Website aims to remove stigma of mental illness in black communities
Behavorial Healthcare
According to statistics, only 1 in 3 black people who need mental health care receive it. While issues such as racism, institutional mistrust and lack of insurance are major obstacles to care, the barriers posed by stigma and misinformation are some of the most prohibitive. BlackMentalHealthNet.com is designed to provide a safe place to learn about mental illness, discuss mental health issues, connect with other individuals and families dealing with mental illness, and find treatment.More

Supercharge your front-line — a USPRA online, instructor-led course
USPRA
Front-line supervisors are vital to the success of behavioral health care organizations, supporting and energizing the staff they supervise while accurately managing programs. Supercharged Supervision: Professional Development for the Front-line Supervisor, Sept. 12 – Oct. 30, is an online course designed to provide front-line supervisors with the skill sets, tools and techniques to help achieve this goal with flying colors, plus provide a framework for future development. Register today.More

Army suicides rise to record level in July
National Journal
There were 32 Army suicides in July, the highest monthly toll ever recorded. The incidents are under investigation, and it will be several weeks before the Army definitively rules on each case. If the numbers hold up, July will be the worst month for Army suicide in two years, since the Army first began releasing monthly suicide data. The previous record was June 2010, when 31 soldiers committed suicide.More

Study links persistent depression to childhood abuse
Fox News
A new study found that those who suffered maltreatment as children were twice as likely as those who had normal childhoods to develop persistent and recurrent depression. Those who had stressful or abusive childhoods were also less likely to be helped with drug or psychological treatment, the analysis found, suggesting doctors and scientists should look for new kinds of treatments and ways of intervening earlier.More

Cognitive deficits impair decision-making capacity in those with schizophrenia
BioScholar
A study has given insight into the cognitive errors that individuals with schizophrenia make when undergoing a formal assessment of decisional capacity. The study found that errors due to cognitive difficulties were common. Individuals "responses were also notable for the errors they did not make," said the researchers.More

Getting along with co-workers may add years to your life
HealthDay News via MedicineNet.com
Good relationships with your co-workers and a convivial, supportive work environment may add years to your life, new research finds. The study tracked 820 adults with an average age of 41 who worked 8.8 hour days for about 20 years; a third of them were women. Employees who reported low social support at work were 2.4 times more likely to die during those two decades, compared with their colleagues who said they had a good social support system in the workplace.More

Gene study identifies nonhereditary links to schizophrenia
HealthDay News via U.S. News & World Report
More than half the cases of nonhereditary — or sporadic — schizophrenia are caused by new protein-altering gene mutations, researchers have found. These gene mutations, called "de novo" mutations, are new genetic errors that appear in patients but not in either of their parents.More

Mental illness defined as disruption in neural circuits
National Institute of Mental Health
It has become a National Institute of Mental Health mantra to describe mental disorders as brain disorders. What does this mean? Is it accurate to group schizophrenia, depression and ADHD together with Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease and Huntington's disease? Is a neurologic approach to mental disorders helpful or does this focus on the brain lead to less attention to the mind?More

How health care reform affects providers and consumers
Mental Health News
Health care reform has been vigorously debated. Many have attributed the deficiencies in the health care system to various causes including lack of access, overuse of unnecessary, high cost tests and procedures, underuse of prevention, and early intervention primary care and behavioral health services among others. The 2010 Affordable Health Care Act attempted to address these root causes of the inefficiencies in the health care system in four ways.More

Shake-up under way for Florida mental health
Health News Florida
Some Florida mental health providers say they will no longer treat Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Florida patients in light of a surprising letter they recently received. The letter announces that the insurer will terminate contracts with behavioral health providers by Nov. 30 and turn over management to managed care company New Directions Behavioral Health. Treatment providers who want to continue seeing BCBS-FL patients must apply to New Directions and sign a contract within 15 days. Under the contract, caregivers would be paid 25 to 55 percent less than they were before.More