A Leading Mental-Health Advocate Blasts Trump’s Choice for Top Post

Republican congressman Tim Murphy raises concerns over nominee Dr. Elinore McCance-Katz

 In an interview this week, Rep. Tim Murphy (R., Pa.), a leading GOP voice on mental health, said nominee Dr. Elinore McCance-Katz was part of a team that blocked reforms when she was chief medical officer of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration under President Obama.
..Mr. Murphy had strongly backed Michael Welner, a forensic psychiatrist who helped him draft the legislation, for the job. Dr. Welner would have likely been a controversial choice; he has been criticized by colleagues for court testimony against defendants that others believed had serious mental-health problems, and for television appearances in which he offered opinions on people he had never personally evaluated.
.. The congressman had long argued that programs like art therapy—which he said aren’t based on solid research and don’t provide effective treatment—took government funds away from other programs offering more direct medical assistance such as hospitalizations, talk therapy and medication. At the center of that criticism was SAMHSA, where he felt this “anti-medical” mind-set was rampant.
.. SAMHSA officials have defended programs such as one helping teachers recognize signs of mental illness in children and another teaching young children about drug abuse, which some lawmakers had cited as examples of waste.
.. “Murphy has been the most outspoken critic—rightly so—of SAMHSA, and Ellie quit SAMHSA for much of the same reasons. There’s something here that doesn’t add up.”

Freedom Caucus’ Jordan: End ObamaCare blaming, ‘Let’s get to work’

House Freedom Caucus co-founder Rep. Jim Jordan tried Sunday to end the blame being cast upon his group and others for Republicans’ failed ObamaCare overhaul bill

Chis Wallace tried to get him to admit that he was trying to take away protections for people with pre-existing conditions but Jordan would only say he was trying to make health insurance affordable.

Benefits of Medication Management in Alcohol Treatment Services

Medication assistance, in combination with counseling, can help make the temptation to drink easier to resist. Alcoholism treatment medications can block specific reward receptors in the brain, which makes alcohol and the consumption of alcohol much less appealing.

.. These medications, known as agonists or partial agonists, stop the brain from feeling reward associated with alcohol use. The end result is that the person no longer desires alcohol like he or she used to. Because the brain is no longer registering reward based on alcohol use, it begins to balance itself out again and re-create natural reward pathways without alcohol.

.. Nearly 10 to 20 percent of all patients who see a primary care physician or must enter hospital care have some type of alcohol use disorder.

.. A dual diagnosis occurs when a person receives a diagnosis of both an addiction and some type of mental health disorder. Conditions such as anxiety and depression are very common when alcoholism is present. In other cases, conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder, bipolar disorder, and even schizophrenia