Monday, October 20, 2003
Improve mental health care, access (Michigan) Opinion column in the
Detroit Free Press - "Six months after receiving failing marks across the board in a national mental health study, Michigan still has room for improvement. In April, the National Mental Health Association assigned grades to each state on three critical issues relating to care and treatment of persons experiencing mental illness. And Michigan was the only state to fail in all three measures -- mental health insurance parity (or equality), consumer managed care protections and access to medications."
The other side: Abusing prescriptions (Ohio)
Story in the
Morning Journal - "While most people live in a world where the local pharmacists prescribe the drugs needed to make them well, others dwell in an underworld where those same drugs are bought, sold and stolen. ... Law enforcement departments from across the country are finding themselves on the frontlines of these 'script' skirmishes in the larger war on drugs. Because of these drugs' medicinal origin, these battles are often fought under the radar, while illegal drug battles and raids receive most of the press. Nevertheless, officials try to take as many chunks out of the line of distribution as possible while on the job."
Mental breakdown: Embracing change, Vermont neglected its state hospital Boston Globe story - "When federal inspectors emerged from Vermont's tiny state mental hospital this summer, they described conditions that can best be called archaic. ... During the review, the situation got worse: Within a span of six weeks, two patients committed suicide in their rooms. ... The revelations, shocking anywhere, came as a particular surprise in Vermont, a state much admired for its progressive mental health policies. Among New England states which embraced the idea of removing mentally ill people from institutions, Vermont emptied its state hospital more quickly and more completely. Vermont boasts one of the nation's most sweeping mental health parity laws, which requires insurance companies to cover mental illness and substance abuse as fully as physical illness. Most remarkably, doctors and consumers seem to agree on the thorniest civil rights question in mental health: Patients in Vermont always have the right to refuse medication, even when they're committed to the hospital..."
My Turn: The right attitude with mental health (Arkansas) Opinion piece in the
Juneau Empire by Alan Munro, past boar member of the Juneau Alliance for Mental Health - "National Mental Health Awareness Week was observed last week in Juneau as local mental health agencies held community open houses at the Juneau Alliance for Mental Health, Green House, the Glory Hole and a candle light vigil at Polaris House. Health professionals say many Americans (as great as one in five) are burdened with conditions that affect their mental health, yet relative few acknowledge or seek help. There is a perceived societal stigma that is firmly attached to mental health. Therefore, bringing greater public acceptance to this pressing health issue is of great local and national concern. It is important that it be both frequently and frankly discussed to permanently erase this unwarranted stigma..."
Wanted: Mental health system (Colorado) Denver Post editorial - "Colorado's mental health system isn't just broken. It's not just under-funded. It pretty much doesn't exist. That's one of the conclusions of a massive, privately funded study of mental health care in Colorado. According to the study, presented by The Mental Health Funders Collaborative, which includes several prominent foundations, 'There is no single mental health system in Colorado.' The 'mental health system' is actually many systems."
