In “The Blog” for the Huffington Post (12/18, Jaffe), D.J. Jaffe, executive director of the Mental Illness Policy Org., observed that the “Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis” Act would “reorient the mental health system away from its focus on serving the largest numbers of the highest functioning and back towards providing treatment for the most seriously mentally ill.” The proposed legislation “reforms the bureaucracy, eliminates programs that don’t help or are harmful, and invests the savings in programs known to reduce incarceration, homelessness, suicide and hospitalization in the most seriously ill.” Jaffe called the measure “a novel, thoughtful proposal that warrants serious consideration.”

Related Links:

— “New Bill Decreases Mental Health Funding, Increases Mental Illness Funding, “DJ Jaffe, The Huffington Post, December 18, 2013.

In continuing coverage, MedPage Today (12/19, Pittman) reports that last Thursday at a sparsely attended press conference, clinical psychologist Rep. Tim Murphy, PhD (R-PA), a “leading voice on mental health reform in Congress, unveiled…his 135-page Helping Families In Mental Health Crisis Act [pdf],” HR 3717 (pdf), which “was the result of a year-long investigation into the nation’s mental health system” in the wake of the Newtown, CT school shootings. In the year since the Newtown tragedy, no mental healthcare bill has been passed, and last week’s poorly attended “press conference was a microcosm of the attention the issue has not gotten on Capitol Hill.”

Related Links:

— “Pay and Practice: Mental Health Reform Gets Lost, “David Pittman, MedPage Today, December 18, 2013.

HealthDay (12/19, Preidt) reports that, according to a study published Dec. 18 in the Journal of the American Heart Association, “older women with heart disease might be at increased risk for dementia.” After tracking some “6,500 US women, aged 65 to 79, who had healthy brain function” at the start of the study, researchers found that women “with heart disease were 29 percent more likely to experience mental decline over time than those without heart disease.” The study authors recommended that women who have undergone bypass surgery or carotid endarterectomy, who have suffered a heart attack, or who are being treated for atrial fibrillation, heart failure or peripheral vascular disease be closely watched by their physicians for signs of cognitive decline.

Related Links:

— “Dementia Risk Might Rise for Older Women With Heart Disease, “Robert Preidt, HealthDay, December 18, 2013.

Medwire (12/18, Gray) reports that, according to a study published online Dec. 10 in the American Journal of Psychiatry, a publication of the American Psychiatric Association, “sustaining a head injury between the ages of 11 and 15 years was the strongest predictor for the subsequent development of schizophrenia, depression, and bipolar disorder.” Researchers arrived at that conclusion after analyzing data on 113,906 individuals born between 1977 and 2000 who went to the hospital with a head injury.

Related Links:

— “Head injuries increase risk for psychiatric disorders, “Afsaneh Gray, Medwire News, December 18, 2013.

The Miami Herald (12/18, De Armas) reports that, according to the National Institute on Aging, “symptoms of Alzheimer’s usually appear after age 60, and it is estimated that as many as 5.1 million Americans have the disease.” As families gather “for the holiday season, some individuals may notice changes in a family member’s physical or cognitive health – especially elderly relatives – that can be the first sign of Alzheimer’s disease.” According to the article, “It is important for family members to be proactive” in these situations.

Related Links:

— “During the holidays, keep an eye on the elderly for symptoms of Alzheimer’s, “Elizabeth De Armas, The Miami Herald, December 17, 2013.

Two major newspapers and two wire sources cover the news that the National Institutes of Health will use a large portion of a grant from the NFL to further research into brain injuries.

The New York Times (12/17, B13, Belson, Subscription Publication) reports that yesterday, the National Institutes of Health provided an overview of “how it planned to use part of a $30 million grant from the NFL to finance a series of research projects designed to answer some of the most vexing questions about how and why athletes sustain traumatic brain injuries.” According to NIH, “$12 million, most of it from the NFL, would go to two groups trying to identify chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, in living patients, not just in autopsies, as is the case now.” To accomplish that, researchers will “try to define what is distinct” about CTE.

Related Links:

— “Delving Into Brain Injuries With the N.F.L.’s Money, “Ken Belson, The New York Times, December 16, 2013.

On the air, the PBS NewsHour (12/16) ran a segment devoted to “efforts to curb” violence in the US, particularly gun violence in the wake of recent mass shootings. Correspondent Gwen Ifill sat down with Jeffrey Lieberman, MD, president of the American Psychiatric Association, and with Paul Barrett of Bloomberg Businessweek, author of the book, “Glock: The Rise of America’s Gun.” In the segment, Dr. Lieberman noted that the “serial mass violence incidents occurring” lately are “unfortunately involving disproportionately people with mental illness.” Dr. Lieberman also pointed out that “in the wake of these series of mass violent episodes, there has been a greater attention, a greater debate and more legislative action to try and address the root cause of the problem, which is the inadequacy and lack of quality comprehensive mental health care services.” Barrett suggested looking to cities where gun crime rates have fallen, such as New York City, and replicating their programs to reduce gun-related violent crimes.

Related Links:

— “Can the U.S. find consensus in better mental health access to curb gun violence?, PBS NewsHour, December 16, 2013.

Chris Cillizza, in a piece for the Washington Post (12/15) “The Fix” blog offered a video segment reporting that gun laws have been largely unchanged in the year since the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Connecticut, but 36 states have increased the money available for mental healthcare. Texas, South Carolina, and Colorado are among the states that have increased funding, with Colorado’s 13.5 percent increase in funding this year particularly noteworthy because of the mass shootings that have occurred there. The state budgeted $20 million to improve crisis centers. Texas, traditionally a low-budget state for mental healthcare, made its largest budget increase to date, with most of the money designed to go to teachers for training “in spotting the early signs of mental illness.”

Related Links:

— “The post-Newtown change you haven’t heard about, “Chris Cillizza, The Washington Post, December 14, 2013.

HealthDay (12/14, Preidt) reported that according to a study published online Dec. 4 in the Journal of Health Politics, a longer maternity leave may reduce the risk for postpartum depression. Researchers arrived at that conclusion after following some 800 postpartum women for about a year. The study authors concluded that current maternity leaves of a maximum of 12 weeks for American women under the Family and Medical Leave Act “may not be sufficient for mothers at risk for or experiencing postpartum depression.”

Related Links:

— “Could Longer Maternity Leave Prevent Postpartum Depression?, ” Robert Preidt, HealthDay, December 13, 2013.

The Wall Street Journal (12/13, Fields) “The Washington Wire” blog reports that yesterday, Rep. Tim Murphy (R-PA), who chairs the House Energy and Commerce committee on Oversight and Investigation, and is a clinical psychologist, introduced the “Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act of 2013.” The measure comes about a year after the Newtown, CT shootings in which six adults and 20 elementary-school pupils were killed. The proposed legislation would create within the Department of Health and Human Services the new position of assistant secretary for mental-health and substance-use disorders. That position would be charged with examination of all aspects of mental healthcare funding as well as treatment.

The Washington Times (12/13, Sherfinski) reports, “The legislation clarifies federal privacy laws so that doctors and mental health professionals can inform family members of people who need help, increases access to psychiatric beds, and protects certain” medication classes “commonly used to treat mental illness” so physicians may prescribe appropriate medicines for Medicare and Medicaid recipients. The bill “already has support from” the New York State Association of Chiefs of Police and the American Psychiatric Association, among others.

Related Links:

— “Rep. Tim Murphy Introduces Mental-Health Legislation, “Gary Fields, The Wall Street Journal, December 12, 2013.