Free Republic

The Obama administration, fresh off an apology from President Obama to Americans who are losing their current health plans under his new health care law, forged ahead Friday with rules that place mental health and substance abuse care on equal footing with medical and surgical benefits. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced the “historic” step in Atlanta alongside former first lady Rosalynn Carter — a longtime champion for mental health research — in a nod toward the generation-long effort to make sure millions of Americans with behavioral health problems get the same care as patients with physical issues....

BOSTON (AP) — Vice President Joe Biden planned to join Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and former U.S. Rep. Patrick Kennedy for a forum on policies that affect people with mental illness, intellectual disabilities or addiction. The two-day event marks the 50th anniversary of President John F. Kennedy's signing of the Community Mental Health Act. The legislation, the last signed by Kennedy before his assassination, helped transform the way people with mental illness are treated and cared for in the United States.

If you move the view to the side, however, you can see the top and bottom parts of the brain, demarcated largely by the Sylvian fissure, the crease-like structure named for the 17th-century Dutch physician who first described it. The top brain comprises the entire parietal lobe and the top (and larger) portion of the frontal lobe. The bottom comprises the smaller remainder of the frontal lobe and all of the occipital and temporal lobes. Our theory's roots lie in a landmark report published in 1982 by Mortimer Mishkin and Leslie G. Ungerleider of the National Institute of Mental Health....

According to liberal source "Politico", President Obama held a meeting on October 8, with "conservative journalists" Charles Krauthammer, Paul Gigot, Kathleen Parker, Byron York, and Robert Costa. The meeting was described as "off-the-record". When questioned about that meeting the next evening by Bret Baier of Fox News, Krauthammer gave no real information. This is worrisome news because Krauthammer graduated from Harvard Medical School in 1975 with his MD and was board certified in psychiatry by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology in 1984. As recently as 2009, President Obama called upon Krauthammer's medical stature, inviting Krauthammer to a signing...

The Department of Health and Human Services has awarded $556,000 to Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine for an LGBT mental health internship program. “Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) individuals experience unique health disparities. As a group, LGBT adults experience more mood and anxiety disorders, an elevated risk for suicide, and substance use as compared with heterosexual adults. LGBT people are more frequently the targets of stigma, discrimination, and violence because of their sexual- and gender-minority status,” the grant abstract said. “LGBT adults have higher rates of smoking, alcohol use, and substance use than heterosexual adults, which leads to...

In Bradley Manning Is Not a Woman, Kevin Willamson makes a case that feeling like a transsexual – that is, that one is either a man in the body of a woman or vice-versa – should be regarded as a mental illness to be treated by therapy rather than with sex-reassignment surgery. The article surprised me by presenting a coherent case for this position that I cannot dismiss as garden-variety social-conservative chuntering. I found the parallel with what Willamson calls BIID particularly troubling. If we treat people who desire to electively amputate their own arms and legs as mentally ill,...

As a Second Amendment organization representing 375,000 members, we are writing to express our concern over Health And Human Services’ (HHS) proposed rule that was printed in the April 23rd, 2013 issue of the Federal Register. These regulations would, by executive fiat, waive all federal privacy laws and encourage doctors to report their patients to the FBI. Please understand a couple of things: First, the standard which a doctor would use to turn in a patient is embodied in Clinton-era ATF language and in the anti-gun Veterans Disarmament Act of 2007. Specifically, a doctor would report a patient if he...

There are many reasons why people get insufficient sleep in our 24/7 society, from early starts at work or school, or long commutes, to caffeine-rich food and drink. But the precipitating factor is an often unappreciated, technological breakthrough: the electric light. Without it, few people would use caffeine to stay awake at night. And light affects our circadian rhythms more powerfully than any drug. Just as the ear has two functions (hearing and balance), so too does the eye. First, rods and cones enable sight; and second, intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells (ipRGCs) containing the photopigment... --snip-- The US Institute...

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.