Mental Health

Latest KFF Health News Stories

Use Of Psychiatric Drugs Soars In California Jails

KFF Health News Original

A combination of factors has led to an “astronomical” increase in mentally ill inmates, followed by increased efforts to identify those who need prescriptions. Some say the meds are underprescribed; others, that they are given inappropriately, without the benefit of comprehensive treatment.

Tax-Funded Mental Health Programs Not Always Easy To Find

KFF Health News Original

Revenue from California’s Mental Health Services Act has funded billions of dollars in mental health programs across the state, but finding out what’s available — and to whom — could be a challenge for consumers.

California Lawmakers Seek Reparations For People Sterilized By The State

KFF Health News Original

More than 20,000 Californians were sterilized at state homes and hospitals from 1909 to 1979, most of them women, people with disabilities and immigrants. Now, a state lawmaker wants to provide reparations to the roughly 800 living survivors, many of whom never consented to the procedures or did so under pressure.

In A Puerto Rican Mountain Town, Hope Ebbs And Health Suffers

KFF Health News Original

More than six months after Hurricane Maria, daily life in Castañer, Puerto Rico, is nowhere close to normal as residents try to deal with the effects of trauma, chronic stress and the continued lack of electricity.

Psiquiatra se queda cerca de casa, fiel a su promesa de la infancia

KFF Health News Original

La doctora Yamanda Edwards es la única psiquiatra en el Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Hospital. Ella decidió ejercer en el vecindario en donde creció, que tiene una necesidad acuciante de servicios de salud mental.

How Many Opioid Overdoses Are Suicides?

KFF Health News Original

Opioid overdoses and related deaths are still climbing, U.S. statistics show. Teasing out which overdoses are intentional can be hard, but is important for treatment, doctors say.