The Treatment of Panic Disorder Current Opinion in Psychiatry article at Medscape - "Cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy remains the treatment of choice for panic disorder. Recent studies confirm selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors as the first-choice drugs in treating panic disorder. Recommendations for (adjunctive) high-potency benzodiazepines have been published. Psychoeducation and combined pharmacotherapy/psychotherapy improve treatment response. Optimal long-term treatment of panic disorder involves adequate medication and duration of treatment, since relapse is frequent. ...Recent studies confirm that cognitive-behavioral therapy, alone or in combination with drug therapy, remains the treatment of choice for panic disorder. Long-term treatment is often necessary due to the chronicity of the illness." [Viewing Medscape resources requires registration, which is free].  
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NAMI of Greater Chicago Announces Launch of Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) TrainingAnnouncement at the NAMI web site on Chicago becoming the largest U.S. city to offer Crisis Intervention Team training for its police officers- " Developed in collaboration with the Chicago Police Department, NAMI of Greater Chicago, the Illinois Office of Mental Health, and a host of Chicago area mental health providers, Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) training for experienced Chicago police officers was launched in October 2004. This 40-hour training program is being piloted with officers from the 7th and 23rd districts and, once evaluated and refined, will be expanded to other districts. CIT training was initially developed in Memphis is 1990 and has been duplicated in many cities across the nation with success in terms of increased safety of officers, and decreased arrests and injuries to persons with mental illness." See also NAMI's CIT resources.  
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Many Patients Have Co-Occurring Mental and Substance Abuse Disorders -- Both Must Be Addressed for Successful TreatmentSAMHSA press release - "Co-occurring substance abuse and mental disorders are more common than most professional counselors, medical personnel or the general public realize. A new Treatment Improvement Protocol (TIP) released today by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) estimates that 50-75 percent of patients in substance abuse treatment programs have co-occurring mental illness while 20-50 percent of those treated in mental health settings have co-occurring substance abuse. Most people with co-occurring disorders do not receive treatment for both mental disorders and substance abuse. Many receive no treatment of any kind. The new Treatment Improvement Protocol is designed for substance abuse treatment counselors and mental health providers who usually treat one or the other of the two ailments, but it will also be useful for administrators, primary care providers, criminal justice staff and other health care and social service personnel who work with people with co-occurring disorders."  
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Leavitt Sees $60 Billion in Medicaid Savings Washington Post story - "New Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt said yesterday that $60 billion can be saved over the next decade in the Medicaid health program for the poor by closing loopholes, prohibiting 'accounting gimmicks' by states and eliminating wasteful spending on items such as overpriced prescription drugs. In his first address as secretary, Leavitt sought to dispel fears that President Bush is poised to cap federal spending on Medicaid. Leavitt said the administration will not limit spending on "mandatory" beneficiaries -- the recipients who are guaranteed coverage under federal law. But left unsaid was what the administration intends for Medicaid's optional patients and services, about two-thirds of all Medicaid spending..." [Viewing Washington Post stories requires registration, which is free.]   
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U.S. Youth Antidepressant Use Drops in 2004 - Report Reuters Health story at Yahoo - "Antidepressant use among children declined 10 percent in 2004, after U.S. regulators warned the drugs may be linked with increased suicide risk, pharmacy benefits firm Medco Health Solutions said on Tuesday. Use of drugs including Eli Lilly and Co.'s Prozac and GlaxoSmithKline Plc's Paxil fell 16 percent in the final quarter of the year, a time when use of the medications typically peaks, according to Medco. The drop began when the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in October 2003 cited reports of suicidal attempts among kids on certain anti-depressants." See also Study: Benefits of Antidepressants Outweigh Risks (HealthDay, at Yahoo), based on a study that appeared in the February issue of Nature Reviews: Drug Discovery - "Despite recent controversy over the potential effects of antidepressants in young users, the lifesaving benefits of drugs such as Paxil, Prozac and Zoloft far outweigh their risks, a new study suggests.  A comprehensive review of decades of data from Europe and the United States reveals a close correlation between dramatic declines in suicide and the introduction of the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) family of antidepressants into the marketplace..."  
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DHBs fail to use mental health funds (New Zealand) New Zealand Herald story - "The failure of mental healthcare services to spend nearly $17 million of their Government allocations is a tragedy, says a support group. Health Minister Annette King says district health boards (DHBs) nationally ended the last financial year with $16.8 million of unspent mental healthcare money. This follows the Mental Health Commission's finding that despite big increases in state spending on mental healthcare, corresponding rises in the number of severely ill patients being seen by services may have stalled."  
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Electronic mental health record system goes live in Wirral (UK) E-Health Insider story - "Cheshire and Wirral Partnership NHS Trust has just implemented an electronic patient record system from local company Strand Technology. The CareNotes system also features instant messaging between users, automatic generation of e-mails, faxes and text messages to clients, other staff members and patients themselves, and a web-based interface. This would allow, for instance, notification of a patient's change of address to be e-mailed to a community staff nurse, or appointment reminders to be sent to patients by text. Graham Phillips, managing director of Strand Technology, said: 'The CareNotes solution is the key to the future in mental health care. A member of a specialist team can see a patient in hospital or at their own home and have direct access, if they are authorised, to the patient's records.' "  
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Scrap 'unethical' mental health bill, doctors urge (UK) Story in The Guardian - "A controversial bill to reform mental health law is so draconian, unethical and impractical that ministers should scrap it and start afresh, doctors' leaders said today. The British Medical Association (BMA) told a parliamentary committee that the draft mental health bill was 'unethical, unworkable and in conflict with the Human Rights Act'... ".  
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