Commentary: Assumption of Mental Illness in Shooters Growing, Wrong

"As the perceived frequency of mass shootings becomes ever more alarming, the knee-jerk assumption that gunmen have mental health conditions has become routine. Even mainstream broadcast news outlets react to mass shootings by immediately having psychiatrists or other mental health professionals on as guests as if to corroborate the public's collective psychiatric diagnosis of each perpetrator. But let's look at the facts."

How Misunderstanding Disability Leads to Police Violence

"In the latest data released by the U.S. Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Statistics, Americans with disabilities are victims of violent crimes at nearly three times the rate of their peers without disabilities. In 2012 alone, 1.3 million nonfatal violent crimes were perpetrated against people with disabilities aged 12 or older. Statistics bear out that people with disabilities are far more likely to be the victims of crimes than the perpetrators of them, and therefore are arguably in greater need of supportive relationships with and understanding from law enforcement."

Substance Abuse And Mental Disorders Often Go Hand-In-Hand. What's The Status Of Good Treatment?

“Statistics don’t lie: co-occurring mental disorders and addiction - also called dual diagnosis - go hand in hand. In fact, according to several long-standing epidemiological studies, 50% of general psychiatric patients also have a substance use disorder. That’s a harrowing 8.9 million adults, with only 7.4% of individuals receiving treatment for both conditions, this according to The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).”

3 Reasons Why I Am Out of the Closet About My Recovery

“I have been asked many times to explain why I have chosen to be so “out of the closet” and open about being a person in long-term recovery from a substance use disorder. This inquiry generally comes from well-meaning individuals with good intentions who are seeking to understand. Typically I field questions such as “aren’t you worried about people judging you?” or “it’s been so long, aren’t you past the point of talking about your recovery?” I am always happy to explain the reasons why it is so important to me to recover out loud - below are my top 3:”

Treating Opioid Addiction With A Drug that Raises Hope and Controversy

“Scientists and doctors say the case is clear: The best way to tackle the country's opioid epidemic is to get more people on medications that have been proven in studies to reduce relapses and, ultimately, overdoses.”

Reframing the language of addiction: Researcher pushes to strike the term abuse

"Some terms that are still being used that no longer reflect what scientists now know about how addiction works. They can also be unnecessarily stigmatizing during a time when the nation is grappling with a growing opioid crisis."

Language of addiction itself can hurt, advocates say

“Windia Rodriguez remembers the sting of the words hurled at her during a hospital stay a few years ago. ‘Crackhead.’ ‘Addict.’ Especially, she recalls the scorn in the voices that pronounced her ‘justan addict.’”

Stop Calling It Behavioral Health!

“When somebody is treated for smoking cessation, the care will probably be provided within the behavioral health system. If that person is later diagnosed with lung cancer, that will be treated over in physical health. If she becomes depressed, that’ll be managed back over in behavioral health. But if the depression causes digestive problems, that aspect of the patient’s health and health care will be treated...you get the picture.”