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We hear from Jasmine, who struggled with depression at the University of Chicago. She went to the student counseling center to ask for help (she makes it clear she was not suicidal). They made her get in an ambulance, says Jasmine, “which was really embarrassing.” She was kept in a psychiatric ward for two weeks. She then met with school officials who informed her she had to move her stuff out of her dorm “within 48 hours,” and that she was no longer a student there. “Did you feel it was...

Adolescence is a time of great opportunity, but also turmoil. As many as two-thirds of all teens face the additional challenge of coping with traumatic events such as life-threatening accidents, injuries, illness, disaster, or violence or sexual or emotional abuse and exploitation. That figure rises to closer to 100 percent for those who live in families or communities in which violence, poverty, neglect, racism or discrimination based on gender, gender identity or disability are prevalent.

The lives of children improved by some measures during recent years, but their opportunities still are constrained by persistent family and neighborhood poverty, says the 2016 Kids Count Data Book . The annual report by The Annie E. Casey Foundation looks at measures of child well-being at the state and national level in four categories. Broadly, this year’s findings show gains in education and health — but some setbacks in measures of economic well-being and family and community, according...

[Image by masha krasnova-shabaeva ] Adverse childhood experiences and sleep disturbances interfere with immune system regulation, shows research from the University of Eastern Finland. These changes were observed in a population that already carried a significant burden of psychological symptoms such as depression. Major depressive disorder (MDD), adverse childhood experiences and sleep disturbances are all characterised by increased physical morbidity and changes in the way our immune...

Before I gave birth, I made three calls: one to Oscar, my health-insurance company; one to the New York state exchange through which I receive my insurance, thanks to the Affordable Care Act; and one to Child Health Plus, New York’s “ health insurance program for kids ,” through which my toddler daughter receives her coverage and with which I wanted to enroll my son. No problem, a representative of Oscar assured me. My infant would be covered under my plan for the first 48 hours. No problem,...

One person in 113 was displaced from her home in 2015 by conflict and persecution and is now an asylum-seeker, internally displaced or a refugee, the UN refugee agency says Monday in a new report. In all, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees says in its Global Trends report, 65.3 million people were displaced last year, a new record. Here’s more from the agency: To put it in perspective, the tally is greater than the population of the United Kingdom – or of Canada, Australia and New Zealand...

It’s June, and the third-year students at St. Louis University School of Medicine are getting out of anatomy labs and lecture halls and into their first clinical rotations with patients. The doctors in training can be easily identified by their short, white coats and stethoscopes around their necks. Earlier this month, when those students listened intently to their first grand rounds presentation of the new academic year, it was telling that the topic was toxic stress and children. It was...

Specific stressors such as child abuse and nonspecific stressors such as low socioeconomic status (SES) have both been implicated in the risk for mental illness. Lower SES has been linked with elevated risk of depression , anxiety , and addiction , as well as poorer general health. These associations could be driven by a variety of factors, including higher stress levels, poor housing quality, and exposure to violence. A growing body of research shows that epigenetic modification may be one...

Setting healthy boundaries is one of the most popular and important topics that clients and readers ask me about. Stefanie Flores, of The Focus on You , is equally passionate about healthy boundaries. We know boundaries are important, but why do we need strong boundaries? What happens when you don’t establish boundaries? In her guest post, Stefanie explains the long-term consequences of weak or inconsistent boundaries. [For more of this story, written by Sharon Martin, go to ...

Adrian Silva, 52, is a sober addict who spent most of his adulthood getting high and cycling through jails in Southern California. We recently met in a Santa Ana Starbucks to talk about his drug use—which continued even while he was in jail —his criminal past, and the redemption he found at the Orange County Community Court’s drug program. An edited version of our conversation follows. [For more of this story, written by Juleyka Lantigua-Williams, go to ...

It’s an understatement to say that Jennifer Roberts has had a tumultuous time since her election last November as mayor of Charlotte, North Carolina. When Republican Governor Pat McCrory (ironically a former Charlotte mayor) and the Republican-controlled state legislature passed HB2, a measure to overturn a Charlotte city-council ordinance that added gays and transgender people to the city’s anti-discrimination laws, a battle ensued—one that has riveted national attention, polarized the...

I love the healing power of yoga for easing trauma symptoms. My first moments of pleasure while present happened in a yoga class. I've written lots on this healing modality for trauma survivors. Unfortunately, not all yoga classes are taught by those who are trauma-informed. Some great yoga teachers are doing great and teaching others to use use trauma-informed teaching styles. However, lots of yoga teachers still touch students, during class, without asking. Some to do to help with postures...