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Showing posts from July, 2007

Interface Consultation Services Update

A brief overview of Interface Consultation Services current endeavors: I. Blog Focus - We continue to post weekly on ICS and Counseling Connections . Our posts include mental health research, news and thoughts we feel providers and clients will find valuable. II. Counseling Connections - Provides Licensed Professional Online and Telephone Mental Health Counseling, Coaching and Services. III. PESI Seminars by ICS: High Risk Callers: Responding to Psychiatric Emergencies Over the Phone. New and exciting sorely needed seminar designed specifically for clinicians, call centers, triage nurses who provide efficient assessment and treatment over the phone. Psychiatric Emergencies over the phone line are DIFFICULT and extremely anxiety provoking. General Medical Clinics are seeing more psychiatric patients. Learn the skills you didn't learn in school to assist these patients. IV. Telemental Health Triage - We continue our day-to-day service commitment to Riverwood Center to provide pr

Mental Health Equal to Medical Reimbursement in North Carolina

NC Senate Votes in Favor of Mental-health Parity - Winston-Salem Journal, James RomoserJuly 05, 2007 Workers with severe depression, schizophrenia or other mental illnesses would be entitled to the same health-insurance benefits as workers with physical ailments under a bill approved by the N.C. Senate yesterday. Despite some senators' concerns about increased costs to small businesses, the bill was approved by a vote of 36 to 12. It is now being sent back to the N.C. House of Representatives, which previously approved the bill in a different version. The vote took North Carolina another step closer to a system known as mental-health parity, in which employers' group health insurance plans are required to treat mental illnesses on par with physical illnesses. Supporters of parity have long tried to get bills through the legislature, but without much luck. "Mental health parity legislation has been debated by this General Assembly for over 15 years now, and I'm pleased

Suicide Attempts Fall After Depression Treatment Begins

Suicide attempts dropped among people with depression soon after they started treatment, either with antidepressant drugs or psychotherapy, a study of more than 109,000 patients shows. The study results come after a controversial 2004 recommendation on antidepressant labeling from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). That move slapped a strong "black box" warning on the labeling of drugs called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), which include Celexa, Paxil, Prozac and Zoloft. The warning outlined the potential for an increase in suicidal thoughts among teenagers and young adults prescribed the medications. The warning also urged closer clinical monitoring of these patients. Additional clinical research material is available @ http://health.msn.com/centers/mentalhealth/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid=100165625