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Behavioral Health News Spotlight on Excellence: An Interview with Mary Brewster, Associate Commissioner for Harm Reduction at the New York State Office of Addiction Services and Supports (OASAS)
Overview David Minot, Executive Director of Mental Health News Education, the non-profit organization that publishes Behavioral Health News, interviewed Mary Brewster, Associate Commissioner for Harm Reduction at the New York State Office of Addiction Services and Supports (OASAS). The mission of...
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Harm Reduction in Treatment: A Simplified Overview
In the past, harm reduction was mainly associated with distributing clean needles to prevent the spread of infectious diseases. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (2022), there were over 100,000 deaths related to drug overdoses in 2022. Treatment has evolved to...
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Organizational Strategies for Anti-Stigma Work Within Our Four Walls
Mental health stigma affects all of us. It is so ingrained in our society, that we have to consciously choose to share or not to share our experiences or connections to mental health challenges. This conscious level decision-making brings a processing we engage in asking ourselves either, “Am I...
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Addressing Stigma Among High School Students Using NAMI’s Ending the Silence
Middle adolescence (corresponding to ages 14-18, when youth typically attend high school) is a potentially critical period for both the development of mental health conditions and targeting mental health stigma. Approximately 50% of all diagnosable mental health conditions develop in middle...
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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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Overcoming Self-Stigma in Bipolar Disorder: A Targeted Intervention for an Urgent Problem
For many with bipolar disorder, as well as other mental health conditions, stigma remains a real and regular burden in everyday life. In addition to the stressors and difficulties of the condition, the experience of stigma can lead to a host of deleterious outcomes including lower self-esteem,...
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Countering Stigma – Speaking as if Our Words Matter
There are now several identified strategies that can help address stigma toward populations with behavioral health challenges. Some involve providing public education. Some involve the addition of addiction and mental health‑related curricula to educational institutions and training programs for...
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How Faith Communities Can Help Reduce Mental Health Stigma
Reducing the stigma around mental health requires a multifaceted approach in which individuals, communities, and society at large all have a role to play. But for many people who are seeking help for a mental health or substance use problem, their first point of contact isn’t a doctor or a...
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Black Men and Mental Health: Practical Solutions
It's no secret that black men face a unique set of circumstances in our world; economic, healthcare, and educational disparities, systemic racism, and social injustice. These factors create a world where it seems Black men's lives are rarely valued, much less their thoughts and feelings. This has...
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An Antidote to Stigma
Stigma against persons with mental illness has waned in recent years, as affirmed by a Harris Poll administered on behalf of the American Psychological Association. This poll found a significant majority of Americans (87%) believed there is no shame in having a mental health diagnosis, and a...