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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.
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Public health experts and advocates say the outbreak has been fueled by a confluence of local factors, including the sweeping of a homeless encampment and shuttering of a sterile-syringe program. But those issues may not remain local for long. The Trump administration is leading efforts to promote similar tactics nationwide.
Overuse of digital gadgets harms teenagers, research suggests. But ubiquitous technology may be helping older Americans stay sharp.
LGBTQ+ youth lost dedicated support on the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline in July at a critical time. Advocates say mental health issues are rising in that population amid hostility from the Trump administration.
Get our weekly newsletter, The Week in Brief, featuring a roundup of our original coverage, Fridays at 2 p.m. ET.
California has put a greater focus on behavioral health workers, but a huge spike in demand, an aging workforce, and employee burnout continue to hamper mental health and substance use treatment. The state is tapping Medicaid funds to train, recruit, and retain workers, but it will be a long time before the impacts are evident.
The workforce of a federal agency that oversees billions in grants for primary health care, HIV/AIDS, maternal and child health services, and workforce training has been slashed, sparking fears of what’s to come.
President Donald Trump’s Justice Department seeks to terminate the Flores Settlement Agreement, which since 1997 has required U.S. immigration officials to hold migrant children in facilities that are safe and sanitary, among other protections. Even with the consent decree in place, court records show unsafe conditions for immigrant kids.
Native American groups declare that tribal sovereignty trumps state and federal efforts to restrict or ban gender-affirming care for two-spirit and LGBTQ+ tribal citizens. Tribes are analyzing the risk of opposing Trump’s policies, advocates say.
Colorado, California, and Montana have passed neural data privacy laws meant to prevent the exploitation of brain information collected by consumer products.
The Senate narrowly approved the Trump administration’s request to claw back about $9 billion for foreign aid and public broadcasting but refused to cut funding for the international AIDS/HIV program PEPFAR. Meanwhile, a federal appeals court ruled that West Virginia can ban the abortion pill mifepristone, which could allow states to block other FDA-approved drugs. Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico Magazine, Shefali Luthra of The 19th, and Sandhya Raman of CQ Roll Call join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more.
Children and young adults in the U.S. foster care system suffer from mental health disorders and die by suicide at far higher rates than the general population, yet the system doesn’t uniformly screen and treat children who are at risk.
Billions in opioid settlement money was meant to be spent on treating and preventing addiction — but what happens if it’s misspent? Some advocates say attorneys general need to pay closer attention. If they don’t, a new tool might empower the public.
A new care center for homeless people on Los Angeles’ infamous Skid Row embraces the principle of harm reduction, a more lenient approach to drug use and addiction. County officials say criminalization only worsens homelessness.
Efforts to decrease alarmingly high rates of suicide among construction workers and prevent burnout in health care workers are in jeopardy after the firing of hundreds of employees at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.
While Congress fails to stave off cuts to HIV care, community leaders in Mississippi and beyond race to limit the damage.
Newer formulations are even more effective at preventing illnesses that commonly afflict seniors — perhaps even dementia.
More older people are using cannabis products regularly, but research suggests their cannabis-related health problems are also on the rise.
After decades of unsuccessful efforts to improve California prison conditions, advocates and a federal judge are betting that bonuses and better work accommodations will attract and keep the mental health professionals needed to better treat prisoners.
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