Hello Lisa I haven't heard from you much lately so I thought I would address this post to you. Although we most often refer to mental health issues in America, there is actually a worldwide lack of quality services around the world for those with a mental illness. The following dipicts the situatuation in Australia. There probles are the same as ours and this trend continues no matter which country I am writting about. Finding direction in mental health By Philip Morris - posted Friday, 2 December 2005 Sign Up for free e-mail updates! Australia has a mental health crisis. Despite two national mental health plans and a decade of changes to public mental health services, individuals, patients, families, carers and support groups from all around Australia are saying that the care of mentally ill individuals is a disgrace. The experience of these groups is backed up by recent reports into the state of mental health nationwide (see recent 'Not for Service Report'). This primarily affects public mental health services. In my opinion, the problems in mental health stem from the following difficulties. First, there are not enough mental health services to meet the needs of patients. This leads to rationing. In the current situation resources are so limited that rationing has to be tightened to extreme degrees and as a result only the most severely ill patients may be offered treatment. Other patients who are very ill but fall under the rationing threshold may not get appropriate care. This rationing is most acutely felt when decisions are made to admit patients to psychiatric in-patient care from hospital emergency departments, when decisions are made to discharge patients from in-patient care, and when decisions are made to determine which patients are offered intensive case management by community mental health clinics. The severity of rationing nowadays means patients who need hospital admission may not get it, that patients who need longer stays in hospital may be discharged too early, and those patients who need intensive community case management and follow-up may not get it. Advertisement These flaws in the provision of treatment can have disastrous consequences. A recent article in The Australian newspaper (Kate Legge, 19/7/05) drew attention to 42 suicide deaths in Victoria in young people under age 30 over a two-year period where inadequate treatment was linked to the suicide. Lack of mental health beds for high risk patients, too rapid discharge and lack of intensive treatment were problems identified. Second, revisions of state mental health Acts have been introduced around Australia over the past two decades. These Acts are often more enlightened than the ones they replace in that they give more weight to patient autonomy and to the least restrictive forms of treatment being used. However, these Acts can be misused because of the pressures of rationing that apply at the moment and this can lead to patients being treated inappropriately. The mental health Acts may be used as a “fig leaf” to cover inadequate resources ("your son doesn't meet criteria for admission"), or mental health Act provisions may be invoked for patients who do not need to be involuntary just in order to access community case management. Another article in The Australian (Clara Pirani,4/7/05) highlighted psychiatrists needing to use these practices in order to get appropriate care for their patients. Third, over the past 20 years there has been a push by public mental health services to “mainstream” the care of individuals suffering from mental illness. This means providing services for them within the general health system rather than a separate service for psychiatric illness. While this has emphasised the role of the general practitioner in providing treatment, and had some (limited) benefit of reducing stigma and curtailing the excesses of some treatment practices in the older, or more isolated, stand alone psychiatric facilities, the policy more broadly has been a failure. The unique needs of individuals suffering mental illness have not been fully appreciated and provided for and this has led to a secondary marginalisation of mentally ill patients in general health services. One needs to look no further than the way patients with mental illness and substance abuse are treated in busy public hospital emergency departments to see evidence of this marginalisation. Indeed, belatedly, there is now recognition that separate psychiatric emergency departments need to operate in public hospitals. But beyond the emergency department, mentally ill people need in-patient units with plenty of space, sub-acute and extended care treatment facilities, and properly supervised community residential accommodation. All features that are not usually offered or supported by general health services. Having got to this "mental health crisis" what can be done? In my opinion, the first action is to emphasise accountability at the point of the patient - clinician contact. The patient placing his or her care in the hands of a doctor, nurse or other mental health professional needs to know that that clinician has the patient’s welfare at heart and that the treatment needs of the patient will not be inappropriately influenced by the demands of rationing applied by the mental health service. This form of accountability will lead to a profound change in the way public mental health services are provided and resourced. Substantial staffing and facility enhancements and additional funding will be required to support this change. As a method of enhancing accountability, the Gold Coast Institute of Mental Health has called for a standing coronial inquiry into all suicides to review each pathway to death and any contact the person had with treatment services in order to monitor the quality of mental health care. The second action is to acknowledge that the “mainstreaming” policy has its limitations and a move to another model is now needed. An alternative model would recognise the special needs of individuals with mental illness and build a system of care from there, while utilising the strengths and services that comes from close association with general health services. This change in direction would facilitate the development of community, emergency department, in-patient, sub-acute, extended care, and residential supervised accommodation services that better meet the needs of mentally ill people. While a major investment of public resources is required to deal with the mental health crisis, the money will not be well spent unless issues of accountability and service direction are addressed. Discuss in our Forums See what other readers are saying about this article! Click here to read & post comments. 1 post so far. 1 comment Printable version Subscribe Email a friend Dr Philip Morris is Executive Director of the Gold Coast Institute of Mental Health. He is Medical Director of Mirikai, a young adult drug and alcohol rehabilitation program on the Gold Coast and he has a private psychiatric practice on the Gold Coast and in Brisbane. Mental Health And Political Forums http://community.adlandpro.com/forumShow.aspx?ForumID=10129 http://community.adlandpro.com/forumShow.aspx?ForumID=9637 http://community.adlandpro.com/forumShow.aspx?ForumID=8212 http://community.adlandpro.com/forumShow.aspx?ForumID=7420 http://community.adlandpro.com/forumShow.aspx?ForumID=8259 Lifetime web building and hosting for under $40. One time payment http://www.superpayline.com/p002859 The most advanced VOIP system there is anywhere. https://wv0079721.betteruniverse.com/members/index.php?action=buy_miphone Better Universe. The People Helping People Company http://wv0079721.betteruniverse.com

Hello Girls It has been a while since I posted anything on our site here but I just found this interesting tidbit. I just wish more people knew about this sight. I have never found out where you can send invitations to people just for a forum. Anyhow, here is the article. Depressed patients find help on the internet Click here to send this page via email Webtrack in Mental Health - December 2005 | Other articles (December 2005) Depressed patients find help on the internet Andersson G, Bergström J, Holländare F, et al. Internet-based self-help for depression: randomised controlled trial. Journal of Psychiatry 2005;187:456-461. Psychotherapy is an effective treatment option for patients suffering from mild to moderate depression. The waiting lists of skilled therapists, however, are long. Consequently many patients have to wait for a considerable time before they receive psychotherapy. In the meantime self-help programs on the internet can offer help to those patients. In this article the experiences of depressed patients with an internet-based self-help treatment were studied. The internet program was a cognitive-behavioural self-help treatment. It consisted of text and exercises, divided into 5 modules. At the end of each module the patients completed a quiz which was sent to a therapist involved with the program. This way the patients were provided with quick and efficient feedback. Some depressive symptoms of the patients improved as did symptoms of anxiety. The patients also reported a better quality of life. The internet-based self-help program proved its effectiveness. A further development of easy to handle internet-tools could reach even more depressed patients and provide them with help during the waiting period. This site is best viewed with Internet Explorer 5.0 or higher. © Janssen-Cilag 1997-2005 - Last updated on:19 December 2005 This site is published by Janssen-Pharmaceutica NV - Turnhoutseweg 30, 2340 Beerse, Turnhout RPR nr.0403.834.160 - which is solely responsible for the content. It is intended for a European audience. There should be an American version of this too. I'll find it or start it. One or the other .LOL Sincerly Bill Mental Health And Political Forums http://community.adlandpro.com/forumShow.aspx?ForumID=10129 http://community.adlandpro.com/forumShow.aspx?ForumID=9637 http://community.adlandpro.com/forumShow.aspx?ForumID=8212 http://community.adlandpro.com/forumShow.aspx?ForumID=7420 http://community.adlandpro.com/forumShow.aspx?ForumID=8259 Lifetime web building and hosting for under $40. One time payment http://www.superpayline.com/p002859 The most advanced VOIP system there is anywhere. https://wv0079721.betteruniverse.com/members/index.php?action=buy_miphone Better Universe. The People Helping People Company http://wv0079721.betteruniverse.com May a smile follow you to sleep each night, and be there waiting when you awaken. SIncerly, Bill Vanderbilt / Fanbelt

Greetings Dear Friends I thought that I would just post a little reminder message here since it is the holiday season and it is winter. Sometimes, the holidays can add to feelings of depression and despair for those who suffer with a depressive disorder. The winter time blues has also been knon by many families to rear it's ugly head too, because of the reduced amount of sunlight. The following article gives a few good pointers about these and other problems faced by people with depression. I hope that this post helps someonbe have a happierholiday and winter than they may have had otherwise. Sunday, December 25, 2005 - 12:00 AM | Mental health clinic opens in American Fork Heidi Toth DAILY HERALD Christmas isn't merry, Hanukkah isn't happy and the season isn't joyous if you're suffering from depression. But for people in the north end of Utah County, depression and other mental illnesses may be a little bit easier to cope with since Wasatch Mental Health opened a satellite clinic as part of the Division of Children and Family Services in American Fork. "We're trying to get out where the people are because of the expanding population," said Bryant Jenks, a therapist and supervisor at Wasatch. "For 30 years, everybody's come into Provo." The clinic works largely with low-income children or families with whom DCFS has intervened. They partner to provide the service, Jenks said, because the two fields overlap a surprising amount. "It is actually a very strong partnership because with DCFS working to help families who are in distress as well, a lot of times the families where there's children that need to be removed for safety reasons like abuse or neglect, it fits perfectly with the type of children that need to be helped," he said. "A lot of times the goal is re-unifying those families back together." Sometimes all treatment takes is a little therapy. Ted Terry, a psychologist at Wasatch, said depression, which is the most commonly seen mental illness, usually can be resolved with psychotherapy and medication -- good news for the between 5 and 9 percent of women and 2 and 3 percent of men in Utah County who are depressed at any one time. Between 10 and 25 percent of women and 5 and 12 percent of men are at risk of becoming depressed. This treatment works particularly well for people who are depressed as a reaction to some life-stressing event as opposed to someone with a genetic predisposition toward being depressed. Symptoms of depression, which can also be symptoms of other mental illnesses such as bipolar disorder, include lethargy, a lack of interest, sleeping a lot, avoiding social situations, a lack of drive and energy, and in children, acting out or being defiant. Recognizing these symptoms as what they are can help significantly in treatment. "We all get depressed a little bit once in a while, and we snap out of it," he said, adding that emotion should go away in a short time; once the symptoms become more serious, friends and relatives should take positive action. "To tell them to just snap out of it or get with it does not seem to be particularly helpful. In fact, it usually increases those feelings of guilt or inadequacy." While the stressful holiday season doesn't usually drive people into depression, it doesn't help those who are already depressed, Terry said. "Any time you hook a holiday, where people should be happy and celebrating and joyous and enjoying themselves and then they find themselves in that condition, and of course that just really focuses intensely on what's missing," he said. People who are experiencing some symptoms of depression at this time of year could also be suffering from a biological clock that doesn't like winter. Terry said seasonal affective disorder, which could be caused by increased melatonin when the body isn't getting enough sun, does cause some discomfort to people with the condition, although most don't seek treatment. "We think that it's a bona fide legitimate mental illness," he said. People suffering from SAD have symptoms of depression in the winter months, particularly January or February, that go away in the spring and summer. Heidi Toth can be reached at 344-2543 or htoth@heraldextra.com. This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page B1. Mental Health And Political Forums http://community.adlandpro.com/forumShow.aspx?ForumID=10129 http://community.adlandpro.com/forumShow.aspx?ForumID=9637 http://community.adlandpro.com/forumShow.aspx?ForumID=8212 http://community.adlandpro.com/forumShow.aspx?ForumID=7420 http://community.adlandpro.com/forumShow.aspx?ForumID=8259 Lifetime web building and hosting for under $40. One time payment http://www.superpayline.com/p002859 The most advanced VOIP system there is anywhere. https://wv0079721.betteruniverse.com/members/index.php?action=buy_miphone Better Universe. The People Helping People Company http://wv0079721.betteruniverse.com May a smile follow you to sleep each night, and be there waiting when you awaken. SIncerly, Bill Vanderbilt / Fanbelt

Greetings All One of the most upsetting things about the mental health system in America is it's inability to effectively treat mental illness. Often times, the penal system is placed in the position of mental health treatment provider. When this occurs, a mentally ill person who committs a minor offense can end up in prison for many years because of their inability to adapt to life behind bars. Their mental illness causes them to continually act out and thus, have their sentences extended. It gets worse too. In some cases, people with mental illness, who are refused treatment for one reason or another, end up committing a very serious crime and are punished with the death sentence. The following is an article that I just received from NAMI about just this situatuation. Amnesty International’s Report on The Death Penalty and Serious Mental Illness Statement of Michael J. Fitzpatrick Executive Director, National Alliance on Mental Illness Amnesty International’s report today on people with serious mental illnesses and the death penalty represents a compelling step forward in making the case that profound injustice exists at the most painful intersection of the mental healthcare and criminal justice systems in America. NAMI opposes the death penalty for people with serious mental illnesses. The law has not kept pace with modern science. The criminal justice system is ill-suited to address biologically-based brain disorders that create illogical, confused patterns of thought. Juries are called upon to apply narrow, irrelevant legal definitions to people who do not fit those terms. The law tries to paint bright lines between right and wrong in order to evaluate psychosis, delusions, and hallucinations. The death penalty poses issues that typically are never considered: Stigma - the fear, ignorance, and prejudice - surrounding mental illness may influence jury decisions. Mental illness becomes an aggravating, rather than mitigating factor. Defendants with serious mental illnesses during trial may appear impassive, because of the effects of psychiatric medications. Juries wrongly interpret their demeanor as lack of remorse. As noted by President Bush's New Freedom Commission on Mental Health, the mental healthcare system in America is a fragmented "system in shambles." Barriers to care exist. Individuals with serious mental illness often are unable to get help. Treatment or interventions may be inadequate, including long waiting lists or early discharge from hospitalization. In supreme irony, defendants denied medical treatment before committing crimes may be forcibly medicated to make them competent to stand trial or be executed. States make people who are profoundly sick - through no fault of their own - marginally well for the sole purpose of putting them to death. NAMI congratulates and thanks Amnesty International for its contribution to this growing debate. We call on state legislatures to eliminate the death penalty in such cases. We also believe the U.S. Supreme Court may ultimately rule its application to people with serious mental illness unconstitutional. For Copy of Amnesty International Report: http://web.amnesty.org/library/index/ENGAMR510032006 NAMI Needs Your Support! Help us to continue helping others. NAMI offers several ways to contribute in support of our programs and services. Please make a donation to NAMI now! Home | myNAMI | About NAMI | Contact Us | Jobs | Terms of Use | SiteMap Copyright © 1997 - 2006 NAMI. All Rights Reserved. Mental Health And Political Forums http://community.adlandpro.com/forumShow.aspx?ForumID=10129 http://community.adlandpro.com/forumShow.aspx?ForumID=9637 http://community.adlandpro.com/forumShow.aspx?ForumID=8212 http://community.adlandpro.com/forumShow.aspx?ForumID=7420 http://community.adlandpro.com/forumShow.aspx?ForumID=8259 Lifetime web building and hosting for under $40. One time payment http://www.superpayline.com/p002859 The most advanced VOIP system there is anywhere. https://wv0079721.betteruniverse.com/members/index.php?action=buy_miphone Better Universe. The People Helping People Company http://wv0079721.betteruniverse.com May a smile follow you to sleep each night, and be there waiting when you awaken. SIncerly, Bill Vanderbilt / Fanbelt

Hello Everyone
  Here is some pretty good information about Bipolar that just came to me in one of my news feeds. I am posting part of the article here and then the link for the rest of the article will be at thew bottom of this post for anyone who might want to read the rest of this report. I wish you all the very best.

information on bipolar
Friday November 17th 2006, 4:41 am
Filed under: Health Research

How is Bipolar Disorder Treated?

Most people with bipolar disorder—even those with the most severe
forms—can achieve substantial stabilization of their mood swings and related
symptoms with proper treatment. Because bipolar disorder is a recurrent
illness, long-term preventive treatment is strongly recommended and almost
always indicated. A strategy that combines medication and psychosocial
treatment is optimal for managing the disorder over time.

In most cases, bipolar disorder is much better controlled if treatment is
continuous than if it is on and off. But even when there are no breaks in
treatment, mood changes can occur and should be reported immediately to your
doctor. The doctor may be able to prevent a full-blown episode by making
adjustments to the treatment plan. Working closely with the doctor and
communicating openly about treatment concerns and options can make a
difference in treatment effectiveness.

In addition, keeping a chart of daily mood symptoms, treatments, sleep
patterns, and life events may help people with bipolar disorder and their
families to better understand the illness. This chart also can help the
doctor track and treat the illness most effectively.

Medications for Bipolar Disorder

Medications for bipolar disorder are prescribed by psychiatrists—medical
doctors (M.D.) with expertise in the diagnosis and treatment of mental
disorders. While primary care physicians who do not specialize in psychiatry
also may prescribe these medications, it is recommended that people with
bipolar disorder see a psychiatrist for treatment.

Medications known as “mood stabilizers” usually are prescribed to help
control bipolar disorder. Several different types of mood stabilizers are
available. In general, people with bipolar disorder continue treatment with
mood stabilizers for extended periods of time (years). Other medications are
added when necessary, typically for shorter periods, to treat episodes of
mania or depression that break through despite the mood stabilizer.

Lithium, the first mood-stabilizing medication approved by the U.S.
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for treatment of mania, is often very
effective in controlling mania and preventing the recurrence of both manic
and depressive episodes.
Anticonvulsant medications, such as valproate (Depakote®)
or carbamazepine (Tegretol®), also can have mood-stabilizing
effects and may be especially useful for difficult-to-treat bipolar
episodes. Valproate was FDA-approved in 1995 for treatment of mania.
Newer anticonvulsant medications, including lamotrigine (Lamictal®),
gabapentin (Neurontin®), and topiramate (Topamax®),
are being studied to determine how well they work in stabilizing mood
cycles.
Anticonvulsant medications may be combined with lithium, or with each
other, for maximum effect.
Children and adolescents with bipolar disorder generally are treated
with lithium, but valproate and carbamazepine also are used. Researchers
are evaluating the safety and efficacy of these and other psychotropic
medications in children and adolescents. There is some evidence that
valproate may lead to adverse hormone changes in teenage girls and
polycystic ovary syndrome in women who began taking the medication before
age 20. Therefore, young female patients taking valproate should be
monitored carefully by a physician.

 

Women with bipolar disorder who wish to conceive, or who become
pregnant, face special challenges due to the possible harmful effects of
existing mood stabilizing medications on the developing fetus and the
nursing infant. Therefore, the benefits and risks of all available
treatment options should be discussed with a clinician skilled in this
area. New treatments with reduced risks during pregnancy and lactation are
under study.
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