Expert on mental illness reveals her own fight
The New York Times
From June 29, 2011: No one knows how many people with severe mental illness live what appear to be normal, successful lives, because such people are not in the habit of announcing themselves. Now, an increasing number of them are risking exposure, saying that the time is right with the nation's mental health system in shambles. One of those coming forward is Dr. Marsha M. Linehan of the University of Washington, creator of a treatment used worldwide for severely suicidal people.More

Mental illness not an explanation for violence
Slate.com via msnbc.com
From Jan. 12, 2011: Shortly after the alleged shooter of Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords had been identified, online sleuths turned up pages of rambling text and videos he had created. A wave of amateur diagnoses soon followed, most of which concluded that the man was not so much a political extremist as a man suffering from "paranoid schizophrenia." For many, the investigation will stop there. This presumed link between psychiatric disorders and violence has become so entrenched in the public consciousness that the entire weight of the medical evidence is unable to shift it.More

Court orders major overhaul of VA's mental health system
Los Angeles Times
From May 18, 2011: A federal appeals court lambasted the Department of Veterans Affairs for failing to care for those suffering post-traumatic stress disorder and ordered a major overhaul of the behemoth agency. Treatment delays for PTSD and other combat-related mental illnesses are so "egregious" that they violate veterans' constitutional rights and contribute to the despair behind many of the 6,500 suicides among veterans each year, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals said in its 2-1 ruling.More

Money management, mental health and psychiatric disability: A recovery-oriented model for improving financial skills
Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal
From Feb. 9, 2011: Although money management skills are essential for independent functioning in the community, when viewed from the framework of psychosocial rehabilitation, there have been few systematic models for teaching money management skills to consumers based on a recovery orientation. For those diagnosed with psychiatric disabilities, better money management has consistently been shown to be associated with superior quality of life, fewer hospitalizations and greater self-efficacy. Consumers frequently indicate that learning how to budget and staying out of debt are among their top goals for recovery. (USPRA members — free subscription; non-members — tiered subscription.)More

When mental illness stigma turns inward
PsychCentral
From June 2, 2011: It's said that people with mental illness face a double-edged sword. Not only do they have to contend with serious, disruptive symptoms, they still have to deal with rampant stigma. But what happens when that stigma comes from within — when people with mental illness internalize these negative public perceptions?More

Learning to cope with a mind's taunting voices
The New York Times
From Aug. 10, 2011: In recent years, researchers have begun talking about mental health care in the same way addiction specialists speak of recovery — the lifelong journey of self-treatment and discipline that guides substance abuse programs. The idea remains controversial: Managing a severe mental illness is more complicated than simply avoiding certain behaviors. Yet people are traveling it and succeeding.More

Review finds Sept. 11 revealed psychology's limits
The New York Times
From Aug. 3, 2011: The mental fallout from the Sept. 11 attacks has taught psychologists far more about their field's limitations than about their potential to shape and predict behavior, a wide-ranging review has found. The report found that experts greatly overestimated the number of people in New York who would suffer lasting emotional distress, and therapists rushed in to soothe victims using methods that later proved to be harmful to some.More

Putting the body back into the mind of schizophrenia
Vanderbilt University
From Nov. 2, 2011: A study using a procedure called the rubber hand illusion has found striking new evidence that people experiencing schizophrenia have a weakened sense of body ownership and has produced the first case of a spontaneous, out-of-body experience in the laboratory. These findings suggest that movement therapy, which trains people to be focused and centered on their own bodies, including some forms of yoga and dance, could be helpful for many of the 2.2 million people in the United States with schizophrenia.More

'Living with Schizophrenia: A Call for Hope and Recovery'
Janssen
From May 11, 2011: About 1 percent of the U.S. adult population and approximately 24 million people globally live with schizophrenia. Yet many people do not understand exactly what this disease entails and, as a result, it is often stigmatized. To increase understanding of this chronic, potentially disabling brain disorder, and to reduce the fear and stigma associated with it, a newly released half-hour documentary film, "Living with Schizophrenia: A Call for Hope and Recovery," tells the story of three people with schizophrenia.More

Even mild stress can lead to disability
HealthDay News via Bloomberg
From March 30, 2011: Even mild stress can cause long-term disability that prevents people from working, new research suggests. While it has long been known that mental disorders can be a cause of disability, the new findings indicate that the effects of milder forms of stress should be taken more seriously, according to research from the University of Bristol in the United Kingdom.More