Monday, April 25, 2005

A new web site for the Canadian Mental Health Association As noted on the home page on April 18, "One of Canada’s oldest health charities went live today with a newly designed and updated, fully bilingual web presence. At www.cmha.ca, the Canadian Mental Health Association’s website has been a trusted source of information for millions of people worldwide since it was first launched in 1997. New and returning visitors will find it easy to navigate the vast collection of more than 1,000 pages of information on many areas of mental health and mental illness."  
  

Early Detection of Schizophrenia Current Opinion in Psychiatry article at Medscape - "Schizophrenia incidence may vary more than has been believed previously. Early detection studies fall into two groups. Firstly, operational criteria now exist for prodromal or at risk mental states which predict transition to psychosis of 20-40% over 1 year. The first randomized trials of antipsychotic drug and psychological interventions aimed at reducing this transition rate have shown promising results. Secondly, duration of untreated psychosis in the first episode seems genuinely to be associated with clinical outcome but how much of the association is truly causal remains disputed." [Viewing Medscape resources requires registration, which is free].  
  

EU Agency Wants Tough Antidepressant Youth Warning Reuters story at Yahoo - "Europe's medicines regulator has called for strong warnings on two classes of antidepressants, informing doctors and parents of the risk they could pose to children and adolescents.  A European Medicines Agency expert committee concluded that Prozac-type serotonin-selective reuptake inhibitors (SSRI) and serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRI) were associated with increased suicide-related behavior and hostility in young people."  
  

U.S. Governors Consider Medicaid Reform Newsday story - "The nation's governors, weighing what to tell Congress they want from Medicaid reform, may take aim at the common practice of seniors giving away their assets so the government pays for nursing home care. They could also demand that the poor pay a share -- or a greater share -- of their health care bills. Those proposals, along with more consumer-friendly recommendations like tax credits for long-term care insurance, are being circulated among the governors in a 12-page document -- a working draft of a statement that could be taken to Congress and the Bush administration. The idea is that the governors would have a united position in the debate over how to rein in soaring costs of the state-federal health care program for the poor. Governors have not yet agreed on the recommendations and it's unclear yet whether a majority will, according to interviews with governors, state Medicaid officials, aides and health care professionals who have been involved or apprised of the discussions and seen the draft document."  
  

Utah mental health advocate dies in crash AP story at the Daily Herald - "A longtime Utah advocate for the mentally ill died on icy roads after losing control of her car in Sardine Canyon. Vicki Cottrell was executive director of the Utah chapter of the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill, and often provided a public counterweight for mentally ill people accused of some of Utah's most high-profile crimes... Cottrell's legacy is etched into Utah's lawbooks, including a measure that helps families get care for mentally ill relatives who have resisted treatment. She also worked with Salt Lake City police to help officers identify the signs of mental illness when responding to calls."  
  

Funding crisis for Black mental health sector (UK) Black Information Link story - "A damning report on the state of black and ethnic minority mental health has revealed a funding crisis for organisations trying to help sufferers. The African and Caribbean Mental Health Commission report, launched last Friday in London's City Hall, concluded that despite an inquiry into the death of David 'Rocky' Bennett little has changed. The 100-page report called for more funding for specialist services dedicated to helping Black patients recover..."  
  

Amish community builds mental-health home (Pennsylvania) Pittsburgh Post-Gazette story - "On the grounds of a private psychiatric center, a modest two-story house with light gray siding is being built by Amish carpenters. Their labor is creating a service currently unavailable to members of this area's Old Order Amish and conservative Mennonite communities who suffer from mental illness. The house known as Green Pastures will allow the Amish to live among their own people and maintain a lifestyle that eschews modern conveniences -- no television or radio -- while receiving outpatient clinical treatment."  
  

Mental health sufferers ignored (UK) Daily Mail story - "The needs of 50,000 people with severe mental illness in the UK are still being ignored, campaigners have warned. Mental health charity Rethink has published a report outlining how many patients are denied access to services to tackle their mental, physical and social needs. They also launched a 'toolkit' giving practical advice to health workers and carers to help improve the quality of life for this so-called 'forgotten generation'." See also related information at the Rethink web site.  
  

Mentally Ill Sent to Mental Health Courts (Alabama) Washington Post story - "The mental health courts in Montgomery and Jefferson counties accept mentally ill defendants charged with felonies, while those in Madison County help people charged with misdemeanors. All work only with nonviolent, non-sex offenders who have been prescreened and diagnosed by a state mental health expert. The biggest challenge reported by mental health officials is targeting potential candidates as early as possible, according to a Bureau of Justice Assistance report on mental health courts. Such intervention avoids 'the damaging experience of arrest and confinement..' " [Viewing Washington Post stories requires registration, which is free.]