Blog

By Sandee LaMotte, CNN, April 1, 2021 How's it going in that boiling lobster pot of stress? The last year of living in a pandemic has stretched human coping skills so thin that experts fear many of us may soon snap, leaving people around the world coping with a mental health crisis of catastrophic proportions. In the United States alone, a recent analysis by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found reports of anxiety or depression climbed from 36% to 42% in the six months...

By Samantha Pires, My Modern Met, April 1, 2021 A new project by ICON combines two things that tend to interest architecture lovers: 3D-printed buildings and tiny living. The firm has created a 3D-printed tiny home and is doing some good for the community at the same time. Tim Shea, a 70-year-old man who has struggled with housing insecurity, is the first to benefit from this cost-effective construction technique. He is also the first person to live in a 3D-printed tiny home in the United...

By Sabrina R. Liu, Katherine E. Grimes, Timothy B. Creedon, et al., American Psychological Association PsycNet, April 2, 2021 Abstract It is now well understood that exposure to Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) is negatively linked to health and well-being across the lifespan. In an effort to disrupt ACEs exposure and its effects, there is a nationwide movement to screen for ACEs in primary care, despite a lack of well-established guidelines for assessing and responding to risk within...

Today is an opportunity for you to live on your terms. You are the person in control of your life. No one but you is going to be the HERO of your story. It's OK to be scared. IT'S NOT OK TO QUIT ON YOURSELF. Think about all the times in your life that you have been terrified of something you knew would make your life better. Why is that? Why do we get so scared of the idea that we can live on our terms, be the hero, and do things we want to do because WE WANT TO DO THEM? For many of us, it's...

Peggy Green is a mother, teacher, survivor, speaker, and leader who has overcome the odds. She is an Amazon bestselling author who has experienced the loss of not just one child but two. Her first child by accident in 1991 and her son by suicide in 2018. Her mission is to make an impact and help others grieving the loss of their child.

When a child welcomes you into their life, honor that. Hold that in the highest regard because on that day you have not only become a friend, but a glimmer of hope. You represent a world where people don’t make empty promises, tell lies, or disappear without a warning. In the eyes of a child who is more familiar with grief than joy, you very well could be the key to the elusive stability they have always heard about, but never known.

From Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights, April 1, 2021 Background Climate change is today’s greatest threat to life on earth. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has unequivocally stated that in the absence of effective climate action, the world is on a pathway to temperature increases between 3°C to 5°C by 2100, which would simply devastate humanity’s future. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet , has warned that “the human implications...

By Ziggi Ivan Santini, Ai Koyanagi, Sarah Stewart-Brown, Bruce D. Perry, et al., BMJ Global Health, March 29, 2021 Abstract Background Childhood adversity (CA) has previously been linked to various health problems in adulthood. Investigations into the differential impact of distinct types of CA on a wide range of outcomes are scarce. This study aimed to assess the impact of self-reported childhood family conflict and/or financial strain on health and social functioning in adulthood among...

By Liam Stack, The New York Times, April 1, 2021 A year spent hiding at home from the coronavirus has given Anne Bertolino, 96, a lot of time to dwell on the past: the anti-Semitic abuse she suffered on the streets of Hamburg as a child; the grandparents who pushed for her and her sister to leave the country for their own safety; and her mother, a widow who was killed in Auschwitz. She has ached to return to a more normal life, when she socialized at a senior center instead of sitting in her...

Laura's note: This story is not an easy read, but in the end it's about a triumph over "the system" and is a textbook example of how children often receive diagnoses, treatment, and punishment instead of help and intervention when they are being abused. I've often wondered how my own experience growing up would have diverged had I "acted out" instead of internalizing by way of "freeze" and "fawn" -- this account below is how. I'd bet there are thousands of others who can say the same. I was...

International Children's Book Day occurs on April 2nd - this article highlights two books written by community partners in Plymouth County. Whether it’s a teacher, staff member, or character in a book, children need to feel connected to something to help them cope with the various stressors that they have going on in their lives. “Children can often feel alone and isolated and when they can relate to characters in a book, it helps them feel less alone,” Sarah Cloud, Director of Social Work...

Calling all New Jersey Pediatricians! Join us on Monday, April 5th from Noon - 1 PM Eastern Time to learn about a new Healthy Spaces Project ECHO MOC Part 4 QI Program to learn how to promote children's brain development and help create nurturing parent environments during routine well-visits. Click here to register today!