The Goodnewspaper The 2024 Mental Health Edition

EDITOR'S NOTE: This issue includes stories about difficult topics such as suicide, trauma, and mental illness. We believe these stories will help you feel hopeful about these topics, but if reading this issue might be difficult for you — please take care of yourself. To read a different issue of the Goodnewspaper, log into your account at goodgoodgood.co and revisit some of our past issues centered around other topics. You can also find a list of mental health resources, call centers, and more at ggg.news/articles/mental-health-resources. Please do not hesitate to seek help. Your story matters. Hope is real. And good news is ahead. Starting 2025 with the Mental Health Edition of the Goodnewspaper is a pretty daunting way to ring in the new year. You're telling me… my job is…

In the divisive political climate that is the United States, it can be hard to find issues that garner bipartisan support, but a new survey points to access to mental health care as a shared value among both Republicans and Democrats. In a Gallup Panel, conducted in partnership with West Health in September 2024, 3,660 U.S. adults were surveyed. Roughly four in five respondents reported that they either strongly or somewhat support a federal law requiring insurance companies to cover mental health at the same level they do medical or surgical care. This includes 95% of Democrats, 79% of independents, and 67% of Republicans — all majority respondents. This overwhelming agreement likely comes from a recognition of ongoing health disparities, as the U.S. government reports that in the 16 years…

An estimated 40% of the general population has at least some fear of flying, with 2.5% harboring a clinical phobia of getting on an airplane. However, travelers’ stress keeps Beni the llama and Captain Jack the alpaca busy. The camel-adjacent cousins work at the Portland International Airport as part of the airport's animal therapy program. Every few weeks, they venture from their full-time farm roles at Mountain Peaks Therapy to reduce stress levels in the busy airport. Although still filled with the same bustling TSA checkpoints and chatty food courts, PDX has recently undergone a redesign that includes intentional ties to nature — Beni and Captain Jack among the attractions. “Being in nature is a stress reliever,” Allison Ferre, a spokesperson for the Port of Portland told NPR. “The therapy…

Social-emotional learning, including meditation, yoga, and mindfulness breaks are becoming more commonplace in schools across the country. Reports have found these initiatives are even more beneficial among communities that have fewer resources than others, including those with more students of color. This is especially evidenced in Atlanta, where GreenLight Fund Atlanta helps Georgia school systems pay for mindfulness programs. They are created by Inner Explorer, an audio platform that guides students and teachers through five-to-10-minute sessions of breathing, meditation, and reflection. It's used by Atlanta Public Schools and over 100 districts in the U.S. The goal is to make some form of mental health care accessible to students of color, as Black youth have the fastest-growing suicide rate among racial groups according to the Centers for Disease Control. Between 2007…

GOOD Listen to “On Our Minds,” a podcast by PBS News Student Reporting Labs. Here, student reporters share about the teen mental health experience so young people can find more support from adults and each other. BETTER Donate to Active Minds, a leading nonprofit that funds K-12 mental health initiatives, builds a workforce of school psychologists, and advocates for policy that supports youth mental health. activeminds.org BEST Help implement social-emotional learning curriculum in your local public school system. It's shown to empower young people and contribute to safe communities. Visit casel.org to learn more and advocate.…

Psychosis is a symptom shared between a number of mental health diagnoses, including schizophrenia, stroke, bipolar disorder, and depression. Psychosis causes people to experience hallucinations and hear voices — and often times, those imagined voices are highly abusive. But burgeoning technology from the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience at King's College London is helping patients confront those voices in a digital landscape. Built on more than a decade of research, the technology is a three-way conversation between the patient, their therapist, and a digital avatar on screen. After the patient provides a likeness and voice description to the trial, an avatar is rendered and the therapist takes on a dual role, speaking as themselves and voicing the avatar through voice conversion software. Then, the patient is able to talk…