Mental Health

The White House's New Suicide Prevention Plan For Veterans Addresses Access To Guns

4:07pm August 03, 2020

by Quil Lawrence

The White House's new suicide prevention plan for veterans includes restricting access to guns. It's politically charged, but experts say it's the most obvious way to help.

The health threat posed by the coronavirus pandemic is particularly intense for people with cancer. Medication weakens the immune system. Cancer treatments are often delayed.

Pandemic Deepens Cancer's Stress And Tough Choices

1:31pm August 03, 2020

by Yuki Noguchi

For many cancer patients, daily life can feel full of risky choices involving work, family, friends and money. Nearly every option pits the risks of catching the coronavirus against other downsides.

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Writer and Anthropologist Laurel Braitman speaks from the TED stage.

Health & Safety

Laurel Braitman: From Healthcare Workers To The Rest Of Us — How Can We Better Cope?

10:37am July 31, 2020

by NPR/TED STAFF

Healthcare jobs are already stressful. Add a pandemic ... and ongoing police brutality? And it's a lot. We hear from physicians of color and TED Fellow Laurel Braitman about taking care of ourselves.

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"People are not very good with large numbers," says Elke Weber, a professor of psychology at Princeton University. "We don't discriminate between 150,000 or 300,000 or 3 million."

Why We Grow Numb To Staggering Statistics — And What We Can Do About It

5:46pm July 28, 2020

by Ailsa Chang

The growing coronavirus death toll doesn't provoke the same type of emotional response that a plane crash might. It's a coping mechanism and how our neurons are wired, says psychologist Elke Weber.

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Several lines of evidence now suggest that two common vaccines against respiratory illnesses can help protect against Alzheimer's, too. How much brain protection they offer will require more intensive study to quantify, scientists say.

Flu Shot And Pneumonia Vaccine Might Reduce Alzheimer's Risk, Research Shows

11:34am July 27, 2020

by Jon Hamilton

Two new human studies back earlier hints that vaccines designed to prevent respiratory infections might also provide some protection against Alzheimer's disease.

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Education

North Carolina Schools Reopen Next Month — We Want To Hear From You!

10:21am July 24, 2020

by WFDD Staff

How Pandemic Has Affected Mental Health Of LGBTQ Youth In The U.S.

4:25pm July 20, 2020

NPR's Ailsa Chang talks with Amit Paley of The Trevor Project about its recent survey on the mental health of LGBTQ youth and how being quarantined in unsupportive households is affecting their lives.

"Doomscrolling," has emerged as a new slang term to describe the practice of endlessly consuming doom-and-gloom news.

Health & Safety

Your 'Doomscrolling' Breeds Anxiety. Here's How To Stop The Cycle

9:10am July 19, 2020

by Lulu Garcia-Navarro

So many of us do it: the long scroll through grim news on social media before bed. A cognitive behavioral specialist offers advice on how to stop "doomscrolling" for the sake of your mental health.

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View of Seltun geothermal field in Krysuvik on the Reykjanes peninsula in southwestern Iceland on July 5, 2014.

World News

App Lets You Destress By Screaming Into Icelandic Wilderness

3:21pm July 17, 2020

2020 has been a stressful year. Iceland wants to help. A group developed an app that will let you record and broadcast a scream, pent up by the pandemic, into the Icelandic wilderness.

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Waiting for an Echo, by Christine Montross

Psychiatrist: America's 'Extremely Punitive' Prisons Make Mental Illness Worse

3:42pm July 16, 2020

by Dave Davies

Dr. Christine Montross says people with serious mental illnesses in the U.S. are far more likely to be incarcerated than to be treated in a psychiatric hospital. Her new book is Waiting for an Echo.

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