One in three California middle school and high school students reported having been harassed or bullied at least once in the previous year, according to new data from a statewide student survey. Thirty-four percent of students in grades 7, 9...
The Special Operations Command’s war on suicides is prompting its storied, silent commander to speak both publicly and privately—all but ordering his forces to get help. Suicides by special operators have fallen for two years...
The only shameful thing about mental illness is the stigma attached to it. A lack of understanding when it comes to these disorders can leave sufferers feeling isolated and hopeless. Only 25 percent of people with mental health issues feel that...
When a 1975 New York Times cover story charged the NYPD with widespread graft and thuggery, we got Al Pacino as Serpico, one lone idealist who exposes the department and lives — just barely — to tell the tale. When the RAMPART report in...
In this country, all children are supposed to have a shot at success — a chance to jump "from rags to riches" in one generation. Even if riches remain out of reach, then the belief has been that every hard-working American should be able...
Every year, nearly 40,000 Americans kill themselves. The majority are men, and most of them use guns. In fact, more than half of all gun deaths in the United States are suicides. Experts and laymen have long assumed that people who died by...
At the Cobbs Creek Clinic in West Philadelphia, Dr. Roy Wade relies on some of the same tools every pediatrician uses for exams — blood pressure cuffs, a stethoscope, and, of course, tongue depressors. He also uses particular questions to...
The adolescent and young-adult suicide rate in the United States was almost twice as high in rural settings than in urban areas between 1996 and 2010, and new research suggests that the gap appears to be widening. Of the nearly 67,000 suicides...
A child may face an increased risk of asthma if the child's mother experienced depression during her pregnancy or she took an older antidepressant to treat her condition, new research suggests. However, more than 80 percent of the women in the...
Advocates for the homeless want the state Legislature to pass the so-called Right to Rest Act (SB 608). Introduced Feb. 27, this legislation would prevent Los Angeles and other cities from enforcing laws against camping on sidewalks, in parks and in...
On June 7, 2014, Mike Tobias, a 28-year-old from Reading, Pennsylvania, was watching television at home when his brother burst into the room with an emergency phone call. Their mother, Eileen DiNino, had been discovered unconscious in her cell...
Each year, 10,000 to 20,000 sex offenders are released from prisons into communities that aren’t quite ready to accept them back. Restrictions on where offenders can live and loiter are a popular legal strategy to keep children out of...
Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) has been found to improve the quality of life in overweight and obese women, and even reduce their fasting glucose levels, according to new research. MBSR, a secular mindfulness meditation program,...
Throughout 2015, Ascend is hosting a series of webinars in which we go in-depth with Network Partners working in specific content areas to build evidence for two-generation solutions. The February 26 webinar Toxic! Stress,...