Mental Health

Sen. Gayle Harrell (R-Stuart) wants to ensure a simple phone call is all it takes for veterans to get mental health services. She’s sponsoring a bill that creates a program statewide to let veterans dial a dedicated support line staffed by their peers.

The coronavirus pandemic has taken a toll on millions of people around the world. In the United States, Black people are more at risk of dying from or developing serious complications from the virus. The economic fallout has also had a disproportionate impact on minorities, and the summer of racial justice protests has only compounded the mental and emotional stress for some.

Will you be home alone for the holidays? Missing your usual festivities?COVID-19 vaccines are bringing hope for some normalcy in 2021. In the meantime, we’re working with what we’ve got.

When it comes to children, Florida's law regarding involuntary commitments for psychiatric treatment is applied inconsistently.

To keep children from being committed under the Baker Act, some schools are addressing early childhood trauma and changing their approach to student discipline.

Data shows children who are committed under the Baker Act often are referred by school officials. School shootings and other incidents have placed more pressure on officials to intervene.

Each year, about 36,000 children in Florida are involuntarily committed for psychiatric evaluations under the state's Baker Act and disabled kids are becoming increasingly ensnared.

The number of children who are taken for involuntary psychiatric evaluations in Florida increases every year. This is the first story in a five-part series about how the state's Baker Act affects children.

A statewide grand jury studying school safety issued an interim report Thursday that tore into Florida’s mental-health system, saying that “deficiencies in funding, leadership and services related to mental health care tend to turn up everywhere like bad pennies.”

In Episode 6: Walk It Off, we explore a theme that keeps popping up in this series. Lots of people are taking daily walks for both their physical and mental health. Did you know your body is made to move? We hear from a walker and an expert about the impact walking - even just moving a little bit - can have on our work performance and our daily life.