April Dembosky

A new approach to schizophrenia involves managing early psychosis symptoms and keeping young people in school or jobs. The treatment is effective, but private insurance plans usually won't cover it.

Death is often depicted in TV and movies, but some clinicians say not very accurately. They're trying to shift the way Hollywood represents it.

In several California counties, new mental health courts open up in October. Officials hope to persuade people with psychosis to accept treatment. Critics say, it looks more like coercion.

As young adults prepare to leave blue states and head to historically black colleges in states where abortion is banned, they're getting ready to safeguard their reproductive health during college.

As some young women head to HBCUs in states where abortion is restricted or banned, they're getting education and birth control to help safeguard their reproductive health during college.

Democratic leaders in California and Oregon are becoming more open to using involuntary psychiatric commitment to combat homelessness, drug abuse and untreated mental illness.

Expanding the use of involuntary commitment is being discussed in liberal California and Oregon, where severe mental illness, drug use and homelessness are becoming political liabilities for leaders.

CA voters are expected to approve a constitutional amendment on abortion rights. But critics say it would actually expand abortion rights, because the amendment ignores the concept of fetal viability.

California voters will decide whether to amend their state constitution to explicitly protect abortion rights. But it's unclear whether the amendment would allow abortions at any point in pregnancy.

More than half of these deaths occur well after the mom leaves the hospital. To save lives, mothers need more support in the "fourth trimester, that time after the baby is born," one researcher says.

California volunteers are gearing up to host women from out of state in their homes or drive them to abortion appointments. One is a 75-year old woman motivated by having had abortions before 'Roe.'

With roughly half of U.S. states likely to ban abortion, volunteers in California are mobilizing to help women travel there for care. State lawmakers want to support some of those efforts too.

A proposed bill would require cannabis products to carry large warnings, similar to cigarettes. But the state's legal pot industry says more rules make it harder to compete with the illicit market.

California lawmakers are considering 13 bills that would expand access to abortion and welcome women from states where abortion is being banned or restricted.

A spike in pandemic pets is increasing shortages and burnout among veterinarians — a field that already had high rates of suicide. A new mental health initiative offers professional help for free.

People with schizophrenia are three times as likely to die from the virus, giving scientists an opportunity to study the potential relationship between the immune system and mental illness.

Having schizophrenia has emerged as the second biggest risk factor for dying from COVID-19, after advanced age. This finding could help drive new research about mental illness and the immune system.

Many Americans with mental illness report waiting weeks for care, even for serious depression or suicidality. California has a new law for insurers, limiting those wait times to two weeks or less.

Fatal drug overdoses, including from meth, have soared. California is preparing to roll out a controversial but proven treatment that involves paying stimulant users small sums of money not to use.

Fatal drug overdoses, including from meth, have soared. California is preparing to roll out a controversial but proven treatment for meth addiction that involves paying users small sums not to use.