The period following childbirth can be challenging for many new mothers, particularly within military families. Postpartum mood and anxiety disorders (PMADs), encompassing conditions like postpartum depression (PPD), postpartum anxiety (PPA), and postpartum obsessive-compulsive disorder, often pose significant mental health hurdles during this vulnerable time for families. When factoring in race…

Written by: Lakshmi Mahadevan, Ph.D., Associate Professor/Extension Mental Health & Well-Being Specialist, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service Mental health stigma, as described by Kalichman (2019), encompasses the shame, societal disapproval, or social discrediting experienced by individuals dealing with mental health issues. Within the realm of mental healthcare, two prominent dimensions…

Between birth and age 3, a child’s brain develops one million neural connections per second (Center on the Developing Child, 2007). These connections are built through repeated experiences with their caregivers. Babies are born wired for connection, instinctively drawing responses from their caregivers that help strengthen the bond between them…