The mission of Dare-to-Dream.us is to (1) advance the knowledge of consumers of mental health services to empower them to to assess the quality and accessibility of mental health services, (2) to disseminate to the general public comments from a mental health professional's perspective on mental health news, and (3) to share information with other professionals. None of the information contained on this site should be considered a replacement for professional services offered face-to-face by licensed mental health professionals.
Coordination of Care Fractures Medical System
4 Nov 2008 at 3:53 pm
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Coordination of care is one of the hidden dysfunctional aspects of medical care. The problem is that coordination of care is not reimbursed by insurance companies. Providers are expected to do the right thing and contact other providers between clients.
From the outside looking in, that would appear to make sense. Good medical care requires consulting with other providers to
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Youth Sentenced to Adult Prisons Have High Mental Illness Rates
19 Oct 2008 at 10:44 am
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With 75% of all prisoners in state and federal prisons showing significant symptoms of mental illness, it's not surprising that youths are not immune. The sad part is that the younger the prisoner, the more damaging will be the experience of prison, the more likely they will re-offend on release, and the more likely they'll be back in prison.
At least some states are beginni
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Beauty is Merely a Facade
2 Oct 2008 at 10:56 pmGreat post from Dr. Deb.
This is a haunting and visually stunning work of art, showing how beauty is merely a facade. How media and its messages create a subjective world, where unattainable goals often lead us to disaster.![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_c.png?x-id=00657315-e078-4c37-8a50-98297bc77d62)
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Is There a Place for Emotion in Cognitive Theory?
25 Sep 2008 at 10:52 pm
Aaron Beck, considered the Father of Cognitive Therapy, is an American psychiatrist and a professor emeritus at the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania. He is President of the Beck Institute for Cognitive Therapy and Research that is directed by his daughter, Judith S. Beck, Ph.D.. He is noted for his research in psychotherapy, psychopathology, suicide, and psychometrics,
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New Understanding of Valium Addiction
18 Sep 2008 at 6:05 pmValium is widely known as an addictive drug that is still occasionally prescribed for anxiety. Long-term use of Valium takes risks with a drug with perhaps the worst withdrawal syndrome of any addictive drug. Now there is evidence that the addictive effects occur with the very first dose of the drug.
Psych Central News
... a single drug or alcohol dose is sufficient to generate an initial stage ... read more
Washington Killer Told Court He Kills For and Listens To God
6 Sep 2008 at 2:40 pmWhile I'm not surprised by this news, I'm deeply saddened reading this. It more or less confirms that had Zamora been treated, there is a good chance, this wouldn't have happened. Now we have another victim, the perpetrator appears to be psychotic. Now, if treated, and he comes back to the real world, he will be haunted forever about what he did.
This could have been avoided. There needs to be a
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Washington Shooting-Rampage Suspect Described as Deeply Troubled
5 Sep 2008 at 10:25 am
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Another shooting, another story of a mentally ill man in need of court ordered treatment who didn't get it. My thoughts follow the story.
TwinCities.com
A shooting rampage in which six people died along a trail of blood stretching from a tiny town to the state's busiest highway ended with the surrender of a man who was recently released from jail, authorities said.The dea
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The Wolves Within
31 Aug 2008 at 2:02 am
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Even in our high-tech world, our understanding of emotions is dominated by culture.
FirstPeople.us
An old Cherokee is teaching his grandson about life. "A fight is going on inside me," he said to the boy."It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves. One is evil - he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, ... read more
Dalton Sherman - "I Believe in Me, Do You Believe in Me?"
28 Aug 2008 at 8:25 pmNational Resource Center for Paraprofessionals
There's probably easier ways to make a living, but I want to tell you, on behalf of all of the students in Dallas, we need you. We need you now more than ever.Dallas Morning News
At 10, Dalton Sherman is a speech-making pro. Since winning a big oratory competition in Dallas last January, he's performed at numerous churches and events all over Da ... read more
Your Brain Lies to You
26 Aug 2008 at 8:31 pm
Image by Thomas Hawk via Flickr
With elections just around the corner, I thought we could all use a reminder about just how easily we are influenced beyond our awareness by election campaigns.
The Frontal Cortex
In reality, we voters -- all of us -- make emotional, intuitive decisions about who we prefer, and then come up with post-hoc rationalizations to explain the choices that were already ... read more
Suicidal Thoughts More Common Than Believed Among College Students
24 Aug 2008 at 8:15 pm
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Hat tip to Psych Central for an report on a higher than expected prevalence of suicidal thoughts among college students. Researchers surveyed 26,000 students across 70 colleges and universities. Half reported having at least one episode of suicidal thinking at some point in their lives. Fifteen percent of students surveyed reported having seriously considered attempting suici
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Introducing Pete Feigal - Inspirational Speaker
20 Aug 2008 at 9:38 pm
Pete Feigal sent me another set of stories now posted to Dare To Dream Forums. Pete has been a regular contributor. He is now blind, mostly wheelchair bound, but still one of the most inspirational speakers I've ever heard on the topic of recovery from disability.
Pete Feigal has been battling clinical depression for 30 years, and MS for the last 19. He has spoken nationally over 1400 times in th
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Is Depressed the Same as Sad?
17 Aug 2008 at 3:04 pm
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Horwitz and Wakefield (2007) have released what may prove to be a highly influencial book titled The Loss of Sadness: How Psychiatry Transformed Normal Sorrow Into Depressive Disorder. The title implies that psychiatry transformed sadness into depression. It's an unfortunate catchy title that misleads the uninformed reader. Instead, the book explores in a scholarly way a fund
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Web Trolls: The Circular Logic of Victim/Victimization
10 Aug 2008 at 11:23 pmRecently, the NYTimes.com had an article about a malicious sort of on-line anti-social behavior called Trolling. One of the people the author interviewed was Jason Fortuny, a thirty-two year old web programmer, who's passion is trolling.
Today the Internet is much more than esoteric discussion forums. It is a mass medium for defining who we are to ourselves and to others. Teenagers groom their My ... read more
Ivins Allegedly Had History of Intimidating Counselors and Making Threats
9 Aug 2008 at 11:51 pmApparently, one of his previous counselors has spoken up anonymously. I believe that confidentiality is still required despite the client now being deceased. Duley spoke of her court case for a restraining order.
We also get more details of Ivin's drug and alcohol abuse. Mental illness and drug abuse makes both problems much worse.
WaPO
Ivins was abusing vodka, sleeping pills and anti-anxiety ... read more