mental health and addiction

Community Health

Patience And Fortitude On The Other End Of The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline

The call came in late one summer night. Immediately, Paul Butler’s stomach sank and his heart sped up.“It’s always a worry in the back of your mind that…
Mental Health

Patients With Mental Disorders Get Half Of All Opioid Prescriptions

Adults with a mental illness receive more than 50 percent of the 115 million opioid prescriptions in the United States annually, according to a study…
Access to Care

Fewer Beds, More Patients Mean Mentally Ill Wait In Anguish In Emergency Rooms

It's a heartbreaking piece of arithmetic: In Massachusetts, the numbers of slots in inpatient psychiatric treatment centers just don't line up with the…
Addiction and Drug Use

Potent Synthetic Opioids Endanger Drug Sniffing Dogs

Susan Kaplan

Police dogs in K9 units trained to find potent synthetic opioids like fentanyl risk overdosing. Massachusetts State Police plan to teach officers to administer Narcan to their canines.
Community Health

Public Restrooms Become Ground Zero In The Opioid Epidemic

A man named Eddie threaded through the midafternoon crowd in Cambridge, Mass. He was headed for a sandwich shop, the first stop on a tour of public…

Sick Season 2

Incarcerated people are some of the sickest people in our country. Many have chronic conditions such as diabetes or lung disease. And they’re far more likely to suffer from mental illness and addiction. On Season 2 of Sick, listen to stories of what goes wrong in corrections facilities — places meant to keep people healthy, but built to punish them.

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