Texas Passes Landmark Law Requiring Treatment Instead Of Jail For Mentally Ill

The Sandra Bland Act mandates county jails divert people with mental health and substance abuse issues toward treatment and requires that independent law enforcement agencies investigate jail deaths.

Johnathan Silver
By Johnathan Silver
Jeanette Williams places a bouquet of roses at a memorial for Sandra Bland near A&M University, in Prairie View, Texas. (AP/Pat Sullivan)

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Thursday signed into law a measure that seeks to address the circumstances that led to the death of Sandra Bland, a black woman found dead in a county jail days after being arrested during a routine traffic stop. The Sandra Bland Act mandates county jails divert people with mental health and substance abuse issues

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‘Come Back When You’re Dangerous’: How Police Are Failing The Mentally Ill

Rather than providing the mentally ill with an opportunity to see a mental health professional, one expert says, “We say, ‘Come back when you’re in a crisis. Come back when you’re dangerous.’”

Sean Nevins
By Sean Nevins
Capt. Shawn Welch sprays pepper spray into the face of Maine Correctional Center inmate Paul Schlosser, who is bound in a restraint chair, Schlosser was restrained for trying to induce self-harm.

WASHINGTON --- Natasha McKenna was killed in February by a Special Emergency Response Team officer at the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center in Virginia. She had been shot four times with a taser while her hands were cuffed behind her back, her legs shackled, and a mask secured to her face to prevent her from spitting. The Washington Post

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LAPD Officers Cleared In Shooting Of Unarmed Mentally Challenged Man

Ford’s death was overshadowed in the media, as it came only two days after the fatal police shooting of unarmed African American teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri.

S. Wooten
M. David for Counter Current News
By S. Wooten
And M. David for Counter Current News
A street side memorial in with a painted portrait of Ezell Ford

The Los Angeles Police Department has just cleared two police officers in the shooting death of an unarmed African American man, described by his family as “mentally challenged.” The slaying of Ezell Ford, 25, sparked protests over police brutality and murder, according to the Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck along

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2,600 Mental Health Workers To Strike In California Over Treatment Of Mentally Ill

The health care provider’s 2,600 psychologists, therapists and social workers will walk out to demand that Kaiser Permanente offer timely, quality mental health care at its psychiatry departments and clinics.

Associated Press
By Associated Press

SAN FRANCISCO — Hundreds of Kaiser Permanente's mental health professionals plan to start a weeklong strike throughout California on Monday to protest what they say is a lack of staffing that affects care. The health care provider's 2,600 psychologists, therapists and social workers will walk out to demand that Kaiser Permanente offer timely,

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VIDEO: Attack On Canadian Parliament Fuels “Anti-Terror” Laws, Ignoring Ties To Mental Illness, Drug Abuse

As Canada mourns the death of a soldier gunned down while standing guard at the National War Monument in Ottawa, Prime Minister Stephen Harper is pushing new antiterrorism legislation that would expand surveillance and intelligence sharing with foreign governments.

Democracy Now
By Democracy Now
John Kerry, John Baird

Reports: n the days since the shooting, the gunman, Michael Zehaf-Bibeau, has been identified as a convert to Islam with a history of drug abuse, criminal activity and mental illness. The incident came two days after another violent attack on Canadian troops in Quebec. Martin Couture-Rouleau, also identified as a "radicalized" Muslim convert,

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Are There Mental Health Consequences To Living In Present-Day America?

Does living in the U.S. literally drive a person insane?

Katie Rucke
By Katie Rucke

Does living in the U.S. literally drive a person insane? It’s a question many psychologists and psychiatrists are investigating while examining whether Big Pharma is pushing for an overdiagnosis of psychiatric disorders to increase sales of psychiatric drugs. According to a June 2013 Gallup Poll, 70 percent of Americans hate their jobs or have

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