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The dueling sirens of police escorts shuttling VIPs around Katowice, Poland, reached a crescendo during the second week of the 2018 United Nations climate conference , as high-level ministers from around the world arrived in the Polish city to finalize the details of the Paris Agreement rulebook—the set of guidelines that countries will use to realize the promises they made three years ago in Paris. With just days to go before the deadline, and dozens of details yet to be worked out, a...

“I thought the blues were all part of being a new mom,” said the woman who was screened and referred for treatment at her pediatrician’s office after the birth of her second child. She told a news outlet in Raleigh, N.C., that she was grateful for the screening. “I’m able to be the mother that both my kids deserve,” she said. The story spotlighting postpartum depression (PPD) aired in February 2017, just after North Carolina Medicaid established payment for the new maternal depression...

A new study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine provides detailed insights on the increased risk of self-directed violence that patients aged 15-29 years visiting the emergency department (ED) for medical complaints subsequently experience. This underscores the importance of EDs in suicide prevention. The broad number of physical health conditions associated with an increased risk of self-directed violence may serve to support expanded or broader screening among teens...

When neuroscientist Ben Barres delivered his first seminar, an audience member praised him, commenting that Ben’s work was much better than that of his sister, Barbara Barres. The irony? Ben Barres (now deceased), a transgender scientist was Barbara Barres before he transitioned to male. When New York Times columnist Brent Staples was a graduate student in Chicago’s Hyde Park, he found that white people on the street perceived him, an African American, as a threat to their safety. They were...

Beyond the usual confusions and questions of freshmen year, low-income students who are the first in their families to attend college may arrive on campus with personal fears that they just don’t belong and will never fit in. However, slightly older students from the same background can ease that uncertainty with advice and friendship, helping those freshmen stay on track in school and eventually graduate, experts say. That is the philosophy of an unusual and growing mentorship program...

Today I saw two posts on Facebook by Special Education Teachers complaining about being "beaten up" by students. I automatically applied my Trauma Informed Lens and shared with them that "Hurt Students Hurt Others" . Especially students who have been diagnosed with "disabilities". Everyone wants to belong. Often the most disabled children have experienced the most trauma. Teachers who are in the mode of being "abused by students" may have also experienced Trauma and may benefit from taking...

Playing the mirror neurons like a harp . . .

What if I told you that I was a victim of child sex abuse? As a survivor of child sexual abuse , I have a clear understanding of the importance of addressing stigma and shame as it pertains to sexual abuse, sexual assault and rape. Victims, especially young children, often do not disclose sexual abuse. Those who are witnesses of child sexual abuse, or who are trusted by survivors enough that they confide in them, are often ill-equipped to handle the responsibility. And, many times, parents...

Originally posted on the Psychology@Pepperdine blog . Does your child get distracted easily and need to be repeatedly reminded to complete a simple task? Does their room look like it’s been hit by a tornado and they are constantly misplacing personal items? Do they have emotional outbursts when plans suddenly change? For parents, many of these behaviors may seem familiar. But many typically developing children are able to improve their self-management skills, or executive functions, as they...

As a psychiatrist, I’ve long wondered why some people get ill in the face of stress and adversity — either mentally or physically — while others rarely succumb. We know, for example, that not everyone gets PTSD after exposure to extreme trauma, while some people get disabling depression with minimal or no stress. Likewise, we know that chronic stress can contribute to physical conditions like heart disease and stroke in some people, while others emerge unscathed. What makes people resilient,...

The idea of diversity in wellness is a topic that is near and dear to me, and in my view, does not garner nearly as much attention as it should. Although there have been some studies , it is difficult to have an objective discussion because of sparse data. The anecdotal accounts , however, are abundant. Wellness, as we understand it today, was introduced in 1959 by Halbert Dunn’s article “ High-Level Wellness for Man & Society .” Dunn’s writing, from over fifty years ago, began to...