Mental Health & Trauma

For Florida patients with no insurance or ability to pay, there are few options for mental health treatment, unless they are a danger to themselves and institutionalized.

A psychiatrist who has studied migrant and refugee children around the world points to one powerful protective factor against tremendous adversity — social connections.

Last spring, survivors began experiencing denials, delays and limits for surgeries, physical therapy, counseling, equipment and prescriptions — including painkillers, antidepressants and anti-anxiety medication.

"After scouring several large surveys of teens for clues," researcher Jean Twenge writes, "I found that all of the possibilities traced back to a major change in teens’ lives: the sudden ascendance of the smartphone."

This story is part of a four-part series on Dec. 2, 2015, terrorist attack survivors’ recovery and California’s workers’ compensation system. The project was undertaken for the USC Center for Health Journalism’s California Fellowship.

This story is part of a series on Dec. 2, 2015, terrorist attack survivors’ recovery and California’s workers’ compensation system. The project was undertaken for the USC Center for Health Journalism’s California Fellowship.

This story is part of a series on Dec. 2, 2015, terrorist attack survivors’ recovery and California’s workers’ compensation system. The project was undertaken for the USC Center for Health Journalism’s California Fellowship.

This story is part of a series on Dec. 2, 2015, terrorist attack survivors’ recovery and California’s workers’ compensation system. The project was undertaken for the USC Center for Health Journalism’s California Fellowship.

Orange County has the second highest number of opioid-related deaths in the state after Los Angeles, and the epidemic is hitting hardest among people in their golden years.

While many students seem unaffected by the violence, medical experts say the mere knowledge of killings can cause them to experience their own trauma and lose their sense of safety.