Today’s “Weekly Spark,” a newsletter from the Suicide Prevention Resource Center (SPRC), pointed to an article that I missed in my review of suicide-related news last week: “Chasse case helps spur creation of mental health crisis center.” The story is important both because of the value of mental health crisis services such as the one established in Portland and because of the role of advocacy in bringing about change in society’s response to mental illness. Here’s the story summary, from the “Weekly Spark”:
A new 16-bed mental health crisis center in Northeast Portland will accept people who are suffering a mental health crisis such as suicidal or violent thoughts, hallucinations or severe anxiety. The center will serve as an alternative to jail or the emergency room for people who are in danger of harming themselves or others, and will provide up to 10 days of assessment and treatment. The center was created to improve the county’s response to people in mental health crisis. The issue was brought to the forefront by the 2006 death, in the back of a patrol car, of a man with schizophrenia.
Kudos to SPRC staff for its newsletter, which has led the way in bringing authoritative news to both the specialist and the general reader on a wide range of topics related to suicide prevention. If you’re interested, please sign up for SPRC’s mailing list.
— FJC
[The abridged URL for this post is http://tinyurl.com/SharesNews .]
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