Murders and Mental Health Advocacy: Opportunity or Temptation to Resist?

From time-to-time, a person with a severe mental illness (or assumed to have a mental illness) commits a heinous act that makes headlines. The reactive call for better mental health services is entirely predictable, not only on the part of those who are trying to distract us from issues such as gun...

Let’s Not Forget Older Veterans

Wilbur Cohen’s account of his post-war suffering in Arthur Kleinman’s wonderful book, What Really Matters1 begins with the following: “The war. It’s what happened to me in the war. I could never get over it. But I learned to live with it. Then all of a sudden on my sixtieth birthday it...

Meeting the Medical Needs of People with Serious Mental Illness: Will New Initiatives Work?

On average, people with serious mental illness die at a much younger age than people without serious mental illness. Estimates range from about 10 to 25 years younger. They are also much more likely to have serious physical disorders including obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease,...

Supreme Court Decision Benefits People with Mental Illness

It is good news for people with mental illness and their families that the Supreme Court has ruled that the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is constitutional. The benefits would have been greater if the court had not made expansion of Medicaid eligibility optional for the states. But even if some states...

Point of View – Elder Suicide: A Public Health Challenge of the Elder Boom

By the age of 88, Mr. W.* had lost most of his closest friends to death or dementia. His children had moved to other parts of the country. He saw them and his grandchildren rarely. He had retired from his long career as a teacher without finding new interests. But he and his wife were happy. They...

Point of View: Address the Mental Health Needs of People with Dementia and Their Caregivers

Ms. S. began to experience confusion when she was 84. She was a friendly woman and active in local politics. One day when she was on her way to a meeting at her political club, she forgot where she was going and got lost. It happened again and then again. She began to make excuses for not going out...

Stable Housing: Key to Closing the Mortality Gap

Stable housing is critical to closing the disparity in life expectancy between people with serious mental illness and the general population. Providing it should be a major part of the effort to confront the mortality gap. People with serious mental illness die considerably younger than the...

Mental Health in Health Care Reform: High Hopes but Big Battles Ahead

Federal health care reform promises health coverage for most of the 50 million American citizens and documented immigrants who are currently uncovered. This will include coverage of mental health and substance abuse treatment. It also promises improved quality of physical and behavioral health...

How Will Health Care Reform Affect Older Adults with Mental Health Problems?

Even though the recent health care reform legislation substantially neglects mental health concerns, older adults with mental health conditions will benefit from it in four ways. First, they will benefit from improved coverage of physical health care, which is of considerable importance to older...

Point of View – The Vulnerability of Women with Serious Mental Illness: Time for Action

Women with serious and persistent mental illnesses often have hard lives. They usually have experienced significant trauma during their childhoods. They are far more likely than those without mental illness to be homeless at one time or another, and life outdoors takes a toll on the body and the...