Thursday, July 29, 2010

"One Out of Five Californians Say They Need Mental Health Care"

According to the Los Angeles Times, nearly 5 million adults in California say they need help with a mental or emotional problem, and 1 million are believed to be in "severe psychological distress."

These findings are based on the 2005 California Health Interview Survey; now it is believed that more people are in distress because of the current recession.

Saturday, July 24, 2010

"They Were Expendable"

A New York Times-MSNBC article says that the Kreitchman PET Center, on West 168th Street in Manhattan, had to close down because the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) found out that this center for positron emission tomography (PET) scan research had given mental patients injected medications with unacceptable amounts of impurities.

Thursday, July 15, 2010

Record Number of Army Suicides; Other Services Affected

An NBC News article by Jim Miklaszewski reports that the suicide rate among active duty, Guard and Reserve troops went up 12% in June (for a monthly total of 32), despite an aggressive suicide prevention campaign.

"The problem is not isolated to the Army. In 2009, 52 Marines and 48 Sailors took their own lives in 2009, according to a report by the American Forces Press Service. Air Force officials reported 41 active-duty suicides, a 12.5 per 100,000 ratio, in 2009...."