Mental health

20 September 2007 -- The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently released alarming statistics that show the suicide rate for American children and teenagers was up between 2003 to 2004. That is the most recent period of death records compiled in the United States. The CDC says the rate among young girls that year was especially high.

Suicide is the third-leading cause of death for young Americans ages 10 to 24.    » read more »

September 19, 2007 -- Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal and State Healthcare Advocate Kevin P. Lembo praised U.S. Senate leaders for amending a national mental health parity bill that will expand, rather than undermine, mandatory insurance coverage for Connecticut's mental health services.

The Senate bill, the Mental Health Parity Act, will increase benefits in Connecticut for those insurers not subject to Connecticut's mental health mandates.    » read more »

Sept. 17, 2007 -- Following several youth suicides in Beltrami County in 2004, the Minnesota Department of Health was asked to compare the suicide rate in the county with the rest of Minnesota.

The department’s analysis shows that between 1990 and 2005, Beltrami County had the highest rates of suicide in the state among people ages 5 through 34: the county’s rate was 21 per 100,000 population as compared with 9 per 100,000 for the state as a whole.    » read more »

September 12, 2007 -- West Windsor - New Jersey Governor Jon S. Corzine today signed a package of seven bills relating to autism spectrum disorders. These disorders are often characterized by substantial impairments in social interaction and communication and the presence of unusual behaviors and interests.    » read more »

Amendment Comes in Response to Wisconsin Veterans’ Concerns Over Insufficient VA Services for Women

September 4, 2007 -- Most patients with depression who are treated by primary care physicians do not receive care consistent with quality standards, according to a new RAND Corporation study.

Physicians had high rates of adherence to just one-third of the 20 measures of quality that researchers examined and had low rates of adherence to nearly half of the treatment recommendations studied, according to the report in the Sept. 4 edition of the Annals of Internal Medicine.    » read more »

SB 940 ensures mental health history is added to background checks, purchase information is shared with federal authorities

August 31, 2007 -- SPRINGFIELD– In response to recent nationwide efforts to toughen gun laws following the Virginia Tech tragedy last April, Illinois Governor Rod R. Blagojevich today signed legislation designed to prevent the sale of guns to individuals who pose a serious threat to public safety. Senate Bill 940, sponsored by State Senator Dan Kotowski (D-Mt.    » read more »

Aug. 22, 2007 -- Dover – Delaware Governor Ruth Ann Minner today released the names of her appointees to the nine-member task force she created by Executive Order to examine opportunities for continued improvement at the Delaware Psychiatric Center.    » read more »

Patients deserve “most modern setting we can provide,” Governor says

August 22, 2007 -- FRANKFORT, Ky. – Kentucky Governor Ernie Fletcher today announced that the Cabinet for Health and Family Services (CHFS) and the Bluegrass Regional Mental Health-Mental Retardation Board have reached a $1 million agreement to cover planning and design for the new mental health facility that will replace aged Eastern State Hospital.    » read more »

Group to Make Recommendations by December 15th

Aug. 17, 2007 -- Dover – Delaware Governor Ruth Ann Minner announced today that she is creating a nine-member task force to examine opportunities for continued improvement at the Delaware Psychiatric Center.    » read more »

08/16/2007 -- WASHINGTON D.C. – Senator John Kerry today made the following statement in response to the military report on suicide rates of those serving in the United States Army to be released today. The report said that soldiers in the Army committed suicide last year at the highest rate in 26 years, and also said that more than a quarter did so while serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.    » read more »

16 August 2007 -- The U.S. military says the number of suicides among Army members has increased to its highest level since the first Gulf War.

In a report issued Thursday, the Army confirmed there were 99 suicides in 2006, compared to 87 such deaths in 2005. The figure for 2006 does not include two deaths being investigated as possible suicides.

Last year's suicides amount to a rate of 17.3 per 100,000 Army service members. About 30 percent of those suicides were of soldiers deployed to war zones.    » read more »

Focuses on Mental Health, Cites Best Practices to Ensure Safe Campuses

August 09, 2007 -- EAU CLAIRE – Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle today addressed the second statewide summit on campus safety, taking another step toward ensuring safer college campuses across Wisconsin.    » read more »

August 09, 2007 -- ATLANTA – Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue today signed an Executive Order to create the Mental Health Service Delivery Commission. The commission was originally proposed during the 2007 legislative session in Senate Resolution 363, sponsored by Senator Johnny Grant. Governor Perdue vetoed SR363 because its appointees did not include the Executive Branch, responsible for implementing changes recommended by the commission.    » read more »

08 August 2007 -- For the first time since the confirmation of foot-and-mouth disease in Britain earlier this month, the government has decided to ease restrictions on livestock shipments in areas outside of the affected zone in southern England.    » read more »