Monday, September 09, 2002

Two Studies Raise Doubts on Trauma Counseling's Value
Washington Post story - "Counseling sessions frequently given to survivors immediately after disasters, such as the debriefings given to people traumatized by the Sept. 11 attacks, do nothing to prevent psychiatric disorders and may even be harmful, according to two comprehensive analyses released yesterday." See also Single Session Trauma Therapy Shown Ineffective, and the related post here last Friday.  
  

Feds Probe Maryland's Juvenile Centers
AP story reprinted at The Guardian (UK) on a U.S. Department of Justice investigation into conditions at Maryland's juvenile detention facilities "to determine whether the civil rights of young offenders have been violated."  
  

Psychotic Illness Behind Few Violent Acts: Report
Reuters Health story at Yahoo on an article published in the British Medical Journal: "Despite a few well-publicized cases of people with serious mental illness committing violent crimes, patients with psychosis are responsible for little of the violence in society, according to UK researchers."  
  

Doctors threaten to quit over Bill (UK)
Independent News story - "Psychiatrists are threatening to take early retirement rather than carry out the Government's "draconian" mental health reforms, which opponents claim are an unjustified attack on civil rights."  
  

Cuts end free mental help for many poor (Massachusetts)
Boston Globe story on a $13.8 million cut to the Department of Mental Health budget and new orders by Commissioner Marylou Sudders to community health centers "to provide free services only to people who are severely mentally ill, bypassing the pool of depressed mothers, recently released inmates, and illegal immigrants whose care has cost the state about $1.8 million a year."  
  

Mental health board, United Way join forces (Illinois)
News-Gazette Online story - "Two agencies that provide the bulk of financial support for human services programs in Champaign County will soon be official partners. The Champaign County Mental Health Board and the United Way of Champaign County have approved a draft collaboration agreement they hope will maximize limited dollars available for those in need."  
  

Mental health plans unveiled (UK)
Birmingham Post story on South Birmingham Mental Health Trust, one of the country's leading mental health trusts, and its plans for the redevelopment of its anchor hospital in Birmingham.  
  

Mental Health Department found in contempt of court (South Carolina)
Herald Tribune story on the ruling by a circuit court judge that the Mental Health Department and its director "have three months to come up with a plan to treat mentally ill jail inmates". The ruling found the agency and its director in contempt of court for ignoring an order a month ago to treat the inmates.  
  

Equity for Mental Illness
Washington Post editorial on mental health parity legislation, which notes that "...time is getting short and the calendar is crowded, but Congress still should approve a parity bill, and Mr. Bush, recalling his pledge, should help make it happen."  
  

Psychiatry staff hard to attract in the provinces (New Zealand)
New Zealand Herald story - "Mental health services in provincial areas are critically short-staffed, with some operating on just half the number of psychiatrists and nurses they require. Some health workers are also claiming that Government funding specifically tagged for mental health is being spent elsewhere."