Mental Health

Laury Sacks and her husband, Eric. The actress and writer developed frontotemporal dementia in her late 40s and died in 2008 at age 52.

'Looks Like Laury' Shines The Power Of Friendship On A Failing Mind

8:09am March 23, 2015

by Deborah Franklin

When actress and writer Laury Sacks started losing words fast, her best friends, who happened to be filmmakers, captured her experience. Looks Like Laury, Sounds Like Laury shows how they reached her.

It's hard to sleep when the light's on and the monitor's beeping.

For A Good Snooze, Take One Melatonin, Add Eye Mask And Earplugs

3:16pm March 20, 2015

by Nancy Shute

Hospitals are notoriously difficult places to sleep, despite efforts to make them less noisy. Cheap, simple workarounds can help, a study says. Taking the sleep hormone melatonin helped the most.

Health & Safety

Workplace Suicide Rates Rise Sharply

8:30am March 19, 2015

by Patti Neighmond

Overall, men were more likely to take their lives than women on the job. And workers between the ages of 65 and 74 were more likely to commit suicide at work than their younger counterparts.

Your Drinking Habits May Be Influenced By How Much You Make

8:30am March 19, 2015

by Nancy Shute

Genetic differences explain more of the wide variation in drinking habits among people with low incomes, while higher-income people tended to drink alike.

Jonathan Keleher talks with a colleague, Rafael Wainhaus, at work. Keleher was born without a cerebellum, but his brain has developed work-arounds for solving problems of balance and abstract thought.

Clues To Autism, Schizophrenia Emerge From Cerebellum Research

4:27pm March 17, 2015

by Jon Hamilton

The brain's cerebellum helps shape thinking and emotion, as well as physical coordination, research shows. Could stimulating that part of the brain help ease some aspects of autism and schizophrenia?

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After a post has been flagged for review, Facebook intervenes with a supportive message.

Facebook's Suicide Prevention Tools Connect Friends, Test Privacy

3:41pm March 17, 2015

by Emma Bowman

When online social networks open up spaces for suicide prevention with untrained peer support, they walk the fragile line between invasion of privacy and supporting those who need help.

Benjamin Rush, a physician and one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, invented the rotational chair as a treatment for psychotic patients. He believed the chair helped improve circulation to the mentally ill brain.

From Freud To Possession, A Doctor Faces Psychiatry's Demons

9:58am March 17, 2015

by NPR Staff

In Shrinks, Dr. Jeffrey Lieberman looks at the development of what he himself calls the most distrusted, feared and denigrated of all medical specialties.

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ISIS Gains Ground In Libya; Takes Over Port City Of Surt

1:15pm March 12, 2015

Steve Inskeep talks to David Kilpatrick of The New York Times, who reports that Libya has become so chaotic that a door has been opened for the self-proclaimed Islamic State to expand in the country.

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Alachua County Sheriff Sadie Darnell (left) and Dr. Nancy Hardt, University of Florida.

A Sheriff And A Doctor Team Up To Map Childhood Trauma

12:30pm March 12, 2015

by Laura Starecheski

Sometimes a different perspective can help you see a problem with fresh eyes. The problem to be solved in Gainesville, Fla.? A hot spot of poverty, child abuse and neglect.

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He's 14. He Was A Child Soldier. He's Suicidal. How Can He Be Saved?

5:35pm March 11, 2015

by Maanvi Singh

Rates of post-traumatic stress disorder are high among teens in northern Uganda, a new study shows. Counselors, teachers and parents can help. So can walking on eggs — literally.