Mental Health

In the last episode of Grounding season two, Host Sarah Aronson and MTPR Host and Producer Lauren Korn talk about the homesickness they feel for places they love that have changed. And, they put a word to that feeling—solastalgia. Lauren interviews writer and editor Paul Bogard, who created an anthology sourced from people coming to terms with the word and the feeling of solastalgia.

Montana’s top health official pushed back on allegations that a new mental health facility will harm Laurel residents’ quality of life. Residents have questioned the facility since it was proposed late last year.

The Laurel City Council will consider whether to pause the annexation of property into the city later this month. The proposal comes as residents and council members accuse the state of not being transparent about its plans to build a mental health facility.

Grounding episode five takes a stab at an age-old question: what is a human’s place within nature? Host Sarah Aronson speaks to two environmental philosophers—Soazig Le Bihan and Christopher J. Preston—about that divide, and tugs at the dissonance that exists when we’re trying to understand our place in the world relative to other creatures. Are we supposed to go forth and conquer, or should we be ashamed of the impact we’ve had on different species?

Laurel residents have been raising concerns about city and state transparency in selecting Laurel for a new facility that would treat criminal defendants before they stand trial. What’s required of the government when it comes to public input isn’t straightforward.

Some Laurel residents don’t like the state’s plan to build a psychiatric hospital near town. The backlash came quickly after state officials announced the site location.

The Trump administration has reversed its decision to cut billions of dollars worth of grants for addiction and mental health care across the country. Grant recipients in Montana were taken off guard by the cuts and sudden reversal.

Mobile crisis teams are struggling. These are the teams of mental health professionals that respond to behavioral health calls instead of police. Those programs don’t have reliable funding, and the teams that remain say they need help.

Montana’s top attorney will lead the Republican effort to elect more conservative attorneys general next year. State officials are looking for a site in Laurel to build a new mental health facility for criminal defendants.

Montana Health officials have selected Laurel as location for a new $26.5 million state mental health treatment facility. The health department was looking for a location in the eastern portion of the state. The facility is intended to help address a backlog at the Montana State Hospital in Warm Springs.