Inform to erase mental illness stigma

Mental Health Promotion Advisory Council member Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye yesterday called on non-governmental organisations, charitable foundations and the government to focus on educating the civilization on mental illness, to erase the stigma linked to such disorders. He said tragic incidents involving people with Mental problems, such as the one where a woman supposedly…..

smothered her 10-year-old relative to death, highlighted the urgency of addressing the issue among Malaysians. “Malaysians need more awareness about mental health so they can learn to respond with sympathy and not act with prejudice,” he said in a statement yesterday. Lee observed that some psychiatric patients do pose a risk of violence but to put it in perspective, most aggressive people were not mentally ill, and most mentally ill people were not violent….

“If mentally ill patients are properly treated, they pose a low risk of aggression. Violence is the price we pay for not providing treatment for these patients,” he said. Lee reckoned that when properly treated, people with serious mental illness were at no higher risk of violent behaviour than the general population. He emphasised that adherence to medication was of utmost importance as evasion on treatment may increase the risk of violence. “There is therefore a need for family members to know the importance of medication devotion, which is life-long for certain serious psychotic conditions….

One in five children undergo from mental disorders

It wasn’t until decades later, in May of 2006, that she finally admitted that a bout of baby blues exposed the fact that she suffered from bipolar depression. Margaret now travels across North America to talk to teenagers about recognising the signs of mental illness. She is blunt when discussing bi-polar disorder and how it tore her life apart. Trudeau has been travelling approximately Alberta talking with students, teachers and administrators about recognizing mental health issues at an early age.

She hopes more people will understand that one in five children move violently with some kind of mental health issue and they need to reach our for help. “You can deal with your mental issues now while your brain is still really developing, before the bad habits are implemented intensely in your brain,” says Margaret. “Having the same ways of thinking that just get you into trouble again and again so taking it on early is really important.” Trudeau gave a speech to Calgary teachers Wednesday afternoon at an event prepared by the Alberta Teachers Association.

Yale to Host Conference on Children's Mental Health

Yale University's Child Study Center will crowd a symposium Friday on how autism, ADHD and other mental health disorders affect children. Organized by the center as part of its 100th anniversary celebration, the symposium will feature six speakers, each focusing on a feature of mental health for children.


The event also will honor Dr. Milton J.E. Senn, who was among the first in the field of child psychoanalysis to suggest that children's emotional needs were being overlooked. The first part of the symposium will feature a talk about Senn. Other talks will focus on autism, Tourette's syndrome, attention shortfall hyperactivity disorder and advances in treating pediatric anxiety disorders. The symposium — aimed at parents, pediatricians and primary care providers — will be at the elegance Murray Hopper Auditorium at Yale's West Campus in Orange.

Mental illness and the magistrates

Mental health professionals have recognized for years that people who suffer from serious mental illnesses are often more likely to end up in jail than in some form of treatment. That's why a new program in the Baltimore City Circuit Court to divert some seriously ill defendants to mental health programs instead of jail is a worthy effort. But to succeed, the initiative will require not only an adequate supply of mental health treatment slots in Baltimore, but also increased access to stable, safe and affordable housing for the mentally ill defendants it serves — something that has been absent in the past.

The inventiveness, known as the Mental Health Case Management Docket, is aimed at the repeat offenders who commit crimes as a result of having a serious Mental illness rather than from criminal intent. People who suffer from lifelong psychiatric conditions such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder or clinical depression are often unable of taking responsibility for their actions. Unless they get treatment that addresses their essential disorder, their behavior is unlikely to change and they may remain a danger to themselves and others, regardless of the sentence they receive.

Gov’t ‘must’ eliminate mental illness

The government is paying poor attention to the abolition of mental illness in the country as it allocates less money to mental illness than other health programs, a legislator says. Member of House Commission IX overseeing health policy Nova Riyanti Yusuf said many community health centers and local mental health agencies do not provide care for mental illness, arguing that they are still “developing” programs. “This leads to inhumane behaviors towards patients, such as incarceration in wooden stocks,” she said as quoted by Antara news agency. “Failing to treat these patients could guide to suicide.” She quoted a WHO report that said at least 50,000 Indonesians committed suicide between 2005 and 2007.

NH responds to mental health exploration

New Hampshire's department of health and human services says the state's mental health system does not infringe federal law. The department responded Wednesday to a recent U.S. Department of Justice investigation that completed that the state is violating the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The state was criticized for failing to provide sufficient community-based services to people with mental illness, leading to needless and prolonged stays at the state mental hospital. In its response, the state says it already has a plan to serve people in the least restrictive setting possible and has made important progress in implementing it despite fiscal challenges. It also noted that the middle length of wait at the state mental hospital is seven days, compared to a national average of 47 days.

Intellect your mental health at Girgenti

This weekend, the Inquisitor’s Palace in Girgenti is being turned into an oasis of calm as visitors to the open weekend will have a chance to meditate, have a massage or indulge in some art appreciation. The Prime Minister’s wife, Kate Gonzi, who is coordinating the open weekend, said it was important to take care of one’s mental illness well-being as it helped in all areas of life.

The activity will feature the participation of unpaid organisations who work in the mental health sector, including Richmond Foundation, The Association for Mental Health, the St Jeanne Antide Foundation, Friends of Mount Carmel Hospital and Caritas’s Thursday Club. The public is positive to give a donation in aid of these associations. The event is being organised with the help of the HSBC Malta Base.