Mental Health

At A Texas Base, Battling Army's Top Threat: Suicide

6:42pm June 20, 2013

by Quil Lawrence

Suicide killed more U.S. troops last year than combat in Afghanistan, a trend that's likely to continue this year. The causes and remedies are complicated, but Fort Bliss in Texas has bucked the trend. Suicides have declined there, after implementation of an interactive suicide prevention program.

Queue Listen Now

Health & Safety

Conn. Law May Discourage Mental Illness Sufferers From Help

1:52pm June 18, 2013

by Craig LeMoult

After the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, states have taken steps to limit gun access for people with mental illness. In Connecticut, a new law requires psychiatric hospitals to report anyone who is voluntarily admitted, so the state can revoke any gun licenses they may hold. Some in the mental health community say it could prevent people from seeking psychiatric help.

Queue Listen Now

The Human Voice May Not Spark Pleasure In Children With Autism

11:31am June 18, 2013

by Jon Hamilton

Scientists and parents have long been baffled by the fact that children with autism often don't pay attention to human voices. Researchers say that may be because speech doesn't activate a reward system in the brain for those children the way it does for typical children.

Queue Listen Now

Decoding 'the Most Complex Object in the Universe'

4:13pm June 14, 2013

The human brain contains some 100 billion neurons, which together form a network of Internet-like complexity. Christof Koch, chief scientific officer of the Allen Institute for Brain Science, calls the brain "the most complex object in the known universe," and he's mapping its connections in hopes of discovering the origins of consciousness.

Queue Listen Now

Bad Diagnosis For New Psychiatry 'Bible'

7:22pm June 04, 2013

The new edition of the DSM, the so-called "Bible" of psychiatry, is out. But many psychiatrists and psychologists say the manual's approach is outdated, boxing mental illness into discrete categories like schizophrenia or bipolar disorder, when very little is known about the underlying causes of disease.

Queue Listen Now

Human Interest

Breaking The Barriers Of Depression

8:31pm May 30, 2013

According to a 2009 report by the U.S.

Queue Listen Now

Tragic Result: Sniper Tries To Help Troubled Veteran

7:58am May 28, 2013

Chris Kyle was one of the deadliest American military snipers in history. In February, the former Navy SEAL was shot and killed — not on the battlefield, but on the homefront at the hands of a fellow veteran. David Greene talks to Nicholas Schmidle, who reports in the latest issue of The New Yorker magazine how these two men and their invisible scars of war intersected tragically.

Queue Listen Now

Studies Question Potential Alzheimer's Treatment

2:58pm May 24, 2013

Last year scientists reported that a skin cancer drug appeared to reverse the effects of an Alzheimer's-like disease in mice. But four studies out this week in Science question the original results. Ronald Petersen, director of the Mayo Clinic's Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, talks about the new findings, and the hunt for Alzheimer's drugs.

Queue Listen Now

Oliver Sacks: Hallucinations

3:11pm May 21, 2013

In his latest book Hallucinations, neurologist Oliver Sacks collects stories of individuals who can see, hear and smell things that aren't really there--such as strange voices, or collages of unrecognizable faces--and explores the disorders and drugs that can produce such illusions. This interview was originally broadcast on November 9, 2012.

Queue Listen Now

Amy Goyer moved back to Phoenix to look after her father, Robert, when he began to show signs of Alzheimer's. He is just one of 5 million Americans living with the disease.

Health & Safety

Alzheimer's Cases Rise, But Hope Remains

7:47pm May 18, 2013

by NPR Staff

More than 5 million Americans currently have Alzheimer's disease, and the number is only going to increase — in part, due to aging baby boomers. But researchers say increased awareness and early detection is helping patients live with the disease.

Queue Listen Now