Mental Health

CalMatters and CatchLight are partnering on a three-year initiative to tell powerful stories about mental health in California. We’ll spotlight solutions, personal stories, investigate systems, and bring greater awareness to this historically stigmatized topic. This initiative is supported by:

Enlight Foundation
California Health Care Foundation
Flourish Impact Fund
Lisa Stone Pritzker Family Foundation
Resonance Philanthropies
Sarlo Family Foundation
Sand Hill Foundation
Stuart Foundation

State health officials took control of the Rose Garden and Legacy Healthcare nursing homes in Pasadena after learning that the home's operator couldn't pay rent or staff, as the coronavirus pandemic loomed.. Photo by Karlene Goller for CalMatters

Coronavirus

The gathering storm: How the state seized control of two troubled nursing homes as coronavirus crisis loomed

Once a rarity, state takeovers of on-the-edge nursing homes are expected to become more common as the pandemic tips facilities further into chaos.

By Barbara Feder Ostrov • July 15, 2020

Reader Reactions

Sharing story of depression and anxiety helps many people

Mental illness has long been cloaked in shame and fear, but in the past several years, mental health education has helped enlighten the public.

By Guest Commentary • July 10, 2020

Commentary

I faced a challenge one out of every three people in America has: depression and anxiety

As our country wrestles with serious issues, it has never been more urgent for business and economic leaders to move beyond platitudes on mental health.

By Guest Commentary • July 7, 2020

Taun Hall stands on the porch of her Walnut Creek home next to a green ribbon, the international symbol for mental health awareness. She and some of her neighbors display the ribbons in remembrance of her son, Miles, who was killed last year by Walnut Creek police during a mental health crisis. Photo by Anne Wernikoff for CalMatters

Justice

Who responds to nonviolent crises? New urgency to remove police from the equation

Efforts aim to dispatch mental health teams — not armed officers — for most crises calls involving mental illness and homelessness.

By Jocelyn Wiener • July 1, 2020

WhatMatters

Trending: #PresidentNewsom

Newsom's big medical mask deal leads to #PresidentNewsom buzz on Twitter. Is it safe to clean and reuse medical masks during coronavirus pandemic?

By Emily Hoeven • April 9, 2020

Coronavirus

How to get past the coronavirus crisis without losing your mental health

Fear, loss, economic stress, the angst of a seemingly endless crisis — coronavirus is taking a toll, not just physically but on our mental health. Here are some tips and tweaks from California mental health professionals.

By Jocelyn Wiener • March 29, 2020

WhatMatters

A thoroughly predictable accident + Coronavirus questions + Ted Cruz vs. Newsom

Homeless man suffers another setback. Conservatives jump on Newsom line from State of State speech. Questions swirl around coronavirus.

By Dan Morain • February 27, 2020

Before the latest accident left him critically injured, Mark Rippee ate a snack of rolls and coffee on November 22, 2019 in Vallejo. Photo by Anne Wernikoff for CalMatters

Health

After accident they warned about, sisters of mentally ill man blame the state — and beg governor to act

Everyone around Mark Rippee - a homeless man with a brain injury and paranoid schizophrenia — saw this coming. Nobody managed to stop it.

By Jocelyn Wiener • February 26, 2020

A pedestrian walks past a homeless sleeping on Fifth Street in San Francisco, Calif., on Thursday, Nov. 1, 2018. Photo by Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group

Mental Health

Inside the governor’s bid to fix homelessness: changing how California deals with mental illness

In his State of the State speech, Gavin Newsom calls for forcing more people into treatment, changing state spending rules, simplifying treatment paths, and linking housing and services.

By Jocelyn Wiener • February 19, 2020

Newsletters

Dramatic rise in mental illness cases in county jails + What a new PG&E might look like

County jails see spike in mental illness cases. Turning PG&E into a public utility comes with a hefty price tag. State aims to fix bottle-recycling program.

By Dan Morain • February 6, 2020