News

For 15 years, Jennifer Alvarado lived in survival mode. She struggled to hold a job, was at risk of homelessness and relied on food banks to feed her family. It was exactly the kind of life she hoped to avoid when she joined the Navy as a 19-year-old single mom.

But after years of intimate partner violence compounded by military sexual trauma, Alvarado felt lost. At times, she found solace in drinking, and during one phase in her life, she considered suicide.

When Alvarado sought help through the Department of Veterans Affairs, she was often left disappointed. She said she was sexually harassed at her local VA clinic and that her benefits claim for depression was denied, though doctors piled on prescriptions.

Among women veterans who use VA care, around 1 in 3 report experiencing military sexual trauma (MST), which refers to a spectrum of sexual harassment, assault or both. Veterans with a history of MST experience a higher prevalence of substance abuse and are at increased risk for suicidal thoughts and behaviors, the DAV report shows.

An even more vulnerable time for women veterans is during menopause. According to the report, this period corresponds to the highest rates of suicide in U.S. women.

Usually beginning between ages 45 and 55, menopause comes with fluctuations in hormone production and is often accompanied by a variety of symptoms, including hot flashes, sleep disruption, body aches, weight gain, incontinence and memory problems. Menopause has also been shown to raise the risk for depression in U.S. women twofold, the report notes.

DAV has long been at the forefront of advocating for policy and legislative changes to better serve women veterans, who now represent more than 10% of all veterans. Most recently, DAV helped pass the Protecting Moms Who Served Act to improve maternity care, the Making Advances in Mammography and Medical Options (or MAMMO) for Veterans Act to improve access to mammograms, and the historic provisions from the Deborah Sampson Act aimed at enhancing health care programs and services for women veterans and improving access to care.

Read more at DAV.org.

A 2021 national survey showed only 36% of Hispanic and Latino Americans received mental health treatment. Compare that to 52% of non-Hispanic whites. In Utah, Latina women are less likely to report poor mental health or get diagnosed. That’s from a 2022 Utah Women and Leadership Project report.

One barrier to getting help is finding a place where people feel understood – not just in language, but also culturally.

Latino Behavioral Health Services, a nonprofit in Salt Lake City, isn’t your usual mental health clinic. The waiting area has a kitchen, couches and a big dining table. Bright maps of Spanish-speaking countries line the walls.

Latino Behavioral Health wants to raise awareness so people will know where to turn for help. Martinez said they try “to find spaces where Latino communities are and be there with a table.” They have clinics around the state, and now go once a month to rural areas like Moab and Price where mental health stigmas are even greater.

Read more at KUER.org.

The shores of Pearl Harbor were once lined with nearly two dozen rock-walled fishponds, some so old that they were believed to be built by the gods. The structures became a symbol of Native Hawaiian ingenuity and provided an environmentally sustainable supply of fish, shellfish, and other sea creatures. They were not only a source of food but also a place of spirituality and healing.

Yet, after centuries of degradation, most of these sacred sites have disappeared. One of the few that remains is Loko Iʻa Pāʻaiau, also known as the Royal Fishpond of Queen Kalanimanu‘ia, a site buried beneath invasive mangroves until a naval archaeologist uncovered it ten years ago.

Loko Iʻa Pāʻaiau was built during the reign of Mo‘i Wahine Kalanimanuia, a benevolent figure who ruled over the island of O‘ahu during the 1400s. After contact with the West, the royal fishpond fell into disrepair, suffering from colonialization, pollution, and development effects. The attack on Pearl Harbor cut off public access to the site. Unchecked, invasive mangroves spread throughout the area.

Today, the fishpond is a recognized historical site, a cultural destination, and a work in progress. Throngs of volunteers continue the back-breaking work of removing mangroves, pickleweed, and other invasive species, as well as reconstructing the ancient fishpond wall. Restoring the fishpond has become a way to practice Hawaiian values, such as ‘ohana (family), kuleana (responsibility), and aloha (love). According to Le, these kinds of values can protect against depression and loneliness, whereas self-serving values (such as hedonism, power, and achievement) can be particularly detrimental to youth mental health.

The findings, published recently in the journal Children, Youth and Environments, revealed gains in positive emotions and mental states, with happiness and focus being the most salient.

Read more at BWFund.com.

As the global emergency surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic ended last year, directors at Self-Help for the Elderly, an agency serving San Francisco’s Asian American community, figured seniors would emerge from their seclusion and return to social activities they once embraced: community lunches, tai chi sessions, walks in the park.

Instead, they found, many continued to stay home, alarmed by continuing reports of anti-Asian violence.

Nationwide, pandemic-related isolation, anti-Asian rhetoric and abuse – along with mass shootings that claimed Asian victims in Atlanta and California – have exacerbated the mental health challenges faced by Asian Americans in the last several years. Meanwhile, studies show Asian Americans are least likely to seek mental health services, partly because of the cultural stigma that exists around seeking such help.

The struggles faced by some segments of the community suggest post-pandemic challenges remain. Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders were among the racial/ethnic groups that experienced the highest increases in suicides from 2021 to 2022, according to the CDC.

Community members and advocates say Asian Americans may be reluctant to seek mental healthcare for many reasons, especially given the wide range of experiences and cultural traditions depending on whether their heritage is, for example, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Filipino, Vietnamese, Hmong or South Asian.

The lack of culturally competent mental health providers is one that plagues most communities of color.

According to a 2020 American Psychological Association report, 84% of the psychology workforce is white, while Asians comprise just 4%.

That means Asian American clients face challenges finding mental health professionals aware of their lived experiences who can skillfully support them. The few therapists who do meet those qualifications often have workloads already stretched by the pandemic, with waitlists not uncommon.

Read more at USAToday.com.

Carolina Indian Circle hosts healing circles once or twice every semester, giving Native American students a medium to discuss tragedies or triumphs, academics or relationships — or anything that comes to mind.

Alicia Freeman, the Mental Health First Aid program manager at the UNC School of Social Work, leads the discussion. She said culturally relevant practices like healing circles are just one aspect of a holistic approach to mental health care for Native Americans.

Culturally relevant practices take into account cultural stressors, which are unique to Native American experiences, Anna Kawennison Fetter, a postdoctoral fellow in the UNC Department of Psychology and Neuroscience and a member of the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe in New York, said.

A long commute, paired with a lack of internet access, rules out both in-person and telehealth care options for many. Only 57 percent of Native American households in North Carolina had access to high-speed internet in 2022, the lowest proportion among any racial subgroup in the state, according to the N.C. Department of Information Technology.

Another obstacle for the Waccamaw Siouan Tribe lies within the community itself.

The stigma surrounding mental health within the tribe is a pervasive one that has defined the approach of entire generations to mental health care. Freeman said older members of the tribe often believe poor mental health can be treated through prayer, while others believe mental health is best left undiscussed.

Cherokee Choices is a program developed to increase education about preventing chronic diseases, which disproportionately impact members of the EBCI, through holistic approaches that include historical grief counseling, Cherokee culture classes and physical health education.

Read more at DailyTarHeel.com.

Today, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), announced $46.8 million in notices of funding opportunities to promote youth mental health, grow the behavioral health workforce, improve access to culturally competent behavioral care across the country, and strengthen peer recovery and recovery support. President Biden made tackling the mental health crisis and beating the opioid epidemic key pillars in his Unity Agenda for the nation. Today’s announcement will help communities transform how they address behavioral health.

This critical funding supports the Biden-Harris Administration’s efforts to address the mental health and overdose crises, as well as furthers HHS’s Overdose Prevention Strategy. The grants additionally fuel each of SAMHSA’s strategic priorities for the agency: preventing substance use and overdose, enhancing access to suicide prevention and mental health services, promoting resilience and emotional health for children, youth, and families, integrating behavioral and physical health care, and strengthening the behavioral health workforce.

Read more at HHS.gov.