimination and mental health difficulties in young people. Most of the kids whose experiences […]

Physicians Warned About ‘Caregiver-Fabricated Illness’ in Kids

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has released a report warning healthcare professionals about the dangers of “caregiver-fabricated illness” in children, giving a new name to the condition and emphasizing the harm it can do to kids. As a result of the rarity of the condition, it is often overlooked, and the AAP is urging […]

Landmark Anti-Smoking Campaign Scares 100,000 Into Quitting

You may have seen Terrie Hall and struggled to watch her talk. Hall was once a competitive cheerleader, but now her mouth sags on one side and she’s lost her voice to smoking. In her halting YouTube account seen by millions, the North Carolina ex-smoker still fighting cancer makes a suggestion to those who’ve yet […]

Psychiatry, Psychology, and the Evolution of Attitudes about the Gay Lifestyle among the American Public

Up until 1973, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, which is recognized as the "bible" of psychiatric disorders by mental health professionals, still listed homosexuality as a form of mental illness. In 1953 it had been classified by psychiatrists as a "sociopathic personality disturbance" before being downgraded – or upgraded, depending on your […]

“Anna Rexia” Costume Angers Eating Disorder Community

Eating disorder experts often express frustration at the lack of awareness and understanding about the serious nature of the diseases among the general public. Many people still mistakenly believe that eating disorders are a lifestyle choice, one preferred by those who are vain or fussy about their appearance. As discussed on ABCNews, there is clear […]

Mental Health Awareness Increases as Getting Help Decreases

Is America more comfortable with vulnerability? A soon-to-be-released study says that more Americans than ever are reporting feeling depressed and anxious along with a host of other emotional health issues. If we are ready to acknowledge our mental health struggles, then why aren’t health care professionals seeing more Americans in their offices?

About 50% of Americans Will Have a Mental Health Problem in Their Lifetime

Ileana Arias, with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, says that the levels of mental illness in the United States are “unacceptably high” and that nearly 25% of adults in America reported having some sort of mental illness in the past year. Additionally, the CDC estimated the costs associated with mental illness in the […]

Gambling an Overlooked Addiction in America

Gambling is an issue that is often ignored in the U.S. With so many ways to gamble in casinos and bars and a proliferation of alcohol abuse, many are dealing with a double-edged sword. Convenience stores and mini marts carry Powerball tickets and college students also have a variety of gambling games that are popular […]

Parents: Health Risk for Teens in Lazy Cakes and Bath Salts

As summer approaches and children are out of school, parents should take the time to warn kids about the dangers of legal “drugs” that are for sale and readily available. These include bath salts, which are anything but safe, as well as a product called Lazy Cakes. Both are legally for sale at convenience stores, […]

Recognizing Stages of Alcoholism Helps Promote Awareness and Treatment of the Disease

Those suffering from alcoholism, suffer from a disease. Friends and family will tell you that the person they once knew is no longer the same person. Oftentimes, loved ones don’t even recognize the person sitting in front of them anymore because alcohol changes people. It can make some people angry and argumentative – even violent. […]