Archive for the ‘Spring 2024 Issue’ Category

Chronic Pain, Quality of Life, and Suicidal Behavior

In the mid-1970s, Quality of Life (QOL) was identified as a key medical concept (Berlim and Fleck, 2003). Readily adopted in oncology, the concept spread through different fields of medicine and eventually to psychiatry. Many tools were developed to take QOL from a subjective concept to a...

75 Years: AHRC New York City to Celebrate Milestone Anniversary on May 13th, 2024

It is with pride in an unsurpassed history and great hope for the future that AHRC New York City kicks off its 75th year with a Gala on May 13th. The organization began in 1948 with a $3 ad in the New York Post placed by Ann Greenberg, a Bronx housewife whose young son with developmental...

Understanding and Addressing Childhood Trauma

Everyone experiences scary or difficult events in their lives. For some children, these events can be so frightening or dangerous that they can have a lasting impact on their well-being. Trauma refers to the physical, cognitive, and emotional responses to an event (or events) that is physically or...

Your Options for Responding to Mental Illness Stigma (Protectively, Collaboratively, or Assertively)

I have been open about my bipolar disorder for almost twenty years. Immediately after I spoke at my first mental health awareness event, I was met with feedback and gratitude. People thought it was a brave thing for me to speak up about my mental illness to fight stigma. But the truth is, I felt I...

Anxiety and Psychosomatic Symptoms in Schools

Psychosomatic symptoms are the physical and physiological experiences caused by mental or emotional conflict or distress, such as anxiety. Often, they are dismissed as being imagined or exaggerated, likely because they are part of someone’s internal experience. It is important to note...

Combating Mental Health Stigma in a Rural Community

 Like all communities, stigma plays a role in an individual’s willingness to access mental health treatment and support. To combat this, Yates INSYGHT, in partnership with the Yates County Community Services Department, chose to promote a countywide initiative focused on...

WeSpeakNYC: A Toolkit for Overcoming Mental Health Stigma in BIPOC Communities

Research has consistently demonstrated that BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) communities experience disproportionately low access and utilization of mental health services in the United States. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)...

Empowering Communities through Inclusion and Mental Health Anti-Stigma Efforts

Thank you so much for including me in this project. Thank you to the NYS Office of Mental Health for their support. We are thrilled to present the work we accomplished as part of the Stigma Reduction Project. My name is Melissa Clark, VP of Community Impact at United Way of the...

Stories of Stigma in the Healthcare System

For Hands Across Long Island, Inc. (HALI), stigma in healthcare is personal. As a peer-run organization, our mental health recovery “lived expertise” informs our services, which all address structural stigma or population-level disparities experienced by people having...

Breaking Down Barriers: The STAR Program’s “Stop Mental Health Stigma” Campaign

In an era where mental health discussions are often shrouded in misunderstandings and misconceptions, the “Stop Mental Health Stigma” campaign emerges as a beacon of hope and enlightenment. Spearheaded by the STAR Program at SUNY Downstate Health and Sciences University and...