The onset of the pandemic in 2020 led to a substantial increase in mental health challenges. In their August 2020 report, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reported that the “prevalence of symptoms” of anxiety and depression were more than three times higher than they were a year before. Roughly 40% of respondents to their...
COVID-19 has not been kind to men. Not only have more men had more severe cases of the infection but more men have died from it than women. Now, a study from a Cleveland Clinic survey took a look at about 1,000 men, age 18 and older, to assess how they are coping with the...
Living in a rural area doesn’t mean you will be less likely to suffer from mental health problems. It does mean you will be less likely to have easy access to diagnosis and care. Even though rural residents are in poorer health generally than those living elsewhere, they have less access to treatment, partly because...Continue reading
When it comes to gender, alcohol and drug abuse are not equal-opportunity afflictions. Men are more likely than women to use almost all types of illegal drugs, and they are more likely to end up in emergency rooms or dying as a result of overdose, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Men also have...Continue reading
The opioid abuse epidemic in the United States was already urgent when the COVID-19 pandemic began, but health authorities fear the virus has made the opioid epidemic even worse. A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report released in December 2020 notes that 10 western states saw opioid overdoses increase in that year. Most...
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
Rural men are likely to experience a sizeable increase in mental health needs during and after the pandemic, whether they had a prior history or not. Chief among these mental issues is depression, as people feel isolated and alone during the pandemic. Men’s Health Network, a non-profit concerned with men’s health issues, convened a conference...Continue reading
Most of us wish our health care system served us better. We pay too much for too little care. Often, we take our frustration out on our doctors. But our doctors may be in worse shape than we are. I know. I was in medical school and saw what we do to our doctors. They...Continue reading
Facing a condition such as bipolar disorder can be frightening. However, for one Yale Medicine patient, healing has happened through a range of personal connections. In his cooking classes, Bob Forlano likes to make dal, the Indian dish with red lentils, celery, onion, garlic, thyme and cumin. “And since I’m a steak-and-potatoes guy,” he says, “I...Continue reading
We were planning to celebrate my 13th birthday with a dinner at my special restaurant, The Pump Room, which served my favorite dessert, a strawberry short-cake with homemade whipped cream. But the celebration was interrupted with a phone call from my uncle, Harry. “Edith, Muni escaped from Camarillo today,” uncle Harry told her. I could hear his anxiety...Continue reading
