DIXFIELD — The Regional School Unit board of directors voted Tuesday night to seek a part-time mental health provider for Dirigo High School students, after the principal reported dealing with a “significant” number of issues. Principal Lisa Twomey, who is in her first year as principal, told the board she is seeing “significant” mental health […]
mental health
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Maine police see surge in mental health calls
Maine is seeing a surge in involuntary committals — cases in which people are held for mental health issues against their will — that is changing how police do their jobs. The number of those committals has risen steadily in the past decade, from 344 in 2009 to 401 last year, an increase of nearly […]
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Posted inConnections, Rumford Falls Times
Mountain Valley Middle School students learn tools for healthy living on Believe in Yourself Day
MEXICO — Students and teachers at Mountain Valley Middle School prepared in advance for Believe in Yourself Day on May 25 by reading the book “Husky” by Justin Sayre. The book is about a teenage boy who is trying to figure out what is important to him, who he wants to be, and how he […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Paul LePage moving ahead on Bangor mental health home without approval
AUGUSTA (AP) — Gov. Paul LePage is moving forward without legislative approval on plans to build a secure, privately run residence in Bangor for some psychiatric patients who need services before re-entering the community. But details about how Maine would pay for or oversee the 21-bed rehabilitation residence remain secret more than a year after […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Jared Golden's new law aims to improve mental health care for veterans
AUGUSTA — Though Gov. Paul LePage vetoed 25 bills this week, he let a measure to help veterans with mental health issues become law. Sponsor Rep. Jared Golden, D-Lewiston, said there are more than 10,000 veterans in Maine who don’t use Veterans Administration services who may need mental health help. During the debate on the […]
Posted inOp-Eds, sj-web
Suicide epidemic: Social, economic or both?
Ours is a nation in despair. U.S. suicide rates have surged to a 30-year high, and it’s not just among struggling middle-aged whites. Suicides by girls age 10 to 14 have spiked over the last 18 years. And there’s been a shocking surge in children 17 or under dying from self-inflicted gunshot wounds. Since 1999, […]
Posted inMaine
Mental health care for Maine veterans falling short
AUGUSTA — Maine veterans plagued with bad dreams and tough memories are falling through the cracks in a mental health care system that too often fails them, officials said Wednesday. Sometimes suicidal veterans wind up sitting for days in hospital emergency rooms as they wait to get help from the federal Veterans Administration that routinely […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Hundreds pack hearing on proposed mental health care changes
AUGUSTA — More than 300 people from across Maine came to the State House on Friday to decry changes proposed by the Department of Health and Human Services for Mainers with severe mental illnesses. The hearing before the Legislature’s Health and Human Services Committee was broadcast in a total of five committee rooms in the […]
Posted inOp-Eds
Depression a tough challenge for boys
The United States faces many crises. Yet, despite what are becoming ongoing national dialogues on mental health, education and gender equality, the ways these crises intersect is rarely discussed. Specifically, more must be done to recognize and rebel against the ways boys’ and men’s conditioning toward self-reliance and toughness of character compounds the pain of […]
Posted inLewiston-Auburn, Maine
Proposed mental health bill remains tabled
For the second time, the Legislative Council has put off deciding whether a bill to study the state of mental health care in Maine should move forward in the legislative session next month. The council Thursday kept tabled the bill sponsored by Rep. Drew Gattine, D-Westbrook. The proposal seeks a study on the state of […]