In a special piece and embedded video for Medscape (4/7), American Psychiatric Association president Jeffrey A. Lieberman, MD, of Columbia University, wrote about the “Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act,” legislation proposed by Rep. Tim Murphy (R-PA), which “is a very important piece of legislation and would no doubt advance our field and serve our patients very well.”

According to Dr. Lieberman, the proposed measure “calls for the creation of an interagency coordinating committee on serious mental illness, which would comprise representation at the highest levels of government,” including the “Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), the Department of Justice, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.”

Dr. Lieberman voiced his hope that it will gain Congressional and stakeholder group support.

Related Links:

— Medscape (requires login and subscription)

The Washington Times (4/7, Wolfgang) reports that former Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen said Sunday that “the nation must prepare for growth in the number of veterans dealing with mental health issues and other challenges as they return from Iraq and Afghanistan.” On NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Mullen said that “it will be critical in the coming years for the US to do all it can to help the nation’s fighting men and women transition back into society,” adding, “I think our force, because it has been away so much, has not had to deal with those [mental health and other issues] as directly as they may have in the past and now that we’re going to be home more, I think we’re going to actually see an increased number of challenges associated with that.”

Related Links:

— “Military hitting the breaking point on mental health problems,” Ben Wolfgang, Washington Times, April 6, 2014.

Politico (4/4, Bade) reported that “mental health does not make gun control easier to talk about.” Rep. Tim Murphy (R-PA), author of mental health legislation and who chairs the House Energy and Commerce subcommittee on oversight and investigations, “says the two topics – guns and mental health – should be addressed separately.” The congressman, who is a trained psychologist, “said linking gun control to mental health does a ‘disservice’ to the bigger problem at hand: trying to get people treatment.”

Related Links:

— “D.C. shift: Gun control to threat detection,” Rachael Bade, Politico, April 3, 2014.

Medscape (4/4, Brauser) reports that in order “to improve and reinvigorate the development of treatments for psychiatric disorders, the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) has made several changes to its funding policies for future clinical trials, according to a recent article (4/4) and a series of announcements published on the organization’s Web site.” Changes to the funding policies “include requiring that all new trials meet new efficiency, transparency, and reporting standards and that they must now examine possible mechanisms of action.”

American Psychiatric Association president Jeffrey Lieberman, MD, told Medscape Medical News that “he is particularly pleased with the NIMH’s commitment to having all new trials examine mechanisms.” Dr. Lieberman stated, “I think that model is a powerful and important one to emphasize.”

Related Links:

— Medscape (requires login and subscription)

WBUR-FM Boston (4/4, Zimmerman) provides an overview of “the history of legislation to put mental health services on equal footing with all other medical care,” noting that “parity efforts began in earnest in the late 1990s, but still aren’t fully implemented today, despite widespread support, including from notable advocates like former Congressman Patrick Kennedy.” The article quotes extensively from a policy brief published April 3 in the journal Health Affairs.

Related Links:

— “Mental Health Parity: If Not Now, When?,” Rachel Zimmerman, WBUR-FM Boston, April 3, 2014.

USA Today (4/4, Zoroya) reports, “The Pentagon said Thursday that more than 155,000 US troops have PTSD and that more than three-quarters of them are combat veterans.” Approximately “1,000 veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan war era are diagnosed each week with post-traumatic stress disorder and more than 800 with depression, according to VA statistics.”

The National Journal (4/4, Vasilogambros, Subscription Publication) reports that Craig Bryan, executive director of the National Center for Veterans Studies, believes that soldiers can “get PTSD without actually seeing combat,” and the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition, “changed its criteria for PTSD to no longer require that a person must have been in a life-threatening situation.” In fact, “the APA found that many members of the military and veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, even though they didn’t think they were going to die, manifested the problems associated with PTSD.”

Related Links:

— “Military playing catch-up on PTSD,” Gregg Zoroya, Military Times, April 3, 2014.

In a 1,200-word entry in the New York Times (4/3, Fagan) “Opinionator” blog, novelist Jenni Fagan discusses her experiences with mental illness. She writes that “one in four of us directly experiences mental health problems,” but she points out that “mental health services remain underfunded” and “misunderstood.”

Related Links:

— “An Illness, Inherited?,” Jenni Fagan, New York Times, April 2, 2014.

WWJ-TV Detroit (4/3) reports that President Obama has signed Sen. Debbie Stabenow’s (D-MI) “Excellence in Mental Health Act” into law. The new legislation is “expected to expand access to community mental health services, and strengthen the quality of care provided for those living with mental illness,” funding pilot programs in eight separate states to improve mental healthcare.

Related Links:

— “http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2014/04/02/passage-of-stabenows-mental-health-bill-gains-applause/,” WWJ-TV CBS Detroit, April 2, 2014.

The New York (NY) Times (4/3, A4, Carey, Subscription Publication) reports in a 1,000-word article that today Congress will hear testimony from legislators, patient advocates, and people living with psychiatric diagnoses “on the most ambitious overhaul plan in decades.” Experts call the Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act’s prospects “uncertain” because of the legislative branch’s partisanship, although “both houses of Congress adopted one of its central provisions, expanding funding for outpatient treatment programs through other legislation,” last week.

Related Links:

— “Mental Health Groups Split on Bill to Overhaul Care,” Benedict Carly, New York Times, April 2, 2014.

On its website, CBS News (4/2, Firger) reports that a new study published in the journal Neurology found that regular “rigorous physical activity” by young people could improve mental fitness later in life. According to the article, the study examined levels of cardiorespiratory fitness in 2,747 young adults between 18 and 30 years old with two treadmill tests 20 years apart.

Researchers found a link between the time a person could stay on a treadmill and the number of correctly-recalled words on a memory test. In the follow-up, participants who could remain on the treadmill longer “also tended to score higher on the memory test,” with better performance in psychomotor speed and executive functioning.

Reuters (4/3, Doyle) reports in its coverage that those in better shape when the study began were more likely to possess higher education, healthy cholesterol and blood pressure levels, be more active, and smoke less. During the memory test, researchers found that for each additional minute a subject spent on a treadmill during the initial test, that individual correctly recalled .12 more words, and performed better on trick question and reactions speed tests.

The study’s author, David R. Jacobs, said that it is possible that more exercise when younger simply reduces blood pressure, thereby reducing the risk for dementia and cognitive decline.

Related Links:

— “Exercising young keeps the brain fit in middle age,” Jessica Firgir, CBS News, April 2, 2014.