Tuesday, February 01, 2005

Researchers Urge New Treatments for Homeless Scripp Howard News Service story reprinted at PsycPORT - "Among people suffering from mental illness, up to 15 percent are homeless, according to a new study. At the same time, government mental-health experts noted that up to half of all people with mental illness also have substance-abuse problems. They issued new guidelines calling for simultaneous treatment of both problems. The study linking mental illness and homelessness appears Tuesday in the February issue of the American Journal of Psychiatry. Researchers at the University of California-San Diego examined the housing status of more than 10,000 people with serious mental illness treated by San Diego County Adult Mental Health Services in 1999 to 2000."  
  

Childhood Abuse Common Among Manic Depressives Reuters Health story at Yahoo - "Nearly half of patients suffering from manic depression, or bipolar disorder, may have been abused as children, scientists say in a new report. Emotional, physical and sexual abuse, or a combination of them, are linked with the condition, which causes dramatic mood swings and changes in behavior. 'Our results suggest that a history of severe childhood abuse is to be found in approximately half of adults with bipolar disorder,' said Dr Joseph Goldberg, of the Zucker Hillside Hospital in Glen Oaks, New York. About a third of patients in his study, which is reported in the British Journal of Psychiatry, had suffered multiple forms of abuse. "  
  

Youth Authority agrees to more community-oriented approach (California) Daily Review story - "The California Youth Authority agreed Monday to shift its prison-like institutions to a more community-oriented approach to settle a lawsuit, drawing applause from lawmakers and advocates. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger already had agreed to alter the authority's focus, but the stipulation filed Monday in Alameda County Superior Court sets out a specific timetable for how the authority will comply. ,,, The changes come a year after a series of scathing national experts' reports found Draconian conditions throughout the youth correctional system, including the use of cages and drugs to subdue often mentally ill or substance-addicted youths who should have been receiving treatment instead. "  
  

Special court making inroads treating mentally ill criminals (Pennsylvania) Pittsburgh Post-Gazette story - "At a time when many communities are trying to keep criminal offenders with mental illnesses out of prisons and jails, the state's first mental health court has shown promising results. About 84 percent of people served by the Allegheny County Mental Health Court have stayed out of trouble with the law while under the court's supervision, according to the county Department of Human Services.."  
  

County renews prisoner mental health program (Iowa) WCF Courier story - "The Black Hawk County Board of Supervisors last week renewed an agreement with the state to pay for an individual to secure mental health services for prisoners and hold down the County Jail population The board approved an agreement with the 1st Judicial District Department of Correctional Services to continue University of Northern Iowa graduate Sara Carter's services evaluating and coordinating prisoner mental health needs and services. The county entered into the pilot program in late 2003 on a trial basis..."  
  

Mental health care may expand (North Carolina) Raleigh News Observer story - "WakeMed may be willing to provide inpatient psychiatric care for the poor in Wake County. The hospital's top official said Monday that it would be willing to run a facility offering short-term care if it could do so without losing money and if the county paid to build the facility ... In Wake County, many Medicaid patients get inpatient treatment at the state's Dorothea Dix mental hospital, but that hospital is supposed to be phased out as the state moves its services to Butner. Those with private insurance can go to Holly Hill, a private psychiatric hospital in Raleigh. But federal law bans Holly Hill from treating adults who are on Medicaid. As a general hospital, WakeMed would not fall under the same ban."  
  

Campaigners attack mental health reforms (UK)Story in The Guardian - "The government today faced calls to scrap the draft mental health bill as campaigners opposed to its controversial proposals mounted a rally in London. More than 500 people are attending the rally organised by the Mental Health Alliance - a coalition of 60 charities, mental health patient organisations and professionals, including Mind and the Royal College of Psychiatrists. Delegates at the rally, held at a conference centre near the Houses of Parliament, blasted the draft bill as 'failed in concept and practice'."