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America’s middle class has been steadily shrinking since 1971, and now this segment of the U.S. population is around the same size as the layers above and below it combined, a new analysis by Pew Research Center finds. It’s “a demographic shift that could signal a tipping point,” Pew says. Pew Research Center In 2015, middle-income Americans (adults in a three-person household with annual income between $42,000 and $126,000) made up about half of the U.S.

After a year of news stories that produced photos that can often be difficult or disturbing to view, I thought I’d take the time to compose an essay of uplifting images from the past year. The following are images of volunteers at work, expressions of love and compassion, families and friends at play, and assistance being given to those in need. Alternate titles considered were “The Good Side of 2015,” “The Better Angels of Our Nature,” or simply “News...

Well, it’s that time of year again. The most difficult period for you if you belong to an emotionally neglectful family. So what is Childhood Emotional Neglect (CEN)? And now that you’re an adult, how can you tell if your family has it? Childhood Emotional Neglect (CEN): When parents fail to respond sufficiently to the child’s emotional needs. CEN can be extremely invisible, subtle and unmemorable when it happens to you as a child. You may not remember it...

Three days before his release from the Barnstable County Correctional Facility, Ryan Lonergan received a powerful injection, intended to change his life. He took the shot willingly, because he knew that for 28 days afterward, the drug, Vivitrol, would make it impossible to get high on the Percocet that had been his life’s downfall. Now, Lonergan would not have to decide each day whether to use drugs. Vivitrol made the decision for him, and cleared a path to recovery. [For more of this...

As a publication that wonders why people do what they do, we write a lot about self-control here at Pacific Standard.Here's what we know: Self-control is greatly influenced by emotions ; conservatives may have more of it; and reminding kids about goals can help them learn it . Now, researchers have found a new piece to the self-control puzzle: According to a forthcoming study in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, humility—the ability to tolerate failures without...

It's not exactly news that the wealth gap between the richest and poorest Americans is really more of, well, a gorge. California, for example, has one of the highest levels of income inequality in the nation, with both the largest population of the super rich and record levels of poverty (when the cost of living is considered). With an eye toward more national trends, Pacific Standard looked at data released this week by the Census Bureau's Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates program.

Resilience is defined as “the ability to recover from or adjust easily to misfortune or change”. In other words, it is the ability to not let a bad situation define us. Being resilient is a very important characteristic that we as a society must teach our children, especially with all the violence that is going on. Lately however, studies have been focusing on prevention rather than intervention. Preventing bad things from happening instead of intervening and fixing them later...

I was elated to hear about Donna's Childhood Disrupted last summer, since I had been writing a memoir on healing from loss and unexplained illness (MCS) via the mind-body connection and working with the inner child. I was really sick with the chronic symptoms of nausea, lightheaded-ness, and brainfog. I had a young child and a part-time job I barely held on. I found integrative medicine, which helped me cope, but even that wasn't enough. One day after a holistic method...

A New York Times article has identifie d that over 100,000 prescriptions for antipsychotic medicines were written in 2014 – to children 2 and younger (many still in cribs).  A shortage of child psychiatrists is partially blamed. These powerful mind altering chemicals are just one generation removed from Thorazine.  To use them like candy for babies and 3 year old children is dangerous.  This Mercury News video series on foster care children provides a stunning insight...

This morning was one of those really hard PPD mornings. You know the ones where you cry, all the time. Where smiling at your babies doesn't feel second nature like it normally does. You go through the motions. Getting breakfast for them, sinking down with a coffee and then moving silently through the home dodging everyone, trying not to interact as you feel too weary and the anger nudges it's head up with every whiny request. This morning I wanted my old life back. One not ridden with...

Neville Ellis from the Centre for Responsible Citizenship and Sustainability interviewed 22 farmers from the Wheatbelt town of Newdegate, 400kms south east of Perth, over the course of the 2013-14 agricultural season. The interviews revealed that the negative impacts of climate change, as manifested in issues like wind erosion and unpredictable weather, was undermining their wellbeing. "The South West of Western Australia has experienced abrupt and severe climate change in the last forty...

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) is accepting applications for up to $112 million in total funding over five years for National Child Traumatic Stress Initiative - Category III, Community Treatment and Services (CTS) Centers grants. This grant program aims at providing treatment and services in communities for children, adolescents, and their families who experience or witness traumatic events. The grants also promote greater access to effective...