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Veterans’ eating disorders are associated with exposure to trauma and pressure to meet military weight and fitness requirements, said Dr. Sara Rubin, a psychiatrist who heads the Eating Disorders Program at VA Connecticut Healthcare. Also, women who have been sexually assaulted in the military are disposed to eating disorders, she said.

According to Robin M. Masheb, a Yale Medical School psychologist and researcher for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), “so many veterans seem to struggle with their eating and body image, but go unrecognized.”

A study of post 9/11 veterans found that bulimia, binge eating, and atypical anorexia nervosa (AAN) were associated with depression, anxiety, PTSD, insomnia, and a lower quality of life. AAN has symptoms of anorexia, including starvation and extreme fear of weight gain, but without dangerous low weight. The study led by Masheb of more than 1,100 veterans was the first to examine AAN in veterans. It found that 14% of women and 5% of men had probable AAN, “a clinically significant eating and mental health disorder.” The study also showed 6% of the women and 3% of the men had bulimia (binging and purging), three times the civilian rate.

Eating disorders can also result in death. A study by Deloitte Access Economics found that 10,200 people die each year because of an eating disorder. Anorexia nervosa has the second-highest mortality rate of any psychiatric disorder after opioid use disorder, and one in five deaths among people with anorexia is a suicide, according to the National Eating Disorders Association.

Read more at CTMirror.org.

In order to highlight pockets of excellence across the country, the NNED selects a partner organization to highlight once a month. American Indian Resource Center, Inc., has been selected as the Partner of the Month for November in celebration of Native American Heritage Month.

The American Indian Resource Center, Inc. is non-profit corporation with the state of Oklahoma with all members of the Board of Directors being American Indian. The mission of the American Indian Resource Center, Inc. is to develop culturally appropriate resources to meet the needs of American Indian communities. AIRC provides professional expertise to and on behalf of American Indian tribes, organizations, and schools, and other interested agencies in the following areas:

• Training and technical assistance in the areas of education, health, and social services
• Program development and evaluation
• Management analysis and assistance
• Experimental, historical, and survey research
• Video production
• Curriculum development

The programs and services that are currently offered:

• Four Directions – To provide an overall comprehensive approach to Career and College readiness for American Indians 5th-8th grade living in Cherokee County, Oklahoma within the Cherokee Nation Tribal Jurisdictional Area.
• NETSTAR – Native Educated Teacher Successfully Taught Academic Rigor are five education personnel training programs. Four were funded by the Office of Indian Education and one was funded by the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services. Approximately 117 Indian students have graduated with a Bachelor, Master, or Doctorate degree from these programs.
• Educational Talent Search – This program is currently in its 23rd year of service to students in 10 schools across northeastern Oklahoma. The program is funded to serve 737 junior and senior high school students.

Learn more about the American Indian Resource Center, Inc., and their vision that all American Indians have access to culturally appropriate resources for their needs.

View a list of previous NNED Partners of the Month.

The drive to end my life was a persistent voice continuously whispering, “You have no value.”

A barrier to look for help early on was the cultural concern as a Latino man and the stigma associated with mental health and suicide specifically. In many Latino families, mental health is not commonly a topic of conversation at the kitchen table. It’s only now that I’ve shared my story with extended family.

Culturally, topics considered taboo like mental health (and suicide even more so) aren’t discussed — it’s left to be a private matter. The impact of staying quiet is profound as it adds to the isolation and feeling abnormal. Latino men are expected to not show emotion, as it’s perceived as a sign of weakness.

As noted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in 2018, “Suicide behaviors have grown among Hispanics in the last decade, especially for females and for youth” — 1 in 4 Latina and Hispanic girls and 1 in 4 Hispanic and Latino boys have considered suicide. The rates are even higher for Latino/a and Hispanic lesbian, gay or bisexual individuals.

After dozens of phone calls, I finally found a psychiatric doctor who eventually prescribed anti-depression and anti-anxiety medications. I saw a therapist regularly and expressed my feelings that were imbued with tortuous blackness; I created goals to level my mental health. Taking sedatives continued as a means to handle life’s slings and arrows. We all struggle. Many experience anxiety and depression, and that the percentage has jumped alarmingly during the COVID-19 pandemic.

I survived because I talked to someone who listened and cared, saw a therapist who helped me put challenges in perspective and the love of my wife and family. The dark thoughts are gone, the monster exorcised.

Read more at AZCentral.com.

For too many Americans, and for those in the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community, the past year has presented serious challenges: a global pandemic that caused suffering at home and abroad, political and social unrest, and economic struggles. Add to all that, there has been an ongoing series of violent attacks on Asian Americans including horrific shootings in Atlanta and Indianapolis.

For many in the Asian American community—and among communities of color—the hostility is not necessarily something new but rather reflective of underlying issues that the pandemic has exacerbated. These factors concern us as advocates for the health and well-being of the AAPI community, as well as communities of color writ large and our nation’s public health. Americans have increasingly negative views about China as it becomes more of an economic competitor. On top of that, there has been scapegoating of Asian-owned businesses with regard to COVID-19.

Some health experts warn that the COVID-19 pandemic will be followed by widespread mental health issues caused by the stressors that the pandemic has caused—social isolation, economic anxiety, and political and social unrest that have engulfed our collective psyche. For many communities of color, these stressors have already brought to light disparities in our health care system, particularly our mental health system.

As policymakers and stakeholders envision a new system, particularly for mental health, in a post-pandemic world, we should add our voices for a more equitable system by calling out the circumstances facing the Asian American community. This is a pivotal time to not only address the coming “second pandemic” of mental health issues brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic but also to rebuild the health care system and address systemic changes that have long needed attention.

Read more at HealthAffairs.com.

It is easy to be overwhelmed with the remarkably complex circumstances when considering American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) communities across the United States and the mental health issues and needs of these tribes and/or individuals. Each tribe has a specific history, traditions, customs, and culture, and knowing something of these will help build an understanding of how mental health problems develop and how they are expressed. In addition to learning about a patient’s tribe, gathering a personal history takes time and effort. Issues of poverty, violence, survival, family morbidity and mortality, alcoholism and drug problems, suicide, racism, and historical trauma are often a part of their story.

It might be tempting to start a problem list and then formulate a treatment plan, as has been done so many times before in Western medicine, but what are the issues in need of treatment? What are the odds of a treatment plan resolving the problems? What is the patient’s home environment? It is important to take time to think about the AI/AN communities and why chronic illnesses beset their lives. A historical review sheds light on the causes of behavioral health issues and other chronic medical problems.

Although vast improvements have been made over the past 20 years, including as part of federal agency efforts, AI/AN people still have a high prevalence of behavioral health problems and limited access to care relative to the overall US population.

Read more at PsychiatricTimes.com.

There’s no denying the mental health benefits of religion and spirituality.

The National Alliance on Mental Illness states that “spirituality also incorporates healthy practices for the mind and body, which positively influences mental health and emotional well-being.”

In an article in the Journal of Religion and Health, author Archie Smith Jr. argued that religion and spirituality are central to the Black experience.

“To ignore the religious nature of human beings while seeking to restore them to psychic health would not only trivialize a vital mental health resource in the Black experience,” Smith wrote. “It would further alienate Black people from awareness of the creative and spiritual depths in which their humanity participates and upon which their total well-being ultimately depends.”

For many Black people, and certainly for those passed, total wellness depends on the roles and rituals of spiritual practice.

This means that spiritual wellness is inextricably linked to mental wellness — the two practices work in tandem, not separately.

Whether you’ve grown up in organized religion, embraced spiritual practice, sought out mental health support, or not, it’s never too late to incorporate one or all of these practices for your well-being.

Read more at Healthline.com.