“When those preschool ladies embraced me with such love and affection, I almost cried because for the first time in my young life I felt like adults were thoughtful to my needs.” (Liz Huntley, “Be a Game Changer”, Tedx Birmingham)
When Arthur Ashe won the men's singles final at the first U.S. Open in 1968, he made history as the first African-American man to win the Open. That record holds to this day. Photos show a pensive Ashe with his arm around his proud father, Arthur Ashe Sr., his silver trophy tray held in one hand. Over the years, Ashe would be remembered as a tennis champion, but also as a champion of civil and human rights. Tennis was the portal through which he became famous, but by the time he died at age...
Watching a group of people doing tai chi, an exercise often called “meditation in motion,” it may be hard to imagine that its slow, gentle, choreographed movements could actually make people stronger. Not only stronger mentally but stronger physically and healthier as well. I certainly was surprised by its effects on strength, but good research — and there’s been a fair amount of it by now — doesn’t lie. If you’re not ready or not able to tackle strength-training with weights, resistance...
A few weeks ago , a close friend came home from work surprised to find the business card of a Child Protective Services (“CPS”) worker wedged inside his door. No letter, or even a handwritten note, accompanied the card. Being uncertain what the card signified, he called the worker, only to learn that he was the subject of a CPS investigation. So he did the first thing that any of us would do in this situation. He called a lawyer. He called me. Families with resources immediately turn to...
Announcing our newest ACEs Connection geographic community: the Tennessee Commission on Children and Youth (TCCY) East Tennessee ACEs Knowledge Mobilization Team! According to the community's purpose, this team "moves knowledge from formal research to active use in such a way that it changes philosophy and approach, policies and funding, programs and services, and professional practice as sustainable changes in multiple sectors of a community." Lindsey Cody is the community manager, bringing...
Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can be a challenging mental health issue to manage, especially considering it's unique to each and every individual. However, a common trigger for many people with PTSD is their “trauma anniversary,” or the date that a traumatic incident or event occurred. In fact, a trauma anniversary (and the weeks leading up to it) can be one of the most difficult times during the year for people who live with PTSD. Fortunately, mental health experts say there are ways...
ACEs, Adversity's Impact Kids stress over public acts of discrimination Stress during pregnancy increases risk of mood disorders for female offspring Emotional stress: Long term deep stress that's the result of parental addiction, adverse childhood experiences and/or trauma Maternal depression may alter stress and immune markers in children The weight of adverse childhood experiences 5 important FAQs about childhood neglect: Answered [blogs.psychcentral.com] What viral reunification videos...
With nearly twice the rate of dementia as whites, blacks are at a higher risk for developing diseases like Alzheimer's, but there has been little research on how to reduce this racial health disparity. A new study in black participants with mild cognitive impairment—often a precursor to dementia—shows that a behavioral intervention can reduce the risk of future memory loss by increasing social, cognitive, and/or physical activity. The results of this randomized, controlled clinical study...
My friend, Judith Resnik, a distinguished professor of law at Yale, has spent a lifetime studying justice iconography all over the world. It is her hobby. I have learned from her that one of the earliest images of Justice with covered eyes is a woodcut from 1494 entitled “The Fool Blindfolding Justice,” an illustration for a book called “ The Ship of Fools .” The interpretation of the blindfold is not positive or constructive, but rather a warning against judicial error. The author,...
I n the boyle heights neighborhood of Los Angeles, tucked between a gas station and what looks to be an abandoned warehouse, sits a former ceramics factory that now houses the studio of Glenn Kaino, a prominent conceptual artist. One morning in April, Kaino opened the back door and ushered inside the Olympic gold medalist Tommie Smith; Smith’s wife, Delois; and me. We were greeted by an imposing stack of 70 or 80 cardboard boxes. “What are those?” asked Smith, who at 6 foot 4 towers above...
Yecenia Perez, 17, says she doesn’t feel safe commuting to school and home, a one-hour trek each way by bus and two trains. “I’ve had men push me up against the fence outside school,” she said, and she also described an attempted assault by a neighbor. When Perez gets home to her family’s one-bedroom apartment in the evening, north of Koreatown, she has no privacy. Tight quarters bring tension and bouts of depression. [For more on this story by STEVE LOPEZ, go to...
BOSTON — To the medical students, the patient was a conundrum. According to his chart, he had residual pain from a leg injury sustained while working on a train track. Now he wanted an opioid stronger than the Percocet he’d been prescribed. So why did his urine test positive for two other drugs — cocaine and hydromorphone, a powerful opioid that doctors had not ordered? It was up to Clark Yin, 29, to figure out what was really going on with Chris McQ, 58 — as seven other third-year medical...
Self-harm is a commonly misunderstood psychological phenomenon. Some people believe that those who harm themselves are simply stupid because why else a person would do that. Others think that self-harm is only attention-seeking behavior. Some even call it selfish. What is self-harm? Before digging deeper, let’s first define what constitutes self-harm. Self-harmful behavior is a behavioral pattern that results in harm to yourself. A very simple example of that is cutting. Another, more common...
To those who take the bus or refuse plastic toothbrushes: Don’t listen to the cynics. Research shows the little things matter. [For more on this story by Sarah Lazarovic, go to https://www.yesmagazine.org/issues/mental-health/5-ways-small-actions-have-huge-power-20180910 ]
It was my final psychiatry rotation in medical school, and my job was to tell an Iraq veteran about Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Although I wore a stethoscope and deepened my voice, the veteran had greater authority on PTSD. She handed me a scientific paper with the newest research on her condition, and I realized she had paid about forty dollars for the article. Gatekeepers (like me!) and paywalls discourage the public from evaluating publicly-funded research. I was stung by the...