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April 8, 2006
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Group helps parents of children with mental disorders
Community Press & Recorder
A new monthly support group for parents of adult children with mental
illnesses, such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, begins April 20
at the St. Elizabeth Behavioral Health Center.
'Drug firms disease-mongering' says medic
icWales
A WELSH psychologist has warned that drugs companies are
"disease-mongering" to try to sell more of their products.
Grandmother Was Scared Of Granddaughter Charged In Fire
KCCI 8 Iowa
An Iowa teen is charged with trying to burn down her grandmother's house
with her grandmother in it.
Mental health advocates speak for themselves and for their loved ones
Jefferson City News Tribune
When Linda Clark's grandson, Sebastian, was 3 years old, his doctor
predicted he'd end up in an institution.
Once-homeless woman spends $1,500 bailing out nearly 2 dozen Broward
inmates.
South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, FL); 4/6/2006
Byline: Robert Nolin
Apr. 6--Maybe it was the steady diet of baloney.
Beverly Johnson has been in jail and doesn't like it. On Wednesday,
the formerly homeless woman revisited Broward County Jail, this time as
a liberator, spending $1,641 to pay the bonds of two-dozen inmates being
held on minor charges.
"I did this because I spent time in jail and know what it's like.
It's awful in there," the 54-year-old former social worker said. "The
food is horrible. It's baloney every day."
The people Johnson set free were typically homeless and unable to pay
bonds of $25 to $100 on charges like trespassing, loitering or
disorderly conduct. Those were the same type of charges for which
Johnson was arrested by Fort Lauderdale police some 20 times while on
the street from November 2001 to June 2003, she said.
A divorce settlement has turned Johnson into a property owner. Two
duplexes in Fort Lauderdale and a triplex on the edge of the city's Rio
Vista area bring in about $4,000 a month, she said. Johnson lets some
homeless people stay in her triplex.
Johnson's "get out of jail free" day wasn't her first. On at least
five previous occasions she has freed from one to six inmates at a time,
for a total of about 50, including Wednesday's purge, Johnson said. The
cost? "An easy 10 grand," she said.
Johnson said she received psychiatric treatment when she spent about
two months in a homeless shelter. "Bipolar disorder, that's the
diagnosis I've been given time and time again," she said. "They're
giving me medicine for bipolar and I take my medicine religiously."
Johnson believes she suffers from attention deficit disorder or
hyperactivity disorder.
Public Defender Howard Finkelstein praised Johnson's altruism. "When
you do something for somebody else for no other reason than it is the
right thing to do, that's very impressive to me," he said.
Johnson may also be providing a slight break for the public, which
foots the approximately $80 a day it costs to house a county inmate.
Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Vida Coleman-Wright downplayed the
affect of Johnson's actions on a jail operation that handles nearly
80,000 inmates a year. "I wouldn't say this happens every day, but this
is not uncommon," she said. "Beverly's done this before."
Johnson said she achieves satisfaction from knowing she made
someone's life easier. "There are all the homeless people that I helped
that love me," she said.
The beneficiaries of Johnson's generosity were not able to thank her
in person. They weren't released until hours after she left the jail.
Robert Nolin can be reached at rnolin@sun-sentinel.com or
954-356-4525.
Copyright (c) 2006, South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.
For information on republishing this content, contact us at (800)
661-2511 (U.S.),
(213) 237-4914 (worldwide), fax (213) 237-6515, or e-mail reprints@krtinfo.com.
COPYRIGHT 2006 South Florida Sun-Sentinal
This material is published under license from the publisher through
the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding
rights should be directed to the Gale Group.
In Light of Mental Health Awareness Month, Depression Author Asks,
'Are Self-Help Books Prolonging Your Depression?'.
PR Newswire; 4/6/2006
Self-help books commonly claim a solution to depression, but fail to
explain that there are two types of depression: normal (psychological)
and clinical (biological). Since clinical depression commonly requires
medication as treatment, readers run the risk of prolonging their
suffering by believing that a book's self-help approach is going to end
their clinical depression.
KENNEBUNKPORT, Maine, April 6 /PRNewswire/ -- In recognition of
Mental Health Awareness Month (May), Bob Olson, the author of "Win The
Battle," is teaching depression sufferers why self-help books may be
prolonging their suffering.
Olson warns, "The problem with self-help books is that authors fail
to make the distinction between NORMAL and CLINICAL depression when
claiming that their self-help methods will allow readers to overcome
their depression. Since the treatment for normal and clinical depression
is different, understanding this distinction is critical for the 20
million people who suffer with depression and their 100 million
supporting loved ones."
Olson suffered with periodic, clinical depression most of his life
without realizing it. He experienced about 3 depressive episodes per
year, each lasting 2 to 3 months in duration. Since his "clinical
depression" resulted from a chemical imbalance in his brain -- a brain
disorder that is actually biological, not psychological -- he needed
medication to re-balance those brain chemicals and eliminate his
depressive symptoms. The day he found a medication that lifted his
depression, all of Olson's symptoms disappeared and have not returned
for over 11 years.
Before the age of 27, Olson sought help for his depression from
self-help books -- not doctors. All these books touted techniques for
overcoming depression, yet none taught the difference between "normal"
and "clinical" depression. In essence, Olson was misled by these books
because of their claims to provide a solution to depression without
explaining that they only offer a solution to one type of depression:
normal depression. Olson is sure he would have sought help from a doctor
months or years sooner if he had known there was a difference.
Bob Olson is an author, lecturer and mental health advocate on the
subjects of clinical depression and bipolar disorder.
Contact:
Bob Olson
207-967-2201
http://www.howtobeatdepression.com/
info@howtobeatdepression.com
This press release distributed by PRWEB ( http://www.prwebdirect.com/
), a service of eMediaWire.
CONTACT: Bob Olson, +1-207-967-2201, or info@howtobeatdepression.com
Web site: http://www.howtobeatdepression.com/
COPYRIGHT 2006 PR Newswire Association LLC
This material is published under license from the publisher through
the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding
rights should be directed to the Gale Group.
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