Mental Health

Still from Last Day of Freedom shows a line-drawing of Bill Babbitt.

In Animated, Oscar-Nominated Doc, A Man Turns His Brother In For Murder

5:07am February 27, 2016

by Karen Michel

Last Day of Freedom uses more than 30,000 hand-drawn images to tell the story of Bill and Manny Babbitt. The film raises questions about trust, family, mental illness and the criminal justice system.

Dr. Etheldreda Nakimuli-Mpungu is one of this year's winners of the Elsevier Foundation Award for female scientists in the developing world.

Health & Safety

Mom Inspires Daughter To Be A Doctor Who Really Makes People Better

8:12pm February 25, 2016

by Maanvi Singh

"It's not good to just be a doctor," said the mother. The daughter, encountering HIV patients suffering from depression in Uganda, lived up to her mother's vision.

"The people that I know who have lost spouses, children, some of them are so ashamed that they wouldn't even acknowledge it as a cause of death," says A. Thomas McLellan, co-founder of the Treatment Research Institute.

Treating Addiction As A Chronic Disease

4:26pm February 25, 2016

by NPR Staff

Reframing addiction as a chronic illness would help people get appropriate treatment and benefit the health care system, says A. Thomas McLellan, co-founder of the Treatment Research Institute.

Each year, between 8,000 and 9,000 people nationwide complain to the government about nursing home evictions, according to federal data. That makes evictions the leading category of all nursing home complaints.

Nursing Home Evictions Strand The Disabled In Costly Hospitals

12:57pm February 25, 2016

by Ina Jaffe

Federal rules mostly prohibit nursing homes from refusing to readmit residents after a hospital stay. But states rarely enforce the regulations. Some California families are now suing the state.

Queue Listen Now

A budtender prepares an edible sale for a customer at LivWell Broadway in Denver.

For Pot Tourists, The Trip Is More Likely To End In The ER

5:59pm February 24, 2016

by Angus Chen

Tourists who indulge in legal marijuana in Colorado are more likely to end up in the emergency room with cannabis-related problems than are state residents, a study finds. Talk about a bad trip.

Burnout and low pay can make it tough to retain counselors in the field of addiction services. "You take on your clients' pain," explains one former counselor.

Shortage Of Addiction Counselors Further Strained By Opioid Epidemic

4:30pm February 24, 2016

by Emily Corwin

Counselors in the field of substance abuse rehabilitation earn roughly $40,000 a year, surveys show, and the work can be emotionally draining. Employee turnover is high, and likely to get worse.

Queue Listen Now

Heroin use has become a major problem in the Northeast.

Ithaca's Plan To Open A Safe Site For Heroin Users Faces Legal Hurdles

3:22pm February 24, 2016

by Angus Chen

The goal is to reduce the city's death toll from heroin. But it would be breaking various laws unless Ithaca gets a pass from the governor and federal authorities.

They Brought Cookies: For A New Widow, Empathy Eases Death's Pain

7:00am February 20, 2016

by Ann Finkbeiner

Her husband died. Then the neighbors started showing up. They brought soup. Cookies. Tea. But what they really brought was empathy. And that made the pain bearable.

A mentally ill patient in Afghanistan at the Mia Ali Baba holy shrine in the village of Samar Khel. The mentally ill are thought to be possessed by demons and so are chained for 40 days.

A Man On A Mission: Give A True Count Of The Toll Of Mental Illness

5:59pm February 19, 2016

by Joanne Silberner

The years lost to mental illness around the globe — years of disability, early death — could be far greater than previous estimates.

Thousands of parents have lost sons and daughters across the country to an epidemic of accidental drug overdoses.

When A Loved One Dies Of Overdose, What Happens To The Family?

8:52pm February 18, 2016

by Kristin Gourlay

Grieving the loss of a loved one to drug overdose can be difficult when it is mixed with guilt and remorse. But support is scarce for those who are left behind.

Queue Listen Now