APA Applauds New California Regulations for Inpatient Psychological Services  APA press release - "California patients suffering from serious mental illness will now have the benefit of having their inpatient care managed by psychologists with full hospital privileges. New state regulations issued by the state’s Department of Health Services (DHS), recognizes California psychologists’ expertise in diagnosing and treating mental disorders which allows them to serve their patients in acute care hospitals as attending practitioners. The California agency’s new rules allow both psychologists and psychiatrists to direct patient care as a member of the hospital medical staff, including decisions on when to admit, transfer, and discharge patients. The new regulations are a result of longstanding efforts by organized psychology to enforce laws already on the books..."  
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Brain activity flags vulnerability to antidepressant side effectsNewsRx.com story reprinted at PsycPORT - "In a finding that opens new doors to determining susceptibility to antidepressant side effects, researchers at the UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute report that changes in brain activity prior to treatment with antidepressants can flag patient vulnerability. Published in the April 2005 edition of the peer-reviewed journal Neuropsychopharmacology, the study is the first to link brain function and medication side effects, and to show a relationship between brain function changes during brief placebo treatment and later side effects during treatment with medication."  
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Bill would expand veterans health services Talahassie Democrat story - "Citing the large numbers of soldiers returning from Iraq with psychiatric disorders, lawmakers introduced legislation Wednesday in the House of Representatives that would expand veterans' health services and study why veterans' mental-disability payments vary widely across the country. The bill follows a March report in Knight Ridder Newspapers that showed that the assessment - known as a 'rating' - that veterans receive for post-traumatic stress disorder and other mental-health ailments is far higher in some regional offices than in others."  
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Mental health claims on the rise in Canada   CNW press release - "Watson Wyatt Worldwide today released preliminary results of the firm's fourth Staying at Work survey. According to the study findings, more than half (56%) of respondents considered the continuous rise in employees' mental health claims a top concern, while over three-quarters indicated that mental health issues continue to be the leading cause of short- and long-term disability claims in their organizations (75% and 79% respectively). This follows a similar pattern as the previous survey where over 70 per cent of respondents made the same claim..." See also The $50B Problem (Toronto Sun) and the government press release, Minister Dosanjh Announces Mental Health Research Initiative to Help Create Healthier Workplaces for Canadians.  
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