From the Publisher: A Personal Journey From a Survivor of Suicide: “From the Depths of Despair to a Mission of Advocacy”

I was drifting in and out of consciousness in the emergency room. “You have to drink this,” someone was saying as they held a tall plastic cup to my lips, filled with a tasteless ink-black liquid. I later learned that the charcoal drink was given to me to absorb the toxic soup that was in my...

Behavioral Health News and Autism Spectrum News: Supporting the Community During the COVID-19 Crisis

The current pandemic shows us how difficult social distancing and sheltering in place have been for the general public. It has been especially hard for people with mental illness, substance use disorders, and people on the autism spectrum. During my own 10-year battle with depression I...

From the Publisher – Declining Physical Health: The Other Side of the Recovery Process

When I was struggling through my 10-year battle with depression, the most prevalent thing in the back of my mind each and every day was a silent prayer to recover and no longer suffer with the daily feelings of hopelessness and despair that were the hallmarks of my illness. Nothing else...

From the Publisher – Surviving Suicide: All Things Must Pass

We all walk a very thin line in our lives—a line of normal feelings and behavior. At any moment we might fall off that line and descend into the darkness of mental illness. For people with mental illness, their families and loved ones, this concept is well known. Brain chemistry, genetics, or...

From the Publisher: Health Reform Must Not Jeopardize the People We Serve

Budget cutting has become a top priority for virtually all political leaders from the President on down to every Governor, County Executive, and Mayor in the land. As a result, health care reform and the effort to transform America’s behavioral health systems to promote recovery (both of which...

From the Publisher: Reflections on My Father’s Golden Years

In recent years there has been an explosion of interest and research to discover the cause and ways to successfully treat Dementia and Alzheimer’s Disease. There are new medications to stave off brain decline and if already in decline, to improve the brain’s cognitive ability. There are also...

Residential Treatment Services as a Vital Part of the Continuum of Care for Children, Adolescents and Young Adults – An Interview with Harvey Newman, CEO of Wellspring Residential Treatment Facility

Wellspring is a residential treatment facility located in Bethlehem, Connecticut. Mental Health News recently met with Wellspring CEO Harvey Newman, MSW to discuss residential care and its benefit to the patients that it serves. In the interview that follows, we learn from Mr. Newman how...

Regarding Divorced People with Mental Illness and the Expression “Being on the Dole” – Two Issues that Warrant Our Attention

This issue of Mental Health News examines the topic “Mental Health Services for Children and Adolescents.” As children are our future, there can be no more important area of vital concern than providing for their mental health. Our topic could fill volumes, yet in the short span of this issue...

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...

Being Your Own Caregiver When There Is Nobody Else

This issue of Mental Health News examines the topic “Addressing the Needs of Caregivers.” The response to our theme was very enthusiastic with many people indicating how happy they were that we were examining this import and timely subject. Throughout the many wonderful articles in this issue...