Tagged: mental health

In the weeks following the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn, politicians and pundits across the country have been searching for a solution to help prevent a similar tragedy from occurring in the future – and in the neighboring state of Massachusetts, lawmakers and advocates are hoping that a discussion on mental health issues can be made a priority in the next legislative session. WAMC's Berkshire Bureau Chief Lucas Willard has more...

On this edition of Medical Monday is Dr. Eric Plakun of the Austen Riggs Center – a board certified psychiatrist and psychoanalytic psychotherapist practicing in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. WAMC’s Alan Chartock hosts.

The number of mentally ill Vermonters being held in hospital emergency rooms for lack of a mental health bed is heading in the wrong direction.

That's the word from Mental Health Commissioner Patrick Flood. Flood tells a legislative committee that instances in which mental health beds weren't available and patients were held in hospital emergency rooms grew from 15 in June to 22 in July and 24 in August.

The National Alliance on Mental Illness-Columbia County is sponsoring a symposium called Navigating/Advocating Within the Local Criminal Justice System at Columbia Greene Community College on September 13. The event features representatives of law enforcement, the justice system, and mental health officials.

Sheri Bolevice is spokesperson for the National Alliance on Mental Illness-Columbia County, which works to support the mentally ill through education, advocacy and support. She spoke with WAMC's Alan Chartock.