An Epidemic Rages On: “Treatment” Is Not Enough

• By: Ashley Brody, MPA, CPRP Search for Change, Inc.
• October 23rd, 2023
• addiction, comorbid conditions, deaths of despair, depression, epidemic, Fall 2023 Issue, harm reduction, housing first, mental illness, pain, recovery, social determinants of health, substance use disorder, suffering, suicide
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Unprecedented rates of substance abuse and mental illness have afflicted nearly every segment of our population in recent years. This intractable public health crisis has led healthcare professionals, policymakers, and other stakeholders to reexamine longstanding assumptions concerning the...

Circle of Grief: Inspired Survivor Speaks Openly About Suicide

• By: Barbara Felton Survivor of a Loved One’s Suicide
• October 1st, 2020
• anorexia, childhood trauma, fall 2020 issue, grief support, pain, shame, stigma, suicide, support groups, survivor
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I walked into the “survivors of suicide” group physically aching and emotionally doubled over in pain. The group – people who’d had a loved one die by suicide – sat in a circle of folding chairs in a pleasant if nondescript meeting room. This was my first visit, a trial effort at relief...

In the Shadow of the Pandemic: The Suicide Crisis in America

• By: Paul S. Nestadt, MD Johns Hopkins School of Medicine Michael B. Friedman, LMSW Public Policy Advocate
• October 1st, 2020
• childhood trauma, COVID-19, dementia, discrimination, fall 2020 issue, family history, grief, homelessness, mental illness, pain, physical illness, social isolation, substance use disorder, suicide, suicide attempts, suicide prevention, violence
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The pandemic, overdue confrontations of racism, and fears about the outcome of the 2020 election have diminished America’s alarm about rising drug overdose and suicide rates. But these epidemics continue, albeit in the shadow of COVID-19. This fall 2020 issue of Behavioral Health News is...