mental health

Even in a normal year, the holidays can be stressful. This year health officials are recommending people who were planning to gather or travel for Thanksgiving stay home to reduce the spread of COVID-19.

For many of us this has been a year of sacrifice and family time might be exactly what we’re craving right now. As important as it is to show our loved ones that we are thinking of them, it’s equally as crucial to take care of our own mental and physical health.

The pandemic has taken a toll on every aspect of our lives. We’re all experiencing a level of uncertainty that impacts our mental health, our relationships, and our work.

In 2017, Maricella Chairez died by suicide in her cell at the Racine County Juvenile Detention Center. Although she was only 16-years-old, her suicide was the culmination of many years of struggling with abuse and mismanaged mental health care.

Most people will have a traumatic experience at some point in their lives, and some of them will develop post-traumatic stress disorder. So how do you figure out who is at risk for developing PTSD? That's what Chris Larson's new study, called "Acute Predictors Of Long-Term Post-Trauma Outcomes In Youth Victims Of Violence," hopes to help figure out.

There has been an on-going conversation about mental health care in the U.S. After tragedies like the school shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary and Marjory Stoneman Douglass High School, some political actors are quick to blame mental health issues.

Despite these political talking points, public funding for mental health care has plummeted over the past few decades. And the history of mental health care in this country is fraught with mismanagement and abuse, often exacerbated by a lack of funding.

Thursday was World Suicide Prevention Day. Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley marked the date by unveiling an expansion of a program designed to prevent deaths from suicide. He says the numbers are growing at an “unsettling” rate.

“The Milwaukee County Medical Examiner’s office stated that current trends show we will likely surpass last year’s numbers for suicides, stating that there were 23 suicides last month alone," he says.

The COVID-19 pandemic has thrust many of us into isolation — both physically and in some cases socially. While this isolation can feel disheartening, for most of us it will be temporary. But that’s not the case for people with dementia.

Updated Sunday at 6:43 p.m. CT

A bicycle ride in Milwaukee this Saturday called Riding Over Stigma will attempt to de-stigmatize mental illness, especially in the Black community. One of the sponsors of the ride is the local chapter of Red Bike and Green — riders who bring more diversity to biking.

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic can’t be overstated. At least 5 million Americans have been diagnosed with the infectious disease, which some experts believe is a massive undercount. Unemployment has skyrocketed and the economy is struggling to hang on.

Minority Mental Health Awareness Month has been observed each July since 2008. Formally known as Bebe Moore Campbell National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month, it honors the late American author, journalist and teacher Bebe Moore Campbell. Her work centered on bringing awareness to the unique struggles that underrepresented groups face regarding mental illness in the United States.

Drug and alcohol abuse and addiction are a nationwide problem. Wisconsin is no exception. 

To help address this issue in Ripon, Wis., the Ripon Police Department is bringing in outside help as a part of the Fond du Lac County Opioid Initiative. In partnership with WisHope, police officers now have 24/7 access to a peer recovery coach with lived addiction experience to help provide support and treatment options to those who need it.

Americans are more unhappy today than they've been in 50 years, according to a recent study from the NORC at the University of Chicago.

The survey was conducted in late May, before the death of George Floyd sparked international protests. It tries to understand how American’s beliefs, mental health and outlook have shaped their attitudes during the coronavirus pandemic.  

Many health care workers risk their physical and mental health to do their jobs. The coronavirus pandemic has intensified these challenges.

Just last month, emergency department medical director Dr. Lorna M. Breen committed suicide. Her family cites her work helping COVID-19 patients as the reason.

COVID-19 has implemented immediate challenges to our health care system and the health of the country. And these immediate and long-term changes pose an exponential risk to those with addiction.

Social distancing, working and teaching children from home, unemployment — all of those can be a triggering stressor for those in recovery. Spending more time at home could dramatically increase relapse rates, especially as access to recovery care is limited or changed.