National Substance Use Prevention Month Globally, drug and alcohol use and misuse lead to enormous societal and economic burdens. The economic impact of substance misuse is estimated at over $440 billion dollars in the US alone. Last year in the US there were a record number of drug overdose deaths, including over 3,000 overdose deaths … Read more
Kate Dickson, MD MPH, PGY 4 Does suicide screening = suicide prevention? Universal suicide screening is the term for the process of asking every patient that presents to a health care facility, for example an outpatient clinic, the emergency department, or an elective surgery, about thoughts of suicide, regardless of chief complaint. Health care systems … Read more
Sex as a biological variable in neurobiological research Alexandra Nowlan, PhD Historically, males have been the standard subjects studied in biomedical research. This practice was established due to the fear that the variability in hormone signaling across the female estrous cycle would complicate the interpretation of experimental results, though comparable fluctuations in male testosterone … Read more
Written by: Aaron Ginsburg M Ed, LCMHC, LCAS | Clinical Instructor Crisis and Assessment Services UNC Health Care at WakeBrook Native American mental health is an all too often overlooked area of need. In looking at statistics provided by Mental Health America (https://www.mhanational.org/issues/native-and-indigenous-communities-and-mental-health), Native/Indigenous people in America report experiencing serious psychological distress 2.5 times more than … Read more
Written by Dr. Zev Nakamura, Assistant Professor Approximately 1 in 4 patients with cancer are diagnosed with anxiety and/or depressive disorders. These mental health conditions can be exacerbated or precipitated by the psychological stress of a new cancer diagnosis, physical symptoms (e.g., pain, shortness of breath, nausea), and fear of cancer progression or recurrence. … Read more
Thomas D’Angelo, M.D. Invasion is a structure not an event M. Jacqui Alexander is referring to colonialism, which we will definitely get into, but the double meaning is relevant to maternal mental health too. For most of human history(99%?)conception, pregnancy, birth and the postpartum period were communal projects. Hopi communities think about a coming … Read more
Reducing Disparities in Care for Black Toddlers with Autism Through Partnerships with the Black Community Christina Corsello Orahovats, Ph.D. There are more children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) now than ever before, with the most recent numbers from the CDC suggesting as many as 1 in 44 children with the diagnosis (Maenner, et. al., … Read more
Cultural and Linguistic Diversity in Autism: Opening the Door By Jessica Kinard 4/12/2022 “Yo siempre pensaba, tú entre más conozcas el problema, más puedes ayudar…” “I always thought, the more you know about the problem, the more you can help…” –Mother of a child with autism (Kinard, 2015) This quote comes from a … Read more
Written by Rebecca V. Taylor, MD, MA, Assistant Professor , Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry SIB and the Intersection of Race, Culture, and Ethnicity When most of us think of self-injurious behavior, we think of those who intentionally cut themselves. The typical person who comes to mind as engaging in non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) is … Read more
An Examination of Anorexia Nervosa in Black Women by Dani Coan Dani is a rising senior social work major at NC State and a CEED Summer Intern. She is also a Research Assistant in Dr. Goode’s Living F.R.E.E. Lab Black women represent 6.4 percent of the U.S. population. Managing the interlocking impacts of racism and … Read more
