Mental Health
Seeds of Despair: Hundreds of Farmers are Dying by Suicide
Mounting financial pressures, social isolation and a lack of access to mental-health care are contributing to a suicide crisis in rural America.
Forever 18: Uzi Pecina Seemed OK, But He Wasn’t
Uzi Pecina seemed like he was OK. He wasn’t.
Por siempre 18: Uzi Pecina aparentaba estar bien, pero no era así
Los expertos recomiendan hablar con niños a temprana edad para frenar el estigma asociado con salud mental
Latina Veteran Pursues Healing Through Poetry
For Iraq War veteran Lucky Garcia, poetry has become a form of therapy and fuel for her activism in Kansas City.
Suicide-Prevention Specialists Urge Parents To Safely Store Guns, Ammo
Suicide-prevention advocates say access to guns in households with at-risk teenagers is a recipe for disaster.
How Should Police Officers Combat Stress?
Clinical psychotherapist Pat Hinkle was a police officer for 30 years before starting his counseling practice to help other officers work through stress and trauma. During his time as an officer, Hinkle recognized that there was a disconnect between police departments’ understanding of mental health and counselors’ understanding of officers’ experience of stress. “I had…
Sex, pregnancy and foster care
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, teen pregnancy costs taxpayers more than $9 billion a year in health care and other costs. Ironically enough, those other costs include foster care. The irony lies with the fact that foster kids themselves are often the ones responsible for teen pregnancies. According to a…
Treatment, Grief — and Insurance
Lizzy Huffman was 5 years old when she first began to consider herself overweight. It would take nearly a decade before practitioners officially diagnosed her with a multifaceted eating disorder that combines elements of bulimia and anorexia. That was two years ago, and the Lenexa woman is now 18 years old. But for Lizzy and…
Drop-In Centers In Rural Kansas Aim To Address Dangers Of Isolation
The social and health effects of isolation on some rural Kansas residents spurred three Catholic nuns to convert a storefront in Concordia into a drop-in center where women can find support and resources. Seven years after the center opened, two dozen women on average come through each day in the town of about 5,000 to…
Personal Reflection | The Year My Hero Died Cast a Light on Mental Health
A grandfather’s death inspires a granddaughter to reflect on his influence, and seek help to deal with her loss.