BRECKENRIDGE | Dick Carleton came to Breckenridge from Virginia when he was 24. He had a business degree from Virginia Tech, a ‘69 Volkswagen bug, $100 and three friends willing to share a crappy two-bedroom condo with no insulation. It was awful. It was glorious. He was “full of rebel[Read More…]
Tag: Mental Health
The Splotch: In a rural Eastern Plains community plagued by drought, stigma won’t be easy to overcome
EADS | “The Splotch,” as some here call the brown mark on the map they check weekly, is the color of scorched earth. Here in Kiowa County, farmers have always relied on whatever moisture happens to fall from the sky rather than on irrigation. In August, this 1,300-person community bordering[Read More…]
Speaking about depression
DENVER | Some words fail us, and for Robert Werthwein, “depression” is one of them. The 41-year-old director of Colorado’s Behavioral Health Office prefers to say “everything turned to complete s—” when his identical twin, Ryan, died of a brain tumor a week before their 15th birthdays, and that his[Read More…]
Why getting help for your mental health is so important
RBC | Getting professional help for dealing with your persistent fears and anxieties is the single most important step in your recovery. Many people are reluctant to get the help they need for various reasons. Making excuses for not getting treatment for your anxiety issues will not solve anything. With[Read More…]
Colorado’s shadow epidemic: heightened anxiety, depression are testing families, communities and Colorado’s already-frayed mental health safety nets
RBC | On Denver’s west side, an elderly man had been managing his solitude just fine until the pandemic hit, taking with it what social life he had and leaving in its place a loneliness he had not felt for years. Not far from his house, a young woman fights[Read More…]
Editor’s Column: Stigma, snowflakes, and sensationalizing
Last week when I wrote about finding gratitude, I wasn’t expecting to be quite so tested by that notion. I’ll begin with this: I am profoundly grateful for and proud of our local law enforcement and EMS crew and dispatch. We had an upsetting Thanksgiving eve that ended with my[Read More…]
‘Hearts and minds’ of Rangely force focus of new services
RBC | Ti Hamblin, Chief of Police in Rangely, was interviewed for this article. When appointed Chief of Police for the Town of Rangely, Colorado, Chief Hamblin set a goal to acquire a great staff that worked together for the betterment of the community. To quote Chief Hamblin directly, “I[Read More…]
Guest Column: Being an advocate for your child’s mental health
RBC | Although statistics vary, the American Psychological Association approximates one out of every five children in America has a diagnosable mental health disorder. Mental health problems in young people are associated with outcomes such as suicide, substance use, inability to live independently, justice involvement, school dropout, economic hardship, and physical health[Read More…]
Editor’s Column: 1 in 4
Last week we learned that we have received another national press award for our coverage of the Daniel Pierce shooting in Rangely last year. We are the recipients of the first-place award for investigative journalism in the National Newspaper Association’s Better Newspaper Contest. I’ve been humbled and honored by the[Read More…]
If you’re struggling right now, you are not alone.
The lack of mental health resources in rural Colorado and the rate of suicide in rural areas has prompted a partnership between the state’s Department of Agriculture and the Department of Human Services to promote Colorado Crisis Services. Colorado Crisis Services is a statewide behavioral health crisis response system that[Read More…]
Join us for a webinar on rural mental health this Monday
Please join HT editor Niki Turner and the Colorado Independent’s Susan Greene, as well as former police officer and professor of social work Dr. Paul F. Mackie, for a webinar on rural mental health issues. The webinar is organized by the National Press Foundation and will take place this Monday,[Read More…]
HT editor receives Carolyn C. Mattingly Award for Mental Health Reporting
RBC | HT editor Niki Turner and editor Susan Greene of The Colorado Independent have received the Carolyn C. Mattingly Award for Mental Health Reporting by the National Press Association for their 2019 work on “Through the Cracks: a stranger, a police shooting, and a rural town’s silence.” “Through the[Read More…]
