Commentary Letter: Challenge funding cuts in Colorado SD 23 Dear Editor, When it comes to mental health and the availability for treatment for mental health disorders, even though the patient doesn’t have the ability to pay for the treatment, the word "inclusion" definitely comes into play. Unfortunately, Senator Kirkmeyer and her financial backers from the oil
Commentary Letter: Legislator unresponsive to housing crisis, student safety Dear Editor, Solutions to many issues can be found if legislators are motivated to find them. For instance, I recently emailed Sen. Barbara Kirkmeyer asking her to co-author a couple of bills with me for implementing solutions to the housing crisis and student safety. As of Jan. 8, the senator
Commentary Letter: Kirkmeyer's mental health cuts under fire Dear Editor, Please be informed that while I respect the office of a State Senator, I do not respect Senator Kirkmeyer and her belief that she has to cut programs that actually help people with mental health problems. For whatever reason, Senator Kirkmeyer is unwilling to work outside of the
Commentary Neighbor voices: Renewing your perspective with psychedelic therapy An expert suggests ketamine therapy as an alternative or complement to traditional mental health treatments in the new year
Commentary Letter: Ideas for new taxes to support mental health Dear Editor, On Dec. 26, 2024 while watching the morning news, I saw a brief interview with State Sen. Barbara Kirkmeyer discussing the budget shortfall and how she wants to cut certain programs. One can only imagine her cutting or eliminating any state funding to mental health programs that help
Commentary Letter: An idea for supporting unhoused veterans Dear Editor, Here in Colorado we have a homeless veteran crisis. Many of these veterans also have untreated mental health conditions, that compounds, their need for safe shelter. Therefore, in order to protect these veterans, I would propose legislation to build a separate transitional housing facility that would be exclusively
Commentary Letter: An idea for protecting students When considering overall mental health, one must consider the importance of protecting our children while they are in school. At any time, a student or ex-student, who may be suffering with mental health issues, could decide to “borrow” a gun and sneak it into school for revenge against a teacher
Commentary Editorial: Coping with our own and others' emotions after the election While there is elation, there is also consternation and we need to recognize and address it all, together
Commentary Lived Experience: Sometimes I still hurt myself ... so do you An advocate with lived experience challenges assumptions about self-injury and calls for a more compassionate, nuanced approach to intervention
Mental Health Voters Opinion: The Lavender Scare echoes from the 50s to election rhetoric today Historian warns of potential resurgence of anti-Queer discrimination, citing similarities between historical persecution and Trump's current campaign
Letter: Politicians must get educated about mental illness, not mental health In my advocacy, when I speak with state legislators and Congressional leaders about the mental health system and they immediately tell me about NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) and MHA (Mental Health America), I cringe. For politicians who are serious about helping those ... who are clearly too sick to
Commentary Neighbor Voices: Putting the pieces back together Local expert uses kintsugi metaphor to illustrate resilience, encourages reaching out as an act of strength
Commentary Editorial: Suicide loss survivors, let's have an open discussion about our guilt Confronting the heavy guilt that survivors feel is very difficult, but very necessary for healing
Letter: Dare we hope? Hope is a noun in the English language. It is a feeling of expectation and a desire for something to happen. Americans all are hoping for one thing: normalcy. We have been a tired nation full of anxiety and fear. We long for light over darkness. Enter the good vibes
Commentary Neighbor Voices: ‘Man up’ can lead to men down Denver artist learns that asking for help requires strength and successful recovery means practicing the ask
Commentary Neighbor Voices: Colorado lawmakers must help children in acute mental health crisis Suicide is the leading cause of death for Colorado youth and the Crisis Resolution Team bill would codify existing work into law for future budgeting
Commentary Editorial: Is happiness what we really want to talk about? This year's World Happiness Report is creating a flap, but the results may be a distraction
Commentary Neighbor Voices: Fix archaic medical policy failing Coloradans with mental health needs The director of Mental Health Colorado urges legislators to eliminate the 15-day treatment cap for Medicaid patients with serious mental illness
Commentary Neighbor Voices: Colorado psychedelic patient warns about unregulated use and inherent risks An experienced user of ibogaine, a natural African psychedelic, discusses the safety, reciprocity and sustainability implications of unregulated plant medicine in Colorado
Letter: Stop criminalizing people who need compassion and care A community organization that wants to make Colorado healthier and safer for all residents speaks out against two bills being considered in the state House and Senate
Commentary Opinion: What we keep getting wrong about homelessness and mental illness in the U.S. If a person living on the streets becomes distressed when put in handcuffs, is that due to a mental disorder or does our society suffer from an injustice disorder?
Commentary Opinion: If ‘permacrisis’ is the word of 2022, what does 2023 have in store for our mental health? Whether there are more crises or we’re just more aware of them, a sense of our shared fate is key to surviving them
Commentary Editorial: Why celebrity suicides are so very hard on me By Renata Hill, Moodfuel To everyone else who struggles with suicidal ideation: I see you I started Moodfuel to smash stigma of all kinds. The Dec. 13 suicide death of Stephen ‘tWitch’ Boss, the lovely, talented, 40-year-old dancer, choreographer, actor and co-executive producer of the "Ellen Degeneres Show"
Commentary Opinion: Rethinking the construction industry’s suicide prevention model will save lives today Construction workers are at very high risk for suicide and need support from their industry leaders
Commentary Opinion: App-ocalypse By Tanmoy Goswami, Sanity Beware of the reckless boom in mental health apps "Our research has found that, in gathering data, the developers of mental health-based AI algorithms simply test if they work. They generally don’t address the ethical, privacy and political concerns about how they might be
