Blog

March is problem gambling awareness month. Approximately 6 million Americans experience problems due to their gambling behavior each year. Gambling disorder is a mental health condition that can be helped with professional treatment. Your awareness may help a loved one with a gambling problem seek the necessary help.

Several effective medications are available to help people living with an opioid use disorder. Unfortunately, they carry the stigma of ‘trading one drug for another.’ Researchers from Chestnut Health Systems and from the University of Illinois Chicago are studying ways to get more patients into Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT). It starts with simple information and education about treatment options.

Chestnut Health Systems partners with Bi-State Metro and St. Clair County Transit District to place peer specialists on commuter trains and on transit system property in Illinois and Missouri. Read about one rider our specialists were able to connect to resources in the community.

The theme for Black History Month this year is “Black Resistance: A Journey to Equality.” The Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH) explains that the theme recognizes the ways that “Black people have had to consistently push the United States to live up to its ideals of freedom, liberty, and justice for all.” 

From the time you’re born, your relationships help you learn to navigate the world. You learn how to interact with others, express yourself, conduct everyday health habits, and be a part of different communities from those around you. Positive social habits can help you build support systems and stay healthier mentally and physically. 

Children respond to trauma in many different ways. Some may have reactions very soon after the event; others may do fine for weeks or months, and then begin to show troubling behavior. Knowing the signs that are common at different ages can help parents and teachers recognize problems and respond appropriately.

A few weeks ago, the American Girl catalog landed in our mailbox. My nine-year-old was excited to see it (as always), and she grew even more excited as she flipped through and found a two-page spread with the heading “Tradition Keepers.” Here were six American Girl Dolls dressed in their holiday finest. Only one of them was wearing a Christmas dress. The other dolls wore fancy outfits to celebrate the Lunar New Year, Eid al-Fitr, Diwali, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa. For my daughter, who struggles this time of year as the only Jewish child in her school, that photo spread was meaningful. She saw herself alongside these other “American Girls.” She is unique perhaps in her community, but these images tell her she belongs. More...

The holidays can be especially challenging if you are dealing with the death of someone close to you. Whether it was a recent loss or one that occurred some time ago, feelings of grief can be heightened. This is a time for traditions and togetherness, but the ways in which we gather and celebrate have changed. Understanding how grief affects you, talking about holiday plans with those close to you, and remembering your loved ones can help.

I recently read a research article published in 2011[i]. It talked about how prejudice comes from a deep psychological need to categorize our environment in order to remove uncertainty. Not just about situations and events but also about the people we meet.

In 2010, I ate Thanksgiving dinner at Plymouth, the place where the original “Thanksgiving” took place in 1621. A living history museum at this site features costumed Pilgrims explaining to tourists how they ate, slept, and farmed. Recently, the museum renamed itself “Plimoth Patuxet” to recognize both the colonial settlement the English Pilgrims founded in 1820 and the name given to this place by the Wampanoag nation, the “People of the First Light” who have lived there for 12,000 years.