Tag: Mental Health

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Black History Month: A Look Into Racism in Healthcare

With the start of Black History Month, the nation is honoring the achievements of Black individuals—such as artists, activists, scientists, politicians, and everyday community leaders. With such celebration, it’s crucial to acknowledge the ongoing struggles that Black people face, including systemic racism in healthcare and disaster management. Within healthcare, racial discrimination amounts to gaps in receiving adequate resources and care in communities of color. Public health could be the bridge between health and social justice, so how is racism manifesting within health systems?

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Urban Transit Workers Face Ongoing Violence, Research Aims to Manage Stress

MTA worker cleaning a subway car.

New York City transit workers are often put in stressful and unpredictable environments as they maintain one of the largest metropolitan transit systems in the world. The daily stressors of the job have recently come to light as academics highlighted the ongoing violent attacks against bus drivers, subway operators, and station agents. New York University researchers Drs. Robyn Gershon and Alexis Merdjanoff are studying the recent uptick in crime against transit workers, aiming to develop ways to improve mental health for transit workers amidst the growing concern.

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Grace Ann Nader, Aziz Maher, Justin Andries’ Disaster Response Plan for Mental Health Services Post-Hurricane

Aerial view of a hurricane

Introduction: The South Louisiana region, with a rich cultural heritage and diverse population, faces significant challenges due to its location along the Gulf Coast, where hurricanes frequently make landfall. Specifically, Orleans Parish has recently experienced devastating impacts of hurricanes, which have resulted in adverse mental health outcomes for its inhabitants. This annex to the Louisiana Department of Health sets forth guidelines and recommendations for managing the response to mental health needs of individuals and communities in Orleans Parish post-hurricane.

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Wanda Dikiy, Susan Nagel, and Kyung-Hwa Ashcraft’s Disaster Plan for Havana Syndrome

Introduction: U.S. Embassy personnel, U.S. government officials, other members of U.S. Foreign Service, and their families who are stationed to serve abroad are vulnerable to risks from hazards related to the particular geographical location and unique environments of the host country. This comprehensive Disaster Plan is designed to be an iterative process with regular reviews and adjustments, taking into account the complexities of emerging and past threats, the evaluation of their respective responses, and new available technologies.

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One Hundred Days of Atrocity and Thirty Years of Trauma

Young boy looking over his shoulder to a graveyard
Photo courtesy of Gil Serpereau. (https://www.flickr.com/photos/gil_serpereau_photographe/23783585408)

April 1994 has been burned into the memories of countless Rwandans, as close to 1 million people of the Tutsi community were brutally killed by the Hutu people. Violent massacres of members of the Tutsi tribe, as well as the Twa minority and several moderate Hutu, began on April 7, 1994 and lasted for 100 days.

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Mental Health Services Lacking in a Flooded Vale do Taquari, Brazil

Taquari river from Morro do Gaucho mountain in Arroio do Meio, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
Taquari river from Morro do Gaucho mountain in Arroio do Meio, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil

The flood-prone region of Vale do Taquari, Brazil experienced an exceptional El Nino event towards the end of 2023, leading to 52 deaths and impacting the lives of the 400,000 people of the region. Given Vale do Taquari’s already heightened suicide rate, it is crucial to address the mental health effects of this and other climate-related disasters.

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Silvia Penate’s Case Study on the 2012 Mass Psychogenic Illness of Breast Cancer in Ethiopia

Mass psychogenic illness (MPI), or mass hysteria, describes the phenomenon where a large group of people develop certain irrational thoughts, behaviors, or health conditions collectively. Silvia Penate’s Case Study presents the 2012 mass psychogenic illness of breast cancer in Ethiopia, where 120 women developed symptoms of breast cancer following the death of a woman from breast cancer in her 40s.

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Aaryakumari Matroja, Kristen Gladish, Mercy Mirimo, and Lu Wang’s Presentation on Post Disaster Mental Health care for Healthcare Workers

In India, discussions around mental health remain stigmatized despite its high human and economic cost. Healthcare workers in India are at a higher risk for mental health problems due to the physical and emotional demands of their profession.

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Kristen Gladish’s Threat and Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment (THIRA) for the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Mumbai, Maharashtra

In this THIRA, Gladish assesses the natural, technological, and human-caused threats and hazards in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. The natural threats include highly infectious diseases including COVID-19 and rotavirus, air pollution, and heat related mortality. Prominent technological hazards include traffic accidents and infrastructure collapses. Human-related hazards and threats include mental health conditions, substance abuse, and anthropogenic water pollution.

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Guns Are Now the Leading Cause of Death for American Children

In recent weeks, there has been a clear rise in mass shootings in American schools. Firearms are currently the leading cause of death for children in the United States, surpassing motor vehicle accidents. As of April 12th there have been 140 mass shootings in the US, significantly more than the number of calendar days so far this year. Many of these incidents have taken place at school.

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