Mouse Model Of Schizophrenia Is Developed

Posted by liz at 05:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The subconscious mind may be more accessible than we think, according to research cited in the New York Times. Benedict Carey writes:

In another experiment, published in 2005, Dutch psychologists had undergraduates sit in a cubicle and fill out a questionnaire. Hidden in the room was a bucket of water with a splash of citrus-scented cleaning fluid, giving off a faint odor. After completing the questionnaire, the young men and women had a snack, a crumbly biscuit provided by laboratory staff members.

The researchers covertly filmed the snack time and found that these students cleared away crumbs three times more often than a comparison group, who had taken the same questionnaire in a room with no cleaning scent. “That is a very big effect, and they really had no idea they were doing it,” said Henk Aarts, a psychologist at Utrecht University and the senior author of the study.

The article is completely fascinating, and it's nice to see coverage of the brain that emphasizes something other than chemical reactions and genetic sequencing.

Who’s Minding the Mind?

Posted by liz at 01:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

EVS sends this link: State care, minus the institution

It's a lengthy article about treating mentally ill kids at home instead of in hospitals. I think that's a good idea. When I was 5, I got severe third-degree burns on my stomach, pelvic area and upper thighs. The hospital wanted me to stay in a burn unit for a long time so that they could attend to the burns. My mother fought them. She knew if I had that experience I'd be traumatized, so she had them teach her how to care for me and change the dressings, etc. It was a great decision. My parents and older sister tried to make everything a game for me during that time. My sister and I played "Ambulance," which helped me work through the fear of being rushed to the hospital. I took a marker and drew "burns" on my stuffed animals, which helped me feel less alone. My mother made sure to take me out of the house sometimes, even if she had to wrap me in plastic to do so. And when she changed my dressings, my dad told me funny stories to distract me. It was still horribly painful, but I believe the psychic pain would have been worse if they'd done it any other way.

The only thing I wonder about is the scars I have. I knew someone at college who had similar injuries, and she did stay in a burn unit. Because she had continual access to sophisticated medical care, she was treated with an experimental medicine that kept her from scarring. I, on the other hand, have a lot of scars, which are still painful, and which I don't much like the look of when I'm in a bathing suit, particularly a bikini. Somehow, though, I think these scars are less traumatic than the psychological ones I'd have suffered from months in a burn unit. At least that's what I tell myself.

Posted by liz at 10:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Sorry for those of you outside of the Philadelphia area, but it appears that this city's mayor, John Street, is alive and cares about something other than his iPhone. I just got the below press release, and as a daily SEPTA rider/sufferer, I actually agree that something needs to be done to remedy this stupid decision that SEPTA made. Rather than raise the fair across the board, they are without question penalizing the poorest riders.

City of Philadelphia Files Injunction to Prevent SEPTA from Eliminating Transfers

Philadelphia, PA - The City of Philadelphia has requested an injunction from the Court of Common Pleas to prevent SEPTA from eliminating transfers on August 1, 2007. The City has repeatedly asked the SEPTA Board to halt its plans to eliminate transfers. Mayor John F. Street specifically asked SEPTA to reconsider on July 26, which SEPTA refused to do. Unless the Court grants an injunction, on August 1 SEPTA will require riders who use transfers to pay a full fare every time they get on a bus, trolley or subway.

For some riders the elimination of the transfer will mean a $6 cash fare instead of $3.20 for a one-way trip. For riders using tokens, it will mean $5.20 for a round trip on the bus and subway instead of $3.80 today. The City has consistently supported a fare increase that places equal burdens on all riders and does not single out low to moderate income riders for unfair treatment. The City believes that as many as 45,000 adult riders each day will be impacted by the transfer elimination.

The impact is even more disproportional on students, their parents and the school district. For the 32,000 school children who use SEPTA to get to school, this could mean a fare increase of to up $4.00 per day. The rate of the increases could be 100 percent to 200 percent. The School District and SEPTA have not reached an agreement and the SEPTA board will not meet until September 27, 2007. Some kids will be starting school in three weeks.

SEPTA has not provided any credible evidence of the savings and additional revenue from transfer elimination and has failed to adequately describe the financial impact on transfer users.

Of course, I'm sure there's some weird political stuff going on here. Mayor Street hasn't taken a stand this bold in some time, so you know the SEPTA stuff must be hitting him where he lives.

Posted by liz at 05:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

She's not really depressed, but she's suffering from postpartum blues after her long-anticipated wedding. I also suffered from depression after my wedding, but maybe that was because our honeymoon was at the Jersey Shore. The divorce was far more painful -- I hope Rebecca Romijn doesn't suffer through that (again).

There are some celebrities I like, for no reason. I feel like she'd be nice to me, even though she's way tall and fabulously pretty.

Posted by liz at 05:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Anti-Bigotry Drug Shows Promise [The Spoof]

Posted by liz at 04:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I've heard people say mental-health parity legislation won't be very helpful if enacted, or that it shouldn't be a priority for mental health advocates. I disagree. Why shouldn't it be? I don't want to pick my battles; I want to fight them all.

Mental healthcare services should not be regarded as a luxury, or a choice. Everyone should have equal access to healthcare. It's fundamental. But insurance companies, of course, say it's too expensive to cover mental health at the same rate.

How long will it take for people to recognize mental illness for what it is? I can't believe the stigma that persists despite all the strides we've taken.

Mentally Ill Struggle With Lesser Insurance

Posted by liz at 02:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Hi all. I'm back! I put the exclamation mark at the end of that sentence to project happiness, although it's always hard to return to real life after a vacation.

I fished successfully for the first time in my life. I caught about seven croakers and one spot, and let me tell you, they were delicious. I also went crabbing, but kept attracting teeny tiny ones and we were only allowed to take huge ones. So I didn't get to eat any crabs. I also went digging for clams and found a few that are now chowder. We also got some mussels and oysters, but I don't eat those, so I left that to Vince, my seafood companion. We took the boat out on the bay and motored over to a pretty beach on Assateague Island. I was looking for the wild ponies -- another story altogether -- but instead I stepped on an enormous stingray. I thought of poor Steve Irwin. The thing chased me around in the shallow water. It was mad at me.

I got too much sun, but happily endured the pain while I watched Animal Planet in our pretty little cottage, which we rented for the week. I didn't eat too much sugar -- just a couple of ice cream cones. The people next door had a pet bunny and a brown dalmatian. We cooked our food in the cottage kitchen almost every night, so it wasn't too expensive. Really, I find being a hunter-gatherer quite delicious and cost-effective. We went to the carnival too. I felt happy and not depressed.

Getting away is good when I don't get depressed or dissociative. You never know for sure if it'll happen, but it's usually worth the risk. Thanks to Alli for letting me go on vacation without worry. She was great.

Posted by liz at 11:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

I figured it'd be best to close like I started... with a picture of an adorable puppy. This is Lily, my mom's dog, trying to look sad as my friend Emily G. takes her picture. While I can't read dog minds, I can assure you that she was not as sad as she looks, certainly not as sad as I am to be saying goodbye.

Have a great weekend, everyone. Thanks for being so nice!

Posted by liz at 03:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I feel like every few years this story comes out:

Smoking just one cannabis joint raises danger of mental illness by 40%

Which is pretty terrifying sounding. It's like Reefer Madness all over again. That's not to downplay any link that does exist (for teens that already display risk factors, a whole host of studies suggest that marijuana is harmful), but any implication that marijuana causes mental illness just out of the blue is movie-worthy. Armies of liberal arts school grads and aging hippies needing serious treatment because once -- just once -- they decided to take a toke from a doobie.

Posted by liz at 12:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Is this song inspiring? Uplifiting? Offensive? Awesome?

Maria Bamford is a pretty funny lady. You can find some of her other videos (like the Maria Bamford show, which is a fictionalized account of her life following a nervous breakdown) at superdeluxe.com

Posted by liz at 09:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Sally Satel and Scott Lilienfeld wrote an op-ed in Slate about Sen. Joe Biden's bill -- the "Recognizing Addiction as a Disease Act of 2007. They argue:

Characterizing addiction as a brain disease misappropriates language more properly used to describe conditions such as multiple sclerosis or schizophrenia—afflictions that are neither brought on by sufferers themselves nor modifiable by their desire to be well. Also, the brain disease rhetoric is fatalistic, implying that users can never fully free themselves of their drug or alcohol problems. Finally, and most important, it threatens to obscure the vast role personal agency plays in perpetuating the cycle of use and relapse to drugs and alcohol.

I don't think it's false to say that personal agency is at the heart of whether or not someone gets treatment and stays on course, but that doesn't mean alcoholism and addiction aren't diseases. There is personal agency involved in getting treatment for most mental health issues. Plus, if you count a "brain disease" to be a physical condition, like a chemical imbalance, than addiction would definitely fit in the category (the desire to have another drink, take another pill, etc, comes from that chemical imbalance.)

Where do you guys weigh in on this?

Addiciton Isn't A Brain Disease, Congress
-AK

Posted by liz at 05:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)

Hi everyone -- it's me, Liz, just checking in. I see that Herb and Alison Hymes have gotten into a provocative discussion about ECT, which is good. But Iet's unpack this a little bit more when I get back. I want it to be known that I respect and support MindFreedom. And I don't generally share Herb's views related to ECT, i.e., that me and my friends, as he calls them, are too focused on negativity on the subject. It's not about being positive or negative -- it's about telling the truth. Herb owns stock in Cyberonics, by the way, which doesn't mean he's not telling the truth, but that he'd be reluctant to say something was wrong if it was. So that's why he's always positive, and why I always seem negative.

In other vacation-destroying news, the Washington Post did a puff piece about ECT this week, quoting, drum roll please .... Harold Sackheim and Max Fink!

Anyway, I'm trying to sit back and have fun, and Alli is doing a great job, isn't she? I appreciate that. Yay Alli!

See you on Monday!

Posted by liz at 04:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)

Signs in Selfridges in Birmingham

[photo by MarkHillary]

Posted by liz at 01:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

From Psychminded.uk.co:

The biggest ever campaign in England aiming to combat the stigma of mental illness has been launched.

The Big Lottery Fund is pumping £16m into a campaign which will include anti-stigma television advertisements. Comic Relief is providing £2m.

The campaign, entitled Moving People, will be run by the charities Mental Health Media, Mind and Rethink together with the Institute of Psychiatry. The campaign aims to reach 30 million people across England.

Campaigners say people with mental health problems are one of the most excluded groups in society, and the announcement of the campaign come on the heels of Department of Health research published this month which claimed there has been an increase in prejudice over the last ten years.

The survey found, for example, there has been a drop in people who believe those with mental health problems should have the same right to a job as anyone else, In 2003 it was 68%, but this year it was 65%.

The survey also reported that over the last four years there has been a 17% increase in people saying those with mental health problems are "prone to violence". This year it was 34%. In 2003 it was 29%.

The department of health research suggests young people are those most prejudiced towards people with mental health problems. Younger people are less likely to agree that "we need to adopt a far more tolerant attitude towards people with mental illness in our society". Only 79% of 16-34 year olds agree with this statement, compared to 87% of 35-54 year olds and 86% of over 55s.

Comic Relief, if I remember correctly, is the organization they talked about in the UK version of the Office on that day that people wore their clothes inside-out for donations and put on red noses. Their fundraising drives seem to be popular office events.

I wish we had a program like that in the U.S. First of all, it's a really important message, one that absolutely needs a large campaign here in the states. Secondly, I'd like to see put-together looking office workers in funny hats.

Biggest ever campaign to combat mental illness stigma

Posted by liz at 10:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

From Michael A. Kaufman of the New York Times:

Albert Ellis, whose innovative straight-talk approach to psychotherapy made him one of the most influential and provocative figures in modern psychology, died yesterday at his home above the institute he founded in Manhattan. He was 93.

The cause, after extended illness, was kidney and heart failure, said a friend and spokeswoman, Gayle Rosellini.

Dr. Ellis (he had a doctorate but not a medical degree) called his approach rational emotive behavior therapy, or R.E.B.T. Developed in the 1950s, it challenged the deliberate, slow-moving methodology of Sigmund Freud, the prevailing psychotherapeutic treatment at the time.

Where the Freudians maintained that a painstaking exploration of childhood experience was critical to understanding neurosis and curing it, Dr. Ellis believed in short-term therapy that called on patients to focus on what was happening in their lives at the moment and to take immediate action to change their behavior. “Neurosis,” he said, was “just a high-class word for whining.”

“The trouble with most therapy is that it helps you to feel better,” he said in a 2004 article in The New York Times. “But you don’t get better. You have to back it up with action, action, action.”

Albert Ellis, 93, Influential Psychotherapist, Dies

Posted by liz at 04:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Normally I don't think goats are adorable, but these goats are definitely adorable.
[photo by Bernie Led]

Posted by liz at 01:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

I'm pretty sure the kids in high school called ketamine "special K" and that they'd "get stuck" on it, but apparently the drug can be useful in treating depression. Or rather, has useful aspects; it works quickly. Unfortunately, it also gives you hallucinations and is a highly controlled substance. Anyway, the press release, from the NIH:

Faster-Acting Antidepressants Closer to Becoming a Reality

Experimental medication ketamine relieves depression in just hours; points to targets for new medications

A new study has revealed more about how the medication ketamine, when used experimentally for depression, relieves symptoms of the disorder in hours instead of the weeks or months it takes for current antidepressants to work. While ketamine itself probably won’t come into use as an antidepressant because of its side effects, the new finding moves scientists considerably closer to understanding how to develop faster-acting antidepressant medications — among the priorities of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), part of the National Institutes of Health.

Ketamine blocks a receptor called NMDA on brain cells, an earlier NIMH study in humans had shown, but the new study in mice shows that this is an intermediate step. It turns out that blocking NMDA increases the activity of another receptor, AMPA, and that this boost in AMPA is crucial for ketamine’s rapid antidepressant actions. The study was reported online in Biological Psychiatry on July 23, by NIMH researchers Husseini K. Manji, MD, Guang Chen, MD, PhD, Carlos Zarate, MD, and colleagues.

“Our research is showing us how to develop medications that get at the biological roots of depression. This new finding is a major step toward learning how to improve treatment for the millions of Americans with this debilitating disorder; toward eliminating the weeks of suffering and uncertainty they have to endure while they wait for their medications to work,” said NIH Director Elias Zerhouni, M.D.

Almost 15 million American adults have a depressive disorder. During the long wait to begin feeling the effects of conventional medications, patients may worsen, raising the risk of suicide for some. Depressive disorders also affect children and adolescents.

By aiming new medications at more direct molecular targets, such as NMDA or AMPA, scientists may be able to bypass some of the steps through which current antidepressants indirectly exert their effects — a roundabout route that accounts for the long time it takes for patients to begin feeling better with the conventional medications.

While ketamine appears to achieve this, it is an unlikely candidate to become a new treatment for depression, because of the side effects it can cause in humans, including hallucinations. It is approved as an anesthetic by the Food and Drug Administration at much higher doses than those given in the study, but its use is limited because it may cause hallucinations during recovery from anesthesia.

Both NMDA and AMPA are receptors for the neurotransmitter glutamate, one of the chemical messengers that enable brain cells to communicate with each other. The glutamate system has been implicated in depression recently, leading to efforts to unravel its molecular machinery in search of abnormalities and of better targets for antidepressant medications.

This focus on the glutamate system is a departure from the thinking that led to currently available antidepressants, which are thought to relieve depression through a lengthy trickle-down process of biochemical reactions that affect the circuitry underlying depression.

The fact that NMDA and AMPA receptors are part of the glutamate system and that targeting them directly led to such rapid, sustained relief of depression-like behaviors in this study — and that a single dose of ketamine did the same in humans in the earlier study — suggests that they are probably the key targets for antidepressant medications.

“In any other illness of depression’s magnitude, patients aren’t expected to just accept that their treatments won’t start helping them for weeks or months. The value of our research on compounds like ketamine is that it tells us where to look for more precise targets for new kinds of medications that can close the gap,” said NIMH Director Thomas R. Insel, MD. “We’re making tremendous progress.”

To conduct the new study, researchers induced depression-like behaviors in mice; for example, the mice gave up after being forced to engage in hopeless tasks, such as prolonged swimming. A dose of ketamine reversed the depression-like behaviors for at least two weeks.

When the researchers gave the mice a substance that blocks the AMPA receptor beforehand, ketamine was not able to reverse the depression-like behaviors. The boost in AMPA thus appears to be a necessary ingredient for ketamine’s antidepressant effects.

In a related experiment, the scientists used two different compounds instead of ketamine to try to block just one part of the NMDA receptor, an even more precise target. These other compounds also reduced depressive behaviors, suggesting that it may be feasible to develop other fast-acting antidepressants without ketamine’s side effects.

“Today’s antidepressant medications eventually end up doing the same thing, but they go about it the long way around, with a lot of biochemical steps that take time. Now we’ve shown what the key targets are and that we can get at them rapidly,” said Zarate. “Ketamine probably can’t become the medication of choice, but this research is leading to some very real possibilities for a whole new generation of antidepressant medications.”

Faster-Acting Antidepressants Closer to Becoming a Reality

Posted by liz at 10:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The AP's Hope Yen reports on a group of Iraq veterans suing te Department of Veterans Affairs:

Suing on behalf of hundreds of thousands of veterans, it charges that the VA has failed to provide prompt disability benefits, to add staff to reduce wait times for medical care and to boost services for post-traumatic stress disorder.

The lawsuit also accuses the VA of deliberately cheating some veterans by working with the Pentagon to misclassify claims as preexisting personality disorders to avoid paying benefits. The VA and Pentagon have generally denied such charges.

There have been a lot of stories in the past few months about the military and the VA mishandling, mistreating or otherwise messing up on health care, particularly mental health issues. My little brother just joined the Army, and while health care during the initial stages seems to be pretty good (I feel like the kid has spent most of his time in a dentist's chair) I'm terrified of what will happen when his tour is over. Here's hoping that these vets get the help they need and that the lawsuits encourage the VA to improve (and hopefully expand) their services.

Story from The Detroit Free Press
[photo by soldiersmediacenter]

Posted by liz at 03:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

This whole "The Secret" and "Law of Attraction" thing is starting to creep me out. There's a lot of harm that can me done by telling people all they need to do is think positively to have positive results. But also, anything that needs to resort to insurance-commercial-meets-public-access-television-meets-powerpoint-
presentation can't be that helpful.

No single image is particularly offensive or disturbing (except, maybe, the one of the credit card that says "convenience," but when you stick them all together...

Posted by liz at 12:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

This comment from Herb is part of a discussion about positive outcomes from therapies, particularly ECT. He is responding to Alison's story, where she writes that she found a psychotherapist that has really worked for her.

Dear Alison,

I couldn’t be happier for you than to read that you’ve obtained efficacy and wellness and even more importantly by way of talk therapy; certainly a non-invasive and non-medication means to help control one's illness is the first approach I would consider and share by way of education from our experiences.

While you also have searched and utilized what I refer to as the “Trial and Error Approach to Wellness” so too has my spouse and me. About 44 years of battling her illness has taken us from holistic approaches, talk therapy, the pharmacopeias of medications as well as total abstinence of all treatments, ECT, VNS and then some. What is important to me is not banning and/or denouncing any therapies but sharing one’s experiences both positive and negative in the hope that others may learn and possibly benefit.

When one reads from the link provided by Kent’s posting above is the likes of David Oaks and the Peter Breggin’s of this world denouncing and calling for the banning of ECT which has in fact benefited individuals and yet their continually omitting their sharing of solutions to the medical challenges my wife and others have experienced strongly bothers me. If individuals like these had their way, there would be no therapies or treatments. As one experiences and learns the seriousness of mood disorders one learns there is no one treatment or therapy that can benefit all just as one also learns that the use of labels taken from a book, the DSM IV, is anything but scientific and the diagnosing of these illnesses at the moment cannot be quantified or tested through X-rays, MRI, blood tests or the like but we do the best we can at the moment with what we have.

Like you, my spouse over the years received several psychiatric diagnoses and did not respond well to medications. Unlike you she has no situational issues to account for her MDD and while she has utilized psychotherapy for many years it is totally ineffective in maintaining or preventing or improving the periodic relapses in her mood state. On the other hand VNS Therapy has proven for her to be “pretty remarkable” in establishing a 3 year period of a continuous depression free state without the use of any psychotropic medications for purposes of depression and over the last 4 years she’s had several brief relapses only to be quickly aborted through the adjunctive use of ECT either through a single or a brief series of 3 bilateral treatments. So when one compares her 37 year history to the past 7 years the quality of her life and that of mine has been “pretty remarkable” as well as improved.

The point being, I’ve read some of the writings of Breggin (a self-promoter and not a researcher), Breeding (a Ph.D. and not an M.D.), Oaks and the others and I strongly disagree with their positions on banning ECT. Breggin also doesn’t write about his failures especially knowing as I do of several patients that had no success with his treatment either.

As research continues to come forth I personally believe more and more in the bio-neuro-chemical theories of the malfunctioning of the brain whether through a genetic predisposition to these very serious illnesses or one caused by situational stresses of various kinds affecting the proper development of the neuronal networking of the brain.

I am also reminded of the fact that placebo also has beneficial effects upon one’s mood disorder.

So while the science of the brain, in my opinion, is still in its infancy I am for utilizing whatever therapies are available with the understanding one should be educated when making informed and un-coerced medical decisions with a trusted, caring, and knowledgeable and licensed health care practitioner(s). Almost all the available treatments come with potentially serious side-effects but this should not be a deterrent to trying to prevent suicide or suicidal ideations and improving one’s quality of life over these illnesses.

I wish you continued success and wellness and thanks for sharing what is working for you.

Warmly,
Herb
VNSdepression.com

View the entire discusion
[photo by InTheSunStudio]

Posted by liz at 10:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (8)

[photo by Old Sarge]

Posted by liz at 05:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Big news today from the U.K. In the past decade, prescriptions for anti-depressants in children have quadrupled but the diagnosis rates have not increased dramatically.

From BBC News:

GPs in England wrote more than 631,000 such prescriptions for children in the last financial year, compared to just 146,000 in the mid-1990s.
But at the same time, figures suggest the rate of mental health problems in the young has not changed markedly.

BBC News: Child Depression Drug Use Soars

Posted by liz at 12:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Hello! It's Alli here, with a cute fix. I got to spend some quality time with a puggle this weekend. Not this puggle, but another really cute one. Figured the best way to start a Monday morning is with a photo of an adorable dog.

[photo by the jyan]

Posted by liz at 10:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Does anyone out there remember the Carol Burnett Show? I'm really dating myself, aren't I? But I watched it as a kid -- a young kid, that is -- and I thought it was so funny. And when Carol sang that sad tune at the end, I really did tear up:

I'm so glad we had this time together
Just to have a laugh and sing a song
We just get started and before you know it
It's that time we have to say, so long

Goodnight everybody!

(See you when I get back from vacation. Be nice to Alli while I'm gone.)

Posted by liz at 04:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The cycle continues: Weight-loss med comes out. People freak out and get excited about being thin. They take it and some lose weight. Success stories in the press stoke the excitement. Sales soar. THEN: it comes out that something terrible is happening to people taking the drug. FDA gets pissed. Nightmare scenarios in the press stoke fear. Sales decline. Drug (sometimes) is discontinued.

I think we're at the beginning of that cycle -- or some variation on it -- with the new weight-loss drug Acomplia. The European analog to the FDA has concerns that Acomplia increases the risk of psychiatric symptoms and suicide risk in people who take it, particularly if those people suffer from major depression prior to taking it. When the drug was approved for use in Europe in 2006, depression was the most problematic side effect.

EU Warns of Sanofi Drug

Posted by liz at 09:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Fink and co. got paid more than $30,000 for the pro-shock book. Ugh.

But by dwelling on ECT, we've sadly lost a whole day of scintillating personal commentary. Like this:

True Confession: Thursday, July 19, 2007
Today I went to a Chinese restaurant for dim sum, and the lady asked if I'd like sesame balls, and my first thought was a variation on that old-Jewish-man joke: "I didn't know sesames had balls!"

Just shoot me now.

Posted by liz at 05:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (8)

Regarding Max Fink, HS writes:

Max Fink is from that rapidly dementing generation of psychiatrists who see every patient complaint and difficulty as evidence of further pathology.Sort of like saying that patients who develop diabetes on Zyprexa just need to control their sweet tooth (or have " Elevated Glucose Craving" to make it sound medical). Never mind that we are pounding brains with electrical waves or dosing them with chemicals with clear toxicities.

Keep in mind that during Fink's training years psychoanalysts ruled the specialty and romantic involvement with patients who had "completed" therapy was not frowned upon and you get the idea. The doctor is always right.

Steve C. also points out that Fink authored another recent article, "Electroconvulsive Therapy: Evidence and Challenges" -- this one for the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).

[JAMA always has beautiful cover art, like the image pictured here, from a recent issue. It's Jean-Baptiste François Desoria's Portrait of Constance Pipelet (Later Constance de Salm-Dyck)]

Posted by liz at 02:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Dr. Max Fink (pictured), who has a history of touting ECT because he benefits financially and otherwise for doing so (patients' lives be damned) is back again -- with a vengeance. Not only has he published an entirely disingenuous and damaging article in Psychosomatics suggesting that ECT's side effects are all in the patients' minds, he is now promoting a book that he seems to have ghostwritten. I won't go into all the reasons that I believe he is one of the most unethical clinicians in the history of medicine, but I am completely disgusted by these latest gambits on his part.

ECT critic and author Linda Andre first tipped me off to the article, about which she sent a letter to the editor:

Re: "Complaints of Loss of Personal Memories after Electroconvulsive Therapy: Evidence of a Somatoform Disorder?" by Max Fink

Dear Editor:

Not only is the argument made by Dr. Fink not supported by logic or science, but the plain facts in his article are false. As the Editor, you had the responsibility to check his facts, even if he felt no such responsibility. Dr. Fink knew he could have verified his statements about Marilyn Rice with me, since he knows of my relationship with Mrs. Rice and knows how to contact me. He did not.

I knew Mrs. Rice well from 1985 to her death in 1992 and inherited her voluminous archives when she died. Here are the corrections to the false statements you printed:

It is not true that Mrs. Rice made "persistent complaints of dental pain" prior to her orthodontic treatment. In her late 40s, some of her teeth began to come loose; only after attempts to simultaneously straighten her teeth and resolve these seemingly minor gum problems ended in a disastrous reshaping of her entire mouth by an inexpert orthodontist did she experience pain, which never resolved for the rest of her life. Understandably, this experience resulted in depression. However, there was no "9 week stay in a psychiatric hospital". Mrs. Rice was admitted to a hospital just a short time before being talked into ECT, and spent a total of three weeks there, while she received eight shocks.

Now, besides a ruined mouth and constant pain, she had to contend with a ruined memory, not a "preoccupation with memory".

Mrs. Rice did indeed retire on medical disability, but it was not for somatoform disorder; she was found by expert medical examiners for the federal government to be totally disabled due to ECT-induced amnesia. Fink conveniently leaves this fact out.

The so-called quote which Fink repeats, in which she says her experience with shock wasn't a total disaster, was made up by the reporter from the New Yorker. Mrs. Rice made this clear publicly in numerous ways over the ensuing years, including in a published book.

It is false that "neuropsychological tests were unable to document decrements in memory or recall functions"; in fact such testing did show such decrements. This evidence was the basis of her successful disability claim, and was presented in court by her expert witnesses.

The organization Rice founded and which I now direct, the Committee for Truth in Psychiatry, is not an "anti-ECT advocacy group." The one and only purpose of CTIP is to advocate for truthful informed consent to ECT.

Finally, and most shamefully, Fink claims Rice was "hospitalized for multiple suicide attempts" before ECT. If Rice were alive, she'd sue for libel and win easily on the basis of this fiction. She was hospitalized once only in her life, because of the stress of ongoing botched dental treatment. She never attempted suicide, much less was she ever hospitalized for that reason.

Linda also sent out an email about Fink's new pro-shock book:

I just found out from the publisher that Max Fink, though the foundation he founded, funds, and heads, the Scion Natural Science Association, gave a grant to fund the book SHOCK TREATMENT, to be out in September from Rutgers University Press.

The named authors are David Healy and Edward Shorter. Fink was one of the original authors (according to Fink himself) but in the end his name was taken off and just the two others remain.

The book is a long pro-shock argument, naturally.

Healy and Shorter didn't tell the publisher about the funding; though the book has been signed to Rutgers for a long time, they just found out today, I believe through an internet search.

Rutgers University Press should be ashamed of themselves if this is the case.

Most people who challenge the prevelant use of ECT -- people like me -- are not saying it should be banned. We are saying that patients should be informed of their options as well as the possible side effects that may result from the treatment. Most medical procedures are treated with such candor. I see no reason to obscure the facts from people faced with the question of whether to pursue ECT.

I have had enough of doctors like Fink trying to discredit ECT patients and twisting the facts to suit their purposes. We need to stand up to this. We need to hold people accountable. If I ever form a rock band, I'm going to name it Informed Consent.

Posted by liz at 10:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)

It's me, Liz. I won't be blogging tomorrow because I'll be in a women's prison all day. I'll be back on Thursday.

Posted by liz at 09:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Thanks for bearing with me on this adventure! Here's my last post for today... see you next week!

A new study from the University of Missouri-Columbia shows a correlation between young adolescent girls discussing their problems at length with friends and their likelihood of developing symptoms of anxiety and depression. On the upside, the study does characterize boy troubles and parties as the obvious big, pressing concerns for young ladies, which isn't offensive at all.

Girls Who Complain About Their Problems at Greater Risk of Developing Anxiety and Depression, says MU Researcher

"Co-ruminationmay lead to depression and anxiety because it takes so much time - time that could be used to engage in other, more positive activities that could help distract youth from their problems. This is especially true for problems that girls can't control, such as whether a particular boy likes them, or whether they get invited to a party that all of the popular kids are attending."

As a former seventh-grade girl with tons and tons unrequited crushes and many lonely Saturday nights, I can see how the hours of phone conversations and IMs occasionally may have done some harm. But a study like this seems like it'll result in a lot of "why don't you just forget about it alreadys" just when young girls need the most support.

More on the study

[Photo by Anyjazz65]

Posted by liz at 04:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

From advocate Jean Arnold, on the CNN Special Investigation Unit episode hour-long special that treats the mental health issues of famous killers like they're out of the pages of Batman:

"They murder at random, without reason or remorse. But are spree killers monsters or just mentally ill? Get a chilling look inside their murderous minds."

The CNN promo above is the latest example of how media depiction of mental health issues is regressing. The blurb refers to an hour-long feature, "Criminal Insanity," that aired on July 14th and 15th and is scheduled for re-broadcast on July 21st and 22nd.

While important mental health issues were mentioned briefly, the title and promo set the overriding tone of the episode. The program made only a halfhearted attempt at balance.

I have posted a letter of protest from David Gonzalez at http://community.webtv.net/stigmanet/STIGMAHOMEPAGE.

For a transcript of "Criminal Insanity," click http://transcripts.cnn.com/transcripts/0707/14/siu.02.html.

Posted by liz at 12:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

Hello readers of the Trouble With Spikol ! I am Alli, doing a little test run. As Liz said, I'm an intern over at Philadelphia Weekly, an Oberlin grad, and a target for sugar gliders and other small mammals. She left out that I have a pet fish, Alp.
I'm not sure you can get a real sense of how awesome he is from this picture (fish don't photograph well) but give him (and me) the benefit of the doubt.

- Alli Katz

Posted by liz at 10:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Tomorrow, Philadelphia Weekly intern Alli Katz, a fellow Oberlin grad, will be guest blogging here at TTWS. The reason is that I'm going on vacation on Friday for a week, and Alli is going to take over for me. Tomorrow is Alli's test day, so we have to be nice to her. If an image looks weird, or if a link doesn't work, or whatever it might be, let's all be forgiving. You guys are a forgiving bunch anyway.

Funny side note: After a long evening of training, Alli was pounced upon by my sugar glider Rosemary. Quite an initiation.

[Photo of a different sugar glider. Rosemary doesn't like the camera.]

Posted by liz at 05:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Over at Furious Seasons, S.S. has written about her experience with ECT, which is remarkably similar to my own. Below is the beginning of the first post she wrote.

In the evening, the place I was in took a rhythm of it’s own. People fell asleep on chairs, and games of checkers and chess sat on the table, half played, like a lone sandwich sitting next to them.

It was nighttime. The patients had all been fed, and medicated, and were left in front of the TV while something as insipid as the Home Shopping Channel droned on providing white noise.

I had been in this locked ward for approx 20 days. My insurance, though I did not know it at the time, pooped out at 30.

And I hadn’t gotten better, I had gotten worse.

My doctor, who ran the hospital had unbeknownst to me called in my parents for a meeting, as well as the three doctors under him. All I knew was tonight I didn’t have my supper; instead one of the nurses helped me in the shower and bathed me because I was too catatonic to do so. She helped me get dressed and finally put on those slipper socks that all the inmates wear because our shoes had all been stripped of their laces.

She walked me out of the locked ward, stopping at the Christmas tree by the Nurses station in the main part, and let me touch an ornament. I smiled. We went into the doctor’s office and there was my mom, and dad sitting on a plushy bluish purple sofa, and three doctors I never saw before.

“Mr. and Mrs. S” went my doctor – “We’ve tried everything on your daughter but she is extremely depressed and still suicidal. We’ve tried several different drug therapies and nothing is working, and we are left with two things. She has ten days left on her insurance and if she is still like the way she is now, we will be forced to put her in a state hospital. Or we can try ECT”.

[Photo by Mary Ellen Mark]

Posted by liz at 01:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

From Gothamist:

GI Rather Be Shot & Face Prison Than Go Back to Iraq Soldier Jonathan Aponte is facing criminal charges of conspiracy and falsely reporting an incident after admitting that he hired a hit man to shoot him. Why did he hire a hit man? Because Aponte didn't want to return to Iraq.

The 20-year-old Bronx resident, his wife Alexandra Gonzalez, and the "hitman," Felix Padilla, all face jail time for the plot. Aponte had apparently joked that he wanted to get shot in the leg to avoid returning to Iraq. From the AP:

But his wife took the off-the-cuff remark seriously, and said she knew a man named Felix who could do the job.

"I decided I wasn't going to go back, one way or another," he said.

Early Monday morning, the pair met with the man, who agreed to do the job for $500.

"I smoked a cigarette and kept my eyes closed because I did not want to see it coming," Aponte told an investigator. "Next think I knew I was shot in the knee."

The hospital's doctors and nurses questioned Aponte when he came in for the gunshot wound, and that's when the plot was revealed. Aponte told the Daily News, "I have nightmares all the time. I hear people screaming, gunshots, explosions, and I can smell burning flesh in my dreams... I was desperate to stay home and at the end of my rope. couldn't deal with being in Iraq anymore. Would I risk going to prison? As far as being shot at, I think it's better." He also mentioned that on his first day, a female sergeant killed herself in the mess hall.

WCBS 2 interviewed Aponte - you can see the video here - and he emphasized how he felt very desperate. His mother said he has post-traumatic stress disorder, "He was asking for help, but we didn't know what he was asking for. We didn't understand."

Aponte and Gonzalez were released under their own recognizance. The military is reportedly working with Aponte to evaluate his mental health and whether he should be sent back to Iraq.

Posted by liz at 10:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

This photo, of cutie puppy Reagan, comes from Laura MB, who writes, on the subject of animals cheering one up:

Here's some pics of my little cute fix. Getting a pet was one of the best things ever. The vicarious joy you can tap into when they are happy (like when they get to go swimming in the river) is just the best. Having somebody need me to take care of them and keep them on a routine keeps me from pondering the existential questions of life too much. My purpose? To open doors for her to go outside, to take her to the doggie park, to feed her, to clean up after her, to take her swimming, etc. Plus, just watching them grown and learn things and get bigger and fluffier and cuddlier is just the best. ...But you already know all that. Just wanted to share the pics.

And we're glad you did. Thanks, Laura.

Posted by liz at 03:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

So ... let's see. What should we do today? It's Funday, but I can't find a gold-darned thing. Just this: The Pentagon is so pleased with its mental health funding, they've decided they don't want any more! That's so happy happy! They actually have too much money. How often do you hear that?

Pentagon says it doesn't need new mental health funds

Posted by liz at 10:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Brooke Run: a state-run mental hospital that closed in 1997. Brooke Run served people with severe or profound mental retardation

[Photo by brookenovak]

Posted by liz at 09:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

This is a photo of the cutest puppy alive. At least right this second. I'm training my vacation replacement guest blogger Alli ("hi" -- she says), and I'm showing her how to do a cute fix.

So blah!

Posted by liz at 09:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Watermelon Flavored Sigmund Freud Head Pops

YOU MUST CLICK

(Thanks, Simon!)

Posted by liz at 03:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Basically, you know all the information in this video. But I thought you might like the moment when a spit bubble forms on my lips. Very attractive.

Posted by liz at 12:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Marissa points us to a good conversation going on over at Furious Seasons on the subject of ECT. I'm one of those people who had a terrible experience with it, but it is hard to advocate for an outright ban if it helps some people. I know a woman who would have died without it, but she's in the minority. Informed consent is the key.

On the subject of forced ECT, go to Mind Freedom to see the concluding sage of poor Simone D., a woman at Creedmor who is being forced, via court order, to undergo more treatments despite her desire to stop. It's completely appalling.

Posted by liz at 10:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

TTWS faithful reader and YouTube blogger Kristin is ON FIRE here. Regarding the issue of fat discrimination, she writes:

Thank you Liz! I knew I liked you for a reason...now I have even more reason to like you. Size discrimination and fat phobia are so rampant in our society and we have very few allies (skinny friends) who are willing to stick up for us when the proverbial 13-year-old-acting nitwit stands up in the room and starts making fat jokes.

The truth of the matter is, dieting doesn't work and people are taught to feel nothing but shame about their living, breathing, life-sustaining bodies. We are all taught that we can never be thin enough and for those of us in the plus size and big men's categories this means that life can be especially difficult. Not only are fat people discriminated against in employment, personal relationships and virtually every social situation imaginable, but we are forced to shut up and smile and laugh like a jolly fatso while the entire society punches us in the stomach.

Whatever physical pain that results from being overweight cannot compare to the psychological torture that society and individual people put fat people through. Some thin people think they have a right to make fun of fat people, because they believe we are lazy, shiftless, stupid, unmotivated blobs who can't do any better and need to be told how to lose weight. What if they knew the secret that we are actually real flesh and blood human beings with emotions and feelings and experiences and a shame so deep that it is hard to break thru? What if they ever saw us bent over a toilet throwing up again and again? What if they saw us starving ourselves? What if they saw us cry or feel hurt? And what if they knew how fucking amazing we all are to survive such hatred and still manage a smile at the end of the day?

Turn on the television and imagine that all of those diet and weight-loss ads are instead ads to become another race or gender. How would that make you feel if you had to see that 24 hours a day knowing that you couldn't be who everyone else seemed to want you to be? Michael Moore is an amazing and groundbreaking filmmaker. He obviously works hard and is intelligent and thoughtful. I agree with you that that stupid PETA person is being an idiot. If they care for social justice and the equality of PEOPLE at all, they should shut the fuck up and go learn something about oppression and size discrimination instead of yapping their mouth off and acting like a moronic hater.

Anyway, I thank you Liz for sticking up for Michael Moore who should not be judged by his girth, but by his worth. If we had more thin allies perhaps this kind of stupid hatred could be eradicated.

Posted by liz at 05:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Sarasal thanks me for the clarification, and writes:

As employment and housing opportunities are virtually nonexistent for some of us labeled as mentally ill, not because we don't want to work, but because employers don't have to hire us using ADA Essential Functions to legally stigmatize us and mortgage companies don't have to give us homeowners insurance, thus many of us are forced to go on disability (which is hard for us to get because while legally disabled we are in fact able bodied and find not working to be depressing), and then if we have homes at all, live in section 8 housing where pets aren't allowed. Thus any post that implies the "mentally ill" torture animals puts my basset hound and Siamese cats at risk, though I know you didn't mean to do so.

We can't forget this is the reality for so many people. Good to be reminded sometimes, Sarasal.

[I completely and totally love basset hounds. This is a photo by gpig]

Posted by liz at 04:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

As predicted, this column is getting a big response right out of the gate. I've been a little depressed, which always makes me thin-skinned. I hope this week won't be too taxing with people being angry at me, but I suspect I've opened myself up to that. Oh well. I stand by the column.

When I heard my parents’ neighbors at the shore had a chihuahua puppy, it was all I could think of as I drove to stay with them. But when I arrived, Tarzan (yes, seriously) was gone; his owners were out of town. The disappointment was lacerating. It was like Christmas morning when I’d wake up and run downstairs—only to remember Santa doesn’t visit Jews.

You’d think, given this kind of pathetic obsession with animals and their cuteness—along with an abiding affection for asparagus—I’d be the ideal target demographic for PETA. But its tactics have always rankled me.

Like antichoice activists with their stupid posters of bloody fetuses, angry, aggressive PETA members gather outside stores and hospitals holding aloft photos of screeching piglets or mopey chickens or crusty-eyed kittens. Then they chant. I walk by and think, “We’re on the same side, but you’re yelling at me.”

PETA’s tough-love approach doesn’t work for a person like me. If someone tells me I’m ethically compromised and lack self-discipline because of my eating habits, I’m going to get teary-eyed and run away—probably in the direction of Outback Steakhouse.

If I trace it back, I think PETA lost me with its “Holocaust on Your Plate” campaign. In those ads, photos of emaciated animals were juxtaposed with photos of Holocaust victims, suggesting some kind of moral equivalency. Later PETA president Ingrid Newkirk invoked human slavery to make a point about the current enslavement of animals. I found
both comparisons deeply offensive, and not fitting for an organization that preaches ethics and humanity.

As a longtime advocate for change, I’ve noticed an activist habit of mind that seems uniquely self-destructive. Groups with sympathetic causes often work against each other, as though they were fighting to win the U.S. Open of Leftist Political Engagement.

“Our tactics are better than yours,” everyone seems to be saying. “We’re braver.” “We’re more committed.” “We’re gayer.” Never mind that we’re all fighting to make the world a better place. It’s more important to tear each other down.

That’s what must be going on between PETA and Michael Moore. Shortly after the release of Moore’s newest film Sicko, Newkirk wrote him an open letter berating him for being fat and imploring him to become a vegetarian.

Never mind the fact that Moore was taking on an American problem that affects every single human being in the country. Forget that he’s arguing for the same kind of rights for people that PETA argues for animals. Newkirk, a self-described “press slut,” saw her opening, and she took it—heedless of its illogic.

“Congratulations from PETA on the reviews for Sicko,” Newkirk wrote. “Although we think that your film could actually help reform America’s sorely inadequate healthcare system, there’s an elephant in the room, and it is you.” This was followed by Newkirk’s advice that Moore convert to vegetarianism. She wrote: “As they say at Nike
(sorry!): ‘Just do it.’”

I was horrified—as were many others who read the letter. PETA later claimed that where Newkirk was using the “elephant in the room” metaphor, she was merely invoking a commonplace idiomatic expression rather than commenting on Moore’s girth. But that’s bullshit.

She could’ve just as easily put it in other words, but PETA has always prioritized cleverness over compassion. I’m sure she and her staff were thrilled when they thought of that one. What a zinger!

Newkirk’s decision to co-opt the debate about Moore’s film is preposterous. Sicko creates an essential opportunity to galvanize activism on the subject of healthcare, and given the reality that Moore histrionically illustrates in
his film, we can’t afford to waste this moment.

I know Newkirk (who I’m guessing has health insurance) would disagree with me, but people’s lives—Sicko’s focus—are more important than eating vegetarian. My hamster gets better healthcare intervention than most people I pass on the street. That’s just wrong.

And what in the world does Michael Moore’s weight have to do with a movie he’s made? How is that the elephant in the room? I suffer from mental illness, but I write about it anyway. If a deaf person wanted to make a movie about deafness, would we object?

Neither analogy is precise because being fat is not necessarily the same thing as being unhealthy. Nor does Moore’s alleged poor physical condition detract from his message. In fact, it may make the argument more potent.

Prejudice against overweight people is so tiresome, so juvenile. Skinny Ingrid Newkirk wants animals to be honored and respected, but she eagerly attacks Moore’s dignity—and I guarantee what he’s doing with his time is more meaningful than what the smartest chicken could accomplish in its entire life.

With Sicko, Moore is essentially calling for a revolution—and that takes courage, especially because he surely knew making a film on this subject would get the fat jokes going. By attacking Moore in such a predictable, mean-spirited fashion, PETA once again makes itself seem childish and ridiculous—and less relevant than ever.

Posted by liz at 10:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (7)

I think one reason people who are "touched" relate so strongly to animals is that we often find ourselves unable to connect with regular people. There's so much pressure around social interaction, and it's not easy to conduct oneself normally when your thoughts are scary and disordered. For me, there's a communion with animals that is greatly rewarding when I'm loopy. Plus, in my odder moments, I believe I can hear them or understand what they're "saying."

I also think people like me feel deeply for animals because we know what it's like to be belittled. Lately, I've been obsessing over this thought, by Ghandi:

"The best test of a civilized society is the way in which it treats its most vulnerable and weakest members."

In my world view, that includes animals.

Posted by liz at 03:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Sarasal writes, on the subject of the last post:

"Are you seriously suggesting that 'mental illness' causes animal abuse? That all people who commit crimes are mentally ill?"

Anyone who reads this blog on a regular basis knows two things: 1) The feature "Bipolar Made Me Do It" (something Sarasal is also disturbed by) is ironic, and 2) people with mental illnesses are more often victims of crimes than perpetrators.

But, assuming that there are new readers (yay!), I want to note that we have some fun on this blog, which is important when dealing with a potentially upsetting topic. But my primary goal here is to raise awareness and share our experiences. Those who blog / read blogs about mental illness comfort each other, educate, keep each other up to date, challenge orthodoxies and get pissed off. And we laugh -- a lot. But we don't stigmatize each other! That would be dumb.

Okay, clarification over. I suspect further clarification will be needed tomorrow, when my column comes out. It's about PETA. They will hate me.

Posted by liz at 03:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I am really a wimp when it comes to animal stories. I read this article and started to have an anxiety attack, but I've calmed myself down. It gets me so upset -- not more so than disturbing news about human beings, but equally so. This woman doesn't sound like a typical "hoarder." But there must be something wrong with her, psychologically, to allow this to happen.

Woman gets prison for 'torturing' her animals

[Image of a sweet Doberman by DanieVDM]

Posted by liz at 02:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

This is the weirdest story I think I've ever heard. A pizza delivery man was held at gunpoint and had a bomb attached to his neck, and was then told to rob a bank. When the police caught up with him, he still had the bomb around his neck, and before they could get it off, it blew him up.

Now, years later, police believe a woman who has bipolar disorder was the ringleader of the alleged plot. ABC News has made sure to point out that she was a high school valedictorian. (So was I! And I'm bipolar! And I'm also from Pennsylvania!)

There's a sad video on the site, taken of the pizza man right before he was blown up.

Pizza-Bomber Mystery Solved?

Posted by liz at 12:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

I feel like I've advocated parity so many times -- both in print and on this blog -- and each time I'm all like, "This is urgent! Take action! Throw yourself in front of a train!" And then nothing happens.

Today I got an action alert from Mental Health America (whose logo is very confusing, BTW) on the subject once again. Here's what they say:

Enactment of a parity law is within reach. Contact your Senator and help build the grassroots’ support needed to bring the parity bill to a vote before Senators leave for the August break. In order to enact a parity law this year, renewed momentum is needed now, especially in the Senate where S. 558, the “Mental Health Parity Act of 2007,” is ripe for passage. (The House bill, H.R. 1424, is still moving through the committee process.) Senate sponsors have worked to tighten this bill since it won committee approval in February, and Senator Kennedy is preparing to offer a modified version of the bill on the Senate floor.

S. 558 would close loopholes in existing law and provide full parity for both treatment limits (such as day and visit limits) and out-of-pocket costs (such as co-payments and deductibles) for some 113 million Americans in health care coverage sponsored by larger employers (over 50 employees, as in current law). Importantly, the bill, as modified, preserves a wide range of state laws including those that mandate provision of mental health benefits, those requiring coverage of specific mental disorders, and those providing broader patient protections.

Contact Your Senator Today!

Posted by liz at 09:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Chronic insomnia linked to depression, anxiety

Posted by liz at 05:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)