Mental Health

Vierkandt says she appreciated her mentor Coplan's support and guidance during difficult years. "For the older generation, they've lived life. They can tell you 'Oh that doesn't matter,'" she says.

Health & Safety

Bringing Together Young And Old To Ease The Isolation Of Rural Life

7:36pm August 07, 2019

by Rhitu Chatterjee

In rural communities, loneliness and lack of social connection are taking a toll on the elderly and young alike. One group in Minnesota is trying to solve the problem by connecting the generations.

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John Poynter of Clarksville, Tenn., uses a wall calendar to keep track of all his appointments for both behavioral health and physical ailments. His mental health case manager, Valerie Klein, appears regularly on the calendar — and helps make sure he ge

Health & Safety

Coordinating Care Of Mind And Body Might Help Medicaid Save Money And Lives

4:35pm August 07, 2019

by Blake Farmer

Tennessee's innovative Medicaid program is offering bonuses to mental health providers who help make sure their Medicaid patients get preventive help and treatment for physical ailments too.

Crosses memorialize the victims of a mass shooting, which left at least 22 people dead, in El Paso, Texas. It was one of cluster of shootings that took place in roughly a week.

Health & Safety

Mass Shootings Can Be Contagious, Research Shows

5:15pm August 06, 2019

by Rhitu Chatterjee

It may not be a coincidence that several mass shootings took place in one week. Research shows perpetrators are often inspired by media coverage of other shootings.

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A makeshift memorial is set up outside Walmart, near the scene of Saturday's mass shooting in El Paso, Texas. Lawmakers in some states have passed what are known as "red flag" laws to prevent such shootings.

Lawmakers Push For 'Red Flag' Laws To Take Guns Away From People In Crisis

11:22am August 06, 2019

by Liz Szabo

President Trump wants to expand laws that allow courts to intervene when someone shows signs of pending violence, and lawmakers are getting behind the idea. But are these laws effective?

Robyn Adcock (left), a University of California, San Francisco pain relief specialist, gently guides Jessica Greenfield to acupressure points on her son's foot and leg that have helped relieve his chronic pain.

Pain Rescue Team Helps Seriously Ill Kids Cope In Terrible Times

12:41pm August 05, 2019

by Alison Kodjak

An interdisciplinary team in San Francisco uses acupressure, massage, counseling and other methods, as well as medicine, to help kids get relief from chronic pain. But such pediatric centers are rare.

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Sabine Doebel: How Can We Make Better Decisions To Help Us Live Better Lives?

10:12am August 02, 2019

by NPR and TED Staff

Ever wish your brain just ... worked better? Developmental cognitive scientist Sabine Doebel explains what we can do to improve our executive function to break bad habits and create better ones.

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A Guatemalan teen asylum-seeker (left), who isn't able to hear or speak, signs with his mom in Florida. He was brusquely separated from her and held in a shelter for nearly three months, unable to readily communicate, according to a civil rights complaint

Homeland Security's Civil Rights Unit Lacks Power To Protect Migrant Kids

9:00am August 02, 2019

A former official in the civil rights office says the unit seems afraid to offend U.S. Customs and Border Protection and ICE. Meanwhile, the complaints of abuses of families continue to pile up.

A rock of crystal methamphetamine lifted from a suspect in Orange County, Calif. This fall, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention expects to begin collecting more local information about the rising use of meth, cocaine and other stimulants.

Seizures Of Methamphetamine Are Surging In The U.S.

11:40pm July 29, 2019

by Martha Bebinger

The amount of meth seized in the U.S. more than doubled from 2017 to 2018. That translates to lots more meth, along with cocaine and other stimulants, on the streets — and likely more deaths.

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Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg shares laugh with her husband, Martin, at an event at Columbia Law School in 2003. Martin Ginsburg, or "Marty," passed away in 2010.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg On Love And Other Things

1:23pm July 27, 2019

by Domenico Montanaro

"I miss him every morning," the Supreme Court justice said of her late husband and booster, Marty, in an interview with NPR's Nina Totenberg.

Sheri Adler at an American Behavioral Health Systems office in Wenatchee, Wash. At age 72, Adler attempted to take her own life.

Isolated And Struggling, Many Seniors Are Turning To Suicide

8:03am July 27, 2019

The golden years are thought to be a well-earned, carefree time in life. But adults 65 and older now account for almost 1 in 5 suicides in America.