September is National Recovery Month.
Started in 1989 by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), National Recovery Month was originally named Treatment Works! Month before expanding to focus on overall recovery.
The purpose of this month is to honor individuals in recovery from mental health and substance use disorders, as well as families, and healthcare professionals. We should also take this month to promote evidence-based treatment and recovery practices, challenge and reduce the stigma surrounding addiction and mental health, and educate the public on available resources and support systems.
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🗞 In The News
Credit: W Magazine | Getty Images
🗞 Lawsuit accuses Florida of violating rights of defendants with mental illness held in jail without treatment. A federal lawsuit accuses Florida of violating the rights of people found incompetent to stand trial, who wait an average of 115 days—far exceeding the legally mandated 15 days—in county jails before receiving court-ordered mental health treatment. From a clinical standpoint, this represents a dangerous failure: solitary confinement without therapeutic care actively worsens psychiatric symptoms and often causes physical harm when untrained jail staff must manage mental health crises. The lawsuit documents cases where individuals deteriorated severely, including at least three deaths in custody while awaiting treatment. Read more at CBS News
🗞 VA facilities struggle to staff mental health, nursing, safety positions, watchdog finds. A new VA Office of Inspector General report reveals that 59% of VA medical centers report severe staffing shortages for practical nurses and 58% struggle to hire psychologists—with the workforce declining by 19,000 positions since September 2025. This is a catastrophe quietly unfolding: psychologists, psychiatrists, and social workers rank among the top five medical occupations with critical shortages across VA facilities. Read more at Military Times
🗞 Beauty Impact Award Winner Selena Gomez’s Trailblazing Mental Health Advocacy Is the ‘Legacy She Wants to Build’. Selena Gomez's Rare Beauty and the Rare Impact Fund demonstrate how authentic vulnerability can scale mental health advocacy—having raised over $30 million to reach 3.5 million young people across five continents with mental health training and support for nonprofits. What is clinically significant is her refusal to position herself as "recovered" or as someone with answers; instead, she describes mental health as an ongoing process of learning and developing coping skills, and emphasizes that personal relationships and being "seen" matter more than advice during crisis moments. Read more at People
🗞 New Study Finds Widespread Mental Health Concerns Among Lawyers. A landmark study of nearly 37,000 lawyers across 28 U.S. jurisdictions reveals alarming rates of mental health distress, with roughly one in five lawyers experiencing moderate-to-severe depression, anxiety, and stress, while nearly half screen positive for burnout. Most troubling is that 27% of lawyers have considered leaving the profession due to mental health concerns, and only 25% believe the legal profession is doing enough to address these issues. From a clinical perspective, this represents a profession-wide crisis rooted in unsustainable demands, extreme work hours, and a culture that historically stigmatized mental health discussion. Read more at The Florida Bar
💬 Stats and Facts
🆘 Help for All
Mental Health: In Crisis? Call or Text 988
Veterans Crisis Line: Call 988 and press ‘1’ or Text 838255
Youth Helpline: 2NDFLOOR - (888) 222-2228
National Domestic Violence Hotline: (800) 799-SAFE (7233)
National Suicide Prevention Hotline: (800) 273-TALK (8255)
Addiction: Start Your Recovery - (800) 662-4357
🫶 Better Me
Credit: Stanford Lifestyle Medicine
Is cold exposure a viable lifestyle intervention for mental health? Reviewing evidence and mechanisms. A major review in Molecular Psychiatry finds that while cold exposure has gained popularity for potentially alleviating depression, anxiety, and stress-related disorders, empirical evidence remains limited and methodologically inconsistent, with existing studies hindered by small sample sizes, heterogeneous protocols, and lack of active placebo controls. Early findings suggest acute mood enhancement and stress modulation, yet psychological improvements have not been consistently linked to objective biological changes. The neurobiological mechanisms are theoretically sound, but we simply don't have rigorous clinical trials yet to confidently recommend cold exposure as a mental health intervention. Read More at Nature.com
😩 Mental Health Facts
Question: Which professions are experiencing some of the highest levels of mental health related stress and burnout.
Answer: Professions that experience some of the highest levels of mental health related stress and burnout include the following:
Healthcare Workers: Doctors, nurses, and surgeons face long shifts, intense focus, and life-and-death choices. Data analyzed by the American Psychiatric Association shows that acute care nurses, urologists, and anesthesiologists hold jobs requiring extreme stress tolerance.
First Responders: Police officers, firefighters, and paramedics deal with physical danger and repeated exposure to traumatic events. This leads to high rates of PTSD and depression.
Social Workers and Counselors: These professionals carry heavy emotional loads. They help people through abuse, addiction, and poverty, which often causes secondary trauma and deep exhaustion.
Educators: Teachers and school staff face high workloads, emotional demands, and a lack of support from employers. Studies show education workers report some of the highest stress levels in the workforce.
Legal Professionals: Lawyers suffer from high rates of anxiety, depression, and substance abuse due to high-pressure environments and long hours.
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Thanks, and Be Well.
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