National Mental Health Association

 It took a long time, well over a decade, but those of us who live in the US will now have mandatory mental health coverage. The Paul Wellsone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity & Addiction Equity Act of 2008 , also known as Mental Health Parity , states that no insurance company can discriminate against mental health coverage or susbstance abuse treatment. This means: * No person can be "cut off" from mental health care with an arbitrary number of visits. * No person can be forced to pay out-of-pocket for mental health care. * Any person who has been "locked out" from ... Read Full Story

Many of you know that I have worked on occasion as a technical advisor for the television show, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit . The last episode on which I consulted was back in 2005, and won the writer a Voice Award for portraying mental health issues in a positive light. Another episode that had the benefit of my professional lens also won the writer an award from the American Psychological Association for ethics in treatment. I worked exclusively with writer and producer Jonathan Greene and felt that the creative experience helped to portray psychological issues with greater clarity. My creative professional endeavors ... Read Full Story

So just where are we going? "How does it feel. How does it feel. To be on your own. With no direction home. Like a complete unknown. Like a rolling stone?" Do you relate to those lyrics from 'Like A Rolling Stone', by Bob Dylan? Do you feel like you are on your own, even when surrounded by the commotion of mankind? Have you lost your direction? Do you even know what direction you want? Are you unknown to those who should know you? Does your heart ache with pain, with trauma beyond the comprehension of those who haven't got the time to spare ... Read Full Story

Anyone who has worked in the mental health system can recite a litany of patients who spin through its revolving doors over and over. They become familiar faces and stories, some loved, some disdained. This subset of patients return again and again for a variety of reasons, but the most common one is noncompliance with medications. This happens often times because of money and access, other times because of flat-out refusal. Misfortune often laughs at our weakest, and some of these people end up floating face-down in a river after successfully suiciding, or mumbling in the hallways of a state mental hospital where they ... Read Full Story

Adam Duritz, lead singer-songwriter for the band Counting Crows , has recently disclosed that he experiences a type of Dissociative Disorder and severe depression. In my armchair opinion, it appears that Duritz is describing Depersonalization Disorder, a category within Dissociative Disorders. He writes about his experience here - naming the article "The Lonely Disease." The Counting Crows' new CD "Saturday Nights & Sunday Mornings" is a double album. The first half focuses on Duritz's decline into illness and the second half about his recovery. Read Full Story