A Letter from the HHS Partnership Center Director Greetings friends, The data is in and, as many would have anticipated, the COVID-19 pandemic was experienced with particular hardship among those with substance use disorders. In 2020, the rate of drug overdose deaths accelerated and increased 31% from the year before – usually from opioids –...
Well, here we are again, the last few weeks of the year. Those weeks that include Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s—collectively called “the holidays.” If you’re reading this article, it means that you have survived the last two years – which have included an election, social unrest, and oh that darned pandemic! Instead of enjoying...Continue reading
COVID-19’s isolation may be necessary for physical health, but it’s causing a torrent of mental health problems for boys and young men that are worsening as the pandemic drags on. Family members, friends and work colleagues can play an important part in monitoring the mental health of the men and boys they care about. The...Continue reading
I’ll be 75 years old this year. My wife, Carlin, will be 80. Even our 5 children are rushing past mid-life. We’ve all had health challenges that we talk about with family, friends, and our health-care providers. But there’s one problem that remains hidden. It’s depression and bipolar disorder. My father suffered from them for...Continue reading
Like millions of others in the U.S. and throughout the world, I’ve been depressed a lot in my life and I’ve taken medications to help relieve the hopelessness, irritability, and lack of energy that plagued me. In 2004, I wrote a book, The Irritable Male Syndrome: Understanding the 4 Key Causes of Depression and Aggression that gathered...Continue reading
I was five years old when my uncle drove me to the mental hospital. He was taking me to see my father who had suffered “a nervous breakdown.” Later I learned that he had become increasingly depressed because he couldn’t make a living supporting his family. Like me, he was a writer, and found it...Continue reading
We often hear the clinical terms used by doctors and other professionals to identify the symptoms of mental illnesses…but if someone hasn’t gone through it, would they know how to recognize it? So often, clinical terms don’t do justice to what life with a mental illness feels like. We know that two people with the...Continue reading
“You know, Doc, there are times when I lose my erection…just like that. It happens when I’m really stressed out. It’s like the penis has ears or something!” Say it aint so! Can the penis really “hear” stress and go flat because of it? The Good Wood This reminds me of another scenario in which the...Continue reading
It was a “seminal” event, and by White House invitation. The topic? The future of men’s health. Why are men medically underserved in America? What cultural factors are at play that we can change? Who should be involved? Seeds of Change An impressive array of stakeholders was present for the dialogue. Hats off to the...Continue reading
When it comes to spending money to look good, women have got men beat, hands down. In 2014, of the 1.3 million cosmetic procedures–and the $12.9 billion Americans spent on them–women accounted for 90 percent. But things are changing: the number of cosmetic procedures (which include both surgical and non-surgical) men had is up 273...