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ACEs, Adversity's Impact Depression on the rise among U.S. teens, especially girls Childhood adversity linked to blood pressure dysfunction Brain and Biology Stressed-out rats consume more alcohol, revealing related brain chemistry Child welfare systems grapple with how to translate brain science into practice Three brain chemicals affect how we handle uncertainty Bullying Bullied kids may have double the risk of being overweight at 18 Childhood bullying victims more likely to use mental...

U.S. kids are eating healthier these days, but their daily diet is still nowhere near perfect, a new study reports. Kids today are eating more food that's good for them: whole grains, whole fruits, dairy, and protein from seafood and plants. And, just as important, they are more likely to avoid sugar-laden foods and drinks full of empty calories, according to a review of children's diet trends between 1999 and 2012. The reduction in empty calories was so steep that it "contributed to...

In our previous blog, we wrote about Monica’s experience in recovering from past childhood wounds that left her scarred and wounded. Monica knew that if she were to ever be healed from those painful experiences, she would need to forgive all of the people who played a part in those events, including herself. Monica did not feel that she had much courage prior to doing the inner and outer work that her recovery required, but by the time she had completed the forgiveness stage of the work, her...

Chronically ill women who don't use the internet may struggle with worse health, a new study finds. "A significantly larger proportion of non-internet users reported needing help learning what to do to manage their health conditions and needing help learning how to care for their health conditions," said researcher Carolyn Mendez-Luck. She's an assistant professor in the School of Social and Behavioral Health Sciences at Oregon State University. She and her colleagues analyzed information...

My guest on today's show on "About Health" on KPFA.org or 94.1FM, will be Lisa Fredericksen, author of hundreds of articles and 11 books, including “If You Loved Me, You’d Stop!,” “Addiction Recovery: What Helps, What Doesn’t,” and “Secondhand Drinking: the Phenomenon That Affects Millions.” You can call in, Toll free 1-800-958-9008, with your questions and experiences about drinking too much or being raised by parents who did. For more information you can go to my web site at...

Amy Saltzman, author of a Still Quiet Place, and her team are bringing another great conference on mindfulness education for youth to San Diego. The Bridging Hearts and Minds Conference will take place Feb 10-12, 2017, and I will be there presenting on how to cultivate Self-Compassion with Teens. Some other wonderful teachers are coming too, like: Susan Kaiser Greenland, author of The Mindful Child and most recently, Mindful Games. Lorraine Hobbs and Karen Bluth are researchers who will also...

Richard B. Spencer is one of the main figures of the alt-right movement, a former doctoral student from Duke whose movement supports the creation of “an ethno-state” for white Europeans and “peaceful ethnic cleansing.” The Southern Poverty Law Center describes him as “a suit-and-tie version of the white supremacists of old, a kind of professional racist in khakis”; a recent Los Angeles Times profile ran with a photo of him in sunglasses and a black shirt, looking more like a hipster academic...

“It must’ve been love, but it’s over now! It must’ve been good, but I lost it somehow.” This 1990’s breakup song by Roxette was no doubt inspired by the end of a romantic relationship, but research shows these same themes — of pain and confusion — often mark breakups with friends as well. Researchers at Manchester University , for example, found that women are often more traumatized by dumping their friends than ending things with a lover. Women, they discovered, tend to feel a sense of...

Have you ever had your heart race, palms become sweaty, or have difficulty focusing because you’re so nervous? These are some of the signs of anxiety . Anxiety can be debilitating for some people, and for others it might just amount to a few minutes of feeling nervous. Unfortunately, for some people when anxiety does hit, it can cause you to freeze and be unable to focus, respond, or engage in everyday tasks. For most people, anxiety is the result of thinking about something out of your...

The number of U.S. children in foster care is climbing after a sustained decline, but just five states account for nearly two-thirds of the recent increase. Reasons range from creation of a new child-abuse hotline to widespread outrage over the deaths of children who'd been repeatedly abused. Addictions among parents are another major factor. The most dramatic increase has been in Georgia, where the foster-care population skyrocketed from about 7,600 in September 2013 to 13,266 last month.

One day this July, two dozen leaders from various immigrant communities here gathered in the Glencliff High School auditorium to learn how public education works in this fast-growing southern city. They were from Bhutan, Colombia, Egypt, Ethiopia, Mexico and many other countries. And they had lots of questions. Why do some schools provide transportation but others don’t? What’s a “charter” school? Why are the results of students’ English-language assessments reported only in English? A man...

SASKATOON, Saskatchewan—The students in the crowded hall fall silent as Darlene Speidel, an elder and “knowledge keeper” of native traditions, says a prayer in the Lakota language over soup and bannock, a kind of flat bread. “It always makes me feel so good to see all of you students and the efforts you’re putting in to advancing yourselves,” Speidel adds, in English, speaking in the new Gordon Oakes Red Bear Student Centre at the University of Saskatchewan. The price of this free lunch,...