When I was a young teen-ager, a friend of mine lost his mother to suicide. I didn’t know her well, mostly through the carpool our mothers participated in. But I do remember she always seemed upbeat and chatty, and that she whistled a lot as she drove us to and from school. I’m ashamed to […]

I have heard talk recently about relying more on schools to treat, diagnose and de-stigmatize mental illness. For instance, participants at a recent mental health summit in Kansas City, Mo., suggested several ways districts could help address the mental health needs of youths and young adults. Ideas from the summit included incorporating mental health screenings […]

Though they share a border, Johnson and Wyandotte counties often occupy different ends of the spectrum when it comes to health rankings. Wealthy Johnson County typically outshines its working class neighbor to the north, as is the case with the annual report issued by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University of Wisconsin Population […]