Mental Health Association of Nebraska

The web's most current & comprehensive directory of Patient Assistance Programs

Patient Assistance Programs are run by pharmaceutical companies to provide free medication to people who cannot afford to buy their medicine.  RxAssist offers a comprehensive database of these programs, as well as practical tools, news, and articles so the health care professionals and consumers can find the information they need.  Visit RxAssist to learn more.

Book Review: Psychiatry's failed paradigm

Steve E. Levingston of the Washington Post writes that "the solution to mental illness has seemed to lie in application of drugs.  If a serious psychiatric disorder arises, the reasoning goes, it must be centered in the brain - and, the reasoning further assumes, the most successful treatment is a biological one."  Author Richard P. Bentall, a professor of clinical psychology at the University of Bangor in Wales, argues in his book, Doctoring the Mind: Is Our Current Treatment of Mental Illness Really Any Good?, for "treatment that focuses on the patient as much as on the brain in a setting that stresses a strong relationship between patient and doctor."  To read more . . .

Pill Popping Pets

In going through the archives of the New York Times recently, I found an interesting, and in a sickly way humorous, article on the versatility of pharmaceutical companies entitled Pill-Popping Pets, published on July 13, 2008.  In his article, James Vlahos describes German shepherd Max's manic compulsive disorder (identified by his continual desire to chase tennis balls and chase his tail), and his prescription for Clomicalm, the doggie version of the human medication clomipramine, a commonly prescribed antidepressant.  Vlahos writes "the practice of prescribing medication for humans to animals has grown substantially over the past decade and a half, and pharmaceutical companies have recently begun experimenting with a more direct strategy: marketing behavioral-modification and 'lifestyle' drugs specifically for pets."   To read more . . . 

Nebraska’s Consumer Voice now available on line

MHA-NE's white paper, Nebraska's Consumer Voice:  Leading a Change in Mental Health Services, is now available on line.  The paper was prepared with the assistance of over 600 mental health service consumers, and outlines 11 "Rules for Quality Mental Health Services in Nebraska."  Technical assistance with the paper was provided by Steve Miccio, Executive Director of PEOPLe, Inc, and funding provided by the SAMHSA/CMHS.

These rules include

1. Transportation barriers must be eliminated
2. It must be recovery focused
3. There must be access to services
4. There must be peer provided services
5. There must be access to complete medical records
6. Care must be based on a partnership between consumer and provider
7. There must be access to affordable housing
8. There must be more recovery education
9. There must be opportunity for competitive employment
10. There must be access to information regarding benefits
11. Must do no harm

To read the paper in its entirety: Nebraska's Consumer Voice.

NE News: Medical records access discussed

On Thursday (1/21/2010), the Health and Human Services Committee of the Nebraska State Legislature heard testimony on a proposed bill that would eliminate the current 180-day limit on authorization for the release of individual health information.  Testimony primarily focuses on HIPAA privacy requirements and provider access to electronic medical files.  Unfortunately, LB 702 fails to address the barriers that the "patient" faces when he or she wishes to see their medical records.  State statute (§ 71-8403) would continue to allow "any treating physician, psychologist, or mental health practitioner" to limit the patient's access to their records if they determine "in his or her professional opinion that release of the records would not be in the best interest of the patient unless the release is required by court order."  To read more . . .

Resources for being a better informed consumer

Here are a few useful resources to help you be a more informed partner in all your health care decisions:

The Law Project for Psychiatric Rights (PsychRights) is a non-profit public interest law firm whose mission is "to mount a strategic legal campaign against forced psychiatric drugging and electroshock in the United States."  To learn more . . .

Askapatient.com "is a place for people to share their personal experiences with medications."  The site is careful to note that "you may or may not have the same experience with the same medication [and] to make a fully informed decision about which medications are right for you, always read the product information that comes with your medication and discuss any concerns you may have with your doctor."  To learn more . . .

MedWatch is billed as "your FDA gateway for finding clinically important information and reporting serious problems with human medical products."  To learn more . . .

Army Wives Pay Price in Long Wars

MedPage Today reports that study results recently published in the New England Journal of Medicine found the "mental health effects of military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan extend beyond soldiers and into their immediate families."  The risk that the wife of a soldier would receive a new mental illness diagnosis during her husband's deployment was significantly higher when he was overseas for a year or more, compared with tours of duty of 11 months or less.  To read more . . .

Correction Needed

The Symposium entitled, "Assisted Outpatient Treatment in Context: Gaining Compliance in the Community," discussed in People living with mental illness v. Perception of violence and forced treatment (1/16/2010), was actually hosted by The Bridge Inc., who, for over 50 years has been assisting people living with mental illness and substance abuse in New York City.  To learn more about the Bridge . . .

Judi Chamberlin passed away on Saturday, January 16th

Internationally known advocate, writer and consultant, Judi Chamberlin passed away on Saturday, January 16th, after a hard fought battle with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.  Judi, who was always fighting for others, had to fight for her right to die on own terms.  Her insurance company had determined that she had exhausted her hospice coverage so her final fight was to be able to die at home. To read more on Judi's remarkable life, visit her page at the National Empowerment Center.

The debate on forced treatment for those living with mental illness continues

With the approaching sunset of New York's controversial Kendra's Law, the subject of forced treatment v. individual responsibility and choice has begun to heat up.  In a poorly written article based on fragments of statements and then applied out of context, tabloid New York Post reporter Andrea Peyser states that in New York, "the in mates control the asylum. Be Afraid."  She goes on to state that Kendra's Law "protects New Yorkers from crazy devils who walk among us."  See for yourself that fear mongering, ignorance, arrogance and outright discrimination are alive and well by going to "Fear for this state's sanity."  I did, and then lined the cat box with it.

Judi Chamberlin, mental health consumer advocate and consultant to the National Empowerment Center disagrees with Dr. E. Fuller Torrey, President of the Treatment Advocacy Center, on the subject of involuntary treatment.  Dr. Torrey bases his argument on his belief that "individuals with no awareness of their illness will never seek out services, because they do not believe they are sick." He cites studies that show that 1 in 3 "patients" believe that, all things being considered, they are better off after being forced into treatment.  In addition, Dr. Torrey believes that there is a strong need to protect the normal people from those people, stating that "untreated individuals with [severe mental illness] are significantly more dangerous that the general public that the general population."  Ms. Chamberlin counters that the issue is about legal rights and ethics, not medicine.  "Should psychiatrists be able to define people as 'patients' against their will?" Regarding the issue of violence, she states that "not only is violence rare, but according to the American Psychiatric Association, psychiatrist share no special knowledge or ability with which to predict dangerous behavior [and] that even with patients in which there is a history of violent acts, predictions of future violence will be wrong for two out of every three patients."  To read more . . .

From the "Better be Nice to Your Roommate" department:

According to About.com, Kendra's Law allows the following people to petition the court to have someone evaluated for possible "assisted outpatient treatment:"

• an adult (18 years or older) roommate of the person
• a parent, spouse, adult child or adult sibling of the person
• the director of a hospital where the person is hospitalization
• the director of a public or charitable organization, agency or home that provides mental health services and in whose institution the person resides
• a qualified psychiatrist who is either treating the person or supervising the treatment of the person for mental illness
• the director of community services, or social services official of the city or county where the person is present or is reasonably believed to be present
• a parole officer or probation officer assigned to supervise the person