Recovery Update

Recovery Update features the most recent articles from throughout the field of psychiatric rehabilitation. Stay up to date on all the latest mental health news through this weekly newsletter.
 

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Recovery Update features the most recent articles from throughout the field of psychiatric rehabilitation. Stay up to date on all the latest mental health news through this weekly newsletter.

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Join NJPRA on June 9 for their 6th Annual Spring Conference and Recognition Event. The virtual event will feature: New And Improved Wellness Tools — Peggy Swarbick, PhD, FAOTA Motivational Interviewing: Developing New Skills to Support Change — Joni Dolce, MS, CRC Embracing Inclusion: Moving Beyond Cultural Competence — Tameika Minor, PhD, CRC 2023 Recognition Award Recipients
An "unprecedented" mental health crisis is overwhelming US cities, which lack adequate resources to address growing challenges, according to a new report released recently by the U.S. Conference of Mayors. In recent years, the Covid-19 pandemic exacerbated mental health issues, particularly involving substance abuse, said a survey of mayors of 117 cities in 39 states.
Ever since I started working on mental health care 10 years ago, almost every individual I meet can speak to me, privately and intimately, about their mental health journey and the battles it comes with — but until recently, those stories never came above the surface in public spaces.
Every so often, a student in Andrés Romero’s class at Atrisco Heritage Academy High School will present him with a slip showing the student has an on-site health care appointment. Atrisco's clinic, one of more than 10 school-based health centers in Albuquerque Public Schools, is part of a statewide system designed to ensure students receive the care they need — from mental and behavioral health care to treatments required for kids with disabilities — without leaving school grounds, said Romero, a teacher and Democratic state representative.
As Colorado continues to grapple with its state behavioral health crisis — too many in need, without enough to give it — state officials are hoping $14,000 will help strengthen the ranks of needed nurses. The Colorado Department of Human Services is offering that as a hiring bonus to people willing to work in mental health facilities in Pueblo and the Fort Logan facility in Denver.
Recently, a Wall Street Journal report illustrated the scale of the crisis in Oregon's jails, which warehouse mentally ill inmates awaiting beds at the state psychiatric hospital. Until these patients can be "restored to competency," they cannot face trial, frustrating prosecutors and local administrators who say there's nowhere to put them.
Psychedelic therapy is on its way to becoming a mainstream medical treatment for mental health. In 2020 and 2022, residents of Oregon and Colorado voted to legalize the use of psilocybin, the psychoactive ingredient in hallucinogenic mushrooms, and the Food and Drug Administration is expected to approve it and MDMA, or Ecstasy, to treat depression and post-traumatic stress disorder by 2024.
When a Black person is killed by police, Karsonya Wise Whitehead watches the footage even though it causes her physical pain. Derrick Benson reviews the details of new cases to try to understand what might have happened to his brother, who was killed in police custody.
Suicide remains a global public health crisis and is the third leading cause of death among US youth. Rates have also increased over the past 2 decades, with the death rate among youth aged 10 to 24 years increasing 52.2% from 6.9 per 100,000 in 2001 to 10.5 per 100,000 in 2020. Additionally, many populations are at elevated risk for suicide, including Black, Indigenous, Asian American and Pacific Islander, mixed race, Hispanic, LGBTQ+, and neurodiverse youth, as well as youth who are incarcerated or living with chronic illness or in the child welfare system.
Researchers at the Center for Medical Ethics have studied the significance of systematic family involvement for patients with psychotic disorders. "Systematic family involvement, combined with medical treatment and individual therapy, is recommended in national guidelines for assessment, treatment, and follow-up of persons with psychotic disorders," researcher Kristiane Myckland Hansson says.