Weird Mental Condition of the Day: I'ma-Animal Disorder

A medical journal reports on a case of a man who thought his mother had turned into a wolf. It sounds like it's perhaps the first case of lycanthropy by proxy. (I'm hoping I'm using "proxy" correctly.) According to Mindhacks.com, "Lycanthropy is the name given to the mythical condition that causes someone to turn into a werewolf. However, it's also the name given to the psychiatric syndrome where someone becomes psychotic and believes they have transformed or are transforming into another animal." According to the journal, the man: …stated that he was captured by devil and sometimes his thoughts or body were controlled by its power. Sometimes he had auditory hallucinations and heard the sound of drumming. He said that he had drooling from his mouth for no apparent reason.

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More safeguards needed for mental health bill, say lords and MPs

The joint parliamentary committee is demanding that more safeguards be written into the mental health bill to prevent those without mental illnesses from being detained. Currently, critics of the mental health bill believe that the government's definition of 'illness' to too vague, which could possibly see people who do not have a mental illness being sectioned despite posing no risk to others or themselves. Plans for social workers and healthcare nurses to be allowed to decide whether or not to renew detention for patients has raised concerns about whether they could be relied upon to give "objective medical advice" on the subject. Labour MP for Hendon Andrew Dismore, who is also chairman of the human rights committee, said that "robust safeguards" were needed to make sure that those without mental illness were not forcibly treated.

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Spitzer Gives Millions To Mental Disorder Research

(CBS/AP) NEW YORK State Senator Thompas Morahan says Governor Spitzer has allocated more than seven million dollars in his executive budget for capital improvements at the Nathan Kline Research Institute in Rockland County. The institute is at the Rockland Children's Psychiatric Center. Senator Morahan says the additional funding will help the institute better prevent, understand, and treat childrens' mental disorders before they become debilitating issues in adulthood. .

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Hicks' mental health good: psychiatrist

The Australian government has challenged claims David Hicks is showing signs of mental deterioration, saying a psychiatrist who saw the terror suspect on Monday assessed his mental health as "good". Adelaide-born Hicks, who has been held at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba for five years, has complained that he is unwell and that conditions at the US military prison are "like a Nazi concentration camp". His Australian lawyer David McLeod, who has met Hicks in recent days, says he is showing signs of mental deterioration and feels despair at his predicament. The Muslim convert refused a visit on Monday from Australia's consul-general in Washington, John McAnaulty, sending a letter through his lawyers that he was frightened of being punished by his captors if he saw the official.

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Titanium Money Clip

Sleek and modern in handsome brushed titanium, this small rectangular money clip provides a stylish option for carrying bills and credit cards. Its simple hinged closure holds bills securely and snaps open easily for instant access. Crafted from 99% commercially-pure gray titanium, the money clip has a brushed outer surface with a distinctive rich gray tone and a contrasting polished interior. It's exceptionally lightweight, yet its rich sheen gives it a substantial, expensive look. An excellent and fashionable alternative to a bulky wallet, this handsome money clip makes a perfect gift for the style-conscious man. Gray titanium is an exotic-looking metal with exceptional qualities that make it particularly suitable for use in jewelry. It has the impressive durability and strength of steel, yet it is remarkably lightweight--only slightly heavier than aluminum. Titanium is corrosion and scratch resistant and will not react to salt water, sunlight, or any body or common chemistry. Those with metal sensitivities will appreciate the fact that titanium is completely hypoallergenic. Gray titanium is also perfectly suitable for engraving.

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Meeting mental health needs

Bad things can happen even in small towns. An African-American woman in a rural area of Leake County made an alarming discovery when her 7-year-old granddaughter visited. "When I was giving her a bath, I noticed blood in her panties," said the grandmother. "I asked her (if she had been sexually abused), and then she told me (she had). I did not know what to do, so I carried her to the doctor." The family's names are kept confidential because The Clarion-Ledger does not identify victims of sexual abuse. The doctor at the Dr. Arenia C. Mallory Community Health Center, a federally funded clinic that provides health care to low-income families, treated the child, then referred the family for counseling. Because of the Southern Institute for Mental Health Advocacy, Research and Training - SMHART - finding an affordable counselor was not a problem.

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Peers To Advise on Mental Health

Students plan to launch a new program next semester aimed at encouraging discussion of student mental health issues, a subject which has long been considered “taboo" on campus. The Harvard-Radcliffe Mental Health Advocacy and Awareness Group (MHAAG) announced on Jan. 5 its creation of two new resources that will be available to undergraduates: mental health liaisons and mental health mentors. The announcement comes after recent attention to the need for increased mental health resources. A 2004 Crimson investigation found that the College was facing “a pervasive mental health crisis" at the time—80 percent of students reported feeling depressed at least once over the course of the year and 10 percent had seriously considered suicide. University Provost Steven E.

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People with Mental Health Disabilities Fare Worse in ...

Sixteen years after Congress enacted the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), people with psychiatric disabilities are faring worse in court cases against employers for discrimination than are people with physical disabilities, researchers have found in a national study. "People with psychiatric disabilities were less likely to receive a monetary award or job-related benefit, more likely to feel as though they were not treated fairly during the legal proceedings and more likely to believe they received less respect in court," said Jeffrey Swanson, Ph.D., a study investigator and an associate professor of psychiatry at Duke University Medical Center. .

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