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Governor Hochul Announces Launch of New 10-Year Statewide Effort to Assess Gambling Addiction and Behaviors in New York State
Decade-long Gambling, Health and Recreational Behaviors Study Includes Surveys and Interviews of New Yorkers Across the State Survey Effort Is One of Governor’s State of the State Initiatives and Will Inform Future Support and Services On April 29, 2026, Governor Kathy Hochul...
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The Rise of AI Companions and What it Means for Youth Mental Health
More and more young people are turning to AI for something we didn’t really anticipate a few years ago. Not just homework help. Not just curiosity. They’re using it to talk through problems, to vent, to ask questions they’re not ready or embarrassed to ask someone else. In some cases,...
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How to Turn Behavioral Health Funding into Measurable Patient Outcomes
California’s recent proposal to implement a 1-nurse-to-6-patient staffing ratio at psychiatric hospitals has sparked widespread concern across the behavioral health system. The emergency regulations are set to take effect as early as June 1, and facilities that fail to meet the new thresholds...
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NIH Researchers Discover Pain-Relieving Drug with Minimal Addictive Properties
Positive safety profile of novel drug compound is surprise for class of synthetic opioids shelved years ago. Researchers at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have identified a novel, highly potent opioid that shows potential as a therapy for both pain and opioid use disorder. In a study...
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Recovery Works When Coverage Does: The Lifesaving Impact of Medicare’s IOP Expansion
Closing a Critical Coverage Gap in Medicare In 2024, following stalwart efforts by Congress, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, providers, advocacy organizations, and directly-impacted communities alike, Medicare closed a gap in its addiction treatment coverage by adding a benefit...
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New York State Must Intervene in the Behavioral Health Crisis
New York State is in the middle of a behavioral health crisis. Suicide rates are up over 40% in the last 20 years. Overdose rates are almost four times higher than they were in 2010. During this crisis, Medicaid Managed Care Organizations (MCOs) paid by the State are taking hundreds of millions of...
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NY State Governor Hochul Receives National Award for Outstanding Leadership in Mental Health Policy
Mental Health America’s 2026 Governor’s Leadership Award Cites Administration’s ‘Significant and Sustained Investments’ in Mental Health Governor Hochul has Channeled Approximately $2 Billion into Expanding Access; Strengthening New York State’s Continuum of Care Governor...
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Between Two Homelands: The Mental Health Burden and Strength of South Asian Immigrants
My father is fluent in English. He has two master’s degrees and a law degree from India. He can debate policy, analyze contracts, rattle off political science, and write with precision. But when he came to America in the early 1980s, he learned that fluency was not the same thing as...
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I Told the Bot, Not My Therapist – Why Some People Turn to AI for Emotional Support
Key Points Emotionally responsive AI systems are increasingly used for comfort, not just information. Validation without limits can unintentionally deepen isolation during moments of vulnerability. Chatbots can simulate empathy but cannot assume human responsibility or intervene when...
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Financial Anxiety is Becoming a Public Health Issue
Economic stress has long been framed as a personal budgeting challenge, or a macroeconomic concern measured in inflation rates, interest hikes, and employment numbers. But for millions of Americans, financial pressure is no longer an abstract concept, it is a daily psychological burden that is...
