Sovereign health group blog

The defining line between mental health and physical health is not always so distinct. Many types of mental illness, such as eating disorders, can cause serious physical harm to the patient. But other risk factors of mental disorders are not so obvious. A study from Columbia University presented at the American Stroke Association’s International Stroke […]

  Nonsuicidal self-injury, often simply called self-injury, is the act of deliberately harming the surface of your own body such as cutting or burning yourself. It’s typically not intended as a suicide attempt. Rather, this type of self-injury is an unhealthy way to cope with emotional pain, intense anger and frustration. However, repeated self-harm is […]

Recently, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported alcohol-related deaths among women in Nevada were increasing. According to data analyzed by the newspaper from the Division of Public and Behavioral Health of the Nevada Department of Health and Human Services, 42 women died of alcohol-related causes in 2015. That’s an increase from 29 in 2014. What may […]

A recent study involving 404 patients with first-episode psychosis recruited from 34 community clinics in 21 U.S. states found that the average time lapse between the appearance of symptoms and the beginning of treatment was 1.5 years. Patients with other conditions showed even longer times between the onset of signs and the formation of a […]

Getting access to addiction treatment in jails is not easy for the inmates. To address this problem, Arizona Governor Doug Doucey recently issued an executive order to make drug Vivitrol, often used in addiction treatment, more widely available to inmates in jails and prisons in Arizona. In January 2017, the governor outlined several steps that […]

On Jan. 9, 2017, Sovereign Health of Chandler, Arizona, launched “Rebuilding Our Acceptance & Resilience” (ROAR). ROAR offers comprehensive behavioral health treatment to women using dialectical behavior therapy (DBT)-informed as well as trauma-informed care. ROAR is designed to serve women with intense emotional dysregulation and is noteworthy for having all staff members trained in DBT […]

In 2016, according to the Arizona Criminal Justice Commission, state health facilities and providers distributed 305 million pain reliever pills. With this amount of medicine floating around the state, it’s no wonder that not all of it winds up being used by the person it’s prescribed to. Even pills that don’t land in the hands […]

Three years ago, a whistleblower at the Veterans Health Administration (VA) hospital in Phoenix revealed massive problems at the site, including the deaths of at least 40 veterans who died while waiting for appointments and care. According to the Congressional Research Service, at least 6 million veterans use the health system. The revelations resulted in […]