suicide prevention
VA secretary says agency will cooperate with investigation into veterans crisis line
WASHINGTON — Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Denis McDonough sought to defend the veterans crisis line Wednesday in a letter to the Kansas senator who has raised concerns with how some veterans are treated after calling it. McDonough wrote in the three-page letter to Republican U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran that the VA “takes any allegations […]
VA veterans crisis line to face new investigation by congressional watchdog agency
WASHINGTON — The Government Accountability Office plans to investigate multiple whistleblower allegations of “gross mismanagement” at the Department of Veterans Affairs veterans crisis line, following a request from Kansas Republican Sen. Jerry Moran, States Newsroom has learned. Moran, ranking member on the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, sent a letter to the VA secretary this week […]
Medical exceptions to abortion bans often exclude mental health conditions
If you are in need of support, call or text the National Maternal Mental Health Hotline at 1-833-TLC-MAMA (1-833-852-6262) for free, confidential and 24/7 support, or dial 988 for the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. More than a dozen states now have near-total abortion bans following the overturning of Roe v. Wade, with limited medical exceptions meant to […]
Insurers often shortchange mental health care coverage, despite a federal law
If you or someone you know is in need of help, dial 988 for the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline for free and confidential support or text HELLO to 741741 for the Crisis Text Line. When she tried to find help for her daughter’s depression, Michelle Romero was frantic, panicked and heartbroken. She searched and searched for mental […]
Behind the hardhats: High suicide rates plague the construction industry
Kenny Beck would wait every day for his supervisor John to pick him up and take him to work. They would chat about different things on the way to the work site, where Beck did electrical work. More than anything else, John loved to talk about his arrowhead collection. One morning, John didn’t show up. […]
Suicide prevention is a priority for me now
Editor’s note: This commentary discusses grief, loss and suicide. I live in an old Denver building with six units, one of which was occupied, until recently, by a mathematician. I met this neighbor several years ago when I asked permission to enter her apartment, because I was looking for the building’s main water shut-off valve, […]
Mental health respite facilities are filling care gaps in over a dozen states
Aimee Quicke has made repeated trips to emergency rooms, hospitals, behavioral health facilities, and psychiatric lockdowns for mental health crises — including suicidal thoughts — since she was 11. The 40-year-old resident of Le Mars, Iowa, has bipolar and obsessive-compulsive disorders. “Some of the visits were helpful and some were not,” she said. “It was […]
ADMH Board of Trustees presents legislative agenda for 2023 session
The Alabama Department of Mental Health’s legislative agenda for the 2023 session will continue to focus on developing and retaining its workforce and improving access to care. Ada Katherine van Wyhe, ADMH’s chief of staff, said Friday that she, Commissioner Kimberly Boswell and Director Collier Tynes presented a brief in January to the governor’s legislative […]