The UK Autism Foundation is 'Standing Up For Autism' on the United Nations World Autism Awareness Day on 2nd April 2010. UKAF is urging world leaders not only to stand up for autism but also to provide better public services in education, health, specialist speech therapy and respite care for parents, carers, children and adults with autism and Asperger's Syndrome in every nation...

Funding is now available to residents who wish to run community projects, but hurry as there are less than 40 days left to apply and competition is tight. Grants scheme Ecominds is offering up to £20,000 to help fund initiatives that improve the local environment and involve people with mental health problems...

OptumHealth Inc. is supporting a national memorial being built to honor people nationwide who died in state psychiatric hospitals and are buried in unnamed graves. While noting the significant advancements in behavioral health care that today are helping millions find paths to recovery, OptumHealth unveiled a traveling fund-raising display for the memorial and presented a $50,000 donation...

Combining the antidepressant sertraline with the alcohol dependence treatment naltrexone produced a 54 percent abstinence rate in patients with both major depression and alcohol dependence, whereas the rates were only 21 to 28 percent for patients taking a placebo, sertraline only, or naltrexone only...

Sexual addiction, also called sexual dependency, hypersexuality, nymphomania, compulsive sexual behavior and sexual compulsivity, refers to the phenomenon in which individuals report being unable to manage their sexual behavior...

As these latest cases illustrated, there's no doubt that autism and autism spectrum disorders place a heavy burden on many families. We know that autism and related disorders are conditions that present many special challenges to all families touched by these disorders. That is why the U.S...

Prader-Willi syndrome, also known as PWS is an uncommon genetic disorder (present at birth) in which seven genes (or subsets) on chromosome 15 are deleted or unexpressed. Patients with PWS may have physical, mental and behavioral problems - the main one being an unrelenting feeling of hunger...

Mental illness can affect anyone, including celebrities and public leaders. The American Psychiatric Foundation's ninth annual Conversations event, will feature sportscaster and former NFL star Terry Bradshaw, who will talk candidly about his personal story of living with mental illness...

Rhesus monkey babies born to mothers who had the flu while pregnant had smaller brains and showed other brain changes similar to those observed in human patients with schizophrenia, a study at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in collaboration with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has found...

Congressman Patrick J. Kennedy (D-RI) was honored last night by the American Psychological Association for his advocacy work and legislative accomplishments on mental health issues. The APA presented Kennedy with the 2010 Outstanding Leadership Award, given annually to a member of Congress who has prominently championed the goals of professional psychology...

Mind today presents new evidence to illustrate the barriers people face when trying to make a complaint about counsellors and psychotherapists and urgently calls for independent statutory regulation to help protect clients from malpractice (1)...

Beginning with the upcoming fifth edition, new versions of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) will be identified with Arabic rather than Roman numerals, marking a change in how future updates will be created, according to the American Psychiatric Association...

A pilot project to support armed services personnel experiencing mental health problems as a result of their service will be extended across Wales, Health Minister Edwina Hart announced. The service, which has been trialled in the Cardiff and Vale and Cwm Taf Health Board areas, offered access to clinicians with expertise in veterans' mental health to provide assessment and suitable treatment...

According to the Alzheimer's Association's® 2010 Alzheimer's Disease Facts and Figures, African-Americans are about two times more likely and Hispanics are about one and one-half times more likely than their white counterparts to have Alzheimer's and other dementias...

The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) has issued the following statement on the death of John Patrick Bedell from his attack on Pentagon guards on March 4, 2010: "News reports indicate that Patrick Bedell struggled for some time with a severe mental illness," said NAMI Executive Director Michael J. Fitzpatrick...

A one-page, 27-item questionnaire that is available free online is a valid and effective tool to help primary care doctors screen patients for four common psychiatric illnesses, a study led by University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill researchers concludes. Results of the My Mood Monitor (M-3) checklist study are published in the March/April 2010 issue of Annals of Family Medicine...

Munich, Germany - Contrary to expectations, the opioid receptor antagonist naltrexone is no better than placebo and can be counterproductive in treating substance use disorder in patients with schizophrenia, according to data released at the 18th European Congress of Psychiatry...

NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) recently celebrated the third anniversary of the NAMI Connection Recovery Support Group, a free support group for adults living with mental illness. NAMI offers nearly 500 Connection support groups in 45 states...

Illinois State Senator John Cullerton (D) received the 2010 State Legislator of the Year Award from the American Psychological Association Practice Organization (APAPO) in recognition of his legislative accomplishments to increase the availability of mental healthcare services and to promote greater public well being. Senator Cullerton was presented with the award at a ceremony in Washington, D.C...

Vietnam era combat pilot and national board member of NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) Clarence Jordan testified at a Senate hearing today calling for better outreach and coordination of mental health care by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)...