Mortality deaths in adolescents due to unintentional overdoses reached an all-time high in 2020. The majority of deaths (81%) were due to fentanyl and other synthetic opioids. About 41% of those who overdosed had a prior history of mental health.Yet, more often than not, we treat substance use and mental illness separately. Addressing mental illness and substance dependence requires ‘out of the box’ thinking. Our guest is one of those leading this charge as he explores alternative treatment interventions like psychedelic associated therapy.

Interview with Nathan Sackett, MD, co-director of the Center for Novel Therapeutics in Addiction Psychiatry at the University of Washington.

“Efforts are being made to reach underserved communities.” A cry so familiar, it sounds more like a platitude than a plan. Yet, we still accept it as the necessary and sufficient answer to much of our healthcare woes. What if it isn’t? What if all of our dollars and initiatives are directed at the wrong target? The answer, it turns out, may not be about healthcare at all. 

a public service psychiatrist and former medical director of the Center for Mental Health Services at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

There was a collective sigh heard round the world when children went back to school after the Covid-19 pandemic. Yet, we were unprepared for what came next - an explosion of physical fights, skyrocketing anxiety, depression, and unprecedented refusal to even go back to school. This, on top of the fact that there is a severe school counselor shortage across America. If schools couldn’t tackle this with more staff, they would need innovation and skilled leadership. One district, our very own in fact, showed how it could be done.

Interview with Dr. Jared Taylor, the coordinator of behavior interventions and mental health services of the Bellevue School District, serving close to 20,000 students.