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Engaging in a Diálogo about Culture and Mental Health
December 11, 2013 By Caroline Clauss-Ehlers, PhD My entrée to mental health reporting in 1999 was unplanned. I was working for a not-for-profit organization and a request came in for someone to speak about depression during the holidays for a local Spanish television show, Diálogo en el Bronx. Not sure…
Radio Stories from Producer Laura Starecheski, 2011-2012 Fellow
December 4, 2013 Radio Producer Laura Starecheski, 2011-2012 Fellow, has recently released three new pieces on schizophrenia and a special on veterans with a focus on mental health. The first piece, The Hospital Always Wins, is a culmination of Laura’s nine-year relationship with artist Issa Ibrahim that inspired her entry into…
Current Fellow Jonathan Martin on Peer Support
December 2, 2013 One of our current fellows, Seattle based journalist Jonathan Martin, has an editorial out on the benefits of peer bridges to reduce hospitalizations and enhance recovery. Find his article in the Seattle Times here.
Mental Health Series on Univision Atlanta
November 21, 2013 Amanda Ramirez, one of our 2012-2013 Fellows, is having her Spanish language series on mental health in the Hispanic community aired this week on the Univision Atlanta TV station. Her first two stories are Story # 1 – ‘No Estoy Loco!’ and Story # 2 – ‘Salud…
Fellow Bobbie O’Brien Reports on new HBO Documentary on Veteran Suicide
November 19, 2013 Bobbie O’Brien, 2010-2011 Fellow, reports on a new HBO documentary on veteran suicide on her blog, Off the Base. O’Brien launched the multimedia forum as part of her project with the Journalism Fellowship Program, and celebrates with this announcement her 1,000th blog post. Since its inception more…
Ethics and Mental Health Journalism: The Difficult Case of Borderline Personality Disorder
November 18, 2013 By Dominic Sisti Emotions run high in interviews with clinicians about patients with borderline personality disorder (BPD). Many doctors are not comfortable treating patients with BPD. Some are even openly hostile and admit they ‘turf’ or avoid patients with BPD because they find them too exhausting or…
Former Fellow Katherine Kam speaks up on Asian American Mental Health
November 15, 2013 Katherine Kam, 2012-2013 Fellow, dedicated her Fellowship project to shedding light on the unique issues in mental health for Asian American teens and students. She recently interviewed with host Jenee Darden at Mental Health and Wellness Radio about what pressures and stigmas Asian American youth may experience…
European Citizen’s Prize Awarded to Romanian Fellow Adviser, Ioana Avadani
November 4, 2013 This past October, Ioana Avadani, administrator of the Romanian Fellowship Program, traveled to Brussels to receive the prestigious European Citizen’s Prize awarded by the European Parliament. The Prize has been awarded since 2008 to recognize exceptional achievements by Europeans. It is given for “activities that either facilitate…
Latest Piece on Military Mental Health from 2011-2012 Fellow Rebecca Ruiz
October 30, 2013 Former Fellow Rebecca Ruiz maintains a strong presence on the topic of mental health in the military. Her newest piece, published in Al Jazeera America, offers a narrative of a father’s recovery after his son’s suicide at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune in North Carolina. With a…
Recent Study: Psychiatric Characteristics of Homicide Defendants
October 24, 2013 A recent article in the American Journal of Psychiatry looked at the rates of mental disorders in a sample of homicide defendants in order to identify psychiatric issues associated with the defendants. In light of the events of the past few years, filled with many cases of…
Previous Fellow Eugene Richards’ Newest Project
October 23, 2013 Eugene Richards (2002-2003 Fellow) is hoping to self publish his newest book titled Red Ball of a Sun Slipping Down, which looks at the impoverished community of the Mississippi delta of Arkansas, where Richards began working in 1969 for four years as a social worker and where…
Columbian Fellows Featured on Carter Center Website
October 22, 2013 A new video about one of the two Colombian Fellowship projects has been posted to the Carter Center website. The video features interviews with two of our Colombian fellows, Paula Bedoya and Fernanda Hernández, who are working together on a project about depression in Colombia, as well as clips…
Previous Fellow, Aaron Glantz, Continues to Report on Breaking Behavioral Health Issues
Former fellow Aaron Glantz (2008-2009) has recently published a series of articles exposing the massive rate of opiate prescriptions to US war veterans through the VA system. As a Veteran Reporter for the Center for Investigative Reporting, Glantz broke the initial story on September 28, reporting data that show a…
Finding Human Stories beyond a Tipping Point: What’s behind the ACA?
October 8, 2013 By Ron Manderscheid, Ph.D. The first of October was a tipping point for the American people. On that day, the United States joined all other developed countries in moving toward universal health insurance coverage. A total of 39 million poor and near-poor Americans became eligible to enroll…
An Opportunity for Mental Health Journalism in a Post-conflict Colombia
September 13, 2013 By Victor Garcia Journalism has always been like a mirror of societies. It also serves as a map for communities to understand their current events. For decades, Colombian journalists have had the courage to reflect their country’s conflict and violence in their work. Many reporters, searching for…
Intern Blog Post: Personal Perception Changes in Mental Health
August 9, 2013 While interning with the Carter Center’s Mental Health Program, we have been exposed to various news outlets’ stories about mental health. As our summer internships draw to a close, we hope to share some of our own insights about mental health journalism. Following the Newtown, Connecticut shooting…
Changes in Public Attitudes and Journalism Practice Regarding Mental Illness
August 6, 2013 By Bob Meyers Years ago I attended a professional conference on mental health issues, a topic I wanted to know more about. It had taken some persuading to get my editor to OK the expenses and the time away from the office. I explained that this was…
Southern Baptist Convention Issues Resolution on Mental Health
August 5, 2013 Last month, the Southern Baptist Convention’s Resolutions Committee met in Houston to discuss the direction of the organization’s policies and to produce corresponding resolutions. Topics discussed ranged from opposing the Boy Scouts of America’s recent gay membership policy changes to supporting the fight against human trafficking. Also…
Longitudinal ‘Crack Babies’ Study Yields Unexpected Results
August 1, 2013 In 1989, Hallam Hurt, then chair of neonatology at Philadelphia’s Albert Einstein Medical Center, began studying the long-term health prospects of children born to mothers who had smoked crack cocaine during pregnancy. Despite the popular belief that the fetuses exposed to crack in the womb would become developmentally disabled, Hurt’s study…
ACLU Finds More Prisoners with Mental Illness Locked in Solitary Confinement
July 31, 2013 An 18-month study by the ACLU of Colorado found that nearly 90 Colorado prisoners with serious mental illnesses were locked in solitary confinement this year. Many of these prisoners had been in solitary confinement for at least four years despite legal and expert recommendations that prisons stop…