Some people can take the worst of a situation and create what they need to help themselves get through it. Among them is Hayley Winterberg. She was 12 and living in Maricopa County, Arizona, when she experienced a suicidal crisis. After the hospital discharged her, Hayley found few mental health
“Honestly, if I didn’t have these calls, I don’t know if I’d still be here,” a 27-year-old National Suicide Prevention Lifeline caller shared with a crisis worker at Common Ground Resource and Crisis Center. The caller initially reached out to the Lifeline in 2021, contemplating suicide for the first time after
It's no secret that it’s harder, if not impossible, for people to meaningfully engage in mental health treatment when their immediate needs aren’t met, including safe housing, food, money, and transportation. However, there are other common, often related, barriers to care—racism, stigma, lack of culturally competent care, and resource and
It was a surprise. When Barbara Stanley, Ph.D., and Gregory K. Brown, Ph.D.—along with their research team—developed a safety plan during a treatment study on suicidal adolescents, they aimed to create a stopgap. The researchers wanted the teens to remain outpatient; they thought that would cause less disruption to the
In the days leading up to the start of high school in New Orleans, 14-year-old Kevin felt all the typical new school jitters. Most of his friends were going elsewhere, and summer hadn’t been great; there’d been a rift in his friendship group. Layered on top, Kevin, who is transgender,
A wild cranberry-colored line immediately appears as the liquid moves along the strip. No need to wait 30 seconds, let alone the 15 minutes stated in the directions—an expletive slips between my teeth. “What?” my son calls out. “What is it? Do I have Covid?” I enter his room wearing two
When Katrina Brees stood before the Louisiana State Legislature in May 2019, she could see her supporters fill the rows. They all wore red. But as she spoke, she quickly realized they weren’t supporters at all but there to oppose “Donna's Law,” a bill named in honor of Brees’ mother
Craig Miller says he’s grateful for 988, the newly launched nationwide three-digit number for mental health, substance use, and suicidal crises. Not just for the number itself, but because it shows people who are struggling that those in power, like legislators and agency heads, care. “When you feel ‘they’ care—the
On average, every Congress, 10,000 bills are introduced. Sarah Corcoran, vice president of government relations at Guide Consulting Services, notes that “only around 300-500 pass.” “The odds are not in their favor,” she says. The current legislative session, which began January 3, 2021, has seen 16,833 bills introduced. So far,
It was the height of the pandemic when Daniel Hobdy relapsed. “I spent most of my time in my room, playing video games,” he says. “I had no outside connections.” Like elsewhere across the United States, the face-to-face support group meetings he’d gone to stopped, and the only two people
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