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Articles Archive for June 2012

Featured, Headline, Prevention, Public Awareness and Support »

[ 29 Jun 2012 | 4 Comments ]
Temperature Gauge in Excessive Heat

During this period when parts of the nation are experiencing record high temperatures, SAMHSA is reminding everyone that these conditions can pose certain health risk to everyone – including people with mental and substance use disorders.
Exposure to excessive heat is dangerous and can lead to heatstroke which is considered a medical emergency.  Heatstroke occurs when an abnormally elevated body temperature is unable to cool itself.  Internal body temperatures can rise to levels that may cause irreversible brain damage and death.
Individuals with behavioral health conditions who are taking psychotropic medications or …

Family-Member, Featured, Military Families, Open Government, Public Awareness and Support, Recovery Support »

[ 29 Jun 2012 | No Comment ]
Join the Voice for Recovery web banner

Written By: Rashetta Fairnot, Public Health Advisor, Consumer Affairs, CSAT
As Independence Day approaches, our nation reflects on its freedom and we look to honor the military service members and veterans who keep us safe. Since September 11, 2001, more than 2.3 million American military personnel have been deployed to Iraq, Afghanistan, or both.  Although the vast majority of returning service members successfully transition back home, 18.5 percent of returning service members do meet criteria for either post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or depression. Unless treated, these types of behavioral health issues have …

Featured, Headline, Prevention, Public Awareness and Support »

[ 27 Jun 2012 | 2 Comments ]
Picture of the stopbullying.gov URL

Written By: Ingrid Donato, Mental Health Promotion Branch Chief, Center for Mental Health Services
Bullying-like aggression can happen to people of all ages – including older Americans. One has to look no further than the situation of Karen Klein, the 68-year-old monitor of Bus 784 in Greece, NY who was tormented by adolescents in a school bus.
Although bullying is typically defined as occurring among youth, what happened on this bus shows that this type of aggression can happen to anyone.  For older adults these problems can occur in many settings, including …

Children, Featured, Headline, Prevention, SAMHSA Store, Suicide »

[ 22 Jun 2012 | 7 Comments ]
Preventing Suicide A Toolkit for High Schools

 
 
Suicide is one of the nation’s greatest public health problems – but it is also completely preventable.  If all of us work together in an effort to reach out and help those at risk we can prevent the needless devastation suicide brings to individuals, loved ones and communities across the nation.
In order to provide practical help in this effort the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has developed a new toolkit entitled Preventing Suicide: A Toolkit for High Schools. The toolkit aims at reducing the risk of suicide …

Featured, Headline, Mental Health, Public Awareness and Support »

[ 19 Jun 2012 | One Comment ]
traumatic-events-cropped-150x150

Written By: MSG Stephanie Weaver, National Guard Liaison, Office of Policy, Planning & Innovation; Eileen Zeller, MPH, Public Health Advisor, Suicide Prevention Branch, Center for Mental Health Services; Juliet Bui, MPA, MSW, Public Health Analyst, Office of Behavioral Health Equity
Did you know that Post Traumatic Stress Disorder affects:

11-20% of Iraq and Afghanistan war (Operations Iraqi and Enduring Freedom) Veterans
10% of Gulf War (Desert Storm) Veterans
30% of Vietnam Veterans

Did you also know that Veterans are not the only population that experiences PTSD:

7-8% of the general population will have PTSD at some …