Word: mental
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...find yourself. Gibson has begun, he says, "an ongoing program of recovery" for his alcoholism, but he also needs to seek help from a religious or mental health counselor in understanding what made him blurt out comments to an arresting officer like "the Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world." "This anger spewed from a depth somewhere," says Dale Olson, who was once a publicist for Rock Hudson and Steve McQueen. "He's got to wring his hands and ask himself, 'Why did I do this...
...Shortly after Katrina, the report says, a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention poll determined that roughly half of respondents indicated a possible need for mental health assistance, yet fewer than 2% were getting counseling. A February survey of people living in temporary FEMA-subsidized housing found that more than two-thirds of female caregivers reported feelings of anxiety, depression and other mental health disorders. As many as half of the children they were caring for were suffering from mental disorders of their own. A poll of police officers and firefighters, most of whom lost homes in the storm, found...
...make matters worse, the city is suffering from a dearth of mental health services. By most estimates, a little less than half of the city?s pre-Katrina population of 450,000 has returned. But there are only a total of 20 psychiatric beds available in the few New Orleans hospitals that have reopened, compared to about 300 before the storm. By last April, the report says, only 22 of 196 psychiatrists were practicing in the city, shifting a good portion of mental health treatment to the 140 primary care physicians, out of 617, who had returned. With 96 inpatient...
...rebuild the system, Townsend and others are calling for more help from the federal government, including an amendment to the 1974 Stafford Act that would provide long-term mental health assistance, rather than current rules that only allow funding for services in the immediate aftermath of a disaster. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration provided 1,200 volunteer counselors for the Gulf Coast until June 30, when funding for its Katrina response program ended. Local doctors would like to see that help continued as well as more help rebuilding the area's teaching hospitals and physician training programs...
...there's a hopeful note to be found in the depressing pile of statistics, it's that Katrina's aftermath should yield lessons for mental health care providers dealing with a future disaster. "People will learn from us," says Townsend. "Because a disaster like this will occur again...