The Ways That Stigma Hurts People Who Use Substances and How to Help

• By: Patricia Lincourt, LCSW Kelly S. Ramsey, MD, MPH, MA, FACP, DFASAM NYS Office of Addiction Services and Supports
• April 18th, 2023
• internalized stigma, social isolation, Spring 2023 Issue, stigma, stigmatizing language, substance use disorder
• 662    1

Stigma hurts, when stigmatizing language is used against those with substance use disorders. In a study by the Recovery Research Institute,1 314 survey respondents were asked to answer questions about two individuals who were using substances. The only difference in the way that the individuals...

Overcoming the Stigma of Mental Illness: Changing Minds and Creating Opportunities

• By: Michael B. Friedman, LMSW Columbia University School of Social Work
• April 18th, 2023
• discrimination, employment, housing, mental illness, religion, social isolation, Spring 2023 Issue, stigma
• 289    0

What can be done to overcome the stigma of mental illness? Because stigma is generally understood as a concatenation of negative attitudes and beliefs, community mental health education designed to change people’s minds seems to be what is needed. But there is another way to think about stigma -...

Volunteering Makes Old Age Meaningful

• By: Michael B. Friedman, LMSW Columbia University School of Social Work
• January 5th, 2022
• older adults, retirement, social connection, social isolation, volunteer, Winter 2022 Issue
• 466    0

When I moved to Baltimore to be closer to my daughter and grandchildren, I left behind 50 years of work in New York’s mental health community, 20 years of teaching at Columbia University School of Social Work, an active life in jazz and in photography, many friends, and (though I tried to avoid...

The Loneliness Epidemic and its Consequences

• By: Ashley Brody, MPA, CPRP Search for Change, Inc.
• January 1st, 2021
• alcohol, heart disease, loneliness, opioids, physical health, social isolation, social media, winter 2021 issue
• 713    0

Former Surgeon General Dr. Vivek H. Murthy described loneliness as an epidemic long before the Coronavirus emerged and disrupted relationships in ways we might never have imagined (McGregor, 2017). Despite extraordinary advances in telecommunications technologies that have enabled us to connect in...

A Social Determinants Perspective of the Intersection of Ageism, Racism and Social Isolation During COVID-19

• By: Gilbert Nick, LMSW, MPA Katie Schloss, BA Helen-Maria Lekas, PhD Kerstin Pahl, PhD Crystal Fuller Lewis, PhD Nathan Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research
• January 1st, 2021
• access to care and treatment, Ageism, community, COVID-19, loneliness, older adults, racism, social determinants of health, social isolation, winter 2021 issue
• 1011    0

There is now well-established evidence on how long-standing systemic health and social inequities compound one’s risk of acquiring COVID-19. However, further research is needed to explore how disadvantaged social status(es) may interact with mandated or recommended social policies that aim to...

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
• 921    3

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...