Mental health and brain news – January 2016

As a brain geek, I like to keep up with what’s new and noteworthy. Below you’ll find headlines and highlights from last month. Click on any of the headlines below to read the whole article. From vicious cycles to virtual cycles: Bear with me through the two bad news items below to see two positive articles about ways to combat racism and how that helps everyone! Race a factor in repeated victimizations of people with mental illness African Americans who are mentally ill are at greater risk of being repeatedly victimized than are mentally ill white people, according to criminologists. Stress of Discrimination Can Harm Mental Health “In 2015, Gee and colleagues performed an analysis drawing from approximately 300 studies conducted around the world over the last three decades. This meta-analysis concluded that self-reported racial discrimination is consistently related to poor mental health.” Poor treatment based on race, ethnicity, sexual orientation and other factors can occur through interpersonal insults as well as through more insidious routes. “If you don’t get a job and you’re left to wonder whether it had to do with your race or gender, that can have an impact on your mental health,” Gee said. More recently, Mays has collaborated on a study showing that experiencing