Firefighters struggle with considerable mental health tolls, face high suicide rates; Vermont dairy farm workers report improvements after Milk With Dignity agreement; unions win big wage boost for Disneyland Resort workers; and Vox offers a new tool to search which employers require mandatory arbitration.
Before Patrick Morrison worked for the International Association of Fire Fighters, he was a firefighter himself. He’s experienced the horrifying and profoundly saddening events that first responders see every day. And like many other firefighters, he turned to alcohol to deal with the accumulating mental trauma.
Environmental Health
Years after Superstorm Sandy, residents still struggle with stress, recovery efforts
Superstorm Sandy came ashore nearly three years ago, pummeling the New England and Mid-Atlantic coast and becoming one of the deadliest and costliest storms to ever hit the U.S. This week, the Sandy Child and Family Health Study released two new reports finding that the health impacts of Sandy continue to linger, illustrating the deep mental footprint left by catastrophic disasters and the challenges of long-term recovery.
Firecrackers, bottle rockets and other fireworks are Fourth of July favorites for many Americans. Veterans suffering from PTSD may be dreading the sound that reminds them of combat.
In recent years, we’ve seen the federal government increase recognition of, and resources for, the mental health conditions that many veterans suffer from — but it hasn’t been enough.
J. Freedom du Lac reports in the Washington Post that Army Spec. David Emanuel Hickman, killed by a roadside bomb in Baghdad on November 14th, was the 4,474th US servicemember to be killed in Iraq. With all the US troops now gone from Iraq, Hickman’s death may well be the last servicemember fatality directly attributed […]
This Memorial Day, I haven’t just been thinking of those who died in combat, but also of those who’ve died because of combat. This morning’s NPR story about 23-year-old Ivan Lopez, who struggled with PTSD after returning home and then became the 14th Pennsylvania Guardsman since 2003 to die by his own hand, is just […]
While Veterans Day is an opportunity to thank veterans for their service, it should also be a time to consider how well we’re doing at taking care of veterans who’ve suffered physical or mental damage as a result of their service.