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Richmond is hot in the summer. August days in Virginia’s capital feature the kind of heat that shimmers in waves from the pavement and even in the evenings plasters suit shirts to skin like wet towels. On one such evening last year, that heat did a little extra sticking, even as a group of people gathered packed in a tiny room behind the governor’s mansion. In the middle of the group, Governor Terry McAuliffe stood, relishing the attention despite the heat. He’d shown his visitors through...

The thinking about problem drinking and alcoholism has changed. It's no longer considered a black-and-white, you have it or you don't condition. "We now know that there's a full spectrum in alcohol use disorder," says George Koob , the director of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcohohlism, part of the National Institutes of Health. You can have a mild, moderate or severe problem. And there's not a one-size-fits-all approach to getting help. There is a wide range of options —...

The United States has the highest incarceration rate in the world, imprisoning 2.24 million out of the world's total of 10.2 million incarcerated people as of 2013, according to the International Center for Prison Studies . The ICPS also reports that, in 2013, 480,000 people were held in U.S. jails before even being tried for their charges. The system of cash bail targets poor people who can’t afford their bail, and several major insurance companies make billions in profits from the cash...

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Excerpt from essay by Linda Burstyn published on msmagazine.com .

Reminder of tomorrow's ( Wednesday, January 10, 10am PST/1:00 PM EST) webinar on State Policy Approaches to Addressing Childhood Adversity Please join us for a three -part learning series hosted by the California Campaign to Counter Childhood Adversity and ACEs Connection . We'll hear from states that are making great strides towards adopting trauma-informed policies and practices. Three-Part Learning Series: Webinar 1: Overview of State Level Efforts to Address Childhood Adversity and...

Background Identifying children with adverse childhood experiences is challenging but critically important, because early intervention has the potential to improve health across the lifespan. This study tests the feasibility of using an integrated state agency administrative database to identify childrens' social complexity risk factors and examine their relationship to emergency department usage. What This Study Found State administrative data can be used to identify social risk factors for...

On Monday, protesters in Chicago jeered Ben Carson, the secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. A member of a grassroots seniors organization also interrupted his speech . It was Carson’s first public appearance since he issued a delay in a key rule for advancing fair housing and confronting racial segregation, and the resistance may only be getting started. On Friday, 76 national organizations that focus on faith, civil rights, affordable housing, and social...

In the 1970s, a truth was accidentally discovered about depression – one that was quickly swept aside, because its implications were too inconvenient, and too explosive. American psychiatrists had produced a book that would lay out, in detail, all the symptoms of different mental illnesses, so they could be identified and treated in the same way across the United States. It was called the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual. In the latest edition, they laid out nine symptoms that a patient has...

The #MeToo movement and the ensuing combination of public penitence and denial from powerful men accused of harassment and assault has created an atmosphere of accountability and change. It’s made women be heard. Yet not all women feel included. Many women of color have been vocal about the fact that #MeToo hasn’t represented their stories, even though the movement was founded by activist Tarana Burke, who is black. HuffPost spoke with a number of women about how harassment and assault...

A close friend and I have this agreement: If one of us ever recognizes the other person’s “thing,” we’re bound to disclose what it is, no matter what. But what is a person’s “thing,” exactly? It’s that particular behavior, habit or mind-set that is self-destructive but that we’re completely blind to. Personally, professionally or otherwise, it’s something that’s holding us back from achieving our full potential, but for whatever reason, we simply can’t see it ourselves. (This piece from The...

Seven years ago, Robert Kerley, who makes his living as a truck driver, was loading drywall when a gust of wind knocked him off the trailer. Kerley fell 14 feet and hurt his back. For pain, a series of doctors prescribed him a variety of opioids: Vicodin, Percocet and OxyContin. In less than a year, the 45-year-old from Federal Heights, Colo., said he was hooked. “I spent most of my time high, laying on the couch, not doing nothing, falling asleep everywhere,” he said. [For more on this...