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Mental Health

Mental Health Courts Resource Guide

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Court-based problem-solving initiatives seek to address the growing number of mentally ill defendants that have entered the criminal justice system by focusing on the immediate pressures that have led to the development of the mental health court strategy, as well as the challenging applications for this therapeutically oriented judicial approach.

Links to related online resources are listed below. Non-digitized publications may be borrowed from the NCSC Library; call numbers are provided.

Mental Health Court Performance Measures (MHCPM). MHCPM is a set of 14 performance measures that offers court managers and administrators a tool to monitor the performance of mental health courts.

Developing a Mental Health Court: An Interdisciplinary Curriculum. The National Center for State Courts partnered with Council of State Governments to develop this free curriculum for courts wishing to develop a mental health court.

Waters, Nicole L. State Standards: Building Better Mental Health Courts. (2015). As formal mental health courts (MHCs) enter their third decade in existence, policymakers...

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Labeling You a Mental Health Patient

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I am advocating that we rethink the whole field of psychology. As we embark on rethinking what we mean by normal, what we mean by mental health, and what we mean by psychotherapy, a first step is removing the labels that we give to people who look for help with their "mental health problems" or who are sent for help for those "problems."

All "mental health disorder" labels ought to be rethought. They flow from a specious, incoherent definition of "mental disorder" and amount to little more than the affixing of fancy-sounding disorder labels to bundles of putative "symptoms." In addition-and the subject of this article-the very naming of the person who walks into the office of a "mental health provider" ought to be rethought. Is that person really a "patient"?

Right now those people are known as either "patients" or "clients." I'll tackle the problems associated with...

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

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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...

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Influencing Behavior and Mental Processes in Covert Operations

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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...

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Dietary Supplements in Mental Health Care

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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,...

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

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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.

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

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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..,

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Chapter 6 Mental Health Care for Hispanic Americans

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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...

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Mental Health in Schools and Public Health

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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...

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Women And Hysteria In The History Of Mental Health

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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...

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Mental Health By the Numbers

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Prevalence of Mental Illness

Approximately 1 in 5 adults in the U.S.—43.8 million, or 18.5%—experiences mental illness in a given year. Approximately 1 in 25 adults in the U.S.—9.8 million, or 4.0%—experiences a serious mental illness in a given year that substantially interferes with or limits one or more major life activities. Approximately 1 in 5 youth aged 13–18 (21.4%) experiences a severe mental disorder at some point during their life.

For children aged 8–15, the estimate is 13%. 1.1% of adults in the U.S. live with schizophrenia.

2.6% of adults in the U.S. live with bipolar disorder.

6.9% of adults in the U.S.—16 million—had at least one major depressive episode in the past year.

18.1% of adults in the U.S. experienced an anxiety disorder such as posttraumatic stress disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder and specific phobias...

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Evaluation for Civil Commitment of Sex Offenders: A Survey of Experts

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Abstract

At this study's commencement, 17 states had enacted sex offender civil commitment legislation. Although each statute outlines broad criteria that must be met, civil commitment evaluators are given considerable latitude in how to conduct their assessment. Forty-one experts who conduct sex offender civil commitment evaluations were surveyed to identify the usual practice of these evaluators. A great deal of agreement exists across experts regarding the conduct of sex offender civil commitment evaluations. However, these patterns appear quite different from the usual practice outlined in other types of forensic evaluations. Experts in sex offender civil commitment endorsed documentation as the core method for evaluation. The majority of evaluators reported the assessment of paraphilias, substance abuse, other Axis I disorders, Axis II disorders, and psychopathy as essential to the evaluation. Virtually all survey respondents utilized actuarial risk assessment measures, primarily the Static-99, in assessing for risk of...

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H.R. 731 (114th): Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Act of 2015

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Amends the Mentally Ill Offender Treatment and Crime Reduction Act of 2004 to: (1) expand the assistance provided under such Act, and (2) reauthorize appropriations for FY2016-FY2020.

Authorizes the Attorney General to award grants to establish or expand: (1) veterans treatment court programs, which involve collaboration among criminal justice, veterans, and mental health and substance abuse agencies to provide qualified veterans (preliminarily qualified offenders who were discharged from the armed forces under conditions other than dishonorable) with intensive judicial supervision and case management, treatment services, alternatives to incarceration, and other appropriate services, including housing, transportation, job training, education, and assistance in obtaining benefits; (2) peer to peer services or programs to assist such veterans in obtaining treatment, recovery, stabilization, or rehabilitation; (3) practices that identify and provide treatment, rehabilitation, legal, transitional, and other appropriate services to such veterans who have been incarcerated; and (4) training programs to teach...

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ABA Mental Health Resources

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INTRODUCTION

Stress, depression, anxiety, chemical dependency, substance abuse, and other mental health conditions and impairments among law students are problems that continue to spark a national dialogue among faculty, administrators, and students. While students enter law school suffering from clinical stress and depression at a rate that mirrors the national average, the rate sharply increases during the first year of law school. Through the duration of their legal education, the rates of law students grappling with substance abuse and mental health problems increase dramatically. If unrecognized and untreated, these issues can carry into their professional careers.

Consider the following from the 2014 Survey of Law Student Well-Being:

- 89.6% of respondents have had a drink of alcohol in the last 30 days. - 21.6% reported binge drinking at least twice in the past two weeks. - 20.4% have thought seriously about suicide sometime in their life.

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