Mental Illness
Police Violence and Poor Mental Health Go Together
A new study shows that exposure to police violence is linked with negative mental-health outcomes.
You Can't Create Good Gun Policy by Stigmatizing the Mentally Ill
Everytown for Gun Safety is playing into the NRA's hands with its Minnesota campaign.
White Mass Shooters Are Treated More Sympathetically by the Media
New research finds they are more likely than their black counterparts to be portrayed as victims of mental illness.
A Massive New Study Puts a Pin in One of the Oldest Myths About Mental Illness
Researchers find that those who have a mental illness are more likely to be the victim of a violent crime.
The Number of Mentally Ill Inmates in California Jails Is Rising
A new policy brief uses psychotropic medications as a proxy for mental illness, and finds that, despite criminal justice reforms in the state, the population of mentally ill inmates in jails is growing.
Searching for Biomarkers to Diagnose Mental Illness
New research is working toward creating simple physical tests that could shed light on diseases like anxiety and depression.
Your Pills Are Spying on You
How smart pills and surveillance capitalism threaten civil rights.
Can We Repurpose More Old Mental Hospitals?
The stigma attached to "insane asylums" can be hard to shake, but destroying the structures can mean erasing important parts of our history.
Six 'Pacific Standard' Stories to Read for Mental Illness Awareness Week
A round-up of some of our best stories highlighting the need for reform in mental-heath policy.
Are Movies About Eating Disorders Fundamentally Uncinematic?
Netflix's To the Bone doesn't convey the solitude and paranoia of life with an eating disorder—but it's certainly not the first to twist reality.
Federal Prisoners With Mental Illness May Spend Years in Solitary Confinement
A new report spotlights one case in which an inmate spent 19 years in a "Restrictive Housing Unit."
American Police and Prisons Are Failing the Mentally Ill
Those with severe mental conditions are more likely to be incarcerated, and less likely to be granted opportunities such as parole.
How to Talk Constructively About Mental Illness
When public discourse links mental disorders with violence or "craziness," it adversely—and unfairly—affects the lives of millions of people.
Ending the Stigma Surrounding Mental Illness
An early look at a Pacific Standard story that's currently only available to subscribers.
How Can We Treat the Seriously Mentally Ill Before Tragedy Occurs, Instead of After?
Laura's Law could provide a middle ground between the old norm of total institutionalization and the new one of total abandonment. But the statute is struggling to reconcile forestalling tragedies with patients' rights.
Unlocking the Secrets of Paranoid Thinking
Cannabis use can cause a signal miscommunication in the brain, which is similar to what might happen in mental illness.
Treating the Mentally Ill Before It's Too Late
An early look at a Pacific Standard story that's currently only available to subscribers.
The Mental Illness Stigma
How do mass shootings impact people's attitudes toward the mentally ill?
There Are 22 Million Angry, Impulsive Americans With Guns
Examining the personality characteristics of America's gun owners.
Why Men Kill Themselves
In every country in the world, male suicides outnumber female. Will Storr asks why.
A Personalized Tweak Helps Homelessness Programs Work Even Better
Over the last two decades, North American cities have been giving homeless people a place to live before any other treatment. The programs mostly work, but now researchers are seeking improvements.
The Truman Show Delusion: Can Culture Make Us Crazy?
Two brothers—a philosopher and a doctor—attempt to explain the cultural roots of madness.
Should We Take Away the Kids of Those Who Are Mentally Ill?
Mindi has never harmed her daughter and is capably raising a son, but authorities took her daughter under a concept sometimes called “predictive neglect.”
The Connection Between Mental Illness and Gun Violence
A conversation with Dr. Jeffrey Swanson.