Inequalities

Tag: mental health

  • Social Factors and the Evaluation of Mental Disorders

    The American Psychiatric Association is set to release the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) this month. These new guidelines will have a profound effect on how clinicians diagnose mental disorders, how health insurers reimburse for treatment, how drug makers market their products, and how the government determines benefits […]

  • Ease off the alarm bells: New data on ADHD diagnosis rates

    The New York Times has a cover story today reporting on the estimated prevalence of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder from the 2011-2012 National Survey of Children’s Health (they don’t identify the survey by name). The story is going to get a lot of people interested in what is happening to children — every new datapoint on ADHD […]

  • Inequality and the Angry Society

    “I didn’t eat this morning. I’m wearing my niece’s clothes. I just was violated by my mom’s boyfriend. I go to school and here comes someone that bumps into me and don’t say excuse me. You hit zero to rage within thirty seconds. And you act out.” These are the words of Ameena Matthews, spoken […]

  • Bad Kids or Bad Environments?

    Consider a ten-year-old child. He is being raised by a single mother who drinks at night and shouts frequently at her three children. They live in a bad neighborhood, and the kids attend a tough school. In the classroom, the boy does not concentrate very well and is often disruptive in class. At recess he […]