Skip to main content
Georgia Public Broadcasting Logo
  • TV

    Featured Specials and Programs

    • All Creatures Great and Small
    • Miss Scarlet & The Duke
    • Antiques Roadshow
    • PBS Newshour
    • Finding Your Roots
    • The U.S. and the Holocaust
    All Programs

    GPB Originals

    • Georgia Outdoors
    • View Finders
    • A Fork in the Road
    • The Steeple
    • Lawmakers
    • Football Fridays in Georgia
    GPB Originals

    Browse by Genre

    • Arts & Music
    • Culture
    • Drama
    • Food
    • History
    • News & Public Affairs
    • TV Schedule
    • GPB Programs
    • PBS Passport
    • TV Highlights this Week
    • PBS KIDS
    • Find Your Station
    • Newsletters
    • Contact GPB
  • Radio

    Featured Programs

    • Political Rewind
    • The Daily
    • Morning Edition
    • All Things Considered
    • Serendipity
    • John Lemley's City Cafe
    • Fresh Air
    • Here and Now
    • Code Switch/Life Kit
    • Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!
    All Programs

    Podcasts

    • GA Today
    • Salvation South
    • Battleground: Ballot Box
    • Football Fridays in Georgia
    • Classroom Conversations
    • Radio Schedule
    • GPB Classical
    • Radio Programs
    • Podcasts
    • GPB News
    • Find Your Station
    • Contact GPB
    • Newsletters
  • News

    Featured Programs & Series

    • Political Rewind
    • Lawmakers
    • Lawmakers: Beyond the Dome
    • 1A
    • Battleground: Ballot Box
    • GA Today Podcast
    • Southern Reading List
    • Powering Georgia
    • Food Access

    More GPB News

    • Politics
    • Georgia News
    • Justice
    • Arts & Life
    • Health
    All GPB News
    • Radio Schedule
    • Radio Stations
    • GPB Apps
    • Contact GPB News
    • Follow Us on Apple News
    • Newsletters
  • Education

    Browse by Subject

    • CTAE
    • English Language Arts
    • Mathematics
    • Physical Health and Wellness
    • Professional Learning
    • STEAM
    • Science
    • Social Studies
    • The Arts
    • World Languages

    Browse by Grade

    • Preschool-PreK
    • K-2
    • 3-5
    • 6-8
    • 9-12

    Featured

    • Classroom Conversations Podcast
    • Georgia Studies Collection
    • Econ Express
    • VR in the Classroom
    • Lights, Camera, Budget!
    • Georgia Home Classroom
    • Chemistry Matters
    • Physics in Motion
    • Virtual Field Trips
    • Writers Contest
    • PBS LearningMedia
    • PBS KIDS
  • Sports
  • Events

    Browse by Type

    • Community
    • Donor
    • Kids & Family
    • Screenings
    All Events

    Browse by Category

    • Education
    • News
    • Sports
    • Television

    Sign up to receive GPB Event announcements via Email.

    Sign up

    • on Twitter
    • on Facebook
    • on Instagram
  • Kids & Family

    For Kids

    • Video
    • Games

    For Parents & Caregivers

    • Kids & Family Blog
    • Kids & Family Events
  • Support Us

    Support GPB

    • Ways to Give
    • Planned Giving
    • Sustainers
    • GPB Passport
    • Leadership Giving
    • Corporate Sponsorship
    • Vehicle Donations
    • GPB Next
    • Matching Gifts
  • Search
GPB Passport icon GPB Passport icon Passport
GPB donate icon GPB donate icon Donate
Listen Live Listen Live Watch Live Watch Live
GPB News

GPB Newsletter CTA

Sign Up For Our Newsletter

News Topics

  • Georgia
  • National
  • Election
  • Lawmakers
  • Battleground: Ballot Box

Don't Miss

Don't Miss:

  • Watch: GPB's Lawmakers
  • TV Highlights This Week
  • GA Today daily podcast

News Articles: substance use disorder

Amanda Williamson stands in front of a brick wall outside the Freight Depot

Tagged as: 

  • Mental Health

Addiction recovery advocates want lawmakers to budget more for peer support specialists

Representatives from 40 organizations that make up the Substance Use Disorder Policy Partnership met with lawmakers at the Capitol to advocate for more resources for substance abuse prevention, treatment, and recovery.

January 31, 2023
|
By:
  • Ellen Eldridge
A group of four people with the Georgia Council for Recovery

Tagged as: 

  • Mental Health

Georgia Council for Recovery expects more legislation concerning sober living housing

This session, the Substance Use Disorder Policy Partnership will advocate for more resources for substance abuse prevention, treatment, and recovery.

January 09, 2023
|
By:
  • Ellen Eldridge
A woman with sunglasses walks in front of a McKesson building

Tagged as: 

  • Health

Georgia's getting millions in a vast opioid settlement. But lack of transparency concerns advocates

Georgians affected by the opioid epidemic say they should have a voice in how the state’s $636 million settlement is used.  

November 04, 2022
|
By:
  • Ellen Eldridge
A person walks into a mental health clinic.

Tagged as: 

  • Mental Health

Mental health advocates in Georgia say a lack of access to care is what leads to crises

The 2022 unified vision for transforming mental health and substance use care in Georgia is part of a multiyear legislative process. Last year, they called for better access to mental health care as the state tackled effects from the COVID-19 pandemic.

This year, the group is asking for more funding of behavioral health programs that have proven effective.

August 12, 2022
|
By:
  • Ellen Eldridge
Brent Moore stands in front of a painting of a tree

Tagged as: 

  • Mental Health

It's the most important part of addiction recovery — and often the most difficult to access

Residents in rural South Georgia are adamantly fighting a zoning request — a faith-based nonprofit called Redeemed Living wants to build cabins for men in addiction recovery on 23 acres of local farmland. But the neighbors don’t want them living next door.

August 04, 2022
|
By:
  • Ellen Eldridge
A woman holds a cell phone to her ear

Tagged as: 

  • Health

988 — the national mental health crisis line — is live July 16

Calls to 988 will be answered by counselors trained in suicide prevention. Georgia’s Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities says the state has invested about $20.5 million in 988 related expenditures over the past 20 months.

July 15, 2022
|
By:
  • Ellen Eldridge and
  • Sofi Gratas
Nova Jaswan hold up her hand showing where her middle finger was damaged by a jail cell door

Tagged as: 

  • Health

With few other resources, people with behavioral health issues find treatment in jails and prisons

The Fulton County Jail is called Georgia’s largest de facto mental health facility because of the high prevalence of mentally ill detainees. Often, they have no place else to go until a crime is committed.

July 08, 2022
|
By:
  • Ellen Eldridge
A volunteer with the Atlanta Harm Reduction Coalition gives out sterile syringes in exchange to get potentially contaminated needles off the street.

Tagged as: 

  • Health

Stronger opioid reversal drugs are needed to combat the fentanyl crisis, Narcan developer says

Between early February and mid-March, at least 66 emergency department visits in Georgia involved the use of cocaine, methamphetamine, crack, heroin, pain killers and cannabis products that were likely laced with fentanyl, which is 30 to 50 times stronger than heroin. Experts worry about increased risk of overdose when users believe that the pills are legitimate pharmaceutical products.

April 07, 2022
|
By:
  • Ellen Eldridge
Teresa Wren Johnston and Blake Schneider at Kennesaw State University's Center for Young Adult Addiction and Recovery.

Tagged as: 

  • Health

Georgia could see $636 million to fight the opioid epidemic if this bill passes

Legislation to bar future lawsuits against the companies involved in a $26 billion multi-state settlement must be passed before the state can collect $636 million dollars. The money will help pay for preventing and addressing the effects of opioid dependence.

March 08, 2022
|
By:
  • Ellen Eldridge
Man holds face

Tagged as: 

  • Mental Health

Enrolling for health insurance can be confusing. Experts say check for mental care coverage first

Even when mental health is covered, providers of behavioral health services can be tough to find. And there are not always enough of them to treat rising pandemic-related anxiety or depression.

The deadline to sign up for a health plan on the marketplace is Jan. 15.

December 20, 2021
|
By:
  • Ellen Eldridge
The Boys & Girls Club offers teens access to programs to ensure a positive future.

Tagged as: 

  • Health

American Rescue Plan grants $85M to 106 Georgia nonprofits helping students cope with pandemic

The BOOST Grants Program provides three-year grants, renewed annually, to community-based and statewide organizations that operate comprehensive out-of-school time programming year-round, over the summer months or after school during the academic year.  

December 08, 2021
|
By:
  • Ellen Eldridge
Jeff Breedlove holds a printed copy of the Georgia Mental Health Policy Partnership's Unified Vision for Transforming Mental Health and Substance Use Care in Georgia.

Tagged as: 

  • Mental Health

Mental health and addiction care aren't prioritized in Georgia. A bipartisan group is changing that

Parity in health care means substance misuse treatment and heart defects should be treated the same way by insurance companies. A federal parity law passed in 2008, but there is no mechanism to ensure parity is enforced in Georgia. A plan presented Nov. 10 at the state Capitol seeks to change that.

November 12, 2021
|
By:
  • Ellen Eldridge
A pedestrian is seen through a cutout of a leaf on a gated entrance to Piedmont Park in Atlanta.

Tagged as: 

  • Mental Health

Georgia improves its mental health rating — on data collected before COVID. But challenges remain

The latest Mental Health America report likely underreports the current prevalence of mental illnesses in the population, both among children and adults, but nothing in the pandemic by itself would suggest that the relative rankings of the states would have changed solely because of the pandemic.

October 19, 2021
|
By:
  • Ellen Eldridge
Hank Arnold, executive director of Coweta F.O.R.C.E. in Newnan

Tagged as: 

  • Health

Georgians In Recovery In Double Struggle To Remain Healthy During The Pandemic

There were early signs trouble was brewing on the substance use front. When the state released its first revenue report after the pandemic took hold here and revenues plummeted, tax collections from alcohol sales had risen 13%.

September 07, 2021
|
By:
  • Jill Nolin
Sue Howland, right, and Larrecsa Cox walk past addiction-themed graffiti

Tagged as: 

  • Health

CDC Reports Overdose Deaths In Georgia Rose At Least 38% During Pandemic

In Georgia, more than 1,900 people died of drug-related causes in the 12-month period ending January 2021, which is a 38.8% increase over data from the previous year.

August 11, 2021
|
By:
  • Ellen Eldridge
  • Load More

Newsletter Signup

Sign Up For Our Newsletters

Connect with GPB

  • Connect with GPB on Facebook
  • Connect with GPB on Instagram
  • Connect with GPB on Twitter
  • Connect with GPB on YouTube
  • Connect with GPB on Apple News

Footer

Footer First Nav (Main Menu)

  • TV
  • Radio
  • News
  • Education
  • Sports
  • Events
  • Kids & Family
  • Support Us
  • Search

Footer Second Nav Menu

  • Help Center
  • About GPB
  • Contact Us
  • Closed Captioning
  • Directions
  • Studio Production
  • Program Submissions

Footer Third Nav Menu

  • Support Us
  • Careers
  • Accessibility
  • FCC Public Files
  • Drawing Rules
  • News Media Request
  • Open Records Policy
  • Privacy Policy

Georgia Public Broadcasting

260 14th St. NW
Atlanta, GA 30318
United States

(404) 685-2400 In Atlanta
(800) 222-4788 Outside Atlanta
ask@gpb.org

Newsletter Signup

Sign Up For Our Newsletters

Connect with GPB

  • Connect with GPB on Facebook
  • Connect with GPB on Instagram
  • Connect with GPB on Twitter
  • Connect with GPB on YouTube
  • Connect with GPB on Apple News
© Copyright 2023, Georgia Public Broadcasting. All Rights Reserved. Georgia Public Radio® GPTV®