Racism in U.K. mental health care
From Black Information Link:
African-Caribbeans are:
· 44% more likely to be sectioned.
· Twice as likely to be referred to mental health services through forensic services
· Detention rates for African-Caribbean’s are 25% -28% higher that that of white British groups.
· They are 70% less likely to be referred by their GP for counselling and other non-institutional help to recover.
· Referral rates by police are almost double that of white British groups.
· The use of control and restraint is 29% higher for Black inpatients.
· Seclusion rates are 50% higher.
Press Release: Black Leaders Launch Attack on Mental Health Bill
liz | 3:22 PM | Uncategorized
Windy city confusion
Is Keon Lipscomb mentally ill and suffering from a history of abuse? If so, does that mean he was legally insane when he sexually molested then killed his girlfriend’s toddler daughter, Unique?
It’ll be interesting to see how this case plays out. Prosecutors want the death penalty. Looks like the defense would be satisfied with life in prison. It’s another example of the tricky (and inadequate) distinctions the law provides to grapple with the behavior of a mentally ill offender.
•Prosecution continues to attack killer’s character [MSNBC]
•Slain Girl Brought Joy, Mom Testifies [Chicago Tribune]
•Killer Has Mental Illness, Doctor Says At Hearing [Chicago Tribune]
liz | 1:00 PM | Uncategorized
Medisucks Part D update (BBI)
“First, the voices return. Next, it’s the suicidal thoughts. Without the prescription medication that controls their mental illness, they turn to self-medication using drugs or alcohol.”
It sounds kind of overly dramatic, but Jo Ciavaglia’s article for the Bucks County Courier Times, a publication often mocked by my colleague D-Mac, is well reported and a micro reflection of what’s happening across the country:
“These people are having enough trouble getting through the day, let alone getting their medications,” said Anita D’Antonio, a Warminister Hospital spokeswoman. “It’s very disturbing.”
The quandry raises the question: Who do we care about less: the elderly or the mentally ill?
Mentally Ill Are Also Suffering Under Medicare Confusion
liz | 12:43 PM | Uncategorized
’Nova and locks
College kids!: Careful about vomiting in the toilet after a bender—especially if you’re on antidepressants!
Villanova University (which serves as hosts to, uh, a few benders each year) has just received more than $100,000 from the EPA to “identify ways to better manage how prescription and non-prescription pharmaceuticals are discarded from university dormitories.” What are those kids doing? Dumping bottles of Prozac into some pond or something? (I just asked an alum if there was a pond on campus, or a body of water. “Beer,” he said. “That’s the biggest body of water there.” Hey, he said it, not me.)
Anyway, here’s the link to further information, though the press release itself is elusive (unlike most press releases, which are profligate, and pollute the land more than any Valium tablet possibly could): Mid-Atlantic P2 grants
liz | 11:39 AM | Uncategorized
Night of the living dread
Yesterday was a brutal day. Sometimes I wake up in the morning, after the nightmares, and I feel infected by the dreams, as though I’m covered in sores. Infection is the only metaphor that seems to express the way the dreams linger on my skin for the entire day after I’ve had them. I can’t shake the fear and nervousness, or the horror at some of the images.
Two nights ago in the dream there was a mentally ill man who’d been chased by a lynch mob and then locked in a furniture store. He was wearing dirty clothes, and a crumpled green knit hat. He was peering out of the display window, his hands flat agains the glass, his face frozen in terror. The more he wanted to get out, the more the masses wanted to pile furniture against the door to keep him locked in. I was trying to convince them otherwise: “He’s sick. He needs help. He’s not dangerous to you. We’ll get him help.” But no one listened. It was like I was in Night of the Living Dead saying, “He’s a flesh-eating zombie, it’s true, but let’s be nice.”
For the entire day, his face haunted me. That sadness and fear seemed to permeate the fabric of my shirt and jeans. It made me shaky and depressed, and I found doing any work was impossible. I’ve been told these vivid dreams may be a side effect of one of the meds I’m taking, and I have to look into that. I’m wary of going in that direction since my meds work so well, but I can’t possibly go on like this.
liz | 11:19 AM | Uncategorized
Sad, sad, sad
I always feel deeply for people who commit crimes because I have this misguided notion that everyone means well, and if they’ve done wrong, there’s probably a good reason, whether individual or societal. I’d be an incredible defense attorney.
Two stories in particular kind of have me feeling heartbroken. One is about Troy Rigby, who jumped off a plane in Florida the other day because he was feeling claustrophobic. Another is about a woman in Guam who killed her neighbor’s son, sort of by comforting him to death. The Guam story isn’t getting much play—um, maybe because it happened in Guam—but the Florida story has been covered extensively. Below, some links to Rigby’s story:
•Man who bit fellow passenger has history of mental illness
•Fl. Plane Jumper’s Family Confirms Mental Illness
•Family: Bipolar illness led man to leap from jetliner at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood airport
•Sister Says Man That Jumped Off Plane Was Bipolar
liz | 5:16 PM | Uncategorized
Now that’s what you call expert testimony
From the St. Paul Pioneer Press:
“The Minnesota chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness will host David Kaczynski, brother of “Unabomber” Ted Kaczynski, for a talk Tuesday on mental illness and criminal justice. The free forum, which runs from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., will be held in the John B. Davis Lecture Hall at Macalester College. A panel discussion will follow.”
liz | 3:51 PM | Uncategorized
Headlines: national
•Drug Company Settlement To Help Mental Illness Group [KTHV Little Rock]
•Man who killed twin daughters moved to mental health facility [WSOCTV Charlotte]
•Tourette’s Symptoms Provoked by Lamotrigine in a Bipolar Patient [American Journal of Psychiatry]
•Public welfare executive rebounded from mental illness [The Derrick]
•Mental Health Care of Deaf People: A Culturally Affirmative Approach [book review, Psychiatric Services]
•Palm City man gets life in prison for killing mom with crossbow [Gainseville.com]
liz | 3:27 PM | Uncategorized
Hungry for links
I’m trying to compile a definitively comprehensive list of mental-health (and related) websites. There are a lot here already, and some of you have been helpful in telling me about others. But I want more.
My colleague just told me about Temple University’s Disabilities Studies blog. I know people with mental illnesses don’t always think of themselves as disabled, but there is some crossover—both academically and practically.
More links, please!
[Photo of sweet calabrese sausage—mmmm—from Di Bruno Bros.]
liz | 1:21 PM | Uncategorized
Most popular ways to kill yourself
This release comes courtesy of Scientologists in Oklahoma, who are obviously using it to promote their anti-psychiatry message, which is stupid and destructive.
But this report from DAWN is somewhat interesting. Just don’t think of it as a how-to.
Opiates, Antidepressants Top List of Substances in Drug-Related Suicides
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN) found that the most common single-drug suicide deaths involved opiates, followed by antidepressants and then cocaine, sedatives and anti-anxiety medications.
DAWN information showed that 7 out of 10 of the suicide deaths involved multiple drugs. The highest rates included combinations of alcohol and antidepressants, anti-anxiety medications and opiates, alcohol and opiates, and then antidepressants with opiates. One quarter of the overall deaths in the metropolitan areas and states involved multiple antidepressants.
liz | 1:32 PM | Uncategorized
