Psychiatric Associates of Atlanta Mental Health News |
Wednesday, October 29, 2003
The SAD Season WEDNESDAY, Dec. 11 (HealthScoutNews) -- It's the SAD season. Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) is a form of depression that usually starts in late fall as the days get shorter. It subsides as spring approaches and there are more hours of daylight. Women are most likely to experience SAD, while children and adolescents are least likely to be hit by it, says information from the Medical College of Wisconsin. A person has to experience SAD for at least two consecutive years to be properly diagnosed with the disorder. In most cases, SAD symptoms are not as severe as major depression and it is not linked to a traumatic event, as with major depression.
Give mentally ill care, not jail cells Editorial The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: 10/26/03 Georgia's mental health care delivery system is crumbling. Publicly funded treatment for the mentally ill is at the mercy of fraud, waste, underfunding and lack of community commitment. Many of the services are teetering on the brink of bankruptcy due to budget cuts, mismanagement and, in some cases, outright theft. Two of the 25 community service boards that contract with the state to deliver mental health services have been under criminal investigation for waste and Medicaid fraud. Another has been taken over by the state because of money problems and several others are in financial trouble. Sunday, October 26, 2003
Report on State Prisons Cites Inmates' Mental Illness By PAUL von ZIELBAUER New York Times Published: October 22, 2003 Nearly one of every four New York State prisoners who are kept in punitive segregation — confined to a small cell at least 23 hours a day — are mentally ill, according to a new report by a nonprofit group that has been critical of state prison policies. One in five of the roughly 5,000 prisoners punished with that isolation have a serious drug problem, the report said. But despite graphic evidence that the most acutely ill prisoners in punitive segregation, or lockdown, often grow only more troubled and violent, the state Department of Correctional Services, which runs the state's 70 prisons, rarely does anything to help them, said the report, released yesterday by the group, the Correctional Association of New York. Tuesday, October 21, 2003
A tragedy for the justice system' Muhammad's decision to represent himself is decried by experts By Kimberly A.C. Wilson Sun Staff October 21, 2003 VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. - When sniper suspect John Allen Muhammad demanded the right to represent himself at trial yesterday, he joined a fraternity of pro se capital murder defendants that includes hippie-era cult leader Charles Manson and serial killer Ted Bundy. Muhammad's entrance into his case added an unexpected twist already being analyzed by legal experts around the country. Within his first moments before the jury, Muhammad made legal and verbal faux pas - his confidently delivered defense remarks, for instance, were peppered with grammatical mistakes.
Study Finds Hundreds of Thousands of Inmates Mentally Ill By FOX BUTTERFIELD Published: October 22, 2003 As many as one in five of the 2.1 million Americans in jail and prison are seriously mentally ill, far outnumbering the number of mentally ill who are in mental hospitals, according to a comprehensive study released Tuesday. The study, by Human Rights Watch, concludes that jails and prisons have become the nation's default mental health system, as more state hospitals have closed and as the country's prison system has quadrupled over the past 30 years. There are now fewer than 80,000 people in mental hospitals, and the number is continuing to fall.
AACAP: Atomoxetine Appears Beneficial for Patients with Mixed ADHD and Depressive/Anxiety Disorders By Jerry Ingram MIAMI BEACH, FL -- October 21, 2003 -- Atomoxetine may prove to be effective for treatment of pediatric patients with ADHD and depressive/anxiety disorders, according to research presented here on October 18th at the 50th Anniversary Meeting of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. "In our study we compared atomoxetine with placebo to atomoxetine with fluoxetine and what we saw was no significant differences between the two groups in terms of reduction of depressive symptoms or reduction of anxiety symptoms, suggesting that atomoxetine has the potential to address both the ADHD as well as depressive/anxiety symptoms," said Christopher Kratochvil, MD, co-author of the study, Lilly Research Laboratories, Indianapolis, Indiana.
Teens and depression Some experts contend that deep feelings are part of growing up and that, in any case, drugging kids isn't the sole answer By VIRGINIA ANDERSON The Atlanta Journal-Constitution In the complicated world of the American teenager, Sarah Turner had it all. Beauty, loving family and friends, good grades. And yet, something was not right. Sunday, October 05, 2003
Drug implant offers hope, spurs worry By Ellen Barry, Globe Staff, 9/26/2003 PHILADELPHIA -- Researchers said yesterday that they are prepared to seek FDA approval of a surgically implanted tablet that could deliver daily doses of psychiatric medication for as long as a year. The implants might revolutionize treatment of chronic mental illnesses like schizophrenia, which now require patients to take daily cocktails of powerful medications. For some, the implant of haloperidol, a powerful antipsychotic drug, promises to stop the destructive spirals of psychosis that occur when patients stop taking medication because of side effects, logistical barriers, or lapses in memory. But patients' rights advocates say that implants of psychiatric medication would give the state coercive power unmatched since the age of the lobotomy. |
