It is January and North Dakota farmers may already be looking ahead to the spring planting season. Mental health providers see hope and challenges in assisting producers who are overwhelmed about their operation s outlook. Becky Kopp Dunham, clinical social worker and co-owner of Together Counseling, which has a program specifically geared for farmers in the eastern half of the state. .
As beneficial as it is to keep up with current events, too much political news can be detrimental to a person s mental health. Numerous studies are finding increased social divisiveness has contributed to growing stress levels among Americans. An American Psychological Association survey noted concern about the nation s future and social divisiveness are high-ranking stressors. .
Kentuckians who are deaf or hard-of-hearing face many challenges in accessing mental healthcare, and a new program aims to address the problem. Nearly 700,000 - or 16% - of Commonwealth residents are deaf or hard of hearing, according to the state. Brad Leedy - chief operating officer with Bridgehaven Mental Health Services - said the program, a partnership between Bridgehaven and the Kentucky Commission on the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, has trained eight deaf individuals to be peer support specialists - all of whom have struggled with depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, and other diagnoses. .