Mental Health & Trauma

So much of Luton’s childhood and adolescence seemed normal to her at the time. Her father mishandling her mother. Her brother coming after her with a metal poker. Her boyfriend with the meth addiction. All normal. It’s a wonder how she didn’t become a statistic herself.

Instead of strictly asking about medical providers, Dr. David Carlisle, an expert on health disparities, urges reporters to examine the availability and diversity of dentists, psychologists, pharmacists and optometrists in their community.

A common dilemma faced by law enforcement officials in Sonoma County California and across the nation: What do you do with someone whose mental health crisis does not yet present a major risk of injury or death?

The largest child welfare system in the nation has undergone major reforms in recent years. But some of these changes have come at the expense of crucial attachments that link children to caring adults.

How one young child learned to cope with some early traumatic experiences and tell his story in a new way, through child-parent therapy.

Now that President Trump has officially declared the opioid crisis a national emergency, data can inform how to properly tackle the problem, community by community.

Even when persistence and dedication enable a reporter to find undocumented communities willing to share their stories, outside events can tempt sources to withdraw. One reporter shares how she overcame this challenge.

A young boy and his mother fled vicious gang violence in Central America, but the nightmares have followed him to Los Angeles. The lingering effects of trauma now pose a whole new threat to his health.

At least 400 U.S. doctors commit suicide every year, a higher rate than in the general population. For this tragic fact to change, medical schools and hospitals will need to undergo a cultural revolution.

"The magic is in how we listen and how we ask," writes reporter Gisela Telis. "When reporting on people who are struggling or have struggled, give them space to let you in to their world, and be vulnerable enough to say: Help me understand."