Mental Illness Topics in the Media

Important issues are described here through either news publication or broadcast on mental illness topics.

• 11/25/08: The Sacramento Sheriff's Dept. is settling a wrongful death suit in the shooting of an unarmed, mentally ill man. — KCRA Channel 3. See KCRA trailer.
  
  
• 8/14/08: Inside the Nation's Largest Mental Institution–the Los Angeles County Jail — National Public Radio
  
  
• 8/10/08: El Dorado County deputies sue Shingle Springs woman after shootout involving her ill son and the death of her husband — Sacramento Bee
  
  
• 4/14/08: California's Mental Health System Headed for Crisis — California Healthline
  
  
• 4/1/08: Restrictive Prescription Drug Policies Hurt Schizophrenics — HealthDay . Researchers find that 29 percent of patients are more likely to stop or disrupt medication when subject to the tightened "step" policy. In addition, the restrictive drug policy, originally designed to reduce costs, provided only minimal savings.
  
  
• 2/28/08: Stigma of illness a barrier in seeking help — Stockton Record
  Fewer than 1 in 11 Latinos with mental disorders get treatment
  due to lack of culturally appropriate providers and stigma.
  
  
• 11/9/07: Incarceration without care — San Francisco Chronicle
  Tragedy follows when a high-security, mentally ill inmate with a documented history of bipolar disorder, who was denied treatment and medication during his four months in solitary confinement in San Quentin, was released.
  
  
• 9/19/07: Chair of state's mental health panel to resign — L. A. Times
  Darrell Steinberg will step down from the Mental Health Oversight and Accountability Commission on Sept. 28. "You have to give up your baby at some point," the state senator says.
  
  
• 8/24/07: Medi-Cal budget awaits ax — Sacramento Bee
  "This is the state of California's budget: $45 million in tax relief for yacht owners will stay while $55 million to save thousands of homeless mentally ill is being sacrificed," Sen. Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, said. "It's wrong morally. It's wrong economically."
  
  
• 7/10/07: County mental center blasted — Sacramento Bee
  The family of a murder victim says a man who drank Drano and drove his car into a tree in a suicide attempt was released prematurely from the Sacramento Mental Health Treatment Center the day before the killing.
  
  
• 7/5/07: Judge expands pay raises at state hospitals — L. A. Times
  A judge responding to a class-action lawsuit on behalf of mentally ill prisoners in December said the prisoners' care is so poor as to be unconstitutional.
  
  See comments from NAMI California's president, who says "we are in the middle of one of the worst mental health care crises this state has ever seen."
  
  
• 6/30/07: The movie CANVAS has been honored by NAMI with an Outstanding Media Award for a dramatic motion picture and is scheduled for release in theaters in a few cities in October 2007. Successful, broad distribution depends on support and publicity from the grassroots. See Current Issues for how you can help.
  
  
• 5/31/07: The budget ax — Sacramento News and Review
  If the state cuts and shifts mental health funds, the governor may be breaking the law.
  
  
• 5/20/07: Dumped on skid row — CBS 60 Minutes
  A Los Angeles hospital is caught dropping off homeless patients who are in no condition to fend for themselves out on the street on Skid Row after discharging them -- even if they come from other places in Los Angeles.
  
  
• 5/6/07: Huge bill for husband in state mental hospital — Sac Bee
  5/10/07: More on forced payment — Sacramento Bee
  Criminals don't pay for their imprisonment , but people who are mentally ill are liable for massive state hospital costs.
  
  
• 5/6/07: Death too young — Sacramento Bee
  Sacramento County has seen an alarming jump in youth suicides.
  Image: Youth suicides have risen more than 60% in past few years
  Image: Youth suicides in south Sacramento
  
  
• 5/3/07: Mentally ill die 25 years earlier, on average — USA Today
  Medical needs are not met, and the gap is larger now than in early 90s.
  

• 4/25/07: Understanding real face of mental illness — Sacramento Bee
  Cho from Virginia Tech is not representative of people with mental illness diagnosis.
  
  
• 4/23/07: Mentally ill deserve a chance at better life — San Jose Mercury News
  AB423 and insurance coverage for mental illness
  
  
• 4/22/07: Patients' rights vs. public safety — Sacramento Bee
  Virginia Tech shootings highlight how mental health laws that prohibit forced treatment make it difficult to intervene.
  
  
• 3/25/07: Pushing for parity — Sacramento News and Review
  Local legislators tell insurance companies to treat health care and
  mental health care equally.
  
  
• 3/07: Troubled minds — U.C. Davis Magazine Online
  60% rise in students seeking counseling on the UCD campus.
  
  
• 2/11/07: The death of Timothy Souders — CBS News
  This mentally ill man died of dehydration behind bars.
  Image: Timothy Souders in restraints
  Video: CBS 60 Minutes Video
  Video: Scott Pelley's Video Notebook
  
  
• 2/9/07: Paraplegic allegedly dumped on Skid Row — CBS News
  Witnesses say Los Angeles hospital van left a homeless man crawling in the street.
  
  
• 9/16-20/06: Shocking conditions revealed at Miami-Dade jail — CBS News
  The shocking treatment that mentally ill inmates endure.
  Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4
  Video: The forgotten floor - the mentally ill in our jails, Part 1
  Video: The forgotten floor, Part 2