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Understanding the Link Between Trauma and Substance Use in Adolescents
Adolescence is a critical period of development, and exposure to trauma during this stage can impact mental health and behavior. Research consistently shows a strong connection between trauma and substance use among adolescents, with trauma often acting as a risk factor for developing substance use...
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Black Veterans’ Silent Battle with Mental Health and Addiction Is Costing Lives
When I returned from serving my country, I was a different person. My kids noticed I was distant, and I turned to alcohol and the party life to cope. Years of service had taken a toll on my mental health, and I no longer recognized the man in the mirror. For many veterans like me, the trauma and...
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The Long-Term Psychological Effects of Hazing and How We Can Prevent Them
Danny Santulli, an 18-year-old college freshman, was a victim of a hazing incident in 2021. During a fraternity hazing ritual at the University of Missouri, he was forced to drink excessive amounts of alcohol, resulting in alcohol poisoning and brain damage. Danny was left unable to speak, walk, or...
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Consumer Perspectives: Substance Use Treatment and Mental Health
This article is part of a quarterly series giving voice to the perspectives of individuals with lived experiences as they share their opinions on a particular topic. The authors are served by Services for the UnderServed (S:US), a New York City-based nonprofit that is committed to giving every New...
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Supporting Veterans and Families in Conquering PTSD
As the echoes of war fade, a different kind of battle wages on for many courageous veterans who return home. An estimated 6% of US adults, or 6 out every 100 people, will be diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), at some point in their lifetime. In veterans, it increases to 7 out of...
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Preventing Suicide: Addressing Trauma-Related Symptoms in Individuals with Serious Mental Illness
The incidence of mental illness is pervasive in the United States, a recent estimate suggesting it impacts more than one in five adults (NIMH, 2023). While “mental illness” is a category that embodies all diagnoses, a subset of this category, serious mental illness (i.e., schizophrenia spectrum...
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Disasters: The Importance of Fighting Mental Health Stigma
The last few decades have seen a steady increase in disasters around the world. Whether caused by humans or nature, for many communities disasters occur with such frequency that they overlap each other. The traditional Phases of Disaster model–anticipation, impact, adaptation, and recovery...
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Mental Health Stigmas in the Black Community
In 2019, the Center of Disease Control and Prevention reported that 47,500 US citizens committed suicide (Suicide, 2022). Of this 47,500, over half identified as Black. This is an estimate of 4 out of 6 suicides committed by People of Color (POC) and 2 out of 6 being Caucasian, Hispanic, and other...
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The Hidden Effects of Combat-Related PTSD on Spouses
The U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs (2014) reported that approximately 20% of service members who served in Iraq or Afghanistan developed combat-related PTSD. Mental health issues following combat tours are not exclusive to service members. de Burgh et al. (2011) stated that spouses of service...
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The Silent Battlefront of Veteran Suicide and the Measures Being Taken to Help Them
On Friday, May 30th, 2014, I woke up to one of the most devastating phone calls I’ve ever received. My best friend for almost a decade, Joshua Drury, who was in his mid-thirties at the time, had taken his life. Joshua had served many years in the U.S. Army prior to our meeting. While he told us...
