NPR: Anatomy of Addiction—How Heroin and Opioids Hijack the Brain They trigger the release of dopamine, which is a neurotransmitter that causes intense pleasure in parts of the brain that include the limbic system, according to Savage. It links brain areas that control and regulate emotions such as the pleasures of eating, drinking and sex. [...]
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What We’re Reading: Jan. 4, 2016
The Huffington Post: If Uber Kills Cabs, Cities Must Ensure Accessible Vehicles Live Now there's a figure to back them up: According to a recent report, the number of wheelchair-accessible vehicles for hire in San Francisco fell significantly in the past few years -- all while services like Uber and Lyft were rapidly expanding in [...]
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What We’re Reading: Oct. 12, 2015
The New York Times: The chains of mental illness in West Africa Every society struggles to care for people with mental illness. In parts of West Africa, where psychiatry is virtually unknown, the chain is often a last resort for desperate families who cannot control a loved one in the grip of psychosis. Religious retreats, [...]
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What We’re Reading: Oct. 5, 2015
Bloomberg The Job of the Future Is... Home Health Care The BLS has projected that by 2022 there will be 1.9 million home health care workers, making it the fastest growing industry in the land over the coming years, just ahead of the not entirely dissimilar categories of individual and family services and outpatient, laboratory [...]
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What We’re Reading: Sep. 21, 2015
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution The Invisible Epidemic It’s an invisible epidemic, as devastating as diabetes but out of the public eye. Look around you, at your family, your neighbors, your coworkers. Chances are excellent that you’ll see someone suffering from mental illness. Nearly one in five adults in Georgia battles mental illness in any given year. [...]
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What We’re Reading: Aug. 17, 2015
Associated Press Soldier's journey to heal spotlights 'soul wounds' of war While the idea of warriors feeling remorse over battlefield horrors is not new, moral injury – produces extreme guilt and shame from something done or witnessed that goes against one's values or may even be a crime – has gained more attention following the [...]
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Benefits of Medicaid Expansion for Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder
On March 28, 2016 the Department of Health and Human Services published a brief on the benefits of Medicaid expansion for mental health and substance use disorder drafted by the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation. An excerpt of that brief is published below and the full brief can be found here: https://aspe.hhs.gov/pdf-report/benefits-medicaid-expansion-behavioral-health By: Judith Dey, [...]
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