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Excessive
emailing/texting: The newest addiction?
In June 2008, the British Broadcasting System (BBC) published a
story about two adolescents in Spain undergoing treatment at the
Child and Youth Mental Health Centre near Barcelona for dependency
on their mobile phones. Studies out of South Korea, China and Australia
have also raised questions about potential cell phone addiction.
While concerns around the globe about compulsive emailing and texting
via cell phone are growing, the jury is still out on whether or
not this behavior actually constitutes addiction. [More]
Vermont’s
Challenges for Change seeks reductions via efficiencies
Last November, the Vermont Department of Mental Health faced budget
cuts in excess of $20 million for the 2011 fiscal year. When the
legislature adjourned its session in the wee hours May 13, the cut
had been trimmed to about $3 million. Credit a slightly improved
economy, a few more federal dollars and a state budget approach
called Challenges for Change. [More]
New Hampshire
Hospital trims services/staff
Budget shortfalls are once again prompting staff and service cuts
in the Green Mountain State. According to Nancy Rollins, associate
commissioner for the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS),
both programmatic and physical changes planned for New Hampshire
Hospital are intended to accommodate patients' needs and work within
a reduced budget. [More]
Lawsuit seeks
delay or revision of parity regulations
The fight for full parity between mental health and physical health
care coverage could soon be drawing to a close...or not. [More]
Providing
care is an ongoing challenge
Mental health care doesn't carry the stigma it once did and more
is understood about mental health disorders than ever before. Yet
millions of those meeting the criteria for a psychological disorder
still don't receive care, presenting an ongoing challenge in how
to improve access and make sure effective treatments are delivered.
[More]
Firms place
limits on mental health treatment
Psychologists may be seeing more managed care from their patients'
insurers. Faced with increasing costs, some employers and insurers
are controlling utilization by authorizing limited numbers of sessions
and requiring forms or phone calls to allow additional sessions.
[More]
Programs
seek to assist children with mental health issues
Given that around one-quarter of adults in the U.S. meet the criteria
for a mental disorder, it may not be so surprising that an estimated
one in five children do. [More]
Is excessive
tanning a disorder?
You've perhaps known someone with a seemingly insatiable need to
tan, no matter how bronzed he or (probably) she already is. And
though these so-called "tanorexics" will probably never enter therapy
for their sunbathing habit, there do indeed appear to be some psychological
factors that entice people to ignore the well-publicized health
risks. [More]
Military
Support Program running out of funds
A Connecticut program that provides behavioral health services to
soldiers and their families is seeking federal funding to continue.
[More]
Vermont Senate
nixes proposal to track free drug samples
In May, the Vermont Senate passed overhaul legislation that includes
creation of three new health care models, places a cap on annual
hospital budget increases and initiates three pilot programs that
will explore payment reform options. One provision originally in
the bill but eliminated before the final vote is a plan to track
free drug samples, a decision that is drawing mixed reactions. [More]
Q&A:
Theory: Psychological development has two dimensions
A school of thought, first introduced in the 1970s, holds that depression
and perhaps most mental illness, stems from disruptions in psychological
development. Introduced by Sidney J. Blatt, Ph.D., professor of
psychiatry and psychology at Yale University, the theory contends
that psychological development has two basic dimensions: a sense
of self and a relationship with others. Any disruptions or an exaggerated
emphasis on either dimension will lead to mental disorders. [More]
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