Monday, August 04, 2003

Antidepressant Drugs May Protect Brain From Damage Due to Depression
AScribe Newswire story reprinted at PsycPORT - "Studying women with histories of clinical depression, investigators at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis found that the use of antidepressant drugs appears to protect a key brain structure often damaged by depression. Previous research has shown that a region of the brain involved in learning and memory, called the hippocampus, is smaller in people who have been clinically depressed than in those who never have suffered a depressive episode. Now, researchers have found that this region is not quite as small in depressed patients who have taken antidepressant drugs."  
  

New pre-screening program available (Oklahoma)
Tahlequah Daily Press story - "The Bill Willis Community Mental Health Center's new pre-screening program for the mentally ill is expected to provide a valuable service not only to clients, but to the taxpaying public. The Evaluation and Assessment Unit will be on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to diagnose and assess people who go to emergency rooms showing signs of mental illness, and who may require hospitalization. Until now, the burden of diagnosing patients after hours had largely fallen upon local emergency room personnel and law enforcement officers. This often resulted in people being hospitalized who didn't necessarily need it..."  
  

Mental health crisis looms (California)
Sacramento Bee story - "... The scarcity of resources is not new. But as the state economy continues to slump and counties increasingly bear the responsibility for providing state-and federally mandated services, officials say it is about to get worse. Across the state, county mental health agencies are being forced to cut or significantly reduce services for the poor mentally ill. Advocates predict that, as staff and services are reduced, more of the mentally ill will become homeless, land in prison or commit suicide."  
  

Mental health services to be cut (Texas)
Star Telegram story - "Hundreds of Tarrant County's mentally disabled residents will see their services shrink or end starting this month as the county's leading mental health agency slices its work force by nearly 100 positions to absorb a $6 million loss in state money. Mental Health Mental Retardation of Tarrant County will eliminate 94 of its 1,125 positions by Aug. 28, as its budget dips 8 percent, from $75 million to $69 million. Forty-six people will lose their jobs; the remaining positions being cut are vacant and frozen."  
  

Mental health problems rife among US youth
Story at Health News (UK) - "The extent of mental health problems among American adolescents is revealed in new research, which suggests that it has reached 'alarming' levels. The study found at least 16 per cent of boys and 19 per cent of girls have a diagnosis of at least one problem, such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), major depression or substance dependence. The study also found that sexual and physical assault or even witnessing violence increases the risk of PTSD, depression and substance abuse. The investigation by the Medical University of South Carolina’s National Crime Victims Research and Treatment Center involved more than 4,000 young people aged between 12 and 17."