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A spokeswoman for Catherine Zeta-Jones says the actress has “proactively” checked into a mental health facility for treatment of her bipolar condition. … Two years ago, the 43-year-old Oscar winner checked into a similar facility for a brief stay for treatment of her condition, known as Bipolar II. The disorder is characterized by mood swings and depressive episodes, and is commonly treated with medication and psychotherapy. …

During her Thursday press conference, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said that Wednesday’s sweeping gun control defeat in the Democrat-controlled Senate is a setback, but not the end, of Democrats’ gun control efforts. During Senate action Wednesday, nine gun control measures came up for votes, and all nine were defeated. Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s “assault� weapons ban went down in flames, with 15 Democrats voting with Republicans to kill it. It fell in a lopsided 60-40 vote. Going O for 9 is but a fleshwound, says Pelosi: “The process on where to go from here is we will be collecting any...

It was never a medical decision—and that’s why I think the action came so fast…It was a political move…That’s how far we’ve come in ten years. Now we even have the American Psychiatric Association running scared. -Barbara Gittings, Activist Getting Started The American Psychiatric Association (APA) currently considers same-sex attraction a diagnosable and treatable mental disorder –if one is marked by persistent distress about their “sexual orientation.” The disorder is listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-IV TR (DMS-IV TR) as a paraphilia, euphemistically entitled, “Sexual Orientation Not Otherwise Specified.” Psychiatrists began to use this clunky phrase...

PROFESSOR: Zombies Are Popular Because People Have Given Up Hope Zombie popularity is a surefire indicator of national mental health, says Clemson University professor Sarah Lauro. Lauro, an English teacher who studied zombies while working on her doctorate, told the Associated Press that the rise of the "Zombie Walk," specifically, illustrates citizens' dissatisfaction with governments and life in general. "We are more interested in the zombie at times when as a culture we feel disempowered," Lauro told the AP. "And the facts are there that, when we are experiencing economic crises, the vast population is feeling disempowered. ... Either playing...

MIDDLETOWN — Lawmakers are considering a measure that would make Connecticut the first state in the nation to mandate universal mental health assessments for school-age children. Senate Bill 374 — one of several relating to mental health policy in the aftermath of the Newtown attack — would require all public schoolchildren in grades 6, 8, 10 and 12 to undergo a behavioral health screening. The law would also apply to home-schooled children ages 12, 14 and 17. It makes no mention of private or parochial school students. The assessments would be confidential, the bill says; the results would be shared...

The Obama administration issued a final rule on Wednesday defining “essential health benefits” that must be offered by most health insurance plans next year, and it said that 32 million people would gain access to coverage of mental health care as a result. The federal rule requires insurers to cover treatment of mental illnesses, behavioral disorders, drug addiction and alcohol abuse, and other conditions. Kathleen Sebelius, the secretary of health and human services, said that in addition to the millions who would gain access to mental health care, 30 million people who already have some mental health coverage will see...

Mindy McReady, the 37-year old country music star and mother of two, was found dead Sunday after an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.

OREM —Striving for perfection may be driving some female members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to depression, one researcher says. Utah Valley University professor Kris Doty looked at depression among LDS women, finding that "toxic perfectionism" was one major factor of depression reported by the group. The other four factors, Doty found, were genetics, history of abuse, family relationships and feeling judged by others. Over a one-year period, Doty and her colleagues looked at clinically diagnosed depressed women who identified as LDS. Seven of the women were using multiple medications to treat their depression, 19 were...

”It was never a medical decision — and that’s why I think the action came so fast… It was a political move.” “That’s how far we’ve come in ten years. Now we even have the American Psychiatric Association running scared.” — Barbara Gittings, Pro-homosexual Activist Introduction Homosexuality advocates like to appeal to position statements published by American mental health organizations to fortify their bogus claims concerning homosexuality issues. One would expect such professional groups to be a reliable source of unbiased information on such matters and that their official positions would be based on the most up-to-date and scientifically sound...

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — We're now hearing from Jacksonville's Sheriff about the Florida Sheriff's Association pledge not to uphold any unconstitutional legislation that restricts the Second Amendment. "You cannot legislate your way out of this problem," said John Rutherford. He sent out his own statement saying that he supported the proclamation, and says people need to realize it's not the trigger that's the problem, but the triggerman. "We've got to start having these discussions about this culture of death that we have created."

Vice President Biden says a mental health check on gun sales may have averted the 2007 mass shooting on Virginia Tech‘s campus. Biden’s comments came after a roundtable discussion in Richmond today that included experts involved with the gun control commission convened after the university tragedy.

People familiar with the internal negotiations say Gov. Andrew Cuomo and legislative leaders have a tentative deal to enact the nation's first gun control measure following the Newtown, Conn., school shooting.

WASHINGTON (CBS DC) – The word “lunatic” will be stricken from federal law under legislation that passed the House by a vote of 398-1 on Wednesday. The congressional action is the most recent effort to eliminate language from the U.S. code that has become outdated or demeaning. Two years ago, Congress removed references in federal law to the term “mental retardation.” The only “no” vote was cast by Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas, who said in a statement that, “not only should we not eliminate the word “lunatic” from federal law when the most pressing issue of the day is saving...

“From what I've been told, Adam was aware of her petitioning the court for conservatorship and (her) plans to have him committed," Flashman told FoxNews.com. "Adam was apparently very upset about this. He thought she just wanted to send him away. From what I understand, he was really, really angry. I think this could have been it, what set him off.” A senior law enforcement official involved in the investigation confirmed that Lanza's anger at his mother over plans for “his future mental health treatment” is being looked at as a possible motive for the deadly shooting. Flashman was told...

Exclusive: Barbara Simpson questions role of prescription meds in shootings The countdown had begun. Christmas Eve was just 10 days away. For the children, excitement was building, as it should. Then, in a burst of what can only be described as naked evil, it was over. What had begun as a normal school day took a turn no one could have anticipated or even imagined. Sandy Hook Elementary School, grades K through 4, in the quiet village of Newtown, Conn., became the target of a plot that was carried out with diabolical accuracy that turned classrooms into a charnel house....

President Obama said the federal government has to do something meaningful to prevent future shootings, like the recent massacre of 26 children and adults at a school in Newtown, Connecticut.  Here is what the federal government can do to prevent violence related to mental illness:1. Start demonstration projects of Assisted Outpatient Treatment (e.g. Kendra’s Law in New York, Laura’s Law in California) throughout the country. AOT allows courts to order individuals with mental illness to stay in treatment as a condition of living in the community. It is only applicable to the most seriously ill who have a history of violence, incarceration, or...

The dangers of allowing mentally distrurbed individuals to roam our streets should be common sense. The recent shooting in CT was proof of that contention. However, this advocacy group did not get the memo apparently.

Months before the Newtown massacre far left groups defeated a Connecticut mental health protections law. Counter Contempt reported: Here’s a fact you might not know – Connecticut is one of only SIX states in the U.S. that doesn’t have a type of “assisted outpatient treatment” (AOT) law (sometimes referred to as “involuntary outpatient treatment”). There’s no one standard for these types of laws, but (roughly speaking) these are laws that allow for people with mental illness to be forcibly treated BEFORE they commit a serious crime. Whereas previous legal standards held that the mentally ill cannot be institutionalized or medicated...

Ms Conte called the ordeal 'sad' for Lanza and his family, and suggested that the violence is a portion of a much larger situation. 'Guns are easy to point to, but it's really a mental health issue.'

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A south Charlotte psychiatric facility for teens is closing its doors in early February, leaving dozens of teens looking for new homes and 122 employees looking for new jobs. The Keys of Carolina officially notified the state this week that it was closing but has not said why. Eyewitness News uncovered it was facing a list of violations from the North Carolina Department of Health & Human Services and a $6,000 administrative fine, according to state officials, for violations of laws regarding the "protection from harm, abuse, neglect or exploitation" of patients. State officials said conditions in...

A Key West resident who police say was distraught over the presidential election results and worried about his business has apparently killed himself. Police say they found Henry Hamilton’s body in his bedroom Nov. 8, along with a living will with handwritten words “Do not revive! (expletive) Obama!” Two empty prescription empty pill bottles were in the dining room. …

Scientists are testing the idea that the stress of modern city life is a breeding ground for psychosis. In 1965, health authorities in Camberwell, a bustling quarter of London's southward sprawl, began an unusual tally. They started to keep case records for every person in the area who was diagnosed with schizophrenia, depression, bipolar disorder or any other psychiatric condition. Decades later, when psychiatrists looked... --snip-- Yet the results of his study, published last year in Nature (F. Lederbogen et al. Nature 474, 498–501; 2011), clearly showed that people who grow up in cities process negative emotions such as stress...

California Becomes First State In Nation To Ban ‘Gay Cure’ Therapy For Teens California state Sen. Ted Lieu, D-Torrance, sponsored the bill to ban a controversial form of psychotherapy aimed at making gay youth straight. By James Eng, NBC News California has become the first state in the nation to ban therapy that tries to turn gay teens straight. Gov. Jerry Brown announced Sunday that he has signed Senate Bill 1172, which prohibits children under age 18 from undergoing “sexual orientation change efforts.” The law, which goes into effect Jan. 1, prohibits state-licensed therapists from engaging in these practices with...

SACRAMENTO (Reuters) - Governor Jerry Brown has signed a bill barring a controversial therapy that aims to reverse homosexuality in minors, the measure's sponsor said on Sunday, making California the first state to ban a practice many say is psychologically damaging. The move marked a major victory for gay rights advocates who say so-called conversion therapy, also called reparative therapy, has no medical basis because homosexuality is not a disorder. The bill's sponsor, state Senator Ted Lieu, a Democrat from Torrance, said in a statement that Brown had signed the bill. An announcement from the governor's office was expected on...

$56 million suicide prevention programme launched as study reveals more Americans take their own lives than die in car crashes Suicide is a bigger killer than car crashes, according to an alarming new study. The number of people dying from suicide has drastically increased, while car accident deaths haven lessened, making suicide the leading cause of injury death. Suicides via falls or poisoning have risen significantly and experts fear there could be en more going unrecognised, specifically in cases of overdose. 'Suicides are terribly under-counted,' said Ian Rockett, author of the study, published on Thursday in the American Journal of...

Today, President Obama will sign an Executive Order directing key federal departments to expand suicide prevention strategies and take steps to meet the current and future demand for mental health and substance abuse treatment services for veterans, service members, and their families. Ensuring that all veterans, Active, Guard, and Reserve service members and their families receive the support they deserve is a top priority for the Obama Administration. Since September 11, 2001, more than two million service members have deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan with unprecedented duration and frequency. Long deployments and intense combat conditions require optimal support for the...

Unhappy with his life as a Marine stationed in California, Terence Tyler posed a question three years ago on Twitter: "is it normal to want to kill ALL of ur coworkers?" Struggling with depression, he left the Marines and recently started working at a supermarket in New Jersey. On Friday morning, Tyler shot two co-workers and himself, police said. The 23-year-old, clad in desert camouflage gear, opened fire at a Pathmark store in Old Bridge Township, authorities said. Authorities are investigating his motive, but family members said Tyler was discharged from the Marines two years ago after suffering from depression...

After Special Justice Walter Douglas Stokes sentenced former US Marine Brandon Raub to 30 days detention in the psychiatric ward of the Veterans Hospital, Circuit Court Judge Allan Sharrett dismissed the case citing that the original petition was “devoid of any factual allegations that it could not be reasonably expected to give rise to a case or controversy.” John Whitehead, attorney for the Rutherford Institute and Raub has stated that since the former Marine’s detention case, he has received numerous stated from other veterans who are being discriminated against. The latest trend is to have our former US service men...

"Top Gun" director Tony Scott fatally jumped off the Vincent Thomas Bridge in San Pedro on Sunday afternoon, according to Los Angeles police sources. His body was pulled out of the water by Los Angeles Police Department, California Highway Patrol and U.S. Coast Guard officials. Investigators found a suicide note in his car, which was parked on the bridge. Law enforcement sources said several witnesses saw Scott, the brother of director Ridley Scott, climb over a fence on the bridge and jump off. The coroner's office identified him Sunday evening. Scott was a respected action-movie director who also made "Enemy...

CHICAGO — U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., a Chicago Democrat who took a hushed medical leave two months ago, is being treated for bipolar disorder, the Mayo Clinic announced Monday. The Rochester, Minn.-based clinic specified his condition as Bipolar II, which is defined as periodic episodes of depression and hypomania. Hypomania is a less serious form of mania. "Congressman Jackson is responding well to the treatment and regaining his strength," the clinic said in a statement...

Dr. Nicholas Cummings June 6, 2012 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A former president of the American Psychological Association (APA), who also introduced the motion to declassify homosexuality as a mental illness in 1975, says that the APA has been taken over by “ultraliberals� beholden to the “gay rights movement,� who refuse to allow an open debate on reparative therapy for homosexuality. Dr. Nicholas Cummings was President of the APA from 1979 to 1980, and also served as a member of the organization’s Council of Representatives. He served for years as Chief of Mental Health with the Kaiser-Permanente Health Maintenance Organization, and is...

There IS a link between creative genius and madness - with both schizophrenia and bipolar disorder frequent in highly creative and intelligent people. The idea was investigated by a panel of scientists who had all suffered some form of mental disorder. Kay Redfield Jamison of John Hopkins school of Medicine, who suffers from bipolar disorder, said that intelligence tests on Swedish 16-year-olds had shown that highly intelligent children were most likely to go on to develop the disorder.

TMZ first reported that retired NFL star Junior Seau was found dead Wednesday morning, and that the police were investigating after his housekeeper found the NFL legend with a fatal shotgun wound to the chest. He was 43 years old. The report has been confirmed by the North County Times: Pro football great and Oceanside sports legend Junior Seau has apparently committed suicide, found by a housekeeper with a gunshot wound to the chest, according to multiple sources.Oceanside Mayor Jim Wood said he learned of the death from police Chief Frank McCoy.Police responded to Seau's home on The Strand on...

BALTIMORE (AP) -- A mother managed to slip a long kitchen knife past security at a Baltimore social services building and used it to stab her infant daughter in the face and neck Tuesday, police said. The 8-month-old baby was stabbed several times, but was listed in good condition at Johns Hopkins Children's Center and was expected to survive, Police Det. Donny Moses said. "The baby should be OK," Moses said. The mother was admitted to an area hospital for a mental health evaluation, police said.

The father of a Fort Bragg soldier charged with shooting at Fayetteville police and firefighters from his apartment in January says his son suffered from war-induced mental problems and thought he was firing at Afghan insurgents. Staff Sgt. Joshua "Ike" Eisenhauer, 30, was wounded by police, who returned fire in the four-hour standoff at Austin Creek apartments. His father, Mark Eisenhauer, says that although he and his wife are uncertain of the events of Jan. 13, their son told them he was alone in his apartment about 10 p.m. when he awoke to the sound of people running up the...

(CNSNews.com) – Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said on Monday that youth violence is a “chronic health issue” that can lead to asthma, obesity, or depression for "the youth who are involved," although she did not make clear whether she was speaking solely about the victims of youth violence or the perpetrators or both. “But it's important to remember--you just heard from the law enforcement side of this--it’s important to remember that the costs of violence go beyond deaths or injuries or tolls on families and communities,” Sebelius said at a Department of Justice conference Monday on youth...

Brain research and associated advances such as brain-machine interfaces that are funded by the U.S. military and intelligence communities raise profound ethical concerns, caution researchers who cite the potentially lethal applications of such work and other consequences. Rapid advances in neuroscience made over the last decade have many dual-use applications of both military and civilian interest. Researchers who receive military funding — with the U.S. Department of Defense spending more than $350 million on neuroscience in 2011 — may not fully realize how dangerous their work might be, say scientists in an essay published online today (March 20) in the...

BOWLING GREEN, OHIO, March 9, 2012, (LifeSiteNews.com) – An editorial in a psychiatric publication criticizing a recent study is being cited as a “refutation” of the idea that abortion leads to higher rates of mental illness. But an expert tells LifeSiteNews.com the other side is far from disproving the notion – and has an agenda of its own. The editor-in-chief of the Journal of Psychiatric Research, Alan Schatzberg of the Stanford University School of Medicine, co-authored an article that criticized a 2009 study conducted by Priscilla Coleman, a professor of Human Development and Family Studies at Bowling Green State University...

Two people are reportedly dead and several are wounded in a shooting at a psychiatric clinic at the University of Pittsburgh, CBS station KDKA reports. Police were looking for a gunman.

(CBS News) Do antidepressants work? Since the introduction of Prozac in the 1980s, prescriptions for antidepressants have soared 400 percent, with 17 million Americans currently taking some form of the drug. But how much good is the medication itself doing? "The difference between the effect of a placebo and the effect of an antidepressant is minimal for most people," says Harvard scientist Irving Kirsch. Will Kirsch's research, and the work of others, change the $11.3 billion antidepressant industry? Lesley Stahl investigates.

MISSION — The recent suicide of an illegal immigrant fanned the flames of a controversial measure to legalize certain students who were sneaked into the country as children, prompting, among other things, a Friday morning ceremony in Los Angeles and a proclamation on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives. But in the 11 pages of suicide notes that Hidalgo County investigators released to the family of Joaquin Luna on Friday, there is not a single mention of immigration or of the failed Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act, as was mistakenly reported by various news...

Saturday, November 19, 2011 More on the demographics of mental health In the previous post, we looked at the likelihood to have received treatment for a mental health problem by political orientation based on GSS data. It turns out that self-described political liberals are twice as likely to have been treated for mental health issues as conservatives are, with moderates falling in between*. This spurred several intriguing comments that I'll turn to the GSS again to address. In the previous post, we looked at the likelihood to have received treatment for a mental health problem by political orientation based on...

HERAKLION, Greece—The first time he despaired of his debts, Vaggelis Petrakis drank a poisonous brew of beer and gasoline. A note he left didn't mention the financial woes of his fruit and vegetable business, of which his family was well aware. Instead, he left instructions for his children on how to look after his animals. "Put mother rabbit in a different place from the little rabbits," the note began. Then he had second thoughts and called his son, Stelios, who took him to a hospital. Mr. Petrakis survived that suicide attempt. But Greece's collapsing economy and the ruin of his...

Canadians with mental illnesses denied U.S. entry Data entered into national police database accessible to American authorities: WikiLeaks More than a dozen Canadians have told the Psychiatric Patient Advocate Office in Toronto within the past year that they were blocked from entering the United States after their records of mental illness were shared with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Lois Kamenitz, 65, of Toronto contacted the office last fall, after U.S. customs officials at Pearson International Airport prevented her from boarding a flight to Los Angeles on the basis of her suicide attempt four years earlier

Women who have abortions are at risk of severe mental health problems, new research has found. The study showed that those who undergo abortion face nearly double the risk of mental health difficulties compared with others and that one in ten of all mental health problems was a result of an abortion. The findings come as Tory MP Nadine Dorries, backed by Labour’s Frank Field, has put down an amendment to a Health Bill which requires women seeking abortion to see an independent counsellor first. Currently organisations which provide abortions offer counselling, but critics say the advice given can often...

A report from Australia’s Climate Institute which links global warming with mental illness is already drawing eyerolls from a central academic in the global climate-change debate. In its report, the anti-carbon emissions organization argues that a spike in severe weather events in Australia coincides with increased rates of anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress and substance abuse. Bjorn Lomborg, a Danish professor and environmental statistician, and a cautious believer in global warming — but also an advocate for sound and rational decisions about how to fix it — told The Daily Caller the study is “problematic.” Cutting carbon emissions to slow a...

The organisation, which calls itself B4U-Act, is lobbying for changes to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, or DSM, the guideline of standards on mental health that is put together by the American Psychiatric Association, FOXNews.com said. The group says its mission is to help paedophiles before they create a crisis, and to do so by offering a less critical view of the disorder. "Stigmatising and stereotyping minor-attracted people inflames the fears of minor-attracted people, mental health professionals and the public, without contributing to an understanding of minor-attracted people or the issue of child sexual abuse," reads the...

BOSTON — Last November, Yvette Chappell found herself increasingly anxious that her 27-year-old son, Deshawn James Chappell, was spiraling downward into deep psychosis. He was exhibiting intense paranoia and calling late at night to complain about deafening voices in his head.

Lawyers for the suspect in the Tucson shooting rampage say prison officials have resumed forcibly medicating their client with a psychotropic drug. Jared Lee Loughner's attorneys in filings Thursday questioned whether the forced medication violates an earlier order by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals that forbid them from involuntarily medicating Loughner as the court mulls an appeal on his behalf. The filings say officials at the federal prison facility in Missouri resumed the forced medication on an emergency basis because Loughner had become an immediate threat to himself. Loughner's attorneys say their client has been on 24-hour suicide watch,...

"When vets seek therapy, they want a professional who can relate to soldiers in combat, and that usually means a therapist who has military experience. Without such empathy, therapy often is doomed, vets say. Because most psychologists and mental health care professionals don't have a military background, there's a void in the safety net for vets. Some veterans' organizations have stepped up, training members to help their peers, and the Soldiers Project provides free counseling from licensed professionals and veterans by phone to newly returned vets."