I posted this on Facebook in my high school class’s private group, and reaction was strong enough that I re-posted it public, with even more response.

This is sobering, very sobering, but I think everyone in the US needs to think seriously about it. My high school had 110-120 students per year.
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Opioids. A sobering story I can think about compared to MHS.

I’m at a policy workgroup in DC that’s been working for years on integrating behavioral and mental health into primary care. (Its work is finally published at integrationacademy.ahrq.gov.) We’ve been reconvened to address opioids – providing info for family docs who are now being faced with this issue, which is far far FAR from dealing with chicken pox and broken arms. :-(

A family doc from Maine is here. He has four kids, in separate high school classes. SMALL school – half our size – 60 per year. And in just those four years, THIRTEEN KIDS have died of opioids.

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Update, December 7: I’m at a meeting talking about community mental health in Colorado, and it turns out this program didn’t work out as being effective.

I recently attended the first White House Dialog on Men’s Health, at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building. The day got a little out of control – speakers in the first session ran way long, nobody reined them in, so the middle hour (where I was going to co-lead a breakout) got cancelled. Oh well. But for me the whole trip was worth it just to discover this: “Dr. Rich Mahogany,” a fictional therapist who makes clear that getting therapy is not just for woosses, it’s for real men, too: his site is Man Therapy, including a manly, interactive 18 Point Head Inspection.

It’s all real – the information is serious – but it’s couched in terms to be humorous, entertaining and engaging, as in “Stick around – there’s something useful here. Have a seat.” Here’s the About video, from their YouTube channel:
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