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Discussing mental health concerns is important, but we should avoid seeing them as a monolith. Specific mental health concerns can impact a person’s physical and emotional well-being differently, but also their ability to recover and rehabilitate.

Although challenges with mental health can impact anyone, we must recognize that dealing with specific mental health issues can be uniquely different, and recovery and treatment can vary between people.

Black men in predominantly white spaces continue to be viewed as threatening. As Black Studies scholar Tommy Curry has said, Black men and boys are generally perceived by the police as threats because stereotypical narratives characterize them as criminals.

It is vital to foster a more inclusive dialogue on mental health issues, which focuses on providing support for Black men’s mental health concerns. Recognizing the unique obstacles Black men and boys face is the first step toward this engagement.

Read more MedicalXpress.com.

The White House Challenge to Save Lives from Overdose is a nationwide call-to-action to stakeholders across all sectors to commit to save lives by increasing training on and access to life-saving opioid overdose reversal medications.

To help more Americans save lives, the White House is encouraging leaders to commit to train employees on opioid overdose reversal medications, keep the medications in first aid kits, and distribute medications to employees and customers so they might save a life at home, work, or in their communities.

Read more at WhiteHouse.gov.

The Federal Aviation Administration is actively recruiting workers who suffer “severe intellectual” disabilities, psychiatric problems and other mental and physical conditions under a diversity and inclusion hiring initiative spelled out on the agency’s website.
The initiative is part of the FAA’s “Diversity and Inclusion” hiring plan, which claims “diversity is integral to achieving FAA’s mission of ensuring safe and efficient travel across our nation and beyond.”

“Because diversity is so critical, FAA actively supports and engages in a variety of associations, programs, coalitions and initiatives to support and accommodate employees from diverse communities and backgrounds. Our people are our strength, and we take great care in investing in and valuing them as such,” the FAA states.

Read more on NYPost.com.

In spring 2020, when COVID first began to grip the U.S., public health officials urged people to distance themselves from others and shelter in place. That was no problem for people with a stable home. But for young people experiencing homelessness, it was almost impossible.

Throughout the pandemic, symptoms of anxiety and depression increased among adults in the U.S., according to Census data. Last year, about 3 in 10 adults reported feeling worried, nervous or hopeless. Those rates are even higher for young people: About 50% of young people aged 18 to 24 surveyed last year reported symptoms of anxiety or depression.

Many young people lost important connections with friends and trusted adults during the pandemic. And community spaces that anchored homeless youth closed in an instant.

Isolating from others helped stop the spread of COVID, but isolation also drives addiction. During the pandemic, substance abuse, overdose deaths and suicide rates increased across the nation. At the same time illicit fentanyl, the deadly and cheap opioid, was making its way onto the street drug scene in Portland. Overdose deaths, largely driven by opioids like fentanyl, doubled in Oregon from 2011 to 2021.

Read more on OPB.org.

Mental health, menstrual, and other pain symptoms are more common in women with endometriosis, according to a recent study published in the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology.

The mean delay of time between symptom onset and diagnosis is 7 to 11 years, causing increased symptoms, hospitalizations, and health care resource utilization. Data has also indicated women with endometriosis are at increased risk of chronic pelvic pain, heavy menstrual bleeding, dyspareunia, dyschezia, dysmenorrhea, and fatigue.

Endometriosis was significantly associated with menstrual symptoms including heavy menstrual bleeding, severe period pain, premenstrual tension, and irregular period. Mental health symptoms including depression, anxiety, and other menstrual problems were also more common in women with endometriosis.

Read more on DrugTopics.com.

A landmark alliance is launching free, anonymous, online mental health and wellbeing services to provide a nationwide safety net of confidential and on-demand support to farmers, ranchers and farm families. Unveiled at the American Farm Bureau Federation 2024 Convention, Farm Family Wellness Alliance’s groundbreaking solution harnesses the best resource to build farm family wellness—access to a community, including a network of farmers and ranchers who understand the challenges and rewards that come with the agricultural way of life.

Access to services starts at Togetherall, a safe, clinically moderated peer-to-peer community, where members around the world are there to listen, support and give members’ mental wellbeing a boost.

In addition to Togetherall’s global community, farmers and their families will have access to an agricultural sector sub-group to share or read others’ experiences in a safe, judgement-free zone.

Togetherall also offers a range of wellbeing tools, such as self-assessments and access to additional support services through a partnership with Personal Assistance Services. Topics covered include anxiety, depression, financial health, improving sleep and more.

Read more on MorningAgClips.com.