Psychiatric Associates of Atlanta Mental Health News and Blog |
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
The phenomenon of impersonating a police officer By BECKY PURSER - bpurser@macon.com WARNER ROBINS — Breaking the law while pretending to uphold it is a complicated crime. A Warner Robins man was accused of impersonating a police officer after pulling alongside the Ga. 247 Connector late Tuesday as if he was running radar. He had a fake badge, photo ID, police raid jacket, asp baton, handcuffs and a loaded handgun. He even showed his fake badge to a Warner Robins police officer who stopped to investigate the unmarked white Ford Crown Victoria, a popular law enforcement vehicle, police said. Sunday, October 25, 2009
Mental Health Parity Changes Take Effect January 1, 2010 September 1, 2009 at 8:29 pm by: HR Hero It’s time for employers to examine their health benefits to see if they’re in compliance with the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Act of 2008, which takes effect on January 1, 2010. The law applies to most employers with more than 50 employees. It requires covered employers that offer a health insurance plan with mental health coverage to provide the mental health benefits at the same level as medical and surgical benefits, including deductibles, copayments, out-of-pocket expenses, inpatient stays, and outpatient visits. The law ends limits on mental health coverage, such as 30-day hospital stays and 35 visits a year to a mental health professional, if a company’s plan doesn’t have similar limits for physical ailments. Also, if a plan offers out-of-network coverage for physical illnesses, beginning January 1, 2010 it will have to offer similar out-of-network coverage for mental health care. Labels: insurance, legislation, parity Sunday, October 11, 2009
Stockholm Syndrome (8/28) Dr. Norman spoke with Kennedy and Suits on KFI640AM in LA about the Garrido case. The audio file is attached. KS0828097.mp3 Saturday, August 29, 2009
Forensic Psych: Does Phillip Garrido Really Believe His Kids Cured Him of Pedophilia? by Carlin DeGuerin Miller (CBS/ AP)Contributed by Mathew W. Norman, an Atlanta-based forensic psychiatrist. ATLANTA (CBS) How could four individuals, two of them captors and one of them an abducted little girl, come to live together as a family unit for eighteen years? If police have it right, not only did Phillip Garrido, Nancy Garrido, Jaycee Lee Dugard and Garrido's mother live as a family unit, but Phillip Garrido and Jaycee Lee Dugard also had two daughters together (now 11 and 15 years old). Wednesday, November 07, 2007
Risperidone for Treatment-Refractory Major Depressive Disorder A Randomized Trial Ramy A. Mahmoud, MD, MPH; Gahan J. Pandina, PhD; Ibrahim Turkoz, MS; Colette Kosik-Gonzalez, MS; Carla M. Canuso, MD; Mary J. Kujawa, MD, PhD; and Georges M. Gharabawi-Garibaldi, MD 6 November 2007 | Volume 147 Issue 9 | Pages 593-602 Background: Major depressive disorder has high prevalence, morbidity, and mortality. Inadequate results with antidepressants have prompts addition of a nonstandard treatment (augmentation therapy). Objective: To assess whether augmentation therapy with risperidone reduces symptoms and increases response to antidepressant therapy and remission of depression in adults. Design: Multicenter, double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized trial conducted from 19 October 2004 to 17 November 2005. Monday, May 29, 2006
Rx ads have some losing sleep By JULIE DEARDORFF Chicago Tribune A day after commiserating with a colleague about insomnia, he handed me a white envelope. Inside I found two small pills. "It's my wife's Ambien," he said. "Just in case." I put the sleeping pills in my nightstand, reserving them for a desperate moment. Six months later, they're still there and not just because of reports that some Ambien users are operating heavy machinery — their cars — while slumbering or unconsciously rummaging through the refrigerator and bingeing on raw eggs.
Botox studied as way to treat depression By Susan Brink Originally published May 26, 2006 "Wear a smile and you have friends; wear a scowl and you have wrinkles." - George Eliot Inspired by age-old literary wisdom, countless song lyrics and the 1872 musings of Charles Darwin, a very 2006 theory to treat depression has emerged. Why not turn that frown upside down - with a shot of Botox? By preventing the physical act of frowning, the muscle-paralyzing toxin just might ease depression. A small-scale pilot trial, published in the May 15 journal Dermatologic Surgery, found that Botox injected into frown lines around the mouth or in forehead furrows of 10 women eliminated depression symptoms in nine of them and reduced symptoms in the 10th.
Depression-migraine link Researchers might have found a link between migraine headaches and the risk of major depression and the two seem to exacerbate each other. Many scientists believe that both disorders share some of the same biological factors. Past research has hinted at a two-way relationship between migraines and depression, and the latest study adds evidence to this idea. Monday, January 09, 2006
Discovery of New Protein Could Play Crucial Role In Treating Depression Associated Press January 5, 2006 11:13 p.m. WASHINGTON -- Scientists have discovered a protein that seems to play a crucial role in developing depression, a finding that may lead to new treatments for the often debilitating illness _ and fundamental understanding of why it strikes. Although problems with the mood-regulating brain chemical serotonin have long been linked to depression, scientists don't know what causes the disease that afflicts some 18 million Americans -- or exactly what serotonin's role is. The newly found protein, named p11, appears to regulate how brain cells respond to serotonin, researchers from Rockefeller University and Sweden's Karolinska Institute report Friday in the journal Science. Wednesday, October 26, 2005
Mother suspected of tossing kids in bay suffered from schizophrenia Oakland woman says she had stopped taking her medication Jaxon Van Derbeken and Kevin Fagan, Chronicle Staff Writers Thursday, October 20, 2005 14:10 PDT SAN FRANCISCO -- The Oakland woman suspected of throwing her children into the bay to die told investigators that she had been treated for schizophrenia over the summer while staying with her sister in Florida and had thought she was cured, authorities said today. Lashuan Ternice Harris, 23, told authorities that she had stopped taking her medication when she returned to the Bay Area a couple of months ago. Soon, she started hearing voices, Harris told investigators. Those voices were talking to her Wednesday evening, she said, when she allegedly stripped her three small sons naked and threw them off the end of Pier 7 on San Francisco's waterfront.
Exploring Abraham Lincoln's 'Melancholy' by Robert Siegel All Things Considered, October 26, 2005 · In January 1841, a young Abraham Lincoln suffered his second breakdown. He collapsed, and was treated by a doctor who may have done him more harm than good. A new book explores how the Illinois lawyer went on to become president despite suffering from lifelong depression. Robert Siegel talks with Joshua Wolf Shenk, author of Lincoln's Melancholy: How Depression Challenged a President and Fueled His Greatness. "When you read the reminiscences of Lincoln's friends and you hear him described in their terms, he's always the most depressed person they've every seen. It's always this radical gloom that they were shocked by," Shenk says.
Drug maker seeks approval for ADHD patch WASHINGTON, Oct. 26 (UPI) -- Children who are prescribed attention deficit medications may soon be able to wear a patch instead of taking a pill. A new patch system delivers methylphenidate -- the main ingredient in Ritalin, Concerta, and Methylin -- throughout the day, reported WebMD. The patch, made by Noven and Shire pharmaceutical companies, is the first attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, drug that does not have to be taken orally. Pending FDA approval, the companies plan to call the patch Daytrana. Tuesday, July 19, 2005
County jails now largest mental health providers Sean Harder 912.652.0496 sean.harder@savannahnow.com HONOLULU - Georgia's not the only state closing mental health facilities and forcing local communities - and taxpayers - to pick up the tab as an increasing number of the mentally ill end up behind bars in county jails. It's a national epidemic, experts at the National Association of Counties meeting said during the third day of the lobbyist organization's conference. Thursday, July 07, 2005
Doctors and drug companies By Jerome P. Kassirer | July 6, 2005 DRUG COMPANIES spend billions of dollars each year on educational programs for doctors in the form of ''unrestricted educational grants." The companies swear that in supporting physicians' meals, meetings, and events, all they care about is educating doctors, but the US Senate is now asking how much of the content of these programs is education and how much is product marketing. Given the impending expansion of prescription drugs through Medicare, it's certainly appropriate for the government to be worrying. In their recent letter, the Senate Finance Committee asked 23 major drug companies to provide extensive data on these grants, including their purposes, total expenditures, and the identity of the recipients. Cautioning about ''potential for abuse," the letter expressed concerns that industry-sponsored programs might increase cost ''and may encourage the use of typically newer, more expensive drugs." For emphasis, the committee gave them only weeks to respond. |
