In The News

Passing a Landmark Mental Health Bill

Posted on July 8, 2016

Fortune

NAMI called the bill a major step forward that also creates a framework for the future.

Mental Health Reform Bill Overwhelmingly Clears House of Representatives

Posted on July 6, 2016

TIME

The House passed the bill by a vote of 422-2. Legislators are calling now for the Senate to act. The bill includes  provisions to address the nationwide shortage of psychiatric beds and child psychiatrists,as well as creating the position of assistant secretary for mental health in the Department of Health & Human Services.

Families failed by a broken mental health care system often have no one to call but police.

Posted on July 6, 2016

Boston Globe

The second in a series, "The Deaparate and the Dead"about the Massachusetts mental health care system, this article focuses on deadly confrontations with police. It is linked to an additional article,"Crisis in the Woods."

The Assault on Antidepressants

Posted on July 1, 2016

The Atlantic

Almost 25 years after Listening to Prozac, Peter Kramer. M.D., has published Ordinarily Well: The Case for Antidepressants to counter what he feels is a destructive level of ignorance and confusion about the  effectiveness of current medications. He makes the case that they work—not all the time, and not for all people, but in lots of ways that can save lives.

The streets’ sickest, costliest: the mentally ill

Posted on June 29, 2016

San Francisco Chronicle

The Chronicle led more than 70  news organizations to focus intensively on San Francisco’s seemingly intractable problem of homelessness. This particular story. Nsationwide, approximately a third of homeless persons live with mental illness--and 80% of those who are chronically homeless.

Pediatricians urged to screen for suicide risks among teens

Posted on June 27, 2016

USA Today

American Academy of Pediatrics advises family doctors to screen teens for suicide risks after new information shows that suicide s the second leading cause of death among them, The benefits of antidepressants as a treatment option also signficantly outweigh risks.

Why I decided to speak out about mental illness in front of over 6,000 people

Posted on June 16, 2016

Washington Post

The Wasshington Post's Pultizer Prize-winning health reporter Amy Ellis Nutt sat down with NAMI for a live chat on NAMI's Facebook page--the first time the news organization conducted one on the social media page of an outside organization. The story includes video.

Untangling Gun Violence from Mental Illness

Posted on June 7, 2016

The Atlantic

Anyone who kills someone is not what we would consider mentally healthy. But that does not mean they have a clinical diagnosis and therefore a treatable mental illness. There could be emotional regulation issues related to anger wich are a separate phenomenon..  I think we have a long way to go in terms of brain science to really understand those distinctions" said NAMI's senior policy advisor, Ron Honberg. "People  [may] feel like, 'If I get identified as having a psychiatric diagnosis, people are going to draw certain conclusions.' It’s hard enough to get people to seek help when they need it.”

Seven advocacy groups call for Department of Justice investigation into death of mentally ill inmate

Posted on June 7, 2016

The Virginian-Pilot

NAMI, NAMI Virginia and NAMI Hampton-Newport News aree among the national and state organizations are outraged ov er the dealth of a man in the Hampton Roads Regional Jail. "W are extremely concerned about the likelihood of future deaths if problems are not remedied." they declared in a letter to the U.S. Depsartment of Justiice. 

12 Things Girls With Depression Wish Our Friends Knew

Posted on June 7, 2016

Cosmopolitan

Honest adviced from those who know. #1 is don't say that a person's life isn't really bad; it only  trivializes a medical illness. #7 is also important: don't romanticize the illness by claiming it's cool because so many creative actors, artists and writers have it.