Teen Diary: Story of a Cutter
Andrea Nelson is a volunteer on the kids help line at the Crisis Center in Birmingham. It may be hard to understand just what would drive a young person to cut themselves. 15-year-old Krista started cutting several years ago. Twice she was hospitalized in a psychiatric center. Krista now lives in a foster home and has stopped cutting. But like many people with an addiction, recovery is a constant struggle. For the final episode of our series Raise Your Voice, Krista prepared this audio diary.
Editor’s note: This is our latest piece in a year-long commitment to covering mental health issues in Alabama. You can learn more about our “Making Sense of Mental Health” project and find local mental health resources — as our commitment continues throughout the year — inside this website.
Birmingham is 3rd worst in the Southeast for ozone pollution, new report says
The American Lung Association's "State of the Air" report shows some metro areas in the Gulf States continue to have poor air quality.
Why haven’t Kansas and Alabama — among other holdouts — expanded access to Medicaid?
Only 10 states have not joined the federal program that expands Medicaid to people who are still in the "coverage gap" for health care
Once praised, settlement to help sickened BP oil spill workers leaves most with nearly nothing
Thousands of ordinary people who helped clean up after the 2010 BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico say they got sick. A court settlement was supposed to help compensate them, but it hasn’t turned out as expected.
Q&A: How harm reduction can help mitigate the opioid crisis
Maia Szalavitz discusses harm reduction's effectiveness against drug addiction, how punitive policies can hurt people who need pain medication and more.
The Gulf States Newsroom is hiring a Community Engagement Producer
The Gulf States Newsroom is seeking a curious, creative and collaborative professional to work with our regional team to build up engaged journalism efforts.
Gambling bills face uncertain future in the Alabama legislature
This year looked to be different for lottery and gambling legislation, which has fallen short for years in the Alabama legislature. But this week, with only a handful of meeting days left, competing House and Senate proposals were sent to a conference committee to work out differences.
