Mental Health

A Tale of Two Diseases: Mental Illness and HIV/AIDS

In 2011, I was speaking at an international AIDS conference where the first two speakers were from UNAIDS and Harvard. UNAIDS announced a new campaign: Getting to Zero: Zero New HIV Infections, Zero AIDS‐Related Deaths, and Zero Discrimination. (A year later, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called for an AIDS‐Free Generation.) The Harvard researcher reported the […]

County Jail or Psychiatric Hospital? Ethical Challenges in Correctional Mental Health Care

Abstract Approximately 20% of the roughly 2.5 million individuals incarcerated in the United States have a serious mental illness (SMI). As a result of their illnesses, these individuals are often more likely to commit a crime, end up incarcerated, and languish in correctional settings without appropriate treatment. The objective of the present study was to […]

Projected Workforce of Psychiatrists in the United States: A Population Analysis

Abstract Objective: This analysis quantified and assessed the projected workforce of psychiatrists in the United States through 2050 on the basis of population data. Methods: With use of data from the Association of American Medical Colleges (2000–2015), American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology (2000–2015), and U.S. Census Bureau (2000–2050), the psychiatrist workforce was projected through […]

Enforcing Mental Health Parity

Traditionally, insurance providers and employers have covered treatment for mental health and substance use conditions differently than treatment for other medical conditions. Coverage for mental health care and substance use disorders had its own (usually higher) cost-sharing structure, more restrictive limits on the number of inpatient days and outpatient visits allowed, separate annual and lifetime […]

Among The Elderly, Many Mental Illnesses Go Undiagnosed

Few health care providers have the training to address depression, anxiety, and other conditions in their older patients. By now, warnings about the impact of an aging population on the nation’s health care system have become familiar: rising numbers of seniors with diabetes, heart disease, and other chronic illnesses; increased costs; and a strained geriatric […]