Read about Mental Health and Substance Abuse in the Local, National and International News.

The Opioid Epidemic

• America's Other Epidemic: The Opioid Crisis Is Worse Than 4 Years Ago. NPR, November 18, 2020.
• Purdue Pharma Pleads Guilty to Criminal Charges for Opioid Sales. New York Times, October 21, 2020.
• Message from Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Use about Recovery Month 2020. SAMHSA. September 1, 2020.
• 'We are here for you': Offers of help go out as opioid overdoses jump in COVID-19 era. By Will Cleveland, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle. May 14, 2020.
• Job loss, anxiety, isolation: Coronavirus is a prescription for more opioid use. By Mary Bono, Opinion, USA Today. April 16, 2020.
• Officials worry of potential spike in overdose deaths amid COVID-19 pandemic. Alexander Mallin, ABC News. April 15, 2020.
• COVID-19: Potential Implications for Individuals with Substance Abuse Disorders. National Institute on Drug Abuse. March 12, 2020.
• The death toll of the opioid epidemic is higher than originally thought, researchers say. By Meryl Kornfield, The Washington Post. February 28, 2020.
• Democrat: Lawmakers need to approach opioid crisis as 'a chronic situation'. By Julia Manchester, The Hill. February 26, 2020.
• House candidate in Arizona suspends campaign after drug overdose. By Veronica Stracqualursi, CNN. February 25, 2020.
• DEA: The US opioid crisis is 'ever-increasing'. By Adriana Belmonte, Yahoo News. February 20, 2020.
• Opioid crisis prompts construction company, other businesses to tackle addiction in the workplace. By Elizabeth Fite, Chattanooga Times Free Press. Feb 2, 2020.
• How America's prisons and jails perpetuate the opioid epidemic. By German Lopez, Vox. Jan 31, 2020.
• Drug overdose deaths fell in 2018 — but were still near record highs. By German Lopez, Vox. January 30, 2020.
• Some universities should get a failing grade when it comes to the opioid crisis. Opinion. By Julia DyReyes, Philadelphia Inquirer. January 29, 2020.
• Are we making progress or stuck in neutral with the opioid crisis? Opinion. By Adam Bruggeman, The Hill. January 27, 2020.
• How Philly plans to combat the nation's worst big-city opioid crisis in 2020. By Aubrey Whelan, Philadelphia Inquirer. January 21, 2020.
• Study links Medicaid expansion to 6 percent reduction in opioid overdose deaths. By German Lopez, Vox. January 10, 2020.
• Many Addiction Centers Lack Anti-Opioid Meds: Study. By Alan Mozes, US News. January 22, 2019.
• Why Grieving an Overdose Death is So Hard. By Joseph Kirkpatrick, DrJFK.com. October 3, 2018.

COVID-19 and Mental Health

• Top Tips To Decrease Coronavirus Anxiety & Improve Emotional Well Being. Mental Health America. June 30, 2020.
• 25 Million Students on COVID-19: 'Depression, Anxiety and Loneliness' Hitting Peak Levels. John Koetsier, Forbes. May 23, 2020.
• How to Reduce Your Risk of PTSD in a Post-COVID-19 World. By Jennifer Taitz, The New York Times. May 20, 2020.
• Experts Say It's Like Getting A Mental Health "Stimulus Check" From Your Peers. By Denise Brodey, Forbes. April 26, 2020.
• Mental Health and Coping During COVID-19: Managing Anxiety and Stress. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
• Coronavirus: Why healthcare workers are at risk for moral injury. BBC News. April 6, 2020.
• Coronavirus Pandemic Takes Toll on Mental Health: Interrupted Treatments, heightened anxiety and enforced isolation cause lasting damage, especially to those with existing conditions. By Ruth Bender and Rachel Pannett, Wall Street Journal. April 9, 2020.
• Long-term social distancing may be traumatic. Here is what to expect and what to do. By Madeline Holcombe, CNN. April 9, 2020.
• Posttraumatic Stress Disorder during COVID-19. University of Michigan, Department of Psychiatry.

PTSD and Veterans

• There's More Than One Right Way to Treat PTSD in Veterans. By Kacie Kelly, Military.com. February 18, 2020.
• For Some Vets, Peer Counseling May Be More Helpful Than Traditional Mental Health Treatment. By Alyssa Jeong-Perry, The American Homefront Project. February 4, 2020.
• Wounded Warrior Project: PTSD is Treatable. By Mike Richardson, Military Times. February 14, 2020.
• PTSD in Veterans: Know the signs and ways to cope. By Nicole Blanton, Baylor College of Medicine. November 11, 2019.
• Injections Found to Successfully Treat PTSD Symptoms in Veterans. By Ben Kesling, The Wall Street Journal. November 6, 2019.
• Virtual Reality PTSD treatment has 'big impact' for veterans. By Tomos Morgan, BBC News. October 1, 2019.
• Statistics on PTSD in Veterans. By Elaine K. Howley, US News. June 28, 2019.

General Mental Health News

• Peer counseling seen as salve for first responders' stress and despair. By Michael Moline, Florida Phoenix. February 28, 2020.
• Mental-Health Research Ask: What Is 'Recovery'? By Benedict Carey, The New York Times. February 25, 2020.
• The Distorted Reflections of an Eating Disorder. By Abby Sher, Voices Section, The New York Times. February 25, 2020.
• Mental health: How we've improved and where we need to do better in 2020. By Nicole Spector, NBC News. January 10, 2020.
• How bigotry created a black mental health crisis. By Kylie M. Smith, Made by History Section, The Washington Post. July 29, 2019.
• Racial Disparities in Mental Health and Criminal Justice. By Leah Pope, National Alliance on Mental Illness. July 24, 2019.