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Young Men at Highest Risk of Schizophrenia Linked with Cannabis Use Disorder
Young men with cannabis (marijuana) use disorder have an increased risk of developing schizophrenia, according to a study led by researchers at the Mental Health Services in the Capital Region of Denmark and the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) at the National Institutes of Health. The...
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Outcome of Schizophrenia in Later Life: Conceptual Changes and Implications for Treatment and Policy
In tandem with the greying of the general population, there has been a dramatic increase in the number of older adults with schizophrenia (OAS). Since 2000, there has been a doubling of persons aged 55 and over with schizophrenia and they now comprise about one-fourth of all persons with...
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OnTrackNY: An Early Intervention Program to Interrupt Psychosis
A year ago, 21-year-old Christine* started hearing voices saying terrible things about her. She wondered “why doesn’t anyone around me admit to hearing them?” And now people have started to spy on her, through her phone. Her parents were upset that she wasn’t able to contribute to the...
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Testing a Simple Strategy to Prevent Schizophrenia via Dietary Supplements
An interview with Robert Freedman, MD, Chair of Psychiatry, University of Colorado; Editor-in-Chief, The American Journal of Psychiatry, and Member of the Foundation’s Scientific Council; 2015 Lieber Prize for Outstanding Schizophrenia Research; 2006, 1999 Distinguished Investigator At what...
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Ascent into Love: Surviving Schizophrenia
Every person needs to be touched, supported and nurtured by the environment in which they live in order to grow. The earth’s immense force of gravity, whether physical or psychological, is too much for us to bear alone. Each of us takes a turn at holding each other’s weight, much like the spine...
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Mental Illness Education Does Make a Difference: “Breaking the Silence” Found to be Effective
Students would ask, “What’s wrong with Doug, Mrs. Susin?” Those are the words heard by Janet Susin, then a teacher in the same school where her son was a student, from his high school friends twenty-three years ago when they were searching for an explanation of why he had suddenly disappeared...
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An Update on the RAISE Schizophrenia Research Project – An Interview with Jeffrey A. Lieberman, MD
Over the past several issues, Mental Health News has been following the progress of the RAISE project, an NIMH sponsored research study that is examining the role and potential that early and specific interventions can play in the recovery of people that have just been recently diagnosed with...
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The Economics of Recovery – The Day the Patients Ran the Asylum
Joanne was smiling as her fellow students congratulated her for passing her Microsoft Word Certification Test. She had to put in eighteen months of class time at the Center in order to pass. Her goal now was to become certified in PowerPoint and Excel, while she held down her new part-time...
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Serge and Pierre: Coping with Schizophrenia on Two Continents
Pierre’s father and my husband Guy were in the same class at the School of Architecture of the Beaux Arts in Paris and worked together after graduation. We were friends and had known their son Pierre since birth. An excellent student and a personable young man, he was chosen by his high school in...
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An Update on the National RAISE Schizophrenia Project – An Interview with John Kane, MD
The last issue of Mental Health News was devoted to the science, research, treatment and understanding of schizophrenia. As a follow-up to this important area of study and understanding, I had the opportunity to speak with John Kane, MD, one of the principal investigators and leaders of the...
