American journal of public health
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We tested whether the immigrant health advantage applies to non-Hispanic Black immigrants and examined whether nativity-based differences in allostatic load exist among non-Hispanic Blacks. ⋯ Foreign-born Blacks have a health advantage in allostatic load. Further research is needed that underscores a deeper understanding of the mechanisms driving this health differential to create programs that target these populations differently.
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We examined the association of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), traumatic brain injury, and chronic pain-the polytrauma clinical triad (PCT)-independently and with other conditions, with suicide-related behavior (SRB) risk among Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF; Afghanistan) and Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) veterans. ⋯ Although PCT was a moderate SRB predictor, interactions among PCT conditions, particularly PTSD, and depression or substance abuse had larger risk increases.
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Four assumptions frequently arise in the aftermath of mass shootings in the United States: (1) that mental illness causes gun violence, (2) that psychiatric diagnosis can predict gun crime, (3) that shootings represent the deranged acts of mentally ill loners, and (4) that gun control "won't prevent" another Newtown (Connecticut school mass shooting). Each of these statements is certainly true in particular instances. Yet, as we show, notions of mental illness that emerge in relation to mass shootings frequently reflect larger cultural stereotypes and anxieties about matters such as race/ethnicity, social class, and politics. These issues become obscured when mass shootings come to stand in for all gun crime, and when "mentally ill" ceases to be a medical designation and becomes a sign of violent threat.
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The history of solitary confinement in the United States stretches from the silent prisons of 200 years ago to today's supermax prisons, mechanized panopticons that isolate tens of thousands, sometimes for decades. We examined the living conditions and characteristics of the populations in solitary confinement. As part of the growing movement for reform, public health agencies have an ethical obligation to help address the excessive use of solitary confinement in jails and prisons in accordance with established public health functions (e.g., violence prevention, health equity, surveillance, and minimizing of occupational and psychological hazards for correctional staff). Public health professionals should lead efforts to replace reliance on this overly punitive correctional policy with models based on rehabilitation and restorative justice.