In new poll on homelessness, Seattle area favors compassion but distrusts politicians
January 16, 2019Tents line the sidewalk along Alaskan Way South in Pioneer Square near Yesler Way. (Alan Berner / The Seattle Times, file)
A new Seattle Times poll finds overwhelming support to expand mental-health and substance-abuse treatment to address the homelessness crisis in King County, but deep distrust about elected leaders’ ability to solve it.
By Vianna Davila and Vernal Coleman
King County residents looking for answers to the region’s homeless crisis favor long-term solutions — particularly more affordable housing or mental-health and drug Read More
Washington governor proposes plans to fix mental health
By Martha Bellisle
The Associated Press
SEATTLE — Gov. Jay Inslee has unveiled his budget and policy plans for fixing the state’s struggling mental health system in the coming years.
Inslee said at a news conference in Burien last Tuesday that he wants to change the system from being “crisis-based” to one that focuses on prevention by providing mental health care to more people.
“There’s too long of a line of people trying to get into the mental health system,” he said.
The governor reiterated Read More
Why ultrasound imaging may be the future of neurological treatments
Credit: University of New Mexico
After decades of medical dramas filling our TV screens, the figure of a technician wielding an ultrasound wand is so prolific, it’s easily called to mind. Even if you’ve never needed an internal abdominal exam, the steps are familiar: The clear, cool gel on the belly; the pressing of a sturdy, plastic device against the patient’s torso; the grainy images that appear on a nearby screen…
Expanding on this traditional use for ultrasound technology, Professor Read More
Seattle stories that humanize mental health struggles
Credit: NAMI Washington
The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) has a mission, “to improve the quality of life for all those affected by mental illness.”
For the second year now, NAMI Washington has presented a storytelling event in Seattle called The Brainpower Chronicles.
Bill Bernat, who serves as its host and storyteller coach, is a storyteller, mental health advocate and someone who lives with bipolar condition.
Bernat speaks frankly in his introduction about how mental health conditions build Read More
How To Be Supportive Of Your Partner With Mental Illness
Being in a relationship with someone you love can be beautiful. It can also be difficult, as you face the hurdles of everyday life. But if your partner struggles with mental illness, those issues can become much more intense for both of you. Understanding the needs of someone with mental illness is challenging. And you may not know how to support your partner living with mental illness while caring for your own needs, too. Here are a few ways you Read More
NAMI Excited With New Opportunities To Improve Medicaid Mental Health Care
Secretary Alex Azar, U.S. Health & Human Services, announced that the Administration will allow states to apply for Medicaid waivers to pay for mental health treatment in inpatient settings known as IMDs, or institutions of mental disease. Historically, Medicaid has not paid for treatment in these settings for most adults. While this policy was intended to reduce inhumane institutionalization, it also resulted in unequal coverage of mental health and, tragically, a lack of appropriate options for people with severe mental health Read More