Latest National Institute of Mental Health Stories

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Sept. 28, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Galenea Corp. has been awarded two Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grants to further their work towards discovering and developing breakthrough therapeutics for the cognitive deficits associated with schizophrenia. These latest awards from the National Institute of Mental Health will support two independent projects through the end of 2013 and qualify Galenea to compete for larger Phase II awards in 2014. The first grant entitled...

  Study suggests improved screening for suicidal tendencies by primary care providers is needed Suicidal teens are not likely to get the mental healthcare they need. This is according to a team of researchers at Seattle Children's Research Institute, the University of Washington (UW), and Group Health Research Institute. The study, "Adolescents With Suicidal Ideation: Health Care Use and Functioning," was recently published in Academic Pediatrics. The researchers found that only 13...

A new study has identified the major obstacles to improving the lives of people with mental illness around the world. Professor Abdallah S. Daar, a senior scientist with the McLaughlin-Rotman Center for Global Health at the University Health Network (UHN) and the University of Toronto, co-authored the study entitled "Grand Challenges in Global Mental Health."He brought together over 400 international researchers, advocates, clinicians and other experts to identify these mental...

CHICAGO, July 5, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) opens its national convention in Chicago this week at a time when Congressional negotiations over the federal debt limit threaten Medicaid funding for mental health care. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20100216/NAMILOGO) "Lives are at risk," said NAMI Executive Director Mike Fitzpatrick. "The battle in Congress is the shadow that hangs over our members as they arrive in Chicago...

Mental health screening has been demonstrated to successfully connect African-American middle school students from a predominantly low-income area with school-based mental health services, according to results of a new study led by the TeenScreen National Center for Mental Health Checkups at Columbia University. The study was published in a recent online early edition of the Community Mental Health Journal.Previous research has demonstrated substantial disparities in access to specialized...

ARLINGTON, Va., June 14, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- NAMI's Family-to-Family Education program "significantly" improves coping and problem-solving abilities of family members of individuals living with mental illness, according to a landmark study published in the current issue of Psychiatric Services, a journal of the American Psychiatric Association.(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20100216/NAMILOGO) Family-to-Family is a free 12-week self-help course offered by the...

A checklist given to parents to fill out in pediatrician waiting rooms may help early detection of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), according to a study published in the Journal of Pediatrics.Funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the five-minute questionnaire identifies children with autism at an early age to allow them to start treatment sooner, which can greatly improve their development and learning."Beyond this exciting proof of concept, such a screening program would...

Half a million US teens between the ages of 13 and 18 suffer from some form of eating disorder but few have sought treatment for the problem, government research shows. Binge-eating disorder was the most common, affecting more than 1.5 percent of kids studied. Just under 1 percent had experienced bulimia, and 0.3 percent had anorexia, AP is reporting. The study, released online Monday in Archives of General Psychiatry, claims that overall, 3 percent of US teens had a lifetime prevalence of...

Strategic Partnership to Educate Families About Link Between Substance Abuse and Mental Illness and Broaden Scope of Shared Resources on Teen Health NEW YORK, Feb. 24, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Partnership at Drugfree.org and TeenScreen National Center for Mental Health Checkups at Columbia University today announced a new strategic collaboration to educate families about the link between substance abuse and adolescent mental illness and to broaden shared resources on teen health....

WASHINGTON, Jan. 24, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- An overwhelming majority of Americans remain unaware of a law mandating equal coverage of mental health benefits by insurance companies, a cause for concern by psychologists at a time when one-quarter of Americans are reported to have a mental health disorder and only a minority are receiving treatment. In a survey recently conducted by the American Psychological Association (APA), 87 percent of Americans said they had not heard of the...