This is a blog for the Mental Health Policy Class at the George Warren Brown School of Social Work.

March 27, 2006

Woman With Perfect Memory Baffles Scientists

"James McGaugh is one of the world's leading experts on how the human memory system works. But these days, he admits he's stumped.
McGaugh's journey through an intellectual purgatory began six years ago when a woman now known only as AJ wrote him a letter detailing her astonishing ability to remember with remarkable clarity even trivial events that happened decades ago.
Give her any date, she said, and she could recall the day of the week, usually what the weather was like on that day, personal details of her life at that time, and major news events that occurred on that date."

Personality and Politics

"Remember the whiny, insecure kid in nursery school, the one who always thought everyone was out to get him, and was always running to the teacher with complaints? Chances are he grew up to be a conservative."

WHO | mental health Global Action Programme (mhGAP)

"Mental health has become a major international public health concern and WHO has placed high profile focus on the importance of mental health. During 2001 the World Health Day (7 April 2001) was devoted to mental health and 155 countries celebrated the event.":

Depression (Unipolar) - After SSRI Fails, Switching Antidepressants May Help

"A proportion of patients with major depression who are unresponsive to the selective serotonin-reuptake inhibitor citalopram may benefit from taking an alternate antidepressant, according to two studies reporting results from the Sequenced Treatment Alternatives to Relieve Depression (STAR*D) trial in the March 23 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine."

Shock therapy seen to improve quality of life

"Most severely depressed patients who are given electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) -- commonly known is electroshock therapy -- experience improved health-related quality of life that lasts for at least 6 months, a new study shows."

March 16, 2006

A Warning From South Dakota - New York Times

"When President Bush's Supreme Court nominees were asked about abortion and Roe v. Wade, their answers ranged from vague to opaque. But the state legislature in South Dakota felt it heard the underlying message loud and clear. Now, South Dakota has thrown down the gauntlet. It adopted a law last week that makes every abortion that is not necessary to save the life of the mother a crime. The law is clearly unconstitutional under existing Supreme Court rulings. But its backers are hoping that the addition of John Roberts and Samuel Alito to the court will be enough to change things."

Stem Cell Proposal Divides Missouri Republicans - Yahoo! News

"A ballot proposal promoting embryonic stem cell research is turning conservatives against each other and threatening to tear apart Missouri's Republican Party at the very height of its modern-day influence. The measure -- sponsored by a coalition of medical groups, researchers, businesses and patient advocates -- would make Missouri the only state besides California to enshrine the right to stem cell research in its state constitution."

Pharmacy refusals to fill prescriptions sets debate

"The Washington State Board of Pharmacy is considering a policy that would outline if and when pharmacists could refuse to fill prescriptions due to moral, religious or ethical objections.
The discussion is clearly aimed at clarifying whether pharmacists can turn away prescriptions for Plan B, the emergency contraceptive that has caused controversy nationwide, although such a conscience clause could pertain to other areas as well."

A Wrongful Birth? - New York Times

"As in many other realms, from marriage and its definition to end-of-life issues, those ethics and standards are being hashed out in the courts, in one lawsuit after another. And what those cases are exposing is the relatively new belief that we should have a right to choose which babies come into the world. This belief is built upon two assumptions, both of which have emerged in the past 40 years. The first is the assumption that if we choose to take advantage of contemporary technology, major flaws in our fetus's health will be detected before birth. The second assumption, more controversial, is that we will be able to do something � namely, end the pregnancy � if those flaws suggest a parenting project we would rather not undertake." [Free Registration Required]

Study: Drugs Better for Elderly Depression - Yahoo! News

"For elderly people who suffer bouts of depression, drugs work surprisingly better than psychotherapy at keeping these black spells from returning, suggests the longest study ever in patients so old. The findings from the two-year study may encourage some doctors to prescribe antidepressants for longer periods, perhaps even for life, in patients who have been depressed."

Use of Implanted Patient-Data Chips Stirs Debate on Medicine vs. Privacy

"When Daniel Hickey's doctor suggested he have a microchip implanted under his skin to provide instant access to his computerized medical record, the 77-year-old retired naval officer immediately agreed. 'If you're unconscious and end up in the emergency room, they won't know anything about you,' Hickey said. 'With this, they can find out everything they need to know right away and treat you better.'" [Free Registration Required]

Sex and Safety - Los Angeles Times

"Los Angeles County's 11 known sex clubs and bathhouses have long been popular places where gay men (and to a lesser extent heterosexual couples) go to have casual or public sex. Although perfectly legal as long as money doesn't change hands between partners, the steamy meeting points are also a major concern for public health officials because they can be breeding grounds for HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases."

March 13, 2006

Campaign for Mental Health Reform

"The Campaign for Mental Health Reform is a collaboration of 16 national health organizations, representing millions of Americans, to make health a national priority and early access, recovery and quality in mental health services the hallmarks of our nation�s mental health system."

Medicare Rights Center Part D Monitoring Project

"The frustration levels of my clients have been unimaginable! I have actually had clients burst into tears trying to understand the Part D program. As difficult as that process was, it was nothing compared to trying to explain to my clients after they had done everything they were supposed to do, they couldn't get their medications on January 1, 2006."

Racial Disparities & Prescription Surveillance

"Health policies designed to curb inappropriate medication prescribing can have the unintended effect of increasing racial disparities in access to appropriate care, reports a study by the Department of Ambulatory Care and Prevention (of Harvard Medical School and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care). . . 'This is the first well-controlled study to show that health policies designed to reduce drug costs and abuse can increase racial disparities in access to effective care for those with chronic illnesses, like schizophrenia,' said Pearson."

Kweisi Mfume: We Must Do More to Address Crime at its Roots Before a Generation's Lost

"For years, criminal justice policies have reflected the conservative view of lock them up and throw away the key without reflecting on the fact that many reactionary policies have caused more harm than good. Such policies have helped to increase -- not decrease -- the number of felons and the number of victims. Some of the once hailed and triumphed criminal justice policies such as 'three strikes - you're out' have proven to be -- as we knew they would -- a nightmare for criminal justice administrators and policy makers across the nation."

GWU Suit Prompts Questions Of Liability

"About 2 a.m. one sleepless night, sophomore Jordan Nott checked himself into George Washington University Hospital. He was depressed, he said, and thinking about suicide."