Many users now mix opioids with stimulants such as meth and cocaine. Researchers say efforts to get doctors to reduce opioid prescriptions may have driven some users to buy meth on the street instead.
The U.S. government has doled out at least $2.4 billion in state grants since 2017, specifically targeting the opioid epidemic. Yet drug abuse problems seldom involve only one substance.
Having to come up with $1,000 unexpectedly can be a challenge for anyone. NPR's recent poll on rural health found that especially true for one group: people with disabilities.
Changing how the mind reacts to pain can reduce the discomfort experienced, according to scientists who study brain pathways that regulate pain. A new type of therapy aims to enhance that effect.
VA hospitals are recording patients' life stories to help strengthen understanding between patients and their caregivers. Including such stories in medical records may even improve health outcomes.
The Affordable Care Act and other U.S. laws sought to put insurance coverage for mental health conditions on equal footing with coverage for physical conditions. But patients say that's not happening.
Move over, fruit flies, rats and zebrafish. Squid and octopuses have elaborate brains and behaviors, and scientists say studying them in the laboratory could yield important biological insights.
The marijuana and hemp extract has been touted as a way to ease anxiety and inflammation, despite limited science. Now, the FDA is holding its first public hearing on cannabidiol.
For teens who've experienced childhood trauma, playing team sports may help them avoid depression and anxiety later in life. But the cost of teen sports puts them out of reach for many could benefit.
In 2018, Jack Sawyer told police he wanted to set a new record: highest death count for a school shooter. He was arrested, but the courts had to decide whether Sawyer's plan was even a crime.
Anthony Rostain and B. Janet Hibbs say college students today face an "inordinate amount of anxiety" — but parents can help their kids cope. Their book is The Stressed Years of Their Lives.
The pharmaceutical industry is facing hundreds of lawsuits around the country from state and local officials, who want the industry to help pay to tackle the opioid epidemic.
Outside of military contexts, many therapists aren't familiar with two key treatment options for trauma recommended by the American Psychiatric Association and the Department of Veterans Affairs.
American men face higher rates of suicide than women and higher rates of incarceration. In the age of #MeToo, some men are turning to each other to build healthy esteem that builds up others too.
Around 15% of girls begin menstruation by age 7. The challenges of puberty can rock anybody, but being the first of your friends to go through it can be especially stressful. Good parenting helps.
The Pulitzer prize-winning author draws from history and psychology, theorizing that nations in crisis can learn from the experiences of people in crisis — and looks for a path forward for the U.S.
A study looked at who gets prescriptions for buprenorphine, and found that white patients are almost 35 times as likely to get the lifesaving addiction treatment than African Americans.
Denver could be the first place to decriminalize psychedelic mushrooms if voters pass a ballot measure today. Supporters point to research finding therapeutic effects from fungi containing psilocybin.
Reaching out in kindness, mindful breathing and taking time daily to note positive moments and personal strengths are all part of a program that reduces anxiety and depression. But it takes practice.
Now that so many experimental drugs targeting amyloid-beta have bombed, scientists are looking for different approaches for treating Alzheimer's, including a drug that failed as a cancer treatment.
Mind Fixers, by historian Anne Harrington, takes a hard look at the ways the marketing of a new pill to treat a mental disorder can change the way the condition is defined and treated.
The return of methamphetamine is overwhelming police, ERs and treatment centers — especially west of the Mississippi. But, unlike opioid dependency, meth addiction has no reliable treatment.
Boys ages 10-17 killed themselves at a much higher rate in the month after Netflix's show about suicide was released in 2017. Researchers attribute an extra 195 deaths that year to the series.
