CDC: Half of Americans will experience a mental health issue
HealthDay News via USA Today
About half of Americans will experience some form of mental health problem at some point in their life, a new report warns, and more must be done to help them. There are "unacceptably high levels of mental illness in the United States," said Ileana Arias, principal deputy director of the Centers for Disease Control. "In addition to the high level, we were surprised by the cost associated with that — we estimated about $300 billion in 2002." The high cost includes care for the illness and lost productivity.More

USPRA to honor Cardin and Berkley with 2011 Congressional Awards
USPRA
The U.S. Psychiatric Rehabilitation Association will honor Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., and Rep. Shelley Berkley, R-Nev., with its 2011 Congressional Awards on Sept. 13. Cardin is being recognized for his efforts to ensure that affordable, quality health insurance coverage is available for both children and adults. Berkley is receiving her award for her work in enhancing the availability of mental health services for America's veterans.More

On the road to recovery
YumaSun
September is National Recovery Month, a nationwide effort to raise awareness about the treatment options available to those who have an addiction or mental health disorder. With proper care and treatment, people with substance use and mental health disorders can lead healthy and rewarding lives. More

Greater focus needed on mental health triage in disaster response
The JHU Gazette
Johns Hopkins bioethicists say that disaster-response planning has generally overlooked the special needs of people who suffer from pre-existing and serious mental conditions. Survivors already diagnosed with schizophrenia, dementia, addictions and bipolar disorder, they point out, are vulnerable long before a disaster strikes. More attention should be devoted to triaging and managing those already identified as having mental disorders, they say.More

Child brides have more mental illness
Reuters
Child brides more often face psychiatric disorders than women who marry after they turn 18, researchers have found. Their work is the first to try to gauge the mental toll of child marriage, which has already been tied to several health problems, such as pregnancy complications and an increased risk of sexually transmitted infections. In the U.S., about 9.4 million women were married at 16 or younger, and 1.7 million were no older than 15.More

Many autistic teens use school mental health services
HealthDay News via U.S. News & World Report
Many teens with autism rely on school-based mental health services, a new study finds. More than 46 percent of the teens with autism in the study used a mental health service in the past year for behavioral issues and other conditions, such as anxiety and depression. Of those, 49 percent used mental health services at their school. Black teens and those from lower income families were more likely to use school-based mental health services.More

Video game competition, not violence, could be culprit in aggression
USA Today
The competitive nature of some video games — not the violence in them — is what leads to aggression, a new study suggests. This offers a twist on the typical research finding that violent games may increase aggressive behavior in some players. A pair of experiments found that head-to-head fighting and racing games could make players more aggressive than gruesome titles.More

State-federal review of health insurance rate increases begins, double-digit price hikes must be justified
U.S. Department of Health & Human Services
Health insurers seeking to increase their rates by 10 percent or more must now submit their request to state or federal reviewers to determine whether they are reasonable or not. This rate review program, created by the Affordable Care Act, will bring greater transparency, accountability and, in many cases, lower costs for families and small business owners who struggle to afford coverage. In a growing number of states, regulators now have the authority to deny or reduce rate hikes found to be excessive.More

Medicare battles depression: Payment parity aims to increase treatment
American Medical News
Depression is becoming a higher priority for Medicare, which soon will pay physicians for the early detection of this common illness. Medicare payment for mental health treatment, which for decades placed a higher out-of-pocket burden on patients than treatment for physical disorders, soon will be put on par with the program's other areas of coverage.More

Louisiana hires Magellan to overhaul and expand mental health services for Medicaid patients
The Times-Picayune
Louisiana's state health agency tapped Magellan Health Services to run an overhaul and expansion of mental health and addiction services for the state's Medicaid and uninsured populations. The impending contract for Magellan is part of Gov. Bobby Jindal's push to convert much of the Medicaid insurance system from the existing fee-for-service model to a system of coordinated-care networks. More

DOJ looking into Mississippi mental health programs
The Associated Press via Houston Chronicle
A Mississippi mental health official says the U.S. Department of Justice Department is looking into whether the state is providing appropriate care to mentally ill. "They don't think our state has made a sufficient effort to move into community-based services," Region 8 Executive Director Dave Van said. Justice Department officials have said Mississippi lacks long-term housing options.More

South Dakota Human Services Department anxieties abate
The Argus Leader
Despite early complaints about an overhaul of mental health and substance abuse programs in South Dakota, advocates of the services now are optimistic that things are improving. State lawmakers were recently updated on how the transition is going after moving more than half of the Department of Human Services staff and $95 million to the Department of Social Services.More