Mental Health Resources
May is Mental Health Month
28 Apr 2010 at 10:31 amMay is Mental Health Month.
Across the country the National Alliance on Mental Illness will be hosting walks and other events to address the need for an improved mental health treatment program.
Date Walk Site Location May 1, 2010 NAMI Fresno Fresno, CA May 1, 2010 NAMIWALKS Ventura County Ventura, CA May 1, 2010 NAMI Delaware Wilmington, DE May 1, 2010 NAMI Greater Orlando Maitland, ... read more
Shootings at Fort Hood; alleged gunman is mental health worker
6 Nov 2009 at 6:53 amThirteen people were killed and several more wounded in a shooting in Fort Hood, Texas, on Thursday.
The alleged gunman, Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, a psychiatrist at Darnall Army Medical Center in Fort Hood, has been taken into custody.
Hasan is a licensed psychiatrist and has treated soldiers for post-traumatic stress disorder. Military officials say Hasan had recently received orders to deploy to
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Trauma Therapy from the Client's Perspective
28 Jul 2006 at 2:26 amBonnie Burton is a trauma survivor who writes about therapy from the inside. As a gifted writer, she conveys some essential truths about the process of therapy, and shatters some stereotypes along the way. Her experiences with good therapists and not-so-good therapists are essential reading for client and therapist alike.
Ms. Burton's own experience of therapy convinces her, for example, that t
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Resilience
26 Jul 2006 at 2:33 am
Why do some people develop post-traumatic stress disorder after a trauma and others remain symptom free? We are still trying to understand resilience, one characteristic of good mental health.
Researchers studying survivors of the September 11, 2001 World Trade Center attack have been surprised to find many of them to be free of PTSD symptoms. Resilience was less common among people who were
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Sustained Release Schizophrenia Drug may be available Soon
24 Jul 2006 at 2:26 amAstraZeneca announced last week that they have submitted a New Drug Application to the FDA for a sustained release version of their antipsychotic medication Seroquel (quetiapine). The company reports the new medication has a "short titration period" - meaning that patients may receive a therapeutically effective dose of the medication as soon as the second day of treatment.
Drug companies come
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FDA issues an advisory on the Use of Triptans and Antidepressants
21 Jul 2006 at 2:47 amThe U.S.Food and Drug Administration has issued a public health advisory about potential risks of taking certain migraine medications - triptans - together with certain antidepressants. The advisory states, "A life-threatening condition called serotonin syndrome may occur when triptans are used together with a SSRI or a SNRI."
Serotonin syndrome occurs when the body has too much of serotonin, a
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Make Better Decisions
19 Jul 2006 at 2:01 am
Good decisions are made "with the head and the heart". We actually make better decisions when we use our conscious mind together with our unconscious mind. Researchers in Denmark studied decisions made by people when they were allowed to think about their choices and compared this to decisions made when they were distracted and not allowed to consciously think about their problems. People made be
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Depression Treatment can be Expensive
17 Jul 2006 at 2:18 amUnlike most develped countries, the United States does not have universal health care. A new study by NAMI (The National Alliance on Mental Illness) has found that the cost for treating depression is three times higher in U.S. citizens with limited access to treatment. The annual "out-of-pocket costs" for medication, psychotherapy and other treatment costs averaged $4,312 for those with restrict ... read more
A Nicotine-like Drug for Schizophrenia?
14 Jul 2006 at 2:13 am
Numerous studies have found that people diagnosed with mental illnesses smoke more than people without such a diagnosis. Up to 80% of patients with schizophreia smoke cigarettes. It seems that nicotine actually treats some of their symptoms. Some have gone as far as to suggest that teen smoking may help prevent schzophrenia.
Researchers are studying a potential new drug that works on the same
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Legislating Managed Care
12 Jul 2006 at 2:59 amManaged care continues to have a chilling effect on mental health treatment in the United States. Many therapists are required to complete lenghty paperwork after every few sessions of psychotherapy in order to request "authorization" for additional sessions. Companies claim to offer a benefit (such as 20 sessions per year) but aggressively manage these so that many ot the sessions are not autho ... read more