Stigma

Research finds that grieving suicides puts individuals at heightened risk for attempting suicide themselves.

• By Kate Wheeling

Current and former sex workers are taking a stand against their portrayal as victims and conducting studies of their own.

• By Noah Berlatsky

The heavy stigmatization of herpes only contributes to increases in disease transmission and hinders public health prevention efforts.

• By Melinda Pettigrew

Last year was dubbed “the year of the abortion story.” Though these narratives have changed some hearts and minds, dismantling abortion stigma won’t happen overnight. And it certainly won’t ensure reproductive freedom for all.

• By Maya Dusenbery

Rose George reports from Nepal and Bangladesh on menstrual taboos.

• By Rose George

For the month of April we're profiling the individuals who made our inaugural list of the 30 top thinkers under 30, the young men and women we predict will have a serious impact on the social, political, and economic issues we cover every day here at Pacific Standard.

• By Avital Andrews

In more primitive times, stigmatization used to be a helpful evolutionary adaptation. In a more civilized age, it could be an illness amplifier.

• By Ryan Jacobs

Privilege is being able to assume that the person laughing behind you is laughing at something or someone else.

• By Lisa Wade

New guidelines from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force could help lift some of the stigma associated with testing—and shift the bill to insurers.

• By Julie Steenhuysen

Therapists — and their clients — are often portrayed in unflattering ways on television comedies and dramas, and as a result, viewers may be less willing to seek the psychological help they need, according to a new study by Iowa State University researchers.

• By Tom Jacobs