Mental Health

Latest KFF Health News Stories

Sleepless Nights, Hair Loss and Cracked Teeth: Pandemic Stress Takes Its Toll

KFF Health News Original

Reports are on the rise regarding excruciating headaches, stomach upsets for weeks on end, sudden outbreaks of shingles and flare-ups of autoimmune disorders. A common thread among the complaints, one that has been months in the making, is chronic stress.

New Laws Keep Pandemic-Weary California at Forefront of Health Policy Innovation

KFF Health News Original

Gov. Gavin Newsom approved many consequential health care bills by his bill-signing deadline Wednesday, including a ban on the sale of menthol and other flavored tobacco products, the creation of a state generic drug label and better coverage for mental health disorders.

‘You’re Going to Release Him When He Was Hurting Himself?’

KFF Health News Original

Daniel Prude’s family knew he needed psychiatric care and tried to get it for him. Instead, his encounter with police hours after he was released from Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester, New York, proved fatal.

Public Health Officials Are Our COVID Commanders. Treat Them With Respect.

KFF Health News Original

This pandemic is like war, and California’s local health officers are leading the state’s response. Yet unlike war heroes, who are lionized, they are facing unprecedented attacks and death threats.

Feeling Anxious and Depressed? You’re Right at Home in California.

KFF Health News Original

In a series of July U.S. Census Bureau surveys, nearly half of California adult respondents reported levels of anxiety and gloom typically associated with diagnoses of generalized anxiety disorder or major depressive disorder, a stunning figure that rose through the summer alongside the menacing spread of the coronavirus.

KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Democrats in Array (For Now)

KFF Health News Original

In a highly produced, made-for-TV political convention, Democrats papered over their differences on a variety of issues, including health care, to show a unified front to defeat President Donald Trump in November. Meanwhile, COVID-19 continues to complicate efforts to get students back to school, and a federal judge blocks the Trump administration’s efforts to eliminate anti-discrimination protections for transgender people. Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times, Paige Winfield Cunningham of The Washington Post and Shefali Luthra of The 19th join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss this and more. Plus, for extra credit, the panelists recommend their favorite health stories of the week they think you should read, too.

Turning Anger Into Action: Minority Students Analyze COVID Data on Racial Disparities

KFF Health News Original

About 70 college students are enrolled this summer in a program developed by San Francisco researchers and funded by the National Institutes of Health that allows them to explore the pandemic’s impact on communities facing health disparities.

Namaste Noir: Yoga Co-Op Seeks to Diversify Yoga to Heal Racialized Trauma

KFF Health News Original

In dealing with her son’s violent murder, fear over the coronavirus pandemic and the stress of coping with systemic racism, Beverly Grant has found strength and peace through yoga. The Denver native is part of a yoga co-op seeking to bring the ancient practice to more diverse communities as a health care tool.

Colorado, Like Other States, Trims Health Programs Amid Health Crisis

KFF Health News Original

Across the country, the recession has cut state revenues at the same time the COVID-19 pandemic has increased costs, forcing state lawmakers into painful decisions about how to balance their budgets. Health care is one of the targets even in the midst of a health care crisis.

For A Black Social Media Manager In The George Floyd Age, Each Click Holds Trauma

KFF Health News Original

In communities of color, the decision to participate in this moment of collective trauma — whether by watching and sharing the video of George Floyd’s death, discussing racial injustice on social media, or protesting and speaking out in the 3D world — can be one rife with anxiety and profound mental distress.

Las muertes ocultas de la pandemia de COVID

KFF Health News Original

Mientras funcionarios tratan de sumar cuántas personas dan positivo para el coronavirus y cuántas mueren por COVID, la pandemia ha dejado un número incalculable de muertes en las sombras.

The Hidden Deaths Of The COVID Pandemic

KFF Health News Original

Counting deaths caused by the coronavirus pandemic is easier said than done. Without widespread testing, officials must sort through presumed COVID deaths and those who died with infections rather than from them. Then there are the indirect deaths of people who died from circumstances created by the pandemic.

How Those With Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Cope With Added Angst Of COVID

KFF Health News Original

During the coronavirus pandemic, people with obsessive-compulsive disorder and other serious anxieties may struggle to distinguish concerns brought on by their conditions from the fears shared by the general public. But some patients say successful treatment has armed them to handle COVID-19’s uncertainties.