July 9, 2020

New Leash on Life: How Dog-Walking Is Helping Veterans Battered by PTSD

WEDNESDAY, July 1, 2020 -- Many soldiers experience traumas on the battlefield that leave them emotionally wounded, but something as simple as walking a dog might bring these veterans desperately needed psychic relief.

So suggests a new study where researchers compared how four weeks of walking with a shelter dog or with another person affected three biomarkers of stress in male and female veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

July 9, 2020

Will the COVID-19 Pandemic Leave a Mental Health Crisis in Its Wake?

MONDAY, July 6, 2020 -- Stressed from home-schooling your kids? Lonely from lockdown? Worried about a sick loved one isolated in a nursing home? Worried you might lose your job?

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic is affecting everyone's mental health in ways small and large, and experts are concerned that for many, today's anxiety will become a tidal wave of mental health problems in the years ahead.

June 29, 2020

Medical Pot May Help Many Battle Insomnia, Pain and Stress: Study

FRIDAY, June 26, 2020 -- More and more U.S. states are allowing marijuana to be taken as medicine, and a new study suggests that users do indeed feel better.

In a survey of nearly 1,300 people with chronic health conditions, researchers found that those using "medicinal cannabis" reported less pain, better sleep and reduced anxiety.

June 18, 2020

For Stressed-Out Black Americans, Mental Health Care Often Hard to Come By

WEDNESDAY, June 10, 2020 -- If there is one thing that recent police brutality protests have demonstrated, it is that life for black people in America is steeped in stress.

And while it might seem logical to assume that all that stress would translate into higher rates of mental health conditions like depression and anxiety, that doesn't seem to be the case -- at least not when actual diagnoses are tallied.

June 15, 2020

In a Pandemic-Stressed America, Protests Add to Mental Strain

TUESDAY, June 2, 2020 -- Just as Americans are emerging from COVID-19 quarantines, hoping to resume normal life but still fearful of infection, protests against police violence are raging in cities across the country.

And millions remain unemployed, as a shaky economy attempts to restart.

May 28, 2020

Lockdown Got You Down? Experts Offer Tips to De-Stress

TUESDAY, May 26, 2020 -- Though the physical health risks posed by COVID-19 are at the top of everyone's mind, experts warn the pandemic is also exacting a massive toll on mental health.

So finds new research emerging on the mental health effects in China, where infection peaks and lockdowns have preceded the American experience by several months.