New mental health manual is "dangerous" say experts

By Reuters

Millions of healthy people - including shy or defiant children, grieving relatives and people with fetishes - may be wrongly labeled mentally ill by a new international diagnostic manual, specialists said on Thursday.

In a damning analysis of an upcoming revision of the influential Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), psychologists, psychiatrists and other

Mental illness struck 1 in 5 US adults in 2010

By Los Angeles Times

One in five adults in the U.S. had a mental illness in 2010, with people ages 18 to 25 having the highest rates, according to a national survey.

The report from the Mental Health Services Administration's National Survey on Drug Use and Health, released Thursday, includes information from 68,487 completed surveys about mental illness (as defined by the American Psychiatric

Stigma of Mental Illness Won't Fade

By HealthDay 

People with a mental illness struggle with symptoms ranging from crushing depression and crippling anxiety to powerful delusions and hallucinations that force them to actively sort out the real from the imagined.

And if that weren't enough, they also have to deal with the way the rest of the world perceives their inner struggle.

Stigma associated with mental illness remains

Experts Design 'Toolkit' to Help Spot Teens With Mental Health Issues

By HealthDay 

Because many adolescents with mental health problems are never diagnosed and treated, an expert team has come up with a "toolkit" aimed at identifying those kids and getting them the right help.

"One in 10 youths have a mental health condition that is severe enough to impair functioning, either at home, school or in the community," said Gary Blau, chief of the child, adolescent

We must respect each other, too

Not long ago, I posted a blog entry about how people who do not suffer from a mental illness should treat people who do with respect. I said that people who have mental illnesses deserve to be treated how you want people to treat yourself.

Well, today I'm inclined to make another blog entry about respect.

If we in the community of people who have mental illnesses want the outside world to show

Screw those who judge people with mental illnesses

I just an email from someone who called people who suffer from bipolar/depression as "mentally fragile" and implied that we have to be handled with kid gloves. She said she has had to deal with bipolar disorder and depression in her friends and family members and said we need to be treated with specific wording.

While I agree we have triggers, we are still human beings and deserve to be treated

1 in 3 Nose Job Patients Has a Mental Illness

By HealthDay 

A new study suggests that about one-third of people who want rhinoplasty, also known as a nose job, also have symptoms of body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) -- a mental condition in which excessive concern about imagined or minor defects in appearance interferes with daily life.

Based on their findings, researchers in Belgium are suggesting that plastic surgeons should be aware of the

Minorities lag in mental health treatment

By Detroit Free Press

DETROIT — Children rode ponies, petted farm animals, played games and ate ice cream and hot dogs while the Recovery Band played a mix of soul and jazz.

While it looked and felt like just plain fun on the grounds of the Detroit East Community Mental Health Center, the organizers of Summer Blast had a serious intent.

“We want people to see mental health facilities as a

Mixing guns and mental illness

 Note from Jennifer: I know this is a VERY long story, but it's interesting. I think mental illness and gun ownership is a pretty important topic

Mixing guns and mental illness


By New York Times News Service

PULASKI, Va. — In May 2009, Sam French hit bottom, once again. A relative found him face down in his carport “talking gibberish,” according to court records. He later told medical

Poverty Linked to Anxiety, Mood Disorders

By HealthDay

People with low incomes are more likely to suffer mental illness, a new study suggests.

It also found that a decrease in income is associated with increased risk of anxiety, substance abuse and mood disorders.

Researchers analyzed data from nearly 35,000 adults aged 20 and older who took part in the U.S. National Epidemiologic Survey of Alcohol and Related Conditions. The

Animal 'Hoarding' Often Tied to Mental Illness

By HealthDay

A small army of animal welfare workers spent nearly 10 hours removing hundreds of sick and dying animals from a rural North Carolina property in one of the United States' larger animal-hoarding cases.

More than 400 animals -- 17 species in all, ranging from ducks and rabbits to dogs and cats -- had been living in squalor with a middle-aged couple claiming to be animal rescuers. Yet

Bad Job May Be Worse for Mental Health Than No Job at All

By HealthDay Having a bad, short-term or poorly paid job can harm your mental health as much as having no job, according to a new study.Researchers analyzed data from more than 7,000 people of working age in Australia and were not surprised to find that those who were unemployed had poorer mental health overall than those with jobs.However, the study authors also found that the mental health of

Classroom Environment May Affect Kids' Mental Health

By HealthDayFirst-grade classrooms with poor environments -- not enough resources, teachers who feel disrespected by colleagues -- have been linked to a higher number of mental health problems in students, according to a new study.The study doesn't prove that classrooms that face more challenges directly cause mental health problems in kids. However, "being in a classroom with a lack of resources

Stigma: The double whammy

By Las Cruces Sun-News

In 1999, then Surgeon General David Satcher, M.D., Ph.D., released the office's first report on the state of mental health care in the United States. He found that two-thirds of people with a diagnosable mental illness never seek treatment.

The reason for this fact, he said, could be traced to the stigma -- the persistent negative projection of mainstream society upon