GAO scolds DoD on mental health assessments

In a report released this week, the Government Accounting Office notes delays in assessing the post-deployment mental health needs of soldiers.

Although DOD concurred with the recommendation included in the 2007 report, as of June 2008, the department had not implemented the recommendation. As a result, DOD's quality assurance program cannot provide decision makers with reasonable assurance that service members complete PDHRA.

Also see AirForce Times Report: DoD cannot ensure troops get checkups

Full Story | Posted on: September 5, 2008 | Comments (0)
Topics: PTSD, Veterans Affairs, diagnosis, military

Oregon closes "Cuckoo's Nest" hospital

The hospital where "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" was filmed in the 1970s has been closed. Built in 1883, it came to represent the horrors of in-patient psychiatric treatment. Two new hospitals, plus community-based clinics, will replace the Salem facility where, the Statesman Journal reports, an investigation once found the remains of 3,600 patients who had been cremated.

Full Story | Posted on: September 4, 2008 | Comments (0)
Topics: hospitals, reform

Emergency room backup

South Carolina is experiencing a crisis in its emergency rooms. According to Charleston's
Post and Courier, to address the problem attributed to a decline in long-term beds, the Mental Health Department

set aside roughly $5 million toward that effort by opening 10 beds at a crisis unit in Charleston and offering a mobile crisis unit for the area. Also, the agency is providing short-term emergency housing for homeless patients and buying medicine for them to stockpile between visits.

Full Story | Posted on: September 3, 2008 | Comments (0)
Topics: emergency room, hospitals

Schizophrenia and childhood bedwetting

The part of the brain linked to bed wetting appears to be the same part associated with language fluency and processing information, language fluency and schizophrenia. Research scientists at the National Institute of Mental Health were helped with MRI brain scans to pinpoint the brain's gray matter where these are located (red section). Findings appear in the September issue of Brain.

Full Story | Posted on: September 2, 2008 | Comments (0)
Topics: children, research, schizophrenia

Disorders seen in teens in adult system

Psychiatric disorders were diagnosed in two-thirds of a group of youthful offenders from Chicago's Cook County whose crime or age required their transfer to adult courts. A study appearing in Psychiatric Services (n=1,715) noted that "males from ethnic minority groups are among the least likely to receive mental health treatment, either in the community or in prison."

Full Story | Posted on: August 29, 2008 | Comments (1)
Topics: children, courts, legal, race, violence

Helping kids who witness violence

Children who witness violence at home, or in their community or school, are at risk for PTSD. The San Francisco Chronicle reports a bill is now on the desk of California's Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger that would provide mental health services to these youngsters. Some consider this the first step in acknowledging this as a public health crisis.

Full Story | Posted on: August 27, 2008 | Comments (0)
Topics: children, family, PTSD, schools, treatment programs, violence

Antidepressants fall through "doughnut hole"

An analysis of the impact of the "doughnut hole" for seniors with Medicare Part D with chronic illnesses found that "45% of patients on antidepressants reached the coverage gap in 2007." The study is available from the Kaiser Family Foundation.

Full Story | Posted on: August 26, 2008 | Comments (0)
Topics: depression, elderly, insurance, Medicare, medication

Recognizing a dual diagnosis

National Public Radio reporter Farai Chideya explored difficulties people have recognizing co-occurring substance abuse and a psychiatric disorders, and then of finding appropriate treatment that does not ignore one component of this tricky but common condition. In a 10-minute interview, she spoke with a consumer, now in recovery, who has become a peer counselor in a Los Angeles program, and Dr. Robert Drake, a psychiatrist at Dartmouth Medical School.

Full Story | Posted on: August 25, 2008 | Comments (0)
Topics: depression, diagnosis, dual diagnosis, PTSD, schizophrenia, substance use

Wellness caucus in Denver a political first

With a good percentage of the 84 million who suffer from a mental illness or addictive disorders unable to get equal, early and appropriate treatment, or programs designed for recovery, the Whole Health Campaign (WHC) has been striving to make sure political candidates understand these concerns belong to discussions about health care reform. At next week's Democratic Convention in Denver, the WHC, a coalition of 70 organizations, will host a "wellness room," a significant achievement for focusing delegate attention and providing peer support services. A similar offer was declined by the Republican National Committee.

Full Story | Posted on: August 25, 2008 | Comments (0)
Topics: addiction, advocacy, politics, recovery

Update North Carolina: hospital closes ward following death

North Carolina officials announced they have closed the adult psychiatric ward and fired 16 people after last week's disclosure that a 50-year old patient, whom the staff ignored for 22 hours, died in April.

Full Story | Posted on: August 22, 2008 | Comments (0)
Topics: hospitals, scandal

Graduate school and mental illness…intertwined needs and success
by KR.Avilés-Vázquez

Economic Security: Key to Recovery and Self-Determination
by Judith A. Cook

A proposal for transitional crisis beds
by Sol Wachtler

Psychiatric Advance Directives: A tool for patients and clinicians
by Marvin Swartz

Access to care: training consumers and case managers
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Race, genetics, metabolism: drug therapy and clinical trials
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Home genetic tests: science or marketing?
by Laura Hercher

Let's stop saying "Mental Illness"
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Meeting family needs: Alameda County's new program
by Rebecca Woolis

Peer-to-Peer: Returning Vets' Mental Health Care
by Ralph Ibson

Q & A with Bill Emmet: Mandating health reform
by Phyllis Vine

Working with youthful offenders: Crossroads
by Linda Teodosio

Q & A with Anela Ka’iliawa: Wellness in Action
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Depression, advertising and pharma
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Complex PTSD
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Disaster Mental Health
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A Personal Journey Wearing Three Hats: family, doctor and research director
by Lisa DIxon, MD, MPH

Breaking the Silence about Mental Illness in Schools
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Q & A with Dr. Andrew P. Levin: The intersection of psychiatry and law
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A Consumer's Voice--Hawai'i's Jail Diversion
by Sally Ho

Full Columnist Archive

"Comfortably Numb: How Psychiatry is Medicating a Nation," Charles Barber
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"The Insanity Offense," E. Fuller Torrey
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Men Get Depression
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"Canvas:" A family portrait
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"Shunned," by Graham Thornicroft
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