Rhitu Chatterjee
Rhitu Chatterjee is a health correspondent with NPR, with a focus on mental health. In addition to writing about the latest developments in psychology and psychiatry, she reports on the prevalence of different mental illnesses and new developments in treatments.
Chatterjee explores the underlying causes of mental health disorders 鈥� the complex web of biological, socio-economic, and cultural factors that influence how mental health problems manifest themselves in different groups 鈥� and how our society deals with the mentally ill. She has a particular interest in mental health problems faced by the most vulnerable, especially pregnant women and children, as well as racial minorities and undocumented immigrants.
Chatterjee has reported on how chronic stress from racism has a devastating impact on pregnancy outcomes in black women. She has reported on the factors that put adolescents and youth on a path to school shootings, and what some schools are doing keep them off that path. She has covered the rising rates of methamphetamine and opioid use by pregnant women, and how some cities are helping these women stay off the drugs, have healthy pregnancies, and raise their babies on their own. She has also written about the widespread levels of loneliness and lack of social connection in America and its consequences of people's physical health.
Before starting at NPR's health desk in 2018, Chatterjee was an editor for NPR's , where she edited stories about food, culture, nutrition, and agriculture. In that role, she also produced a short online food video series called "," which featured dishes from a particular country as made by a person who grew up with the dish. The series was produced in collaboration with NPR's blog.
Prior to that, Chatterjee reported on current affairs from New Delhi for PRI's The World, and covered science and health news for Science Magazine. Before that, she was based in Boston as a science correspondent with PRI's The World.
Throughout her career, Chatterjee has reported on everything from basic scientific discoveries to issues at the intersection of science, society, and culture. She has covered the legacy of the Bhopal gas tragedy in 1984, the world's largest industrial disaster. She has reported on a mysterious epidemic of chronic kidney disease in Sri Lanka and India. While in New Delhi, she also covered women's issues. Her reporting went beyond the breaking news headlines about sexual violence to document the underlying social pressures faced by Indian girls and women.
She has won two reporting grants from the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting and was awarded a certificate of merit by the Gabriel Awards in 2014.
Chatterjee has mentored student fellows by the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting, as well as young journalists for the Society of Environmental Journalists' mentorship program. She has also taught science writing at the Santa Fe Science Writing Workshop.
She did her undergraduate work in Darjeeling, India. She has two master's degrees鈥攁 Master of Science in biotechnology from Visva-Bharati in India, and a Master of Arts in journalism from the University of Missouri.
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The pandemic has made people more open to seeking help, a new survey finds, but cost and difficulty in finding a mental health care provider are still big obstacles. -
The pandemic has done a number on us, in too many ways to count. Our bodies are responding with feelings of fatigue and lack of focus, experts say. Here are some tips to help you feel better. -
When schools closed last spring, children with severe mental illnesses were cut off from the services they'd come to rely on. Many have since spiraled into emergency rooms and even police custody. -
The pandemic economy is squeezing families with kids: 74% of those earning less than $100,000 report serious financial woes, in an NPR poll. Experts worry about lasting impacts on kids' mental health. -
The coronavirus has affected most Americans, but NPR's latest poll shows Black, Latino and Native American households are hardest hit by the financial impact of the crisis.
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Use of the drug during pregnancy has been linked to higher risk for premature birth and low birth weight. But some women with severe nausea feel they're out of other options. -
The current suicide hotline 鈥� 1-800-273-TALK or 1-800-273-8255 鈥� has helped many people. But it's long and tough to remember in a crisis. The FCC is proposing a new national, three-digit number. -
In rural communities, loneliness and lack of social connection are taking a toll on the elderly and young alike. One group in Minnesota is trying to solve the problem by connecting the generations. -
It may not be a coincidence that several mass shootings took place in a few days. Research shows perpetrators are often inspired by media coverage of other shootings. -
Anorexia and bulimia, eating disorders once thought to affect only girls and women, affect a growing number of boys and men. Boys as young as 9 and 10 are feeling the pressure to be ripped and muscular, psychologists say. But they can have a hard time finding a treatment program geared to males.
