Friday, July 30, 2004

New Study Shows Approximately 4 Million Living with Co-Occurring Serious Mental Illness and Substance Abuse
SAMHSA press release - "Adults with a substance use disorder in 2002 were almost three times as likely to have serious mental illness (20.4 percent) as those who did not have a substance use disorder (7.0 percent), according to a new report from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). The rate of serious mental illness was 19.0 percent among those with alcohol dependence or abuse, 29.1 percent among those with illicit drug dependence or abuse, and highest among adults who had both drug and alcohol dependence or abuse (30.1 percent)..." See also the report, Serious Mental Illness and Its Co-Occurrence with Substance Use Disorders, 2002.  
  

Testimony by Ronald Hunsicker, President/CEO National Association of Addiction Treatment Providers before The Institute of Medicine
Document, in Adobe Acrobat format, available at the Open Minds web site - " The Institute of Medicine has identified six aims for the delivery of high quality health care. Those aims were first introduced in the Crossing the Quality Chasm and include: safe, effective, patient-centered, timely, efficient and equitable. The National Association of Addiction Treatment Providers supports those overall aims for a quality health care delivery system and urges the IOM to work to include Addictive Disease into the total understanding of a health care delivery system. We further urge the IOM to address the inherent differences in addressing chronic diseases vs. acute disease symptoms as it builds a plan for the future..."  
  

FDA Approves Campral for Recovering Alcoholics
Reuters Health story at Medscape - "A new pill intended to help alcoholics not drink again after they have quit could hit the shelves by the end of this year after U.S. health officials approved the drug on Thursday. The drug, Campral (acamprosate), may not work for people who are actively drinking when they start taking the pill or who are abusing other substances, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said in a statement. It was not clear how the pill worked, health officials said, but studies showed more patients who took the drug abstained from drinking compared to those who took a placebo..." [Viewing Medscape resources requires registration, which is free].  
  

Psychological Therapy Boosts Antidepressant Compliance
Reuters Health story at Medscape - "Combined pharmacotherapy and psychological treatment of depression is more effective than drug treatment alone. This, researchers report in the July issue of the Archives of General Psychiatry, may be because of an increased adherence to antidepressant regimens." "med"  
  

Officials agree early intervention works best (New York)
Story in the Independent - "Since October of last year, County Probation Department Director Michael Benvenuto, Social Services Commissioner Paul Mossman and Mental Health Director Michael O'Leary and their staffs have looked for a way to stem the rising tide of out-of-home residential placements of county youth. Last week, the three administrators informed committees of the county Board of Supervisors that rather than reinvent the wheel they would turn to a program already up and running in Orange County..."  
  

Mental Health Services taking on new roles under North Carolina reforms
Column by the Catawba County public information officer in the Charlotte Observer - "Mental Health Services of Catawba County is now considered a local managing entity, the link to services for consumers and family members dealing with mental illness, developmental disabilities or substance abuse. Mental Health Services will remain the main resource and contact point for accessing services and for community education. It will manage all the funds for mental health, developmental disabilities and substance abuse services through purchasing and monitoring services. A key role that will remain is the establishment of local policies concerning the delivery of services, ensuring that the ideas of the local community are implemented. In addition, Mental Health Services will be charged with the responsibility of developing new initiatives to better meet the needs of Catawba County citizens..."  
  

Mental health grads rejoice (Ohio)
Cincinnati Enquirer story - "Nearly a year ago, some offenders got the first opportunity to be supervised by Hamilton County's new mental health court instead of going to jail. Although some participants initially had doubts about their possibilities of success, three people who became the court's first graduates Thursday say they have turned their lives around..."