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Victims of childhood trauma can take a survey to determine how much the abuse has affected their adult lives. The Adverse Childhood Experiences Survey asks such questions as “Did a parent or other adult in the household often or very often … Swear at you, insult you, put you down, or humiliate you?” or “Act in a way that made you afraid that you might be physically hurt?” Yes or no? If yes, check a box at the bottom of the page. [For more of this story, written by Travis M. Whitehead, go to ...

When terrorists indiscriminately kill scores of people, as in the recent attacks in Brussels and Lahore, Pakistan, we tend to assume they are monsters. Anyone who could do this, we tell ourselves, is someone we can't possibly understand, let alone relate to. But is that really true? Haven't you ever felt that you don't fit in anywhere? That you're being victimized? That you can't find your purpose in life? Recently published research suggests those are precisely the feelings that make...

Mental illness is largely caused by social crises such as unemployment or childhood abuse and too much money is spent researching genetic and biological factors, psychologists have warned. Over the past decade funding bodies like the Medical Research Council (MRC) have spent hundreds of millions on determining the biology of mental illness. But while there has been some success in uncovering genes which make people more susceptible to various disorders, specialists say that the true causes...

It’s spring break time in South Jersey, and in the tonier towns such as Haddonfield and Moorestown last week, the streets were eerily quiet. Families with school-age kids left the premises for warmer climes, including Florida, Mexico and Puerto Rico. Two middle school girls were heard conversing. “We go to Disney at least once a year,” said one. “Well, we can only afford to go every other year,” said the other, with a note of shame in her voice. [For more of this story, written by Rebecca H.

[For more of this 10 part comic series, go to http://www.upworthy.com/the-harsh-reality-of-being-a-black-child-in-america-told-in-a-10-part-comic?c=upw1]

I can remember watching the popular girls in my elementary school bully another student, I’ll call her Megan, because they thought she was “weird.” They would say rude things to her all day, making fun of her hair, her drawings, the way she spoke. And Megan would just sit there silently through it all, not even looking at them. She’d keep doing her homework, drawing, playing. Sadly, the other kids and I didn’t make any effort to help her, lest the mean girls turned their sights on us. Megan...

Tracking, the practice of putting a small group of higher achieving students into separate advanced or honors classes, isn’t popular with progressive educators. Previous research has pointed out that it exacerbates inequality in our schools because higher income and white or Asian kids are more likely to get tracked into the elite classrooms. Students who aren’t chosen can become demoralized, or the curriculum in the average class can get too watered down. Great teachers and extra resources...

Concentrated poverty is arguably the biggest problem U.S. cities face today—and it’s only getting bigger. The number of American poor living in depressed neighborhoods—those with at least 40 percent of residents below poverty line—has been on the rise since the 1990s . And according to a new analysis of Census data by the Brookings Institution, the recession further accelerated this upward trend. [For more of this story, written by Tanvi Misra, go to ...

Colleges should be doing more to recruit low-income students and to support them as they work to finish their degrees, says a new report released by the Department of Education. The report also shines a light on the successes some colleges have had in promoting greater access to low-income students and increasing graduation rates. "Many colleges and universities have taken important steps to make college a reality for low income students, but unfortunately today those success stories are the...

RICHMOND, Calif. — The odds were good that Lonnie Holmes, 21, would be the next person to kill or be killed in this working-class suburb north of San Francisco. Four of his cousins had died in shootings. He was a passenger in a car involved in a drive-by shooting, police said. And he was arrested for carrying a loaded gun. But when Holmes was released from prison last year, officials in this city offered something unusual to try to keep him alive: money. They began paying Holmes as much as...

Tucked in remarks the president made Tuesday on the opioid epidemic was his announcement of a new task force on mental health parity — aimed at ensuring that people with mental illnesses and substance abuse problems don’t face discrimination in the health care system. Despite a landmark 2008 law intended to do just that, enforcement has been paltry, and advocates say discrimination has continued. “The goal of the task force is to essentially develop a set of tools, guidelines, mechanisms so...

Sometimes a photo can express more than words ever can. That’s especially true when it comes to mental health conditions, which are challenging to explain to those who don’t understand what it’s like to experience them. Despite the fact that these disorders bring about crippling physical and emotional symptoms, the illnesses often are “invisible” to the naked eye — and that can perpetuate negative stereotypes that someone’s suffering is “all in their head.” Enter these stunning photos,...