Virginia's mental illness treatment laws are among the most restrictive in the nation. To get help via involuntary commitment, the state requires someone obviously incapacitated by the symptoms of an illness like schizophrenia to be an immediate physical danger to themselves or others.

The tragic results of this archaic law are seen every day across the Commonwealth, but drew national attention in the aftermath of the murders at Virginia Tech. The stories that play out every day in our homes and towns draw little national media attention, but create much pain.

A failing mind, not body, is the biggest reason people need long term care today.

Members of the black community tend to mask or disregard signs of depression, which can mean that many blacks with mental health problems do not receive treatment.

More than 200,000 people are served by Georgia state hospitals each year many of whom suffer from debilitating mental illnesses.

Older adults with diabetes and depression are half as likely to die when they receive depression care management than depressed patients with diabetes who do not receive depression care management.

When a severely mentally ill child over 18-years old refuses treatment, what can parents do? If the illness is life-threatening or poses harm to others, involuntary commitment for inpatient care is an option. However, for most parents, helping their grown child may require a host of intervention techniques, crisis services, and community support. What sets mental illness apart from physical illness is that a common response of the psychotic person is to avoid treatment and deny any illness.

A behavioral therapy designed to treat children diagnosed with social phobia helped them overcome more of their symptoms than the antidepressant fluoxetine.

Troops returning home from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan with mental illness are receiving different levels of disability payments from the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Netsmart announced the availability of four video case studies featuring idea sharing and insight from four progressive, successful behavioral and public health organizations.

The life risks that insurance covers -- death, financial hardship, serious illness and reduction in standard of living -- are on the minds of Americans, more so than people in 10 other countries surveyed.

Why do mental illness and drug addiction often go together? New research reveals that this type of dual diagnosis may stem from a common cause: developmental changes in the amygdala, a walnut-shaped part of the brain linked to fear, anxiety and other emotions. A full report on why these "comorbid" disorders may develop appears in the December Behavioral Neuroscience, published by the American Psychological Association (APA).

Although many of the children who were displaced after Hurricanes have returned to their home communities or home states, they still face inadequate housing, unsafe communities, and inadequate access to comprehensive medical and mental health care.

The newest tool for managing the care of behavioral health patients is now available from Milliman Care Guidelines.

In the first month after Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans and surrounding areas in August 2005, 17% of the city's residents reported serious mental illness.

A common variation in genes puts women who are under chronic stress at risk for increased depressive symptoms, but has the exact opposite effect in men.