VA Mental Health

Source: www.sacbee.com --- 6 days ago
Officials at a Sacramento veterans hospital are so troubled by conditions at a local psychiatric facility they no longer send patients there. ...

Source: www.medicalnewstoday.com --- 22 days ago
Mary Agnes Carey, associate editor of CQ HealthBeat, discusses Senate passage of a bill that would halt a Medicare physician payment cut, a Senate-House agreement on Mental Health parity legislation and House action on changes to veterans' Health care services in this week's "Health on the Hill from kaisernetwork.org and CQ. ...

Source: www.wsls.com --- 16 days ago
The state’s top agency addressing the concerns of mentally disabled Virginians is considering a name change. ...

Source: msn.com --- 115 days ago
...

Source: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov --- 1 day ago
Related Articles Treatment-seeking veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan: comparison with veterans of previous wars. J Nerv Ment Dis. 2008 Jul;196(7):513-21 Authors: Fontana A, Rosenheck R Differences in the characteristics and Mental Health needs of veterans of the Iraq/Afghanistan war when compared with those of veterans who served in the Persian Gulf war and in the Vietnam war may have important implications for Veterans Affairs (VA) program and treatment planning. Subjects were drawn from administrative data bases of veterans who sought treatment from specialized VA programs for treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Current Iraq/Afghanistan veterans were compared with 4 samples of outpatient and inpatient Persian Gulf and Vietnam veterans whose admission to treatment was either contemporaneous or noncontemporaneous with their admission. A series of analyses of covariance was used hierachically to control for program site and age. In analyses of contemporaneous veterans uncontrolled for age, Iraq/Afghanistan veterans differed most notably from Vietnam veterans by being younger, more likely to be female, less likely to be either married or separated/divorced, more often working, less likely to have ever been incarcerated, and less likely to report exposure to atrocities in the military. Regarding clinical status, Iraq/Afghanistan veterans were less often diagnosed with substance abuse disorders, manifested more violent behavio ...

Source: www.moreover.com --- 32 days ago
â?? Today, U.S. Representative John R. â??Randyâ? Kuhl, Jr. (R-Hammondsport) kicked off his newly formed House Veteransâ?? Mental Health Caucus with a press conference at the Canandaigua VA Medical Center. ...

Source: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov --- 20 days ago
Related Articles Posttraumatic stress disorder and employment in veterans participating in Veterans Health Administration Compensated Work Therapy. J Rehabil Res Dev. 2008;45(3):427-36 Authors: Resnick SG, Rosenheck RA Few studies have examined employment outcomes in individuals with a primary diagnosis of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The current study used multivariate modeling to examine the relationship between PTSD, other aspects of military service, and employment among 5,862 veterans in a national Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) vocational rehabilitation program. Veterans with PTSD were 19% less likely to be employed at discharge (odds ratio = 0.81, p = 0.02) after controlling for potentially confounding variables. Individuals with substance use diagnoses or who were homeless at program entry were more likely to be employed at discharge, while receipt of public support income and severe Mental illness decreased the likelihood of being competitively employed. This study supports current VA efforts to expand and improve the effectiveness of vocational rehabilitation services for veterans with PTSD. PMID: 18629751 [PubMed - in process] ...

Source: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov --- 10 days ago
Related Articles Sexual assault, Mental Health, and service use among male and female veterans seen in Veterans Affairs primary care clinics: a multi-site study. Psychiatry Res. 2008 May 30;159(1-2):226-36 Authors: Zinzow HM, Grubaugh AL, Frueh BC, Magruder KM This study examined the nature and prevalence of sexual assault (SA), as well as its relationship to psychiatric sequelae and service use, among the veteran population. We performed a secondary data analysis of a cross-sectional dataset consisting of 643 male and 173 female veterans seen in four Veterans Affairs (VA) primary care clinics. Original data were obtained through semi-structured clinic assessments, structured telephone interviews, and medical chart reviews. Analyses included descriptive statistics, chi-square, analysis of variance (ANOVA), and logistic regression. The lifetime prevalence of SA was 38% among women and 6% among men. Of veterans reporting a history of SA, most experienced child sexual abuse and sexual revictimization. SA victims also had a more extensive trauma history and demonstrated greater psychological impairment in comparison to veterans reporting other types of trauma. However, only 25% of male SA survivors and 38% of female SA survivors used Mental Health services in the past year. These findings suggest that VA primary care clinics may benefit from expanding the current mandated screen for military sexual trauma to include lifetime experiences a ...

Source: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov --- 35 days ago
Related Articles Pharmacotherapy of PTSD in the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs: Diagnostic- and Symptom-Guided Drug Selection. J Clin Psychiatry. 2008 Jun 3;:e1-e7 Authors: Mohamed S, Rosenheck RA BACKGROUND: Although increasing numbers of war veterans are seeking treatment for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), information on the role of psychotropic pharmacotherapy in their treatment has not been available. METHOD: Records of psychotropic prescriptions for all VA patients diagnosed with ICD-9 PTSD (N = 274,297) in fiscal year 2004 (October 1, 2003, to September 30, 2004) were examined. Descriptive statistics and multivariable logistic regression were used to identify veteran characteristics and measures of service use that were associated with receipt of any psychotropic medication and, among users of such medications, with use of each of 3 medication classes: antidepressants, anxiolytics/sedative-hypnotics, and antipsychotics. RESULTS: Most veterans diagnosed with PTSD received psychotropic medication (80%), and among these, 89% were prescribed antidepressants, 61% anxiolytics/sedative-hypnotics, and 34% antipsychotics. Greater likelihood of medication use was associated with greater Mental Health service use and comorbid psychiatric disorders. Among comorbidities, medication-appropriate comorbid diagnoses were the most robust predictors of use of each of the 3 medication subcl ...

Source: www.salon.com --- 7 days ago
Network executives have officially hit a new low -- and as we're talking about network executives here, you know it's got to be pretty awful. Now, the NBC reality series "The Baby Borrowers" has always screamed "exploitation" to me, but the show itself pales in comparison with the jaw-droppingly, skin-crawlingly vile press release that landed in my in box Tuesday. The message, which came from an NBC publicist, touted the series' reunion special (hosted by Hoda Kotb and featuring Dr. Drew Pinsky -- that paragon of medical ethics!) and then went on to call my attention to the following release, issued by the American Psychiatric Association: " APA Calls Baby Borrowers Harmful to Young Children, Adolescents' Mental Health "Arlington, VA – Calling the NBC Show, The Baby Borrowers, exploitive and harmful to young children and families Mental Health, the American Psychiatric Association is urging NBC to provide a better review process of its programming in the future and to take into consideration the serious Mental Health implications shows such as the Baby Borrowers can have on individuals. The APA is calling on NBC to end this type of misuse of children used in order to secure ratings. "NBC's show is designed to be a social experiment placing teenage couples in many different family situations, which includes “borrowing” infants and toddlers for a few days to get a taste of parenthood. "The APA issued this statement: ...

Source: blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com --- 105 days ago
Welcome to the VEB ...

Source: www.chron.com --- 10 days ago
The VA teamed up with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration to launch the hot line last July after criticism that the VA wasn't doing enough to help wounded soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. ...

Source: www.chron.com --- 10 days ago
The VA teamed up with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration to launch the hot line last July after criticism that the VA wasn't doing enough to help wounded soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. ...

Source: www.baltimoresun.com --- 108 days ago
SAN FRANCISCO // The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs isn't doing enough to prevent suicide and provide adequate medical care for Americans who have served in the armed forces, a class-action lawsuit that goes to trial today charges. The lawsuit, filed in July by two nonprofit groups representing military veterans, accuses the agency of inadequately addressing a "rising tide" of Mental Health problems, especially post-traumatic stress disorder. But government lawyers say the VA has been devoting more resources to Mental Health and making suicide prevention a top priority. They also argue that the courts don't have the authority to tell the department how it should operate. An average of 18 military veterans kill themselves each day, and five of them are under VA care when they commit suicide, according to a December e-mail between top VA officials that was filed as part of the federal lawsuit. ...

Source: www.charlotte.com --- 10 days ago
More than 22,000 veterans have sought help from a special suicide hot line in its first year, and 1,221 suicides have been averted, the government says. According to a recent RAND Corp. study, roughly one in five soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan displays symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, putting them at a higher risk for suicide. Researchers at Portland State University found that male veterans are twice as likely to commit suicide than men who are not veterans. This month, a former Army medic, Joseph Dwyer, who was shown in a Military Times photograph running through a battle zone carrying an Iraqi boy, died of an accidental overdose after struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder for almost five years. Janet Kemp, national suicide prevention coordinator for the Veterans Affairs Department, said the hot line is in place to help prevent deaths such as Dwyer's. "We just want them to know there's other options and people do care about them, and we can help them make a difference in their lives," she said in an interview. The VA teamed up with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration to launch the hot line last July after years of criticism that the VA wasn't doing enough to help wounded soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. In April, two veterans groups sued the VA, citing long delays for processing applications and other problems in treatment for veterans at risk for suicide. ...

Source: www.charlotte.com --- 22 days ago
Long recognized as a problem afflicting some new mothers, postpartum depression can also grip men – though Mental Health professionals acknowledge that until recently they largely overlooked that fact. Male postpartum depression took a step out of obscurity recently when it was for the first time the subject of a workshop at the annual meeting of the American Psychiatric Association. Ten percent of new fathers and 14 percent of new mothers are affected by depression, says psychologist James Paulson, assistant professor of pediatrics at Eastern Virginia Medical School in Norfolk, VA. Yet most men and their partners fail to recognize the condition when it arises. The symptoms are similar in both sexes, but the causes may be different. Hormonal changes can contribute to a woman's suffering, experts suspect, whereas sudden and unexpected lifestyle changes are thought to trigger a father's depression. “After the baby is born, there's a change in family structure,” says Thomas Newmark, chief of psychiatry at Cooper University Hospital, Camden, New Jersey, and organizer of the APA workshop. “There might be pressure to take care of the child economically. The man may not get the attention from his wife that he was used to. And, of course, his sleep is affected.” Depressed dads are more likely than moms to display destructive behaviors, including increased use of alcohol or drugs, shows of anger, engagement in conflicts, and risk-taking su ...

Source: www.star-telegram.com --- 17 days ago
By CHRIS VAUGHN FORT WORTH — The Veterans Affairs Department is doubling the number of Vet Centers in the Metroplex next year to serve the growing number of men and women who may need readjustment counseling after multiple tours in Iraq or Afghanistan. One Vet Center each is planned for Tarrant and Dallas counties, according to the VA. Nationwide, the government is adding 39 Vet Centers to ramp up its counseling and Mental-Health services, including facilities in Harris and Bexar counties. Vet Centers, created in 1979 after the Vietnam War, are not medical facilities and are not staffed by physicians or nurses. Counselors provide help — called "talk therapy" — with readjustment from combat and family issues and bereavement of relatives of service members killed on active duty. The services are free to veterans and their families. Most veterans who go to counseling in Fort Worth are Vietnam-era, but the percentage of young men and women is growing annually, officials said. The existing Vet Center in Tarrant County is on Magnolia Avenue in the medical district. The one in Dallas is north of downtown on Central Expressway. VA officials in North Texas said they could not be more specific about the new locations, but they said they will not involve construction. "We’re going to lease space," said Jessica Jacobsen, a spokeswoman for the VA’s regional office in Arlington. "Tarrant and Dallas county is as specific as we can get right now. ...

Source: www.injuryboard.com --- 9 days ago
Recently, the Veterans Affair Department (VA) and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration teamed up to launch a suicide hotline for individuals suffering from post- traumatic stress disorder. This service was launched after years of criticism surrounding the VA's treatment of wounded soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. Additionally, two veterans groups sued the VA in April, citing long delays for processing of applications and other problems in treatment for veterans at risk for suicide. The department has spent $2.9 million on the hot line thus far, receiving calls from over 22,000 veterans seeking the assistance of the team's 40 highly trained prevention counselors, one-third of which are veterans themselves. "I think there's a comfort in knowing they can get some help from people who do understand what combat stress is like," states Janet Kemp, national suicide prevention coordinator for the Veterans Affairs Department. She said the hot line was put in place specifically for those veterans who don't get enough help until it is too late. "They have indicated to us that they are in extreme danger, either they have guns in their hand or they're standing on a bridge, or they've already swallowed pills." She also stated that since its creation 1,221 suicides have been averted." According to a recent RAND Corp. study, roughly one in five soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan will display symptom ...

Source: timesunion.com --- 10 days ago
More than 22,000 have called in first year, with 1,221 attempts averted WASHINGTON -- More than 22,000 veterans have sought help from a special suicide hot line in its first year, and 1,221 suicides have been averted, the government says.According to a recent RAND Corp. study, roughly one in five soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan displays symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, putting them at a higher risk for suicide. Researchers at Portland State University found that male veterans are twice as likely to commit suicide than men who are not veterans. This month, a former Army medic, Joseph Dwyer, who was shown in a Military Times photograph running through a battle zone carrying an Iraqi boy, died of an accidental overdose after struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder for almost five years. Janet Kemp, national suicide prevention coordinator for the Veterans Affairs Department, said the hot line is in place to help prevent deaths such as Dwyer's. "We just want them to know there's other options and people do care about them, and we can help them make a difference in their lives," she said in an interview. The VA teamed up with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration to launch the hot line last July after years of criticism that the VA wasn't doing enough to help wounded soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. In April, two veterans groups sued the VA, citing long delays for proce ...