Mental Health America Media Awards Recognize Outstanding Journalism

Each June at its Annual Meeting, Mental Health America (formerly the National Mental Health Association) recognizes excellence in reporting and portrayals of mental health issues from the previous year. Mental Health America encourages media professionals and student journalists to submit national, state, local and student news and feature stories in print, online and broadcast media. Details, entry forms and a full list of 2006 winners are available at www.mentalhealthamerica.net/go/media-awards. The deadline for submissions is March 31, 2007.

Entries are judged by a committee of peers selected by Mental Health America for their knowledge of mental health issues, demonstrated excellence in reporting and editorial experience. Members of last year’s awards judging committee represent reputable media outlets such as Nation’s Health, Congressional Quarterly, Voice of America and United Press International.

2006 award winners included Kim Holt of WSOC-TV in Charlotte, North Carolina for her piece "Charlotte’s Hidden Crisis," Houston Press reporter Todd Spivak for "Against All Odds," Peg Tyre of Newsweek for "Fighting Anorexia: No One To Blame" and Los Angeles Times columnist Steve Lopez for the ongoing series "Points West."

Mental Health America will notify winners by the first week in May and will honor those winners at the Media Awards luncheon on Friday, June 8, 2007, during the Mental Health America 2007 Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C. For questions or additional information, contact mediaawards@mentalhealthamerica.net.

Brainstorm Poetry Contest

Beginning January 2, 2007 until March 23, 2006, NISA will be accepting entries for its 5th Annual BrainStorm Poetry Contest. Winners will receive monetary awards of $250, $150 and $75 for first, second and third prizes, respectively, and be published in the Spring 2006 edition of NISA's psychosocial literary magazine Open Minds Quarterly.

"It's a great opportunity for NISA to fundraise for Open Minds Quarterly, but the contest also supports consumer/survivors themselves through the monetary awards and publication," says editor Dinah Laprairie. "The annual contest also means a new opportunity for a NISA member to be administrator of the contest, increasing their occupational skills and experience, one of NISA's main aims."

Individuals who have experienced mental health difficulties or mental illness are encouraged to enter the contest with their best poems. The entry fee is $10.00 for up to three poems. Entries must arrive at NISA's office with both the fee and a completed entry form.

If you want to enter the contest, simply download the entry form from http://www.nisa.on.ca/ Be sure to read the included rules and regulations to make sure your poem is eligible.

posted by j melinn

Get Involved, Get Conferencing

We have a couple of announcements to share and I thought it would be best to just post them all at once. There are newly announced conference scholarships and a chance to guide the direction of future research at NIMH.

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Request for Information (RFI): Input on Public Health Relevant Research Questions for NIMH’s Clinical Research Networks

The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) is seeking input from the clinical research community, mental health professionals, patient advocates and individuals living with mental illnesses, private and public mental health service systems and providers, the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry, and other interested groups about important public mental health research questions that could be addressed using the infrastructure provided by three NIMH clinical research networks - the Bipolar Trials Network (BTN), the Depression Trials Network (DTN), and the Schizophrenia Trials Network (STN).

http://grants1.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-MH-06-128.html

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MHA 2007 Annual Meeting
"Bringing Wellness Home"
June 6 - 9, 2007
Washington, DC

Center for Mental Health Services Application for Financial Support Application deadline: March 30, 2007

The Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS), within the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), through a contract with AFYA, Inc. (AFYA), is providing financial support to consumers of mental health services who would like to participate in the annual conference sponsored by the Mental Health America, formerly the National Mental Health Association. The purpose of the scholarships is to foster transformation of mental health care to focus on recovery. Please note: To be eligible for this scholarship, a completed application and letter of recommendation must be received by March 30, 2007.

Conference information is available at: www.mentalhealthamerica.net

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NAMI 2007 Convention
Building our Movement. Building our Future
June 20 - 24, 2007
San Diego, CA

Center for Mental Health Services Application for Financial Support Application deadline: March 1, 2007

The Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS), within the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), through a contract with AFYA, Inc. (AFYA), is providing financial support to consumers of mental health services who would like to participate in the annual conference sponsored by the National Alliance on Mental Illness. The purpose of the scholarships is to foster transformation of mental health care to focus on recovery. Please note: To be eligible for this scholarship, a completed application and letter of recommendation must be received by March 1, 2007.

Conference information is available at: www.nami.org

posted by j. melinn

ECT Causes Permanent Amnesia and Cognitive Deficits, Prominent Researcher Admits

Press Release

For Immediate Release
Contact: Linda Andre, Committee for Truth in Psychiatry, 917-642-4625

NEW YORK CITY (12/21/06) -- In a stunning reversal, an article in the journal Neuropsychopharmacology in January 2007 by prominent researcher Harold Sackeim of Columbia University reveals that electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) causes permanent amnesia and permanent deficits in cognitive abilities, which affect individuals’ ability to function.

“[T]his study provides the first evidence in a large, prospective sample that adverse cognitive effects can persist for an extended period, and that they characterize routine treatment with ECT in community settings,” the study notes.

For the past 25 years, ECT patients were told by Sackeim, the nation’s top ECT researcher, that the controversial treatment doesn’t cause permanent amnesia and, in fact, improves memory and increases intelligence. Psychologist Sackeim also taught a generation of ECT practitioners that permanent amnesia from ECT is so rare that it could not be studied. He asserted that most people who said the treatment erased years of memory were mentally ill and thus not credible.

The National Institute of Mental Health estimates that more than 3 million people have received ECT over the past generation. “Those patients who reported permanent adverse effects on cognition have now had their experiences validated,” said Linda Andre, head of the Committee for Truth in Psychiatry, a national organization of ECT recipients.

Since the mid-1980s, Sackeim worked as a consultant to the ECT device manufacturer Mecta Corp. He never revealed his financial interest in ECT to NIMH, as required by federal law, and, until 2002, did not reveal it to New York officials as required by state law. Neuropsychopharmacology has endured negative publicity over its failure to disclose financial conflicts of journal authors, resulting in the editor’s resignation and a promise to disclose such conflicts in the future; yet there is no disclosure of Sackeim’s long-term relationship with Mecta, nor did Sackeim disclose his financial conflict when his NIMH grant was renewed to 2009 at approximately $500,000 per year.

The six-month study followed about 250 patients in New York City hospitals, an unusually large number; most ECT studies are based on 20 to 30 patients. Sackeim’s previously published studies were short term, making it impossible to assess long-term effects. “However, in other contexts over the years – court depositions, communications with mental health officials, and grant protocols – Sackeim has claimed to follow up patients for as long as five years. This raises serious questions as to how long he has actually known of the existence and prevalence of permanent amnesia and why it wasn’t revealed until now,” Andre said.

Besides finding that ECT routinely causes substantial and permanent amnesia, the study contradicts Sackeim’s oft-published statements that ECT increases intelligence and that patients who report permanent adverse effects are mentally ill.

“The study is a stunning self-repudiation of a 25-year career,” Andre said.

The article is available at the following link:
http://www.nature.com/npp/journal/v32/n1/pdf/1301180a.pdf

posted by Susan Rogers