In The Hill (6/19) “Congress Blog,” Stephanie Parker, PhD, a public voices fellow with The OpEd project, and Rosi Andrade, PhD, an associate research professor at the University of Arizona’s Southwest Institute for Research on Women, observe that people with “serious” mental illnesses “have been swept into our nation’s jails and prisons along with those without mental illness, disregarding their mental illness and discounting their need for mental health treatment.” After pointing out that “twenty percent of inmates in jails and 15 percent of inmates in state prisons are estimated to have a serious mental illness,” Parker and Andrade call for a paradigm shift “from incarceration and punishment” to treatment.

Related Links:

— “Silent epidemic: The incarceration of the seriously mentally ill,” Stephanie Parker and Rosi Andrade, The Hill, June 18, 2015.

Reuters (6/18, Gaitan) reports that Scientific Animations Without Borders (SAWBO) has produced a series of short, free animation videos available online that provide useful advice to communities throughout the world. Animations address a wide variety of subjects, including on how to handle depression. The animations are narrated in over 50 languages and are available on SAWBO’s YouTube Channel.

Related Links:

— “Free animations spread lifesaving tips via smartphones,” Daniel Gaitan, Reuters, June 17, 2015.

The AP (6/18) reports that the New York “Senate has followed the Assembly and voted for a new tax check-off intended to help end the stigma around mental illness.” The bill “would establish a gift check-off” on state income tax forms “to a special fund that would be used by the state Office of Mental Health to provide grants to organizations dedicated to eliminating the stigma.” The measure now heads to Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) for his consideration.

Related Links:

— “New York Senate approves mental health tax check-off,” Associated Press via Washington Times, June 17, 2015.

HealthDay (6/18, Preidt) reports that research suggests that individuals “who have a relative with Tourette syndrome or a tic disorder are at increased risk for the same condition.” The study suggests that “the highest risk is among first-degree relatives, such as siblings, parents and children.” Investigators came to these conclusions after analyzing “data from more than 4,800 people in Sweden diagnosed with Tourette syndrome and chronic tic disorder between 1969 and 2009.”

Related Links:

— “Tourette Risk Seems to Be Driven by Genetics,” Robert Preidt, HealthDay, June 17, 2015.

The Congressional Quarterly (6/17, Attias, Subscription Publication) reports that the “revised version” of HR 2646, “a wide-reaching mental health bill by Rep. Tim Murphy [R-PA], appears to have picked up the tentative support of” Mental Health America, “a group that endorsed a rival measure last year, but Democrats still have concerns about Murphy’s effort.” For example, at yesterday’s Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee hearing, “some witnesses and panel Democrats aired concerns…including how the bill addresses a protection and advocacy program and court-ordered treatment for certain individuals with serious mental illness in a community.” At the hearing, “subcommittee Chairman Joe Pitts, R-Pa., said the panel would act on the legislation.”

Related Links:

— Congressional quarterly (requires login and subscription)

HealthDay (6/16, Norton) reports that research indicates that an increasing “number of US kids are landing in the” emergency department (ED) due to “self-inflicted injuries.” Investigators found that “between 2009 and 2012, self-injuries accounted for a rising percentage of children’s” ED “trips – increasing from 1.1 percent to 1.6 percent of all visits.” The researchers came to these conclusions after looking at information from a national database. The findings were published online June 15 in Pediatrics.

Related Links:

— “U.S. Hospitals Seeing More Kids With Self-Inflicted Injuries,” Amy Norton, HealthDay, June 15, 2015.

In continuing coverage, Forbes (6/16) contributor Todd Essig writes that in a study published online in the American Journal of Public Health, investigators from the Department of Veterans Affairs and the National Institutes of Health described the development of “a ‘big data’ algorithm allowing clinicians to more reliably identify those at increased risk for suicide.” Commenting on predictive modeling as a tool for identifying people at high risk for suicide, National Institute of Mental Health Director Thomas Insel, MD, said, “It’s particularly encouraging that these analyses use the types of data available to any large health care system.” He added, “These methods could help us prevent civilian as well as veteran suicides.”

Related Links:

— “How ‘Big Data’ Can, And Can’t, Prevent Suicide,” Todd Essig, Forbes, June 15, 2015.

Scott Pelley reported on the CBS Evening News (6/15, story 6, 2:45, Pelley) that the VA estimates that 22 of the two million American veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan “die each day by their own hand.” Correspondent Chip Reid added that two veterans have “launched an Instagram suicide prevention network” which encourages veterans “who are having suicidal thoughts to call them, any time, day or night.”

Related Links:

— “VIDEO: Veterans launch Instagram page to prevent suicide,” Scott Pelley, CBS News, June 15, 2015.

The New York Times (6/16, A14, Carey, Subscription Publication) reports, “Marijuana use did not increase among teenagers in the states in which medical marijuana has become legal,” according to a study published online June 16 in The Lancet Psychiatry. The study, which “covered a 24-year period and was based on surveys of more than one million adolescents in 48 states,” reveals, however, that “states that had legalized medical use had higher prevailing rates of teenage marijuana use before enacting the laws, compared with states where the drug remains illegal.”

Related Links:

— “Medical Use of Marijuana Doesn’t Increase Youths’ Use, Study Finds,” Benedict Carey, New York Times, June 15, 2015.

The Los Angeles Times (6/13, Dayton) reported that “exercise, mental health,” and “nutrition…can affect how someone lives during and after cancer treatment.” The article looks into how each of these three things can impact individuals with cancer.

In a related article, the Los Angeles Times (6/13, Dayton) reported that “some factors that improve quality of life may also increase survival.” The Times added that “managing symptoms and decreasing impairments that come from cancer treatment is closely linked with psychological well-being, says Dr. Julie Silver…creator of Survivorship Training and Rehabilitation, or STAR, a certification program that assists hospitals in developing cancer rehabilitation programs.”

Related Links:

— “Battling cancer with exercise, nutrition and mental health,” Lily Dayton, Los Angeles Times, June 12, 2015.