October 2017 - Page 7 of 22 - searchfortruth.info

Women And Hysteria In The History Of Mental Health

November 17, 2018October 20, 2017 by admin

Abstract

Hysteria is undoubtedly the first mental disorder attributable to women, accurately described in the second millennium BC, and until Freud considered an exclusively female disease. Over 4000 years of history, this disease was considered from two perspectives: scientific and demonological. It was cured with herbs, sex or sexual abstinence, punished and purified with fire for its association with sorcery and finally, clinically studied as a disease and treated with innovative therapies. However, even at the end of 19th century, scientific innovation had still not reached some places, where the only known therapies were those proposed by Galen. During the 20th century several studies postulated the decline of hysteria amongst occidental patients (both women and men) and the escalating of this disorder in non-Western countries. The concept of hysterical neurosis is deleted with the 1980 DSM-III. The evolution of these diseases...

Mental Health in Schools and Public Health

November 17, 2018October 20, 2017 by admin

Health policy and practice call for health and mental health parity and for a greater focus on universal interventions to promote, prevent, and intervene as early after problem onset as is feasible. Those in the public health field are uniquely positioned to help promote the mental health of young people and to reshape how the nation thinks about and addresses mental health. And schools are essential partners for doing the work.

Young People's Mental Health is a Major Public Health Concern

The figures usually indicated for diagnosable mental disorders suggest that between 12% and 22% of all youngsters under age 18 are in need of services for mental, emotional, or behavioral problems.1 The picture worsens when one expands the focus beyond the limited perspective on diagnosable mental disorders to encompass the number of young people experiencing psychosocial problems and those who are at risk...

Effective Services for Parolees with Mental Illnesses

November 17, 2018October 20, 2017 by admin

Abstract

This article is divided into four major sections. The first describes the factors that have resulted in persons with serious mental illnesses' (PSMIs') becoming a growing segment of the correctional population. The second explores the changing face of parole supervision and the implications of those changes for the care of PSMIs on parole. Section three discusses the prevalence of mental illnesses among adult prisoners and probationers and draws inferences from those data to the parolee population. Section three also explores mental health care for prison inmates and special programs for PSMIs on probation and parole. The article concludes with several suggestions for improving parole practices to meet the needs of PSMIs...

Responding to Subpoenas for Mental Health Records in California

November 17, 2018October 20, 2017 by admin

In any case where the Plaintiff seeks compensation for mental distress or anguish, Defendants may find themselves needing to subpoena mental health records to probe into pre-existing mental health issues and the extent of the Plaintiff's current complaints. These records are subject to safeguards above and beyond the average medical record. Medical providers may find themselves in a conundrum since they must be protective of the patient's mental health records to comply with state and federal laws, but they are also legally required to comply with the subpoena in a timely manner. Two California laws provide the framework for responding to a subpoena requesting mental health records:

1) The Lanterman-Petris -Short ("LPS") Act or California Welfare and Institutions Code, Section 5328 et. seq.; and 2) The California Confidentiality of Medical Information Act ("CMIA") or Civil Code Section 56 et. seq.

Below is information about each law to take into consideration when responding to a subpoena.

Lanterman-Petris-Short Act...

Securing Stable Housing

November 17, 2018October 20, 2017 by admin

For someone with a mental health condition, the basic necessity of a stable home can be hard to come by. The lack of safe and affordable housing is one of the most powerful barriers to recovery. When this basic need isn’t met, people cycle in and out of homelessness, jails, shelters and hospitals. Having a safe, appropriate place to live can provide stability to allow you to achieve your goals.

You may run into housing issues after being discharged from an inpatient care unit or jail and find that you have no home to return to. Even if you haven’t been hospitalized, finding an affordable home can be difficult. Many people with a serious mental illness live on Supplemental Security Income (SSI), which averages just 18% of the median income and can make finding an affordable home near impossible.

Finding stable, safe and affordable housing can help you on your journey to recovery...

Law & Psychiatry: Murder, Inheritance, and Mental Illness

November 17, 2018October 20, 2017 by admin

Abstract

Should a murderer be allowed to inherit the victim's estate? The question dates from biblical times, but most jurisdictions today have statutes in place that bar inheritance by convicted murderers. However, a special problem arises when the killer has a severe mental illness and has been found not guilty by reason of insanity. Should such people, who have not been convicted of a crime, be permitted to collect their inheritance? Jurisdictions vary in their responses, with the rules reflecting a mix of practical and moral considerations influenced by different perspectives about what determines the behavior of persons with mental illness. (Psychiatric Services 62:707–709, 2011)

Have you killed, and also taken possession?” the biblical prophet Elijah asked Ahab, King of Samaria, who with his wife, Jezebel, was being accused of having done precisely that (1). Embodied in Elijah's question is the moral intuition that wrongdoers should not profit from their...

Chapter 6 Mental Health Care for Hispanic Americans

November 17, 2018October 20, 2017 by admin

Introduction

The Spanish language and culture are common bonds for many Hispanic Americans, regardless of whether they trace their ancestry to Africa, Asia, Europe, or the Americas. The immigrant experience is another common bond. Nevertheless, Hispanic Americans are very heterogeneous in the circumstances of their migration and in other characteristics. To understand their mental health needs, it is important to examine both the shared and unique experiences of different groups of Hispanic Americans.

One of the most distinguishing characteristics of the Hispanic-American population is its rapid growth. In the 2000 census, sooner than forecast, the number of Hispanics counted rose to 35.3 million, roughly equal to the number of African Americans (U.S. Census Bureau, 2001a). In fact, census projections indicate that by 2050, the number of Latinos will increase to 97 million; this number will constitute nearly one-fourth of the U.S. population. Projections for the...

Public Conceptions of Mental Illness in 1950 and 1996: What Is Mental Illness and Is It to be Feared?

February 21, 2019October 20, 2017 by admin

In the 1950s, the public defined mental illness in much narrower and more extreme terms than did psychiatry, and fearful and rejecting attitudes toward people with mental illnesses were common. Several indicators suggest that definitions of mental illness may have broadened and that rejection and negative stereotypes may have decreased since that time. Howevev, lack of comparable data over time prevents us from drawing firm conclusions on these questions. To address this problem, the Mental Health Module of the 1996 General Social Survey repeated a question regarding the meaning of mental illness that was first asked of a nationally representative sample in 1950. A comparison of 1950 and 1996 results shows that conceptions of mental illness have broadened somewhat over this time period to include a greaterproportion of non-psychotic disorders, but that perceptions that mentally ill people are violent or frightening substantially increased, rather than decreased...

The State of Mental Health on College Campuses: A Growing Crisis

November 17, 2018October 20, 2017 by admin

In a December 19 article, the New York Times reported on a phenomenon that colleges across the country are all too familiar with: the rising number of students grappling with serious mental health problems that are seeking treatment at campus counseling centers. The article brought attention to an alarming and growing trend that began in the early to mid-1990s. At that time, university and college counseling centers noticed a shift in the needs of students seeking counseling services from more developmental and informational needs, to more severe psychological problems.

In the past decade this shift has not only solidified, it has reached increasingly higher levels. In the 2010 National Survey of Counseling Center Directors, respondents reported that 44 percent of their clients had severe psychological problems, a sharp increase from 16 percent in 2000. The most common of these disorders are depression, anxiety, suicidal ideation, alcohol abuse..,

Investing In Global Mental Health: The Time For Action Is Now

November 17, 2018October 20, 2017 by admin

Despite widespread acknowledgement of the economic and global burden of mental disorders (as represented in years of life lost to disability and mortality), acting on these concerns and creating an investment plan for global mental health has been challenging. This failure can be explained by many factors, including scepticism about prevalence data for mental disorders. Without precise biological measures, these disorders might be viewed as being defined culturally by high-income countries, or as having overly inclusive criteria that reject traditional ideas of normal human suffering. Additionally, a perceived absence of effective treatments in low-income countries already facing overwhelming challenges of infectious diseases and other disorders and limited infrastructure might make attention to mental illnesses less of an immediate priority. Likewise, mental disorders might be more overtly associated with disability than death, despite evidence of early mortality due to suicide or other medical disorders.

Diagnosing Mental Illness Through Neuroimaging Scans

November 17, 2018October 20, 2017 by admin

Table of Contents: Older Methods Potential Benefits Possible Drawbacks Good Choices Find Out More

Diagnosing a mental illness isn’t always easy. In fact, it can be a subjective process that allows one clinician to see one disease, while another sees a different disease and a third sees nothing at all, even when all three medical practitioners are looking at the same patient. This kind of uncertainty can be annoying, but it can also lead to very serious problems, as some might not get the right diagnosis or the right treatment for a very real mental health issue.

In a perfect world, a person with symptoms of a mental illness could get a simple test that would definitively diagnose the problem or prove that no problem really exists. Some believe that neuroimaging scans provide this opportunity, but others aren’t so sure that the scans can ever take...

Dietary Supplements in Mental Health Care

November 17, 2018October 20, 2017 by admin

In the wake of the recent and very public controversy over weight loss supplements, it would be easy to throw the proverbial baby out with the bathwater. Inadequate regulation of supplements has allowed the public to invest considerable money in treatments that may not contain what is stated on the label, can have scant research supporting their use, and in some cases may cause potential harm. Yet, there are supplements that have good evidence of benefit for emotional, cognitive, or other health-related issues, appear to be low risk, and when judiciously used, may be important therapuetic adjuncts for those who have ongoing challenges with mood or other mental health issues.

Supplements Use is Prevalent

Americans spend nearly $34 billion annually on complementary and alternative (CAM) remedies, with approximately 14.8 billion spend on nonvitamin, nonmineral, natural products such as fish oil,...

Influencing Behavior and Mental Processes in Covert Operations

November 17, 2018October 20, 2017 by admin

In the early 1950s, U.S. intelligence concluded that the KGB, Soviet intelligence, was working hard to develop "mind control" and behavior modification drugs. Supporting evidence included the public "confessions" of numerous high-ranking communist officials, the high-profile trial in Hungary of Josef Cardinal Mindszenty, who appeared to have been drugged as he confessed to treasonous crimes, and the unusual behavior of American POWs during the Korean War. The filmed testimony of American POWs telling the world that America was evil and that communism was a far superior form of government was an especially compelling example.

On April 10, 1953, Allen W. Dulles, newly confirmed CIA director, alerted a gathering of Princeton alumni to the problem. A "sinister battle for men's minds" was underway, he explained. The Soviets "have developed brain perversion techniques, some of which are so subtle and so abhorrent to our way of life that...

Covert Behavior And Mental Terms: A Reply To Moore

February 20, 2019October 20, 2017 by admin

In a recent paper, Moore (2001) compares the behavior analytic treatment of so-called mental phenomena with other behaviorist approaches, in particular, with logical behaviorism and conceptual analysis (see also Moore, 1980, 1981, 1995). Moore concludes that behavior analysis gives a more adequate account of the phenomena than the other positions. In this note, I will argue that the behavior analytic treatment has itself some fundamental shortcomings. These problems are avoided if we adopt a behaviorist theory that has the following features: (i) it only accepts the existence of entities (factors, events, states, etc.) if this existence is supported by empirical evidence, (ii) it is based on Quine’s materialist repudiation theory which assigns no role at all to mental entities, (iii) it acknowledges the well documented fact that organisms can acquire new behavior not only by operant conditioning but also by being exposed to the pairing of two (salient) stimuli.

Mental Health Outcomes Measuring for Quality and Accountability

February 21, 2019October 20, 2017 by admin

With accountability pressures and growing concerns about quality of services, managers, practitioners, and system planners need resources to measure the outcomes of the services they provide and should be aware of the best efforts to measure client outcomes and services effectiveness. This newsletter provides resources for program administrators, managers, policy makers, and others about the implementation and use of outcome measurement. The drive toward accountability that is occurring in the mental health field is explored, as are other reasons for measuring client outcomes. Outcome measures and instruments developed as part of multi-site studies sponsored by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) are described inside; and can serve as a valuable resource in planning an evaluation or quality assurance initiative. Also included is a set of considerations when planning and conducting a program outcome evaluation....

Mental Health Promotion in Public Health: Perspectives and Strategies From Positive Psychology

November 17, 2018October 20, 2017 by admin

Abstract

Positive psychology is the study of what is “right” about people—their positive attributes, psychological assets, and strengths. Its aim is to understand and foster the factors that allow individuals, communities, and societies to thrive.

Cross-sectional, experimental, and longitudinal research demonstrates that positive emotions are associated with numerous benefits related to health, work, family, and economic status. Growing biomedical research supports the view that positive emotions are not merely the opposite of negative emotions but may be independent dimensions of mental affect.

The asset-based paradigms of positive psychology offer new approaches for bolstering psychological resilience and promoting mental health. Ultimately, greater synergy between positive psychology and public health might help promote mental health in innovative ways.

Mental health promotion seeks to foster individual competencies, resources, and psychological strengths, and to strengthen community assets to prevent mental disorder and enhance well-being and quality of life...