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For decades, many law enforcement officers believed victims were supposed to be able to recall all the details of their assault. If they didn’t — or couldn’t — their allegations must not be credible, the thinking went. There is now the growing realization among police officers and others who encountered victims of sexual assault that they have long misread and mishandled those cases. The process was so common that experts have given it a name — “secondary victimization.” What officers...

Are you depressed? If you’re not sure, it’s no surprise. Perpetual sadness isn’t the only symptom. Anger, back pain, sleep disturbances and even indecisiveness could all be signs of depression. One in six adults will experience depression in their life, but you can’t get help if you’re not sure you need it. Your doctor can screen for depression, so it’s worth asking on your next visit. [For more on this story by Erin Blakemore, go to...

DNA from people who suffer from major depression is biologically older than that of healthy people by on average 8 months, suggesting that they are biologically older than their corresponding calendar age. This effect was greater in people who have had childhood trauma, such as violence, neglect or sexual abuse, who show a biological age around a year older than their actual age. This work was presented at the ECNP conference in Barcelona. There is increasing evidence that serious depression...

Louisville, Ky., has one of the highest asthma rates in the United States. To better understand this problem, community leaders blanketed the city with air quality sensors and equipped more than 1,000 asthma sufferers with GPS-enabled inhalers. They also downloaded traffic data from Waze, pulled in local weather information, and used manually-collected data on city vegetation. Together, this data revealed that people used their inhalers most on days with high temperatures and high air...

Becky Haas presenting SAMHSA’s Trauma Informed Approach: Key Principles-A New Understanding of Trauma to 151 attendees at Bridgewater Place in Knoxville . The ETCCY East TN ACEs Knowledge Mobilization Team conducted an educational event and hosted an ACEs “Train the Trainer” on “Building Strong Brains” on October 2, 2018 in Knoxville at Bridgewater Place. The guest speaker for the educational event was Becky Haas, Community Crime Prevention Programs Director for the Johnson City Police...

Building healthy families is key to reducing ACEs. A friend of mine recently referred her grandchild and his pregnant wife to a Bringing Baby Home class, because she noticed that the wife had a background of abuse and at times had difficulty functioning. What the grandmother noticed with this couple was a change in the family dynamics following taking a Bringing Baby Home class. The couple learned how to get along, the father is more engaged in parenting, and the baby thriving. This is...

Transforming our habits is a powerful tool we can utilize as we continue along our healing journey.

Indigenous Peoples Day—still observed as Columbus Day in most states—is today. Use it as an opportunity to set the record straight about Native history and the experiences of Native people today. This edition of The Moment features resources to help you do it. [For more on this story go to https://www.tolerance.org/the-moment/october-5-2018-indigenous-peoples-day-2018 ]

Two influential figures in the fight against sexual violence as a weapon of war were chosen as 2018’s recipients of the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday. Dr. Denis Mukwege was recognized for treating victims of rape, while Nadia Murad, a Yazidi woman who has spoken out about being held as a sex slave by ISIS, was awarded the prize for her work as a human rights campaigner following her experience. “Both laureates have made a crucial contribution to focusing attention on, and combating, such war...

If only an anonymous member of President Trump ’s team would publish an op-ed explaining how cutting the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), as proposed in the House-passed Farm Bill of June 2018 , and intensifying work requirements for public benefits, as championed by the president’s Council of Economic Advisers, would hurt millions of Americans. Then our country’s most economically unprotected classes finally might become a policy priority in Washington. These cuts would dim...

Valentina* drove two hours up the California coast to the flat farming town of Santa Maria and stopped outside a white motor home. “Silvia,” she sang, tilting her head out the car window on a recent afternoon. With broad shoulders and dyed-blond hair framing her soft face, Valentina is striking even without her signature crystal-encrusted shoes. Silvia looked up from the cactus she was planting and walked to the car. She dangled her crimson fingernails for Valentina to admire. Valentina, who...

In the UK, an average of nine babies a day are stillborn. BBC journalist Fiona Crack became pregnant with a longed-for baby girl last year, but her waters broke early and her daughter died. This is her story of a year of grief and healing and of five extraordinary women who shared her experience. [For more on this story by Fiona Crack, go to https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/resources/idt-sh/Mother_without_a_baby ]