Rob Waters
(He/Him)
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I cover health, mental health, science, urban affairs, craftsmanship, travel and world culture -- and anything else that captures my interest and lends itself to good storytelling.
Journalist writing on health, mental health, science, public health. Founding editor, @MindSiteNews. This account has been archived, I will no longer post here.
Articles by Rob Waters
MindSite News Turns Five
MindSite News Turns Five Five years ago yesterday, as the U.S. was trying to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, MindSite News was launched as the nation’s only news outlet exclusively reporting on mental health. From the archives… Among the stories we published when we launched was this one about the difficulties students were having adjusting to school after being isolated for more than a year.
MindSite News Welcomes Jariel Arvin as Our New Reporting Fellow
MindSite News Welcomes Jariel Arvin as Our New Reporting Fellow A Boston transplant – by way of Vietnam – sprouts local roots to help MindSite News deepen its Bay Area connections. Earlier this month, Jariel Arvin joined the MindSite News team as our first full-time Bay Area reporter.
Trump Order Fast-Tracks Psychedelic Testing, Bypassing Regulators to Control Science from White House
Trump Order Fast-Tracks Psychedelic Testing, Bypassing Regulators to Control Science from White House To get a good sense of how policy gets made these days in Washington, look no further than Saturday’s signing event at the White House. The bottom line: Damn the clinical trials. Full speed ahead. With Joe Rogan standing behind him, President Trump signs an executive order on psychedelics. Credit: C-SPAN “Sounds great. Do you want FDA approval?
Smartphones Are Making Us Dumber and More Anxious
Greetings, MindSite News readers. Usually, I just help get out our MindSite News Daily with a little editing, but today I’m filling in to write it. And let me tell you, editing is a lot easier! So hats off to Courtney and Diana who write this newsletter on a regular basis. In today’s edition, we hear from a computer science professor who wants both adults and kids to step away from nonstop screen-scrolling and allow our brains to recover and think deeply – before we lose the ability to do so.
As Millions Protest, Marchers Raise Mental Health – Their Own and Trump’s – with Biting Humor
Rob Waters, the founding editor of MindSite News, is an award-winning health and mental health journalist. He was a contributing writer to Health Affairs and has worked as a staff reporter or editor at Bloomberg News, Time Inc. Health and Psychotherapy Networker. His articles have appeared in the Washington Post, Kaiser Health News, STAT, the Atlantic.com, Mother Jones and many other outlets. He was a 2005 fellow with the Carter Center for Mental Health Journalism.
Bay Area Event Highlights Young Women’s Freedom Center
Young Women Driving Justice and Mental Health Change to Take Stage at Bay Area Event MindSite News hosts the Young Women’s Freedom Center and Congresswoman Lateefah Simon at the Commonwealth Club for a public conversation on healing, leadership and justice. Young leaders, staff and family members gather at the Young Women’s Freedom Center in 2022.
AI & Youth Mental Health: One in Eight Teens Turn to Chatbots – MindSite News
Ole.CNX/Shutterstock Young people are flocking to use artificial intelligence tools, and among the heaviest users are youth with the greatest emotional needs – those who have been bullied or cyberbullied, who feel put down by their parents or who have experienced violence in their home. That’s according to a new survey of 1,340 teens and young adults aged 13 to 24.
How Minecraft Therapy Is Transforming Youth Mental Health Care
How Minecraft Therapy Is Transforming Child and Teen Mental Health Care Two leading practitioners discuss how they do individual and group therapy that children want to take part in, using Minecraft, the most popular video game in the world. A MindSite News webinar. Click above to view the recording of our webinar. During the pandemic, many clinicians faced a growing challenge: how to meaningfully connect with children and teens in virtual settings.
With SNAP Benefits Delayed, Fountain House Clubhouses Scramble to Feed Hungry Members – MindSite News
With SNAP Benefits Delayed, Fountain House Clubhouses Scramble to Feed Hungry Members From New York City to Salt Lake City, Fountain House clubhouses have created plans to feed members impacted by cutoff of SNAP funds Members prepare a meal together at the South Bronx Fountain House clubhouse in 2023. Photo courtesy of Fountain House.
What Comes Next for Israel and Gaza Children?
Hello, MindSite News readers. In this edition, we mark the negotiated ceasefire in Gaza and the release of Israeli hostages — and think about the long road ahead for rebuilding Gaza and addressing the profound mental health needs of Palestinian children and families. In other news, tips for couples on words that can defuse even the most heated of arguments. The rise – and recent fall – of veteran suicide in the US. Plus: How hallucinogens may have helped ancient cultures bond after upheaval.
Jimmy Kimmel Returning Tonight as ABC Lifts Suspension
Image: Biography of Jimmy Kimmel He’s baaaack…Less than a week after the Walt Disney Company and ABC suspended late night host Jimmy Kimmel – under threat from Brendan Carr, the Trump-appointed chair of the Federal Communication Commission – ABC announced that he would be back on the air on Tuesday (tonight). And by all accounts, he came out swinging – in an impassioned monologue for free speech.
Support for Authoritarianism Rising, Survey Shows
Photo: MindSite News/Canva Garen Wintemute is an emergency room physician who practices and teaches at UC Davis Medical Center near Sacramento, California. He also directs the university’s Violence Prevention Research Program. In that capacity, he conducts research in the fields of injury epidemiology and the prevention of firearm violence.
Trump Budget Abandons Historic Effort to Address Mental Health
People gather outside the US Capitol in Washington to protest health care cuts on March 12, 2025. Photo: Shutterstock In today’s Daily: A special edition focusing on the devastating impact of the budget bill that President Donald Trump pushed through the Republican-controlled Congress last week. Mental health was hit heavily, and advocates, service providers and experts have expressed their alarm – and their commitment to providing care despite the cutbacks.
A walk down Memory Lane – and wrapping up a series
Vietnam Vets and Refugees Remember the War That Changed Their Lives From the 1985 edition of the Tenderloin Times, a four-language newspaper with reporters from Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, a look back at the first 10 years following the end of the Vietnam War. Good morning MindSite News readers, We’re coming to you today with a special MindSite News Originals edition to share a couple of brand-new, 40-year-old stories.
War Not Over For Vietnam Veterans
Vietnam veteran at Episcopal Sanctuary shelter. One-fifth of San Francisco shelter residents are Vietnam veterans. Photo: Andrew Ritchie Editor’s note: Forty years ago, The Tenderloin Times, a community newspaper that served the inner-city Tenderloin neighborhood of San Francisco, published a package of stories linked to the 10th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War.
SAMHSA Firings Continue, Devastating U.S. Mental Health Agency – MindSite News
SAMHSA Firings Continue, Devastating U.S. Mental Health Agency Employees of SAMHSA, the federal agency responsible for leading the nation’s response to the mental health and drug overdose crises, were among those terminated this morning in the latest round of mass firings implemented by the Trump administration. Screenshot of boilerplate message sent to fired HHS employees this morning.
COVID anniversary: 200,000 parents died. Indian kids lost the most
As the world reaches the 5-year COVID anniversary, grieving children still need support Five years ago this week, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic. The virus went on to kill 1.2 million Americans, the most of any country in the world. Many of those who died were parents, and the story of the children they left behind has gotten far too little attention.
A transformational approach
‘Little Scandinavia’ aims to cut recidivism by emulating world’s most humane – and effective – prisons This story was orginally published as “How to Build a Better Prison” in the November 2024 issue of Philadelphia magazine and online. Inside the imposing beige walls of the Pennsylvania state correctional institution in Chester, a suburb of Philadelphia, there is a fish tank whose inhabitants are part of something bigger than themselves.
Abortion bans erode trust between clients and their therapists
A pro-choice national directory links clients with vetted therapists to discuss abortion The Texas woman been out of the psychiatric hospital only four months when she learned she was pregnant. Just 21 years old and struggling with bipolar disorder, her mental health had collapsed after losing her job as a waiter.
Photoshopped Images, Scientific Fraud Derail Quest for Alzheimer’s Treatments
‘It’s stunning how widespread it was.’ Q&A with journalist Charles Piller, who exposed fakery Almost 7 million people in the US today have Alzheimer’s disease and some 11 million family members and friends provide unpaid care for people with dementia.
Coming to Grips with a Developmental Disability Diagnosis
This story looks at the experience of a family – and an editor – in Pittsburgh. This is the first article in a series on developmental disabilities we are republishing from Public Source, a nonprofit news site in Pittsburgh. Today’s story examines the evaluation that can bring anxiety and uncertainty – but also help. Artemis knows her shark facts, is learning Spanish and draws colorful cats, upside-down, that practically leap off the page when she turns them right-side-up.
Losing My Vision Has Been a Blow to My Mental Health. I Cope by Seeking Help and Having a Sense of Humor
The writer offers suggestions for people losing their sight – and the counselors that help them Elinor Waters, EDD, is a retired counselor who taught at Oakland University outside Detroit and for many years directed its Continuum Center, a program that provided peer counseling and training, especially to women wanting to reenter the work force in the 1970s and 80s.
Black kids overdiagnosed with "oppositional defiant disorder"
‘Bad kid’ diagnosis ‘greases the school-to-prison pipeline,’ doctor says Black children are disproportionately diagnosed with a mental health condition known as oppositional defiant disorder, which serves to label them as “bad kids” and perpetuates systemic racism, says a California psychiatrist in a new report released this month. Dr. Rupi Legha is a California-based child psychiatrist offering anti-racist solutions.
Miami Community Responders Work to Ease Mental Health Crises
Can Dream Defenders program make a difference for Miami’s Black residents? This story is the latest installment of Fateful Encounters, an ongoing investigative collaboration between MindSite News, the Medill Investigative Lab-Chicago at Northwestern University and other media outlets exploring police response to mental health crises. This work is generously supported by the Sozosei Foundation.
Police Often Use Force on Black People During 911 Crisis Calls
Media focus on killings obscures injuries and trauma from non-fatal force, MindSite News-Medill investigation shows This story is the latest installment of Fateful Encounters, an ongoing investigative collaboration between MindSite News, the Medill Investigative Lab-Chicago at Northwestern University and other media outlets exploring police response to mental health crises. This work is generously supported by the Sozosei Foundation.
Grief in Children: ‘Bereavement Deserts’ Spur Hidden Crisis
‘My son needed something I couldn’t give.’ Surviving parents seek grief support for kids Adds to story to provide updated table below on top causes of childhood bereavement through 2023.
Confronting the Immoral Arrests and Mass Detention of Immigrants
Preparing for the dilemma of how to act when witnessing the arrest or detention of immigrants In this post-election, pre-inauguration period I have one overriding feeling: panic. It is not a loud panic, such that I feel the need to scream, but a quiet, chilling panic, as if I am internally scrabbling to find a path forward that is going to make sense in a hypothetical future that may exist soon.
ADHD boosts risk of criminal behavior but goes untreated in prison
As many as half of all prisoners have ADHD. Research suggests treatment can help reduce recidivism and ease the reentry process Kevin Light-Roth is an incarcerated journalist and organizer currently held at a prison in Washington state. For this story, he interviewed other prisoners in person and corresponded by email with experts. This story was produced in partnership with The Appeal. As far back as elementary school, Kurt Myers was always a class clown.
A DIY grief group for men who lost a child
Rob Reider outfitted the “man cave” in his basement with equipment to practice his hobbies: a Fender Telecaster and a drum set, from his years in punk bands, and a bench press, pull-up bar, and assorted free weights. He strung Christmas lights near the ceiling and named the room “The Tone Zone,” a sanctuary for building strength. On a recent Monday night in Falmouth, Maine, Reider went to the room to work different muscles. He opened his MacBook and joined 50 men on a Zoom call.
Fewer community services boost risk of youth feeling hopeless
Youth leaders in Pittsburgh high school work to compensate by creating a caring atmosphere This story was originally reported and published by PublicSource. Lauren Rowe’s art room at West Mifflin Area High School is more than just a place for drawing and painting: It serves as a safe space for students to talk openly about their mental health struggles.
Trump demonizes immigrants and those with mental illness
Good morning, MindSite News readers. Two days after Donald Trump was elected president in Nov. 2016, mental health advocates in Chicago gathered to discuss concerns about the election’s impact on immigrants’ mental health. One of the attendees, an associate professor of social work named Maria Ferrera, recalls that immigrants she was in touch with were terrified by the rhetoric coming from Trump. Many of them were also calling suicide lines, in record numbers.
Trump's potential return sparks anxiety and fear among immigrants
As Election Day nears, immigrant-led coalitions provide support amid fears of mass deportations and violence This the second story from a new reporting project called Silent Battles, which focuses on the mental health of immigrant, refugee and asylum communities in the U.S. We have begun the project in Chicago, a city founded by a Haitian immigrant that has the fourth-largest immigrant population in the country.
Treatment not Trauma: Transforming Mental Health in Chicago
Participants in a South Side summit celebrate the planned reopening of community clinics and a shift to crisis response teams that don’t rely on police A few months after the murder of George Floyd in May of 2020, Chicago Alderwoman Rossana Rodriguez-Sanchez introduced a proposal to reform the city’s mental health system in ways that community groups and mental health professionals had been demanding for years.
Mental health giving rises a bit but still too low
An Interview with Kristen Ward Ever since some preliminary research in 2018 from the University of Pennsylvania’s Center for High Impact Philanthropy found that only 1.3% of all dollars donated by foundations and philanthropists went to mental health, the sector has been called out for giving too little attention – and too few dollars – to address a critical need.
At Long Last, Signs the Overdose Epidemic Is Slowing
Drug overdose deaths plummet: ‘This looks very, very real’ Deb Walker, of Chester, Vt., visits the grave of her daughter Brooke Goodwin, Thursday, Dec. 9, 2021. (AP Photo/Lisa Rathke) Drug overdose deaths declined sharply nationwide and even faster in many states, NPR reports, leading many experts to cautiously acknowledge that the country’s long nightmare of spiraling overdose deaths may finally be subsiding. “This is exciting,” said Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse.
School Shooting: Beyond Thoughts & Prayers Is Mental Health
“Pray for Apalachee High School.” Even in the afternoon rain, that message endures on a posterboard at a shrine to the victims of the nation’s latest school shooting. It expresses the prevailing sentiment in the small community of Winder, Georgia, about 50 miles northeast of Atlanta. Thoughts and prayers overflow here, since two students and two teachers were killed on September 4 when a 14-year-old opened fire with an AR-15-style rifle. Nine others were wounded.
House, Senate Committees Release Dueling Mental Health Spending Bills
Beltway Update is an occasional column keeping you up to date on timely Congressional and administrative action on mental and behavioral health bills and policy in Washington, DC. With less than a month until the new 2025 Fiscal Year begins Oct. 1, Congress is back in Washington after members split time during the summer between the campaign trail and a hectic round of committee work.
Parenting Under Pressure: - MindSite News
Foreword from Parents Under Pressure: The U.S. Surgeon General’s Advisory on the Mental Health & Well-Being of Parents Parents often say parenting is one of the best jobs but also one of the hardest. I see this reflected in the faces of new parents who radiate love for their babies through their sleep deprivation.
‘I Was Terrified, Actually. It Could Be Me Next’
After decades of trauma, Palestinians have high rates of depression, PTSD and more. Youth are at special risk This story and video was produced and released by Undark, with support from the Pulitzer Center. It includes casualty figures from the Palestinian Ministry of Health updated on July 24. In this short documentary film, Palestinian youth and their families in the West Bank describe their experiences since Israel’s siege of Gaza.
A Convicted Ex-President Goes Full Stigma
Good morning, MindSite News readers. Today, the last Friday of the month, is normally the day we send out Diagnosis: Injustice, our newsletter focused on the intersection of criminal justice and mental health. However, with the news of Donald Trump’s conviction, we don’t think too many people will be paying attention to the important stories we’ll be publishing. So we are holding Diagnosis: Injustice until next week.
MindSite News Reporters Win Two Awards
MindSite News, the nation’s only national news outlet reporting exclusively on mental health, is pleased to announce that two MindSite News reporters have won awards for excellence in journalism. Josh McGhee won a 2024 Studs Terkel Award from Chicago-based Public Narrative. McGhee’s award-winning body of work covers the intersection of criminal justice and mental health.
A Student Journalist on How Her Team Coped with the Stress of Covering a Campus Under Siege
The protests that have erupted on college campuses across the country have generated almost as much controversy and outrage as the Israel-Gaza war that is the focus of those demonstrations. The story of these protests has mostly been told by outsiders and non-students. Until now.
Spending Packages Signed into Law Will Keep Federal Mental Health Funding at Historic Levels
Beltway Update is an occasional column keeping you up to date on timely Congressional and administrative action on mental and behavioral health bills and policy in Washington, DC. We are 15 months into the 118th Congress, and the low expectations for the gridlocked body have been both affirmed and defied.
California’s Prop. 1 Ekes Out a Win as Gavin Newsom Seeks to Change How People with Mental Illness Get Help
After days of uncertainty, the results are finally in: Californians, by a slim majority, have voted to throw their support behind Gov. Gavin Newsom’s latest effort to overhaul how the state cares for people with serious mental illness. The Associated Press on Wednesday declared that Proposition 1 passed by the narrowest of margins, 50.2% to 49.8%.
Islamophobia Is Driving a Mental Health Crisis Among Michigan’s Muslim Youth
In the Arab American enclave of Dearborn, anxiety, depression and substance abuse strain the “9/11 generation” As a boy, Rabih Darwiche would sprint for cover when the monthly test sirens ripped through his quiet suburban Detroit neighborhood. Darwiche’s terror was about more than the ear-splitting roar alone: The tornado alarms took him back from Dearborn, Michigan, to his early childhood in 1980s Lebanon. There, similar sirens warned of imminent bombings by Israeli jets soaring overhead.
Can Prop. 1 Address California’s Trifecta of Mental Health Crises? Voters Are About to Decide
Mental health experts weigh in on measure to make sweeping changes in mental health, housing and addiction services On March 5, California voters will decide the future of a tax that millionaires pay to help fund state mental health programs. Since 2004, when voters approved the Mental Health Services Act (MHSA), the tax it created has poured a total of $31 billion into the state’s poorly funded mental health system.
Recovered addicts help revive Kentucky towns
Wednesday February 28, 2024 Greetings MindSite News Readers! In today’s Daily, recovered addicts are helping small town Kentucky rebuild from the ravages of the opioid epidemic. New research finds Viagra may help aging brains, and the Washington Post offers tips on reducing stress. Plus, a podcast from UC Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center teaches listeners how to plan a break for happiness.
A Must-Read in NY Times: Voices of America's Homeless
Monday, February 26, 2024 Good morning, MindSite News readers. Don Sapatkin is off today. In today’s newsletter, we hear the voices and stories of homeless people – in their own words, thanks to a beautifully realized special feature from the New York Times Opinion section. We also take a look at two stories related to California’s Proposition 1, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s controversial effort to remake mental health services in California. Let’s dive in.
A San Francisco Program Helps Older People Manage Their Hoarding Behavior – and Stay Housed - MindSite News
There are still a handful of vintage hat boxes in Vera Oliver’s closet. Wrapped in smooth satin and crushed velvet, they sit high on a shelf, stacked one on top of another. The boxes are from a time when Oliver worked as a makeup artist at big department stores. She had a gift for eyes, and with one glance could name someone’s best eye shadow color. At 80 years old, wearing brightly colored porcelain earrings, Oliver still knows beauty when she sees it.
A Former Hotline Counselor ‘Hands the Mic’ to Call-takers to Amplify Their Voices
Last June, a software engineer and former volunteer crisis counselor named Dan Fichter founded CrisisCrowd, an independent project whose stated mission is “empowering and enabling connections among crisis hotline staff.” Dan Fichter in a photo he provided He also wanted to learn directly from his former colleagues – people who do this work as their full-time job – about the conditions they work under and how those conditions may affect the people they serve.
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