Four webinars – on “Demystifying Trauma,” “Working with Voices,” Starting a Peer-Run Respite, and Coalition-Building, respectively – will take place next week! “Demystifying Trauma: Sharing Pathways to Healing and Wellness,” organized by SAMHSA’s ADS Center (Resource Center to Promote Acceptance, Dignity and Social Inclusion Associated with Mental Health), will take place Sept. 26, 2011, 3 p.m. – 4:30 p.m. ET. Registration closes at 5 p.m. ET on Sept. 25. To register, click on the following link: http://promoteacceptance.samhsa.gov/teleconferences/archive/training/teleconference09262011.aspx.
“Working with Voices” will focus on the Hearing Voices Network and Hearing Voices Groups, which do not pathologize hearing voices or other altered experiences. It will take place Sept. 27, 1 p.m. – 2:30 p.m. ET. Space is limited; to register, click here: http://cts.vresp.com/c/?NationalMentalHealth/14baa0ba54/ac1ab23981/db99ce0be4. “So You Want to Start a Peer-Run Respite?” will take place on Sept. 28, 1 p.m. – 2:30 p.m. ET. It the first webinar in a peer-run respite series sponsored by the National Empowerment Center. Space is limited; registration will close on Sept. 27.
To register, click here: https://www3.gotomeeting.com/register/728369694.
“Coalition Building 101 for Mental Health Consumers and Psychiatric Survivors: Finding Common Ground with Each Other and Allies,” to be held Sept. 30, 2:00 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. ET, will include how to address obstacles to sustaining a coalition, action steps to build and/or sustain a coalition, what to do when groups may be competing for the same resources, and more!
To register, e-mail rsvppeerlink@gmail.com with “Coalition Building” in the subject line
Sources: http://promoteacceptance.samhsa.gov
http://www.nyaprs.org
http://www.power2u.org
SAMHSA/CMHS Consumer Affairs E-News, September 20, 2011
Showing posts with label psychological trauma. Show all posts
Showing posts with label psychological trauma. Show all posts
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Friday, September 9, 2011
Mental Illnesses Mistaken for Medical Conditions
An August article in The Wall Street Journal Online highlights the prevalence of psychological symptoms attributed to medical conditions. In "Confusing Medical Ailments with Mental Illness," Harvard psychiatrist Barbara Schildkrout says more than 100 medical illnesses can be masked as mental health disorders. According to the article, "untangling cause and effect can challenge even seasoned clinicians, and the potential for missed diagnoses is growing."
Read the story, which includes warning signs for problems that seem behavioral, but may be medical:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111904480904576496271983911668.html.
Read the story, which includes warning signs for problems that seem behavioral, but may be medical:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111904480904576496271983911668.html.
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Mental Health Issues Related to Veterans in the News
IN FOCUS: VETERANS AND MILITARY MENTAL HEALTH
Court Calls for Overhaul of VA Mental Health Services: A federal appeals court has ordered the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to dramatically overhaul its mental health care system. The court criticized both Congress and the administration for failing vets. The "unchecked incompetence" in handling the flood of post-traumatic stress disorder and other mental health claims is unconstitutional, the court said. It noted that it takes the VA an average of four years to fully provide mental health benefits owed to veterans and often takes weeks for a veteran with suicidal thoughts to get an initial appointment. One member of the three-judge panel dissented, stating that the decision would only prolong litigation and complicate the agency’s efforts to improve services. (Reuters, 5/10/11)
More Than Half of Recent Vets Have Mental Health Problems: More than half of all Iraq and Afghanistan veterans treated in Department of Veterans Affairs’ hospitals since 2002 have been diagnosed, at least preliminarily, with mental health problems, according to statistics. The data, which is released quarterly, also shows that the raw number of returning soldiers with psychological problems is rising. Nearly 18,000 new patients were treated for mental health issues at VA facilities in the last three months of last year—the most recent time period for which data is available— upping the total to more than 330,000. (Pro Publica, 5/11/11)
Stress of Troops Reaches Five-Year High: U.S. troops fighting in Afghanistan are experiencing some of the greatest psychological stress and lowest morale in five years of fighting, according to a military study. Mental health strain was most severe among veterans of three or more deployments, with a third of those showing signs of psychological problems defined as either stress, depression or anxiety. The report notes that the number of mental health staff has doubled in war zones in order to ensure treatment is available immediately for soldiers who suffer psychological trauma. (USA Today, 5/8/11)
Few Troops Exposed to Bomb Blasts Examined for Concussions: More than half of U.S. combat troops in Afghanistan have been exposed to bomb blasts in the last year, but only about 1 in 5 of them said they were examined for concussions, according to a draft of a recent military survey. Medical officials failed to screen about 80 percent of soldiers and Marines who reported being within 50 meters of a roadside blast during their tour of duty, according to combat troops surveyed in July and August of last year. However, the survey was conducted before the full implementation of a new policy beginning in June that mandates screening of troops exposed to bomb blasts. (Pro Publica, 5/10/11)
Court Calls for Overhaul of VA Mental Health Services: A federal appeals court has ordered the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to dramatically overhaul its mental health care system. The court criticized both Congress and the administration for failing vets. The "unchecked incompetence" in handling the flood of post-traumatic stress disorder and other mental health claims is unconstitutional, the court said. It noted that it takes the VA an average of four years to fully provide mental health benefits owed to veterans and often takes weeks for a veteran with suicidal thoughts to get an initial appointment. One member of the three-judge panel dissented, stating that the decision would only prolong litigation and complicate the agency’s efforts to improve services. (Reuters, 5/10/11)
More Than Half of Recent Vets Have Mental Health Problems: More than half of all Iraq and Afghanistan veterans treated in Department of Veterans Affairs’ hospitals since 2002 have been diagnosed, at least preliminarily, with mental health problems, according to statistics. The data, which is released quarterly, also shows that the raw number of returning soldiers with psychological problems is rising. Nearly 18,000 new patients were treated for mental health issues at VA facilities in the last three months of last year—the most recent time period for which data is available— upping the total to more than 330,000. (Pro Publica, 5/11/11)
Stress of Troops Reaches Five-Year High: U.S. troops fighting in Afghanistan are experiencing some of the greatest psychological stress and lowest morale in five years of fighting, according to a military study. Mental health strain was most severe among veterans of three or more deployments, with a third of those showing signs of psychological problems defined as either stress, depression or anxiety. The report notes that the number of mental health staff has doubled in war zones in order to ensure treatment is available immediately for soldiers who suffer psychological trauma. (USA Today, 5/8/11)
Few Troops Exposed to Bomb Blasts Examined for Concussions: More than half of U.S. combat troops in Afghanistan have been exposed to bomb blasts in the last year, but only about 1 in 5 of them said they were examined for concussions, according to a draft of a recent military survey. Medical officials failed to screen about 80 percent of soldiers and Marines who reported being within 50 meters of a roadside blast during their tour of duty, according to combat troops surveyed in July and August of last year. However, the survey was conducted before the full implementation of a new policy beginning in June that mandates screening of troops exposed to bomb blasts. (Pro Publica, 5/10/11)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)