Mental Health

In the Secure Housing Unit (SHU) of Pelican Bay State Prison, inmates spend 23 hours a day alone in their cells.

Inside The Hole: What Happens To The Mind In Isolation?

9:00pm April 03, 2017

The use of solitary confinement in prisons has grown since the 1970s. Criminologist Keramet Reiter talks with us about the psychological effects that long-term isolation has on our minds.

Two refugee children who show the symptoms of uppgivenhetssyndrom, or resignation syndrome.

Health & Safety

Only In Sweden: Hundreds Of Refugee Children Gave Up On Life

4:01pm March 30, 2017

by Susan Brink

An article in this week's New Yorker writes about youngsters who fell into a coma-like state in reaction to the news that their family may be deported. We interview the author.

Feeling lonely? You may also experience more severe symptoms if you get a cold.

Lonely People Report More Severe Cold Symptoms, Study Finds

11:11am March 30, 2017

by Katherine Hobson

The study builds on previous evidence linking loneliness to more serious health problems, but the findings do not link the sheer size of a person's social network to cold symptom severity.

Brain Tumor Defense For Jewish Center Bomb Threat Suspect Recalls 1991 Murder Trial

6:29pm March 25, 2017

by Michel Martin

Ken Davis's book, "The Brain Defense," looks at the murder trial of Herbert Weinstein, in which lawyers argued that Weinstein was not guilty of killing his wife, because he had a brain tumor.

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Dr. Cesar Barba (right), a family physician at the UMMA Community Clinic's Fremont Wellness Center in South Los Angeles, treats Lourdes Flores Valdez, 42, for her diabetes and other health issues.

Los Angeles Health Clinic 'A Microcosm' Of The Nation's Anxieties

1:00pm March 25, 2017

by Rebecca Plevin

A South LA clinic started by Muslim doctors and students has served mostly low-income Latino and African-American patients for 20 years. Staff and patients now say they worry about their future.

Sandi Toksvig on the TED Stage at TEDWomen 2016 in San Francisco, California.

Sandi Toksvig: Can Social Change Start With Laughter?

9:10am March 24, 2017

by NPR/TED Staff

When comedian and TV host Sandi Toksvig came out as gay in the early 1990s, she used humor to recover from the onslaught of vitriol.Today, she says, humor can help bring about social change.

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Kevin Breel: What Can Depression Teach Us About Comedy?

9:10am March 24, 2017

by NPR/TED Staff

The image of the "sad clown" can seem like a cliche. But for Kevin Breel, it's very real. He describes how he struggled with depression while performing as a stand-up comedian.

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Dr. Hussam Jefee-Bahloul, right, reads one of his poems for Ta'sheeq, a project he founded to help Syrian poets and artists share their experiences.

Health & Safety

Who Will Listen To The Suffering Syrians?

5:35pm March 23, 2017

by Deb Amos

The conflict has created chronic mental pain in a country with few mental health specialists. Dr. Hassum Jefee-Bahloul, a Syrian psychiatrist who now lives in the U.S., has a plan to help.

Author Ron Powers describes the heartbreak of having two sons with schizophrenia in his new book No One Cares About Crazy People.

Father Of 2 Sons With Schizophrenia Talks Of His Struggle To Save Them

1:28pm March 20, 2017

"There is no greater ... feeling of helplessness than to watch two beloved sons deteriorate before [your] eyes," says Ron Powers. His new book is No One Cares About Crazy People.

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A prisoner works on the lawn at the Dade Correctional Institution In 2014, in Florida City, Fla. On Friday, Miami-Dade prosecutor Katherine Fernandez Rundle found no wrongdoing in the death of mentally ill prisoner Darren Rainey, who was locked in a showe

After Schizophrenic Inmate Dies In A Shower, Florida Prosecutor Finds No Wrongdoing

6:44pm March 19, 2017

by Laurel Wamsley

Four years after Darren Rainey died in a prison shower, the Miami-Dade prosecutor decided against charging any officers. Since the 1960s, the mentally ill have increasingly been housed in prisons.