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Ketamine, long used as an anesthetic or illegal party drug, is being combined with psychotherapy to treat severe depression and post-traumatic stress — a potential tool for those with high trauma rates, like firefighters and police officers. Yet the drug’s stigma and unregulated marketplace leave first responders in uncharted territory.
The physical hazards of construction work have long been a focus of safety professionals. Yet attention on the psychosocial hazards is relatively new, with suicide and substance use soaring among male construction workers. Mitigating those risks requires more than hard hats, safety vests, and protective goggles.
Burnout, PTSD, depression, and substance misuse are rampant among first responders, partly fueled by the anti-police sentiments after the killing of George Floyd. Combined with low morale, the poor state of officers’ mental health has pushed many out of the profession, leaving those who remain exhausted. A handful of specialized treatment facilities are trying to meet demand, but more resiliency training is needed, experts said.
An estimated 300,000 people were held in solitary confinement in U.S. jails and prisons at the height of the pandemic. An international movement is pushing to limit the form of incarceration due to its damaging physical and psychological effects.
As more people return to air travel, tension is mounting in airports nationwide. Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson is among those that have responded to the pandemic-related stress and fear among passengers and employees by offering services such as meditation, chaplains and other help in their terminals.
“Lost on the Frontline” is an ongoing project by Kaiser Health News and The Guardian that aims to document the lives of health care workers in the U.S. who died from COVID 19, and to investigate why so many are victims of the disease.
An innovative hospital run by the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians in North Carolina showcases an alternative model of health care that could have lessons for other tribal communities and beyond.
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