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, […]
mental health
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 […]
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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 […]
Posted inObituaries, sj-web
Nancy DeHart Wood
1935 – 2015 NORWAY — Nancy DeHart Wood, longtime Norway resident, died Monday, Nov. 23, after a brief illness at the home of her son, Peter Wood. She was 80. She was born in Boston on March 5, 1935, to Albert and Susan Greene and grew up in Ashland, Mass., at the family apple orchard. […]
Posted inLewiston-Auburn, Maine
Mental illness creates ‘crisis situation’ for jails
AUBURN — One day recently, the Androscoggin County Jail housed: An 80-year-old man with dementia so severe that he wasn’t able to recognize his own lawyer. A man charged with theft who became catatonic behind bars. A woman who, according to an evaluation by St. Mary’s Regional Medical Center, was schizophrenic and possibly suicidal. The […]
Posted inLetters
The roots of violent behavior
After reading the Sun Journal article, “Profile of a murderer” (Oct. 3), one might think that if a family member or associate of Christopher Sean Harper-Mercer had some education and understanding of mental health, Harper-Mercer might have received care and the mass shooting murders might not have taken place. That situation seems to be the […]
Posted inBusiness
Sweetser opens new office in Lewiston
LEWISTON — Sweetser, a nonprofit mental health organization with locations throughout Maine, has recently opened a new location at 217 Main St., Suite 302, in Lewiston. Sweetser’s mental health and substance abuse services are available for clients of all ages, including adult and child case management, outpatient therapy and medication management. Referrals and appointments can […]
Posted inLewiston-Auburn
Drunken man jumps off footbridge at Bonney Park
AUBURN — A 38-year-old man jumped off the footbridge in Bonney Park after deciding to go for a swim Thursday afternoon, police said. The man, who was intoxicated, swam back to the riverbank at the park. Police took him voluntarily to St. Mary’s Regional Medical Center for a mental health evaluation.