Mental health

MENTAL health services in the UK are to receive a £2 billion a year package to better support those with mental health problems. Chancellor Philip Hammond announced the package in the budget today. The money – part of the £20billion a year NHS cash injection already announced – will help put a dedicated mental health team in every A&E and state school. More ambulances will also be equipped with mental health specialists who will be able to respond to people having violent breakdowns - relieving other public services like the police. Announcing the funding Mr Hammond recognised the need for NHS funding to go to the front-line of services. "Our NHS is the number one priority of the British people, and as we approach the 70th anniversary of its foundation, they had a right to know the scale of our commitment to it," he told the House of Commons. "But the British people also care that money invested in the NHS goes to the frontline … [Read more...] about Budget 2018: Mental health services to receive £2 billion a year – with more cash for hospitals and 24-hour crisis hotline

GALLOWAY TOWNSHIP — Patrick Kennedy stood behind the podium at the front of a classroom, facing about 30 college students who leaned forward in their seats when their professor introduced him.“He’s worked a lot on issues about mental health care and addiction, he’s an author and he’s so powerful and passionate about this subject,” said LeeAnn Guenther, Stockton associate professor of physical therapy.“I’m so powerful and so passionate,” the former U.S. congressman said as he and the students laughed. “I should have you rewrite my book forward,” he joked.Wearing brown pants, a denim collard shirt under a lightweight gray jacket, Kennedy talked to rehabilitation students about the opioid addiction crisis gripping the nation, reforms in mental health care and a long list of things that he said need to change to improve access to treatment.Kennedy has been a longtime champion of mental health and addiction treatment. He was … [Read more...] about Patrick Kennedy talks addiction, mental health at Stockton University

Rick Marquis flew two tours in Vietnam for the U.S. Navy, but the retired commander told Florida lawmakers on Thursday that one of life’s scariest moments came last fall, when his 300-pound schizophrenic son suffered a psychotic break and attacked him.“After a brief hospitalization for that episode, our son had two options: the street or our house,” Marquis said at a Tallahassee news conference. “Florida has no institutions he could go to, and private facilities are now $1,000 a day. Knowing he could not survive on the streets, I sent my wife to stay with friends and navigated this dangerous situation on my own.”Marquis, 70, who lives in St. Augustine, was one of a panel of speakers imploring the 2017 Florida Legislature not to further cut mental health programs in a state that ranks 49th in the nation for such funding.While Gov. Rick Scott’s budget has proposed adding $25 million to the annual base budget for mental health, Senate leaders are … [Read more...] about Parents, advocates beg lawmakers not to cut mental health funding

Central Florida’s already fragile mental health system is reeling from millions of dollars in cuts negotiated by state lawmakers — a loss that has already triggered layoffs at two major providers and is expected to leave several thousand people without care.A second round of cuts is slated to hit next year.State lawmakers have largely boasted of increasing behavioral health funding this year — thanks to a $27 million federal grant targeting opioid addiction that is funneled through state government.However, that money can’t be used to cover other losses, including $20.4 million in previous substance abuse and mental health block grants from the federal government available for the past two years that just expired.Some mental health providers said they didn’t know the full extent of the cuts until just before the start of the July 1 fiscal year.The biggest loser in the budget battle are two central receiving centers in Orange and Osceola counties — … [Read more...] about Cuts to mental health care could leave thousands without help, advocates say

A group of health care advocates and a Democratic state lawmaker are seeking a 0.25 percent sales tax increase in Denver to raise money for mental health and substance abuse treatment in the city, which they say is lacking. The proposed November ballot measure would raise $45 million in its first year and continue for 10 years. If the tax hike passes, along with one seeking up to a full penny per dollar across the state to pay for transportation, Denver’s sales tax rate would be about 9 percent. (The current Denver sales tax rate is 8 percent for food and beverages and liquor sales and 7.65 percent for other purchases.) Backers of the effort, including Rep. Leslie Herod, D-Denver, the Mental Health Center of Denver and Mental Health Colorado, say it’s a necessary step to create a sustainable way to help struggling people in Denver and identify ways to promote well-being. The group says polling has shown that Denverites would overwhelmingly support such a sales tax … [Read more...] about Denver sales tax hike would raise millions for mental health care, substance abuse treatment