Monday, May 17, 2004

Poll finds addiction has impacted the lives of 63 percent of Americans
Faces and Voices of Recovery press release at Join Together - "People in long-term recovery from addiction to alcohol or other drugs face widespread stigma and discrimination, according to a groundbreaking, national survey released today. Overwhelming majorities say that discrimination against people in recovery is a problem in the United States today and that policies and attitudes need to be changed. A majority of those surveyed (63 percent) said there had been a great deal or some impact on their own lives as a result of grappling with addiction, and for most of them (72 percent of those who have been impacted) the addiction was among a family member..." See also the Faces and Voices of Recovery web site.  
  

As many as 22,000 Iraq, Afghan war veterans already seek care from VA
Napa News story - "Nearly 18,000 soldiers who have returned from Iraq have sought care at VA health facilities, officials reported at the end of March. A separate report in mid-April said 4,000 troops from the war in Afghanistan sought care, although there is some overlap from those who served in both conflicts. ... Mental disorders were diagnosed in 16 percent of the Afghanistan veterans and 15 percent of the Iraqi veterans. ... With thousands more veterans expected to seek benefits and health care, the VA faces its biggest challenge since the early 1990s. Officials are well aware of the stakes."  
  

Legislative panel recommends community-based prison programs (Georgia)
AP story at the Ledger-Enquirer - "A Legislative committee formed to study problems at Tutwiler Prison for women in Wetumpka has recommended that more community-based corrections programs be created to relieve overcrowding at the prison. The chairwoman of the committee, Rep. Barbara Boyd, D-Anniston, said Monday the panel recommended using recently closed mental health facilities to set up alternative corrections programs for non-violent prisoners from Tutwiler."  
  

Mental health bill in play (New York)
Democrat & Chronicle story - "People with major mental illnesses would be guaranteed insurance coverage under a scaled-back proposal made by Senate Republicans last week. The measure does not go as far as a bill backed by Assembly Democrats and mental-health advocates, but those groups said it was a starting point toward the goal of better coverage and treatment for people with mental illness..."  
  

Mental-health system has lingering troubles (Oregon)
Statesman-Journal story on the maximum security forensics program at the state hospital in Salem - "...Crowding isn’t the only festering problem in the forensics program. Bleak, antiquated buildings house the resident population. Advocates for the mentally ill say the structures are obsolete relics of a bygone era. Decades of neglect are most telling in a sprawling structure known as the J Building. The 200,000-square-foot complex derived its name from the configuration of its nine sections. They form a backward J. Located just south of Center Street, the building opened in 1883 as the Oregon State Insane Asylum. In the 1970s, it was the primary site for filming of the movie 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest' — an indictment of mental-hospital conditions..."