In your Feb. 6 article, Rethinking Mental Health, the overall tone was quite critical of modern psychiatry and the use of psychoactive medications to treat various forms of mental illness. While it is clear that many psychiatrists, and physicians in general, are too quick to prescribe potent medications without exploring other approaches to treatment, it […]
Tag: mental health
Showing 106-119 of 119 results
Integrative medicine is our future
While there is controversy regarding the use of drugs such as antidepressants, if psychotropic medications work for some individuals with severe brain imbalances, then such an option that should remain on the table.
Rethinking mental health: Local practitioners, groups reject mainstream treatment
A growing movement, both locally and nationally, that’s challenging the most fundamental assumptions about mental illness. (Pictured: Faith Rhyne. Photo by Max Cooper)
Asheville natives to hike Appalachian Trail to raise money, awareness for local gallery
After planning for more than a year, Asheville natives E.J. Horrocks and Alex Manfred will make their Appalachian Trail dreams come true while raising money to help Lori Greenberg make Aurora Studio & Gallery a reality. (Flier image courtesy of Aurora Gallery & Studio)
I am a poster boy for mental-health legislation
I am a prime example of why North Carolina needs a “need for treatment” mental-health law that will allow for the forced treatment and forced drugging of mentally ill individuals who, while they may not be dangerous, are in need of treatment. I should be in mental-health treatment, seeing a psychiatrist, receiving long-acting antipsychotic injections […]
Western Highlands Network withdraws budget plan
With a multi-million dollar deficit still looming over Western Highlands Network, the organization’s board members will have to find another way to balance the budget after they withdrew their most recent budget reduction plan. (Photo of interim CEO Charles Schoenheit by Caitlin Byrd)
Lifesavers
Buncombe County struggles with a high suicide rate, and though old wives’ tales say that letting someone talk about killing themself will make them more likely to do it, local health experts disagree. “That is not true. It’s actually the opposite,” says Sue Brooks, executive director of All Souls Counseling Center at 35 Arlington St. […]
Christmas, deflated? Yule need some strategies for coping
Do the holidays leave you feeling knocked out? Deflated? Overwhelmed? If this sounds familiar, you’re not alone. Find some tips for coping within. Photo by Calvin Allen.
Stop using the word “stigma” when you mean “ignorance”
I do not entirely discount the following statement from the Aug. 10 Wellness article, “Thy Rod and Thy Staff: “Due to the stigma that still exists concerning mental illness …” I object to the use of the word stigma. Prejudice exists. Ignorance exists. To proclaim a "stigma" is common; to do so disguises prejudices one […]
Asheville Jung Center offers global training
A pair of Asheville psychiatrists are using technology to link people around the globe while promoting the work of groundbreaking Swiss analyst and author Carl Jung. Considered one of fathers of modern psychology, Jung was a trailblazer in exploring human consciousness, including its darker side.
When illness strikes, help is necessary
I guess, at some point, the mentally ill should take personal responsibility for their own recovery [“The Sick Must Heal Themselves?” Nov. 17, Xpress]. I am sure [the writer] was well intentioned, and that there are people who can and should take stronger roles in their own well-being, but regardless of the illness, there are […]
Buncombe County Board of Commissioners preview: Feb. 16 meeting
The good news and the bad news: Committees present annual reports on conservation easements and adult care facilities.
Cansler, Nesbitt forecast better days for mental health
Lanier Cansler, North Carolina’s new secretary of health and human services, minced no words, proclaiming, “I’ve made it clear: Mental-health reform is over.” Citing a pattern of “constant change and problems” since 2001’s failed attempt to transition patients from state hospitals into community-care networks that never adequately materialized, Cansler declared, “We’ve got to create the […]
Males, war and PTSD
Our VOINCAs the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan grind on, another threat is growing here at home. And though it’s invisible, it has the same potential to spawn abuse, maiming and death. This threat targets the families and loved ones of untreated or poorly treated soldiers suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder and other emotional conditions […]