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The United States spent an estimated $201 billion on mental disorders in 2013, which made it the costliest medical condition in the country, according to a study published in the journal Health Affairs. The analysis found mental health care surpassed both heart conditions and trauma and injury by almost $60 billion, which includes the general and institutionalized populations. Mental disorder spending is typically underestimated because it excludes institutionalized populations, according to...

The U.S. has gotten better at saving people with heart disease, cancer, and strokes, but early drug overdose, Alzheimer's, and suicide deaths are increasing. The drug overdose problem has become so severe in the United States, it's now bringing down the country's average life expectancy, according to a new analysis . For more than two decades, Americans' life expectancy had only gone up every year. But while analyzing the data for 2015, scientist Deborah Dowell and her team saw a drop. "It...

Think about these questions: Where do people learn that it is okay to call someone fat? Where do kids learn that calling someone fat is tacitly acceptable bullying? Can you think of another health condition for which kids are so easily ridiculed? Somehow, being overweight creates an open season for merciless taunting. This is national childhood obesity awareness month. There will be all sorts of blogs and public service announcements about the problems of obesity in this nation, and special...

Mental health is at the heart many of the challenges we face, including trauma and adverse childhood experiences, social isolation, institutionalized bias and discrimination, and ‘diseases of despair’ that manifest in depression, suicide, and substance misuse. Addressing social determinants of health is key to helping communities navigate adversity, heal, and flourish. PI’s new report, Back to Our Roots: Catalyzing Community Action for Mental Health and Wellbeing , illustrates how improving...

September is Suicide Awareness Month, and conversations regarding mental health have, naturally, spiked. It’s an aspect of every college student’s life that is often ignored, but lately, mental health has become the hottest topic in social circles and academia. Still, some communities are failing to bring a seat to the table. According to Emory University, more than 1,000 students die by suicide on campuses throughout the United States on average every year. While this number may be...

Congratulations to ACN Member Tiffany Sudela-Junker of Port Angeles in receiving one of the 2017 Angels in Adoption awards honoring individuals whose work in adoption or foster care has made a national impact. From the subject line, the email appeared to be soliciting donations. Then, Tiffany Sudela-Junker of Port Angeles received another with the same heading and thought, “I should probably open this.” One click revealed a message from the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute in...

Of the 74.5 million children in the United States, an estimated 17.1 million have or have had a mental health disorder — more than the number of children with cancer, diabetes and AIDS combined. Half of all mental illness occurs before the age of 14, and 75 percent by the age of 24. In spite of the magnitude of the problem, lack of awareness and entrenched stigma keep the majority of these young people from getting help. Children and adolescents struggling with these disorders are at risk...

What was it like inside the brain of an ancient prophet? James Kugel has been spent his entire scholarly career studying the Bible, but some very basic questions about it still obsess him. What was it about the minds of ancient Israelites that allowed them to hear and see God directly—or at least, to believe that they did? Were the biblical prophets literally hearing voices and seeing visions, understanding themselves to be transmitting God’s own exact words? If so, why did such direct...

A year and a half after Los Angeles County shut a pair of emergency shelters for hard-to-place foster youth, Astrid Heppenstall Heger is still working to find ways to reach the county’s “invisble children.” Last week, Heger’s Violence Intervention Program (VIP) opened the doors of the Leonard Hill Hope Center, a space that she hopes will help Los Angeles County’s most vulnerable foster youth – those who are at the highest risk of leaving county-run care and ending up homeless, being sexually...

Comparing the methods of Oxford University in the U.K. with those of the University of Mississippi shows there’s much to learn from the latter’s conscientious attempts at dealing with its history of racism. Next month, students at the University of Oxford will return for their fall semester, known as the “Michaelmas” term—named after the Feast of Saint Michael and All Angels—to a campus strewn with the sort of colonial- and slave-era tinder that has helped fuel the outrage and protests on...

How her prison education saved us a million bucks. The story we told this week of Michelle Jones, who was imprisoned for killing her son and remade herself into a nationally respected scholar of history, has inspired waves of admiration. It has also drawn a predictable chorus of resentment, posters complaining on social media that a woman convicted of murdering a child gets an education "at taxpayer expense" while so many law-abiding citizens are crushed by student debt. For a moment, let's...

It was a few days before Christmas. The roads were particularly icy that trip, and my mom, who had come to pick me up from college for winter break, was especially volatile. She was late, which frustrated me; I still wonder what that trip would have been like if I had kept my annoyance to myself. I didn’t, though, and my mom quickly became agitated. “Ashley’s being a little bitch,” she told my aunt on the phone when we stopped for breakfast. We drove in silence for a while after that —...