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Mental Health Policy in a Time of Economic Crisis
Do we need to shift mental health policy in this time of economic crisis? I think we do. I think we need to worry about the impact of economic decline on people with serious, long-term mental illness, and I think we need to build concern about the emotional well-being of the American people into...
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The Economics of Recovery – What Recipients Want: A Look at Aligning Agendas
I find most people’s agendas are predictable; big corporations want more profits, politicians want to be reelected, bureaucrats want more job security, professionals want better outcomes, academics want more research, unions want, well, just more. But what do recipients want? Medications without...
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The NYSPA Report – NYS Governor’s Executive Budget Proposal: Issues for the Mental Health System
This edition of the NYSPA Report focuses on the Governor Paterson Executive Budget Proposal for the 2009-2010 fiscal year. Customarily, the Governor’s annual budget proposal is released in January of each year. However, because, in the words of Governor Paterson, the state is facing the most...
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VNSW Mental Health Home Care Program: Transitioning Back Home Following Hospitalization
It is becoming increasingly understood and appreciated just how much healing and comfort extend beyond physical well-being. There is a decided mental well-being component as well, recognized by Visiting Nurse Services in Westchester (VNSW), the White Plains-based home health care agency that...
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Where Do We Go from Here? Follow-Up Care from Psychiatric Hospitalization
Psychiatric hospitalization is a disruptive event for any individual, especially for a child and family. However, brief the hospital stay – and stays are very brief these days – the person, the child, and the family has to cope with medications, restoring relationships, making an awkward and...
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AAS Guidelines Help Identify Risk of Suicide for Inpatient and Residential Patients
These recommendations are for consideration prior to pass, trial leave or discharge and are appropriate for inpatient psychiatric units in general hospitals, psychiatric hospitals, and residential treatment centers. These recommendations are not comprehensive treatment guidelines regarding suicidal...
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After the Hospital the Real Treatment Begins
It is often in the period following an inpatient psychiatric hospitalization that the “real treatment” begins. After stabilizing the most severe symptoms that compromise a patient’s functioning, the patient and his or her therapist must then collaborate on the next steps that will help to...
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Building a Responsive, Accountable, Recovery-Focused System of Care
I wish to briefly describe what is on the horizon for the Adult Mental Health system in our state. The New York State public mental health system is among the most well-funded in the country, yet outcomes are of concern. In the middle are people who struggle with mental illness and want to lead...
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Assisted Outpatient Treatment: A Helping Hand in the Community
Living with a loved one afflicted with a mental illness who does not comply with his or her treatment plan can have a tremendous negative impact on the family as well as the individual. Assisted Outpatient Treatment, or “Kendra’s Law,” is a valuable tool for families and others who seek to...
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The Arc of Eating Disorders: Co-Morbid Diagnoses Contained Within
Eating disorders (Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia, Binge Eating Disorder) are considered “umbrella disorders.” Typically, an eating disorder is part of a larger diagnostic picture. There is almost always a co-morbid diagnosis–depression, anxiety or personality disorder in addition to familial...
