Recognize Excellence In Mental Health Journalism (Mental Health America 2008 Media Awards)

Mental Health America will honor twelve professional and student journalists for outstanding coverage of mental health issues tomorrow at a Media Awards luncheon held during its Inaugural Mental Health Promotion and Prevention Summit in Washington, D.C.

"The Media Awards bring together the very best mental health stories in print and broadcast media during 2007," said Mental Health America President and CEO, David Shern, Ph.D. "Informative and thought-provoking journalism is a powerful form of education and we applaud these journalists for helping shape public understanding of these critical issues."

Mental Health America 2008 Media Awards winners include:

Local Television
WTHR (Indianapolis, IN), "Help Me, I'm Dying," by Anne Marie Tiernon

National Television
Keeping Kids Healthy/WNET (New York, NY), "Childhood-Onset Schizophrenia - A Life Interrupted," by Susan Berger Sabreen, Rich Sabreen, Anja Baron and A. Thomas Tebbens

Local Radio
WNYC (New York, NY), "Cities Embrace New Ways to Handle Confrontations Between Cops and the Mentally Ill," by Arun Venugopal

Advice Columns
The Palm Beach Post, "Kicking Depression" Weekly Column, by Christine Stapleton

Local/Regional Magazines
Dallas Child, "Diagnosing Joey: Unraveling the Mysteries of Pediatric Bipolar Disorder," by Jenny B. Davis and Shelley Hawes Pate

National Magazines
Ladies' Home Journal, "Broken Promise," by David France and Diane Salvatore

Newspapers with a Circulation Below 100,000
East Valley Tribune (Phoenix, AZ), "Pam's Story," by Mary K. Reinhart and Patti Epler

Newspapers with a Circulation Above 100,000
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, "Hidden Shame" Series, by Alan Judd and Andy Miller

Students Journalism
Columbia Missourian/Associated Press, "Looking for a Way Home," by Jennifer Whitney

Photo Essay
The Los Angeles Times, "Breakdown: A Family's Struggle with Mental Illness," by Robert Gauthier

National Reporting
The Nation, Series on the "Personality Disorder" Scandal, by Joshua Kors

Timely Coverage of a Mental Health Issue
The Wall Street Journal, "The Price of Privacy" Series, by Elizabeth Bernstein and John Blanton

A volunteer judging panel of media professionals selected the winning entries for their educational value, outstanding quality, comprehensiveness and creativity in addressing timely issues in mental health. Members of this year's panel represent such reputable media outlets as CNN, National Journal, The Nation's Health, U.S. News & World Reportand Voice of America.

Mental Health America's Inaugural Mental Health Promotion and Prevention Summit is being held June 6-7, 2008 at the Hyatt Regency Washington on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. The two-day event, held during Mental Health America's 2008 Conference, brings together the foremost leaders in the field to explore the latest in promotion and prevention science and set a course for promoting wellness in individuals, communities and the nation at large.

Get Ready for the 2009 Media Awards!

The Mental Health America 2009 Media Awards competition will honor reporting and portrayals of mental health issues in news and features stories, on national, state local and student levels and in print, online and broadcast media. Mental Health America will distribute nomination guides in early 2009. To sign up for our mailing list, please email mediaawards@mentalhealthamerica.net.

Mental Health America is the country's leading nonprofit dedicated to helping all people live mentally healthier lives. With our more than 320 affiliates nationwide, we represent a growing movement of Americans who promote mental wellness for the health and well-being of the nation - everyday and in times of crisis.

Taken from http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/

Hurricane Survivors Experience Long-Term Mental Health Distress

As the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) works to close the last trailer parks that many Gulf-area hurricane survivors call home this weekend, the findings of a new study suggest that displacement affects survivors' mental health. More than half of the study participants reported significant long-term mental health distress, even as they moved back to their original communities. These findings are published in the latest issue of the American Medical Association (AMA) Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness journal.

The study, "Prevalence and Predictors of Mental Health Distress Post-Katrina," measured mental health distress and disability among members of more than a thousand households in Louisiana and Mississippi who lived in areas greatly affected by Hurricane Katrina or who were forced to evacuate after the storm. Poor physical health, moving often, and living in unsafe neighborhoods were among the significant factors of people more likely to have poor mental health. People with children in the household were also more likely to exhibit higher levels of mental health distress as the study suggests having a responsibility for others, particularly children, during a time of uncertainty and chaos, may lead to such distress.

"People who did not have strong informal support networks, who were afraid in their community, or who were more fatalistic were far more likely to exhibit mental health distress and disability," says lead study author David Abramson, PhD, MPH, Director of Research at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health.

Participants were interviewed face-to-face six to 12 months after Katrina, and a telephone follow-up was conducted at 20 to 23 months after the disaster. Over time, several factors were associated with better mental health - including a functional social network and a positive state of mind.

"These findings show that rebuilding communities - and their social support networks - can greatly contribute to people's recovery," Dr. Abramson concludes.

Additional articles in the June issue of the AMA disaster journal include:

• Unexplained Deaths in Connecticut during 2002-2003: Failure to Consider Category A Bioterrorism Agents in Differential Diagnoses"



• Cash Grants in Humanitarian Assistance: An NGO Experience in Aceh, Indonesia Following the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami"



• Secondary Contamination of Medical Personnel, Equipment, and Facilities Resulting from Hazardous Materials Events"

This article is available ahead of print and the full journal will publish June 3.

About AMA's Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness Journal

The AMA Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness Journal was created to promote public health preparedness and the science of disaster medicine. It is the first comprehensive, peer-reviewed publication emphasizing public health preparedness and disaster response. The journal is published for the AMA by leading health care publisher Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.

Taken from : http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/

Army Suicides Increased By 13% In 2007

The number of Army soldiers who committed suicide in 2007 increased by 13% over 2006 to 115, according to the 2008 Army Suicide Event Report released Thursday, the Baltimore Sun reports (Wood, Baltimore Sun, 5/30). The number represents the highest rate since the Army began tracking suicides in 1980 (Chicago Tribune, 5/29). According to the Army, the suicide rate among civilians is 19.5 in 100,000 people. Other Defense Department research has shown that suicides among all military personnel in Iraq occur at a rate of about 24 per 100,000 people (Wood, Baltimore Sun, 5/30).

According to Army records, 65% of the suicides were related to broken relationships and 37% occurred within 30 days of when the relationship ended (Zoroya, USA Today, 5/30). Fifty-three percent of soldiers who committed suicide were younger than age 25 and 57% were married, according to the report (Chicago Tribune, 5/29).

Thirty-two of the Army suicides occurred in Iraq, and four occurred in Afghanistan (USA Today, 5/30). The largest percentage of the soldiers who committed suicide did so during their first three months in Iraq or Afghanistan, and the largest percentage of attempted suicides occurred during the second quarter of deployment. Twenty-six percent of suicides occurred among soldiers who had never been deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan. Fifty-two soldiers committed suicide in 2001, the year the war on terrorism began.

The report also found that 935 soldiers attempted suicide in 2007, compared with 948 in 2006 (USA Today, 5/30). In 2005, 85 Army soldiers committed suicide and 67 committed suicide in 2004, the AP/Washington Times reports (Jelinek, AP/Washington Times, 5/30). Lt. Col. Thomas Languirand, head of command policies and programs, said the 2008 suicide rate is comparable to last year (Chicago Tribune, 5/29).

Reaction

According to the Sun, "The rising incidences of suicides and severe stress are directly related to the rigors of what Bush administration officials call 'the Long War' in Iraq and Afghanistan" (Baltimore Sun, 5/30). Other contributing factors were the increased length of tours from 12 months to 15 months and multiple deployments (AP/Washington Times, 5/30). A study released this spring by U.S. command in Baghdad found that 17.9% of troops report acute stress, depression or anxiety, and 11% met the criteria for mild traumatic brain injury.

Army officers acknowledged that the data on military suicides and stress are incomplete, as soldiers who leave the Army and National Guard soldiers are not tracked. University of Maryland sociologist Jesse Harris, a retired Army officer, said researchers are "rather puzzled at the alarming rate [of suicide increases], and we are trying to get a grip on it." Army Brig. Gen. Rhonda Cornum, assistant Army surgeon general, said, "The Army is committed to taking care of every soldier, regardless of medical illness, injury or psychological diagnosis." However, "there is more to be done" in the areas of suicide prevention training and other mental health care, she said.

Lt. Gen. Eric Schoomaker, the Army surgeon general, acknowledged that the Army does not have the facilities and providers to care for all its soldiers. He said, "As a nation, our mental health capability is not adequate to the need," and the Army is experiencing the same problem. The Army has approved the hiring of more than 300 additional mental health professionals and has hired 180 of them, and the Pentagon has approved increasing spending on family support programs (Baltimore Sun, 5/30).

Broadcast Coverage
CNN's "Newsroom" on Thursday included coverage of the report (Starr, "Newsroom," CNN, 5/29).

NBC's "Nightly News" on Thursday included coverage of the report (Miklaszewski, "Nightly News," NBC, 5/29).

WBUR's "Here and Now" on Thursday included a discussion with Bryan Bender of the Boston Globe about the report ("Here and Now," WBUR, 5/29).

PTSD
In related news, McClatchy/Orlando Sentinel on Friday examined how "soldiers, veterans and their families are running into red tape and roadblocks when they try to use their military insurance to get treatment for ailments such as post-traumatic stress disorder." About 40,000 troops have been diagnosed with PTSD since 2003, the Pentagon reported earlier this week. According to McClatchy/Sentinel, "The deployment of hundreds of doctors and therapists to Iraq and Afghanistan and the shortage of military health care providers has forced patients at U.S. installations to wait for months for appointments -- and longer if they need to see a specialist."

At the same time, "civilian doctors and psychiatrists say they're often faced with tough decisions about whether to turn away patients on Tricare ... because its reimbursement rates are low and its claims process is cumbersome," McClatchy/Sentinel reports. According to McClatchy/Sentinel, some doctors opt to "volunteer their time and services rather than navigate Tricare's red tape for what may ultimately prove to be a small reimbursement for services" (Abdullah, McClatchy/Orlando Sentinel, 5/30).

Reprinted with kind permission from http://www.kaisernetwork.org. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at http://www.kaisernetwork.org/dailyreports/healthpolicy. The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report is published for kaisernetwork.org, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation.

Taken from http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/

Mind Welcomes King's Fund Report On Mental Health, UK

Commenting on the release of the King's Fund report on the cost of mental health care, Paying the Price, Mind Chief Executive Paul Farmer said:

"Today's report makes a robust economic case to invest more broadly in mental health because it's worth it. We've got the clinical evidence, we've got the economic evidence, have we got the will to make this work? This is the chance of a generation to put mental health care on a level with physical health - a way to truly celebrate the 60th anniversary of the NHS.

"If people with mental health problems get the NHS and social care help they need, then they can manage their health while working and living full lives in society.

"We support this call for expansion of evidence-based treatments in primary care for people with depression and anxiety, greater investment in crisis in the community and early intervention for people with more severe mental health problems."

Mind is the leading mental health charity in England and Wales. We work to create a better life for everyone with experience of mental distress.

Taken from http://www.medicalnewstoday.com

Variety At Breakfast Linked With Better Mental Health For Teens

Adding a banana to a bowl of cereal and milk could be the key to better mental health in teenagers, according to Australian researchers who have found that a variety of foods at breakfast is linked to mental functioning.

Presenting her research at the Dietitians Association of Australia (DAA) national conference, dietitian Therese O'Sullivan from the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research said a high quality breakfast, with foods from at least three different healthy food groups, was linked with better mental health in 14 year old boys and girls.

And she said that for every extra food group eaten at breakfast, the associated mental health score improved.

'Eating a breakfast of toast with a glass of milk and some fruit seems to be better than just a large serve of toast alone. This may be because mental functioning is affected by the absorption of a variety of nutrients, including calcium, iron and B group vitamins,' said Ms O'Sullivan, an Accredited Practising Dietitian.

The researchers asked more than 800 teenagers what they ate for breakfast, and scored this based on their intake of the core food groups. Mental health was assessed using a child behaviour checklist.

They found that just one in four teens ate a high quality breakfast, and the two most common core food groups eaten at breakfast were breads/cereals and dairy products.

Disturbingly, a small proportion of teens did not eat any items from the healthy core food groups for breakfast over the three day study period.

Research has already shown that students who eat breakfast pay more attention in class, retain more information and are more interested in learning, but this is the first study to show that variety at breakfast is also important.

According to Australia's last national nutrition survey, high school-aged girls were more likely to skip breakfast than boys. The report found that around one in three girls aged 12 to 15 did not eat a regular breakfast, compared with 13 per cent of boys.

Ms O'Sullivan suggests trying the following ideas to increase variety of nutrient intake at breakfast:

• Add a spoonful of sunflower seeds to your cereal


• Top your toast with a sliced banana


• Sprinkle diced dried fruit over your cereal or add some canned fruit


• For a quick breakfast on the go, prepare a whole grain sandwich with baked beans and cheese the night before and toast it in the sandwich maker the next morning.

The DAA 26th national conference will be held from May 29 - 31 at Conrad Jupiters at the Gold Coast. The conference is titled 'Improving nutrition - a social responsibility'.

The Dietitians Association of Australia (DAA) is the professional body representing dietitians nationally. Accredited Practising Dietitian (APD) is the only national credential recognised by the Australian Government, Medicare, the Department of Veterans Affairs and most private health funds as the quality standard for nutrition and dietetics services in Australia. For more information visit http://www.daa.asn.au

Taken from : http://www.medicalnewstoday.com