Mental Health

Quyen Truong still gets a cozy feeling when she sees a hand of cards.

It reminds her of family and traditions as a refugee from Vietnam who arrived in the U.S. in late 1990. Aunts, uncles and cousins in Connecticut — among the Southeast Asian refugees who resettled here in waves after the Vietnam War — would get together on weekends with rolls of quarters, nickels, pennies and dimes.

A nursing home’s role is to care for its patients, not compromise their health. Yet, across Connecticut, a number of facilities have come up short in fulfilling this most basic function.

This hour, we take an in-depth look at this issue. We talk with reporters, regulators, and advocates, and we also hear from you. 

On a January night in 2018, there were more than 3,000 people experiencing homelessness across the state of Connecticut.

This hour we sit down with Dr. Richard Cho, the new CEO of the Connecticut Coalition to End Homelessness. Connecticut has made major strides in reducing homelessness, but how do we address areas where residents are still falling through the cracks?

The death of a pet can be devastating --yet when you lose an animal companion--you’re sometimes expected to “just get over it.”  This hour, we talk about human attachment to pets. Have you experienced the death of a beloved animal? How comfortable were you talking about your grief with others?

Multiple lawsuits allege Connecticut’s prison system failed to properly diagnose and treat prisoners with serious illnesses. This hour we hear from a mother whose 19-year-old son died of an infection while incarcerated. Scott Semple, the outgoing prisons Commissioner, also joins us. What steps have been taken to improve health care behind bars?

Being a high school student isn't easy. There's pressure to get the grade, pile on the extracurriculars, and sleep enough to function. It's rare young people can do all three.

This hour, we talk with child psychologists and counselors about adolescent stress and anxiety.

The repeated incidents of mass shootings are shocking. Yet, they're sanitized and abstract for most of us who haven't been directly touched by gun violence.

The response to mass shootings has become predictable: anguished adults, candlelight vigils, and photos and remembrances of the victims in happier times. It's never about the carnage or the lingering impact on survivors or their families, communities,  medical doctors, nurses and psychiatrists who care for them. 

Dr. Christine Blasey Ford’s account of what she said Judge Brett Kavanaugh did to her in the early 1980s acted as a trigger for many of the millions who watched on television. It’s forcing survivors to relive abuse they’ve suffered.

From veterans returning from Iraq, to survivors of mass shootings, to those putting together the pieces after a hurricane--we know that the emotional and psychological scars of violence and tragedies sometimes last even longer than physical wounds.

But what is the psychological toll on those who help victims of traumatic experiences?

You know lots of sociopaths right?

It could be anyone from your ex-spouse to the guy who cut you off on your drive to work today. It's a term we throw around loosely to refer to anyone whoever lied to us or didn't follow the rules.

But, if we use it that way, it's not a very useful term. A sociopath is not the same thing as a jerk. In fact, the person you know who strikes you as a jerk is probably not a sociopath because it's not in the best interests of sociopaths to let you know what kind of people they are and sociopaths are usually pretty good about acting in their own best interests.

So, what does this term mean?

Colin was diagnosed with melanoma several weeks ago. He had a few scary weeks between diagnosis and removal of the cancer. He's told he's clean but, what happens next? 

The flu virus "Clade X"  is spreading rapidly around the world through respiratory droplets.  It was first detected in Germany and Venezuela but it has made students sick at a liberal arts college in Massachusetts. Officials are reporting the virus was created in a Swiss lab and deliberately unleashed by a terrorist group intending to sabotage the National Institutes of Health.

Amid the high-profile deaths of Kate Spade and Anthony Bourdain came news of a new CDC report outlining a rise in U.S. suicide rates. This hour, we take an in-depth look at the numbers with Dr. Jill Harkavy-Friedman of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.

Plus: On the heels of last month’s violent storms, we hear about efforts underway to restore one of the state’s most damaged -- and beloved -- outdoor areas: Sleeping Giant State Park.

And finally: In search of a good ol' non-fiction murder mystery? Or, better yet, one with a Connecticut twist? Look no further than New London’s The Day. A little later, reporter Karen Florin and digital news director Carlos Virgen take us behind the scenes of the newspaper's new crime podcast, Case Unsolved. Have you been listening?

Parent Lisa Wilson wasn’t sure if her son was developing the skills he should for his age. “He wasn't talking as a typical two-year-old would've been talking,” she said.