By Rebecca Grapevine Last year, as Georgia endured the strain of COVID-19, a blue-ribbon commission quietly held regular meetings about how to improve mental health services in the state. The panel issued its report in January, just as the state Legislature convened in Atlanta for its annual session. The experts had spent over a year…
Matt Gaffney had trouble living in a group home for people with disabilities like himself. He’s nonverbal and suffers from multiple conditions: severe autism, bipolar disorder, chronic gastrointestinal issues. In group homes, Matt, now 42, had his medications ‘‘raised to higher levels,’’ says Sue Gaffney, his mother. And she adds that his last group home…
By Alicia Thompson McBride In nine years of teaching English to teenagers, I thought I had heard it all – until essays from a writing assignment revealed the secret lives of my students. Their papers opened my eyes to the psychological traumas that plague their lives – pressures that COVID-19 is exponentially magnifying. A year…
By Madeline Laguaite Riley Kirkpatrick realized he was transgender when he was a teenager. Kirkpatrick, born and raised as a female, says he was always very masculine and was often described as a “tomboy.” It was around the time of his realization — at age 14 — that he began using drugs. Drug use felt normal…
The surge in telehealth during the COVID-19 pandemic has leveled off, with more patients seeing their doctors in person again. But experts say virtual medical appointments will continue, and with more frequency than before COVID struck. Some of the change appears permanent. In Georgia and nationally, the early days of the pandemic saw incredible growth…
For a year of her life, Linda Ferguson lived in a booth at a transit stop. She spent another year living under a bridge. Her homelessness, she says now, “was a bad situation. Nobody likes to be outside. It’s a very insecure feeling.’’ At one point Ferguson, who deals with severe anxiety attacks, lost her…
In the fifth grade, 51 percent of girls in Georgia have healthy aerobic ability. By the 12th grade, the number plummets to 31 percent. What’s causing this drop? And what can be done about it? A group of nonprofits, led by the Atlanta Falcons Youth Foundation, have decided to focus on the issue — and on…
From car accidents to gunshot wounds to bicycle crashes, some major Georgia hospitals are reporting an increase in trauma cases since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Grady Memorial Hospital has seen a 25 percent rise in trauma cases. Such injuries have reached the highest level that CEO John Haupert has seen since he arrived at the…
By Judi Kanne The COVID-19 pandemic has proved a perfect storm for eating disorders, experts say. Lockdowns to limit the spread of infection have made Americans more isolated from one another while increasing their anxiety. Psychologists say the emotional impact of that has driven many people into binge eating and weight gain, while for some…
Budget cuts due to the COVID-19 economic crisis have led the state’s mental health agency to lay off 200 employees. The jobs included positions in each of the state-run hospitals, regional field offices, and central office. The layoffs are part of a $123 million budget reduction for the Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities (DBHDD)….