The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. These stories are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need. Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Stories are not available for download but can be easily ordered by contacting the Resource Center:
Search results for "Depression" ...
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VA's Cover Up Exposed
A four part series that highlights how the Department of Veterans Affairs purposely tried to conceal the suicide rate of military veterans. Government emails help expose the widespread problem.
Tags: post traumatic stress; depression; psychological effects; war; battle;
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A Class Apart
This book follows the lives of several students and teachers at Stuyvesant High School, including a 17-year-old heroin addict, a 10-year-old prodigy and a depressed teacher. The school is public but has a rigorous entrance exam that only 3 percent pass. The book addresses racial themes, explores the concept of elitism in education, and examines the education system in the United States.
Tags: high school; education; prodigies; addicts; race; elitism; private schools; public schools; Stuyvesant High School; New York City;
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Mental Anguish and the Military
Army studies show that 20-25 percent of soldiers returning from Iraq show symptoms of serious mental health problems, including depression, substance abuse and post-traumatic stress disorder. Government officials say that the military has programs to treat these soldiers, but National Public Radio's investigation at Colorado Springs' Fort Carson found that "these programs are not working." Soldiers who are desperate and suicidal even have trouble getting the necessary help. Furthermore, "evidence suggests that officers at Ft. Carson punish soldiers who need help, and even kick them out of the Army." In the wake of the report, three senators - Barbara Boxer, Christopher Bond and Barack Obama - wrote a letter to the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs seeking clarification of the reports.
Tags: Post-traumatic stress disorder; Iraq War; Fort carson; Department of Veterans' Affairs
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The Overachievers: The Secret Lives of Driven Kids
A look into the lives of high school students as they must perform under the immense pressure to succeed.
Tags: high school; pressure; success; drug abuse; anxiety; ADHD; depression; disorder; learning; stress; performance; cheat
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Nevadans live hard, risk lives
"Using mortality data from the Centers for Disease Control, a Sun analysis found that Nevadans and Clark County residents die younger and at higher rates of suicide, substance abuse and certain chronic illnesses compared with the rates nationally and in other large counties."
Tags: Nevada; death rates; suicide; depression; health; statistics; CAR; mortality data
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High Price of Blight
This investigative story focuses on a tax scheme called tax-increment financing (TIF) that was developed in California to help "blighted, economically depressed" neighborhoods. Currently, however, the law is being used in Texas to give tax breaks to huge corporations such as RadioShack, Pier One, Cabela's and NASCAR so that they will build in Fort Worth or remain if they are already there. Furthermore, none of the businesses are being built in blighted or depressed areas.
Tags: FOIA; TIF; tax-increment financing
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Voices and Silence
This investigation uses Jason Molacek, a teenager who heard voices that drove him to kill his mother, as an example to illustrate the failings of Minnesota's juvenile justice system. The article covers all of the ways that the system is flawed and compares it to other states.
Tags: chemical dependency; addiction; rehabilitation; mental illness; depression
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Series of three investigative reports on the Alt.Suicide.Holiday Online Newsgroup
The Wired News investigated the fatal online offerings of alt.suicide.holiday (ASH), an online newsgroup that gathers for discussions about life, depression and suicide. Though the insist "ASH does not encourage suicide", News reveals that almost two dozen ASH participants who posted messages saying they were on the verge of committing suicide were strongly encouraged to take their own lives by other ASH members. By contacting friends and family, Scheeres pieced together the stories of several people who had committed suicide after becoming regular visitors to the ASH group. The series includes video clips as well as photos of those individuals and excerpts from their online writings.
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"Prelude to a Death"
Marie Elise West, diagnosed with bipolar disorder, struggled with hospitalization and control of her medication. Her husband and parents sought to oversee her manic episodes, during which she could become violent and irrational. California law under the Lanterman-Petris-Short Act stated that mentally ill people could not be held against their will unless they are presenting a danger to themselves or others or are severely disabled. West's husband knew she had the potential to cause harm during her manic episodes, but the authorities would not hold her before the trauma occurred. This story was written about West, her condition and the California law -- after West killed a man with her car. Not understanding her condition, authorities tried to charge her with a hate crime.
Tags: vehicular homicide; bipolar; manic depression; mental illness; 5150; LPS Act; hate crime
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Making Mental Illness a Crime: For more Georgians, disorders mean time in jail, not treatment centers. I Hear Voices Sometimes, Crazy Stuff. Bibb County Jail Uses Outside Help to Treat Mentally Ill. Prisons: A costly answer to mental health care. Funding Problems Hamper Treatment of Mental Illness. Mental Illness History Comes Full Circle. Advocates Say System is Broken; Funding woes, short- staffing, deluge of paperwork strain state mental health workers. Breaking the Cycle: New programs may prevent jail time for mentally ill Georgians. Mandatory Treatment: Not an easy decision.
Georgia's jails are being filled not only with criminals but also with people suffering from mental illness. These articles explore this recent development and examine how it affects the prisoners, the institution, the state and the taxpayers. The article also discusses various kinds of mental illness and offers suggestions as to how a better system for dealing with it could be developed.
Tags: National Alliance for the Mentally Ill; NAMI; schizophrenia; manic depression