Mental Health

I write about mental health issues among specific populations and about psychological well-being in times of crisis. Here are examples in the media:

• How to stay socially connected while physically apart. The Morning Call. April 2, 2020
• Attributing weakness to mental disorders is oppressive. The Morning Call. October 08, 2016
• Tennessee’s queer youth: Bullied, abused, denied therapy. The Advocate. May 06 2016

My research on mental health explores how people make meaning of different mental health issues and the implications of these perceptions. This work has been published in Social Science & Medicine, the Journal of Health & Social Behavior, and the Journal of Gay and Lesbian Mental Health.

I am also interested in variations in mental health outcomes by factors such as race, exposure to and anticipation of police brutality, and disability status, and how we measure depression among African Americans.

l explore how social factors, including racism, influence unmet need for mental health care.

Examining how people enter into treatment and their perceptions about the effectiveness of treatment are also important. My most recent publications on this issue appear in Psychiatric Services and Health Services Insights