Wednesday, April 16, 2003
Medscape Journal Scan - Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, March 2003 Abstracts of recent articles from
Psychiatric Services, Journal of Youth and Adolescence, Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychiatric Services and the
American Journal of Psychiatry. [Viewing
Medscape resources requires registration which is free].
Medscape Journal Scan - Psychiatry, March 2003 "Journal Scan is the clinician's guide to the latest clinical research findings in the American Journal of Psychiatry, The Lancet, Archives of General Psychiatry, Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, and Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology. Short summaries of feature articles include links to the article abstracts and full text, when available." [Viewing
Medscape resources requires registration, which is free].
Tending to the Psychic Wounds of POWs Washington Post overview of "decompression" - "The military defines decompression as 'the process of normalizing psycho-physiological and behavioral adjustments that individuals made in order to cope' with hostile captivity, isolation, degradation, beating and torture. In other words, to survive that extreme traumatic and pathogenic ordeal, POWs often must engage in abnormal mental states and skills from which they need to be eased back to normality."
Forum digs into cuts (Pennsylvania) Pittsburgh Tribune-Review story on an Allegheny County public forum on proposed state budget cuts - "Human services programs facing cuts include drug and alcohol treatment, mental health services, employment and training, help for the homeless and aid to elderly immigrants."
Senators sharpen budget ax in Missouri for many deep cuts Kansas City Star atory - "As the prospects for new sources of money grew dimmer Tuesday, Senate budget-writers began focusing on an increasingly grim solution to Missouri's financial troubles. ... In all, the spending cuts would total $589.5 million. They would cut off more than 150,000 Missouri residents from social services and mental health programs."
Drug exemptions pass Senate subcommittee (South Carolina) Story in
The State - "A bill that would allow Medicaid recipients with certain types of mental illnesses unrestricted access to the drugs they need passed the Senate Medical Affairs subcommittee Tuesday. People with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and major depression will not have to get prior approval to receive medications that aren't on the state's preferred drug list, which is expected to get federal approval this summer."
County budget woes cost jobs (California) Press Democrat story - "In the latest round of Sonoma County budget cuts, county supervisors Tuesday approved a plan to eliminate 36 positions in the Human Services Department, including job counselors and trainers who help the unemployed find work. They also slashed about $2.5 million in contracts with local nonprofit groups, which will reduce services for the elderly, disabled and needy and could force some community organizations to let people go."
Drug-access restrictions contested (Oregon) Story in the
Statesman Journal - "Two key senators have joined a coalition of mental health advocates to oppose additional state restrictions on poor patients obtaining medications. Rather than saving money for the state, they argue, the restrictions might end up costing more — and costing patients their liberties or their lives."
End bias against mental health care (Oregon) Story on
The Oregonian - "Senate Bill 1, a landmark piece of legislation, would end discrimination in Oregon by insurance policies that make treatment distinctions between mental and physical illnesses."
