The case of Kenneth Jermaine Chapman was horrific enough. But Sunday’s stories in the Observer on Mecklenburg County’s mental health system raise the terrifying prospect that many more Chapmans may not be getting the help they need. We must tackle our overwhelmed mental health system now, or more tragedies await.

Chapman was the Charlotte man who sought psychiatric help at Carolinas Medical Center-Randolph, at one point telling staff he wanted to “kill his wife,” but was released with medication for depression and instructions to call back for an appointment. Hours later, police say he had killed his wife, one child and a stepchild.

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Stilwell has bi-polar disorder and postpartum depression and never bonded properly with her daughter.

Attempted murder charges were dropped Friday when a mother accused of smothering her 11-month-old daughter woman pleaded guilty to felony child abuse resulting in serious bodily injury.

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Fuller, who now works as a practicing psychiatrist, is a living example of the message he preaches: Many can recover.

Suffering from bipolar depression, Michael Fuller spent most of his high school years in an old-fashioned mental hospital.

He’d undergone shock therapy dozens of times, to little avail. He was just shy of his 18th birthday in 1972 when a doctor told his mother he would spend much of his life in psychiatric hospitals.

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The parents of a North Carolina teen who hanged herself after receiving hurtful text messages from classmates say she suffered from depression and the circumstances of her suicide are not similar to other cases of high schoolers bullied by their peers.

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Carolyn Zahnow hopes her new book will mean other moms won’t have to live through what she did: a child’s suicide.

Zahnow’s only child Cameron was 18 when he took his life in 2005. He had suffered from depression and drug addiction. He’d been to counseling and rehab, but as Zahnow writes on her website sometimes teens don’t know how to get themselves out of that downward spiral.

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The facts about depression can be depressing.

More than 17 million adults and 2 million teenagers in the United States battle depression each year, whether because of genetics, family history or chemical imbalances in the brain, according to studies.

Women and teenage girls are twice as likely to suffer from major depression than men. Major depression increases the risk of heart attacks and is a contributing factor in alcoholism, cancer, diabetes, drug abuse, stroke and suicide.

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Middle school is a scary place for a significant number of Charlotte-Mecklenburg students, while high-school students are less likely to report fear and bullying at school, a just-released survey of youth risk behaviors shows.

Every two years, health officials poll students in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools about violence, bullying, drinking, drugs, depression and other activities that put them at risk. The 2009 survey was the third given in high schools, and some positive trends emerged: drops in binge drinking, cigarette smoking, weapon carrying and early sexual activity.

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In my last blog post, “Mental Illness at the Movies,” I discussed Charles Darwin’s hallucinations in the film, Creation, and concluded that “the psychotic strand may in the end be an advantageous trait.”

Several days later, in a piece in the New York Times Magazine, titled “Depression’s Upside ,” Jonah Lehrer broached a similar possibility: that depression, not psychosis per se, may be an adaptation favored by evolution. He cited several experts who have argued that depression can improve one’s focus and enhance one’s analytical skills.

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Watch the documentary Thursday, March 4, at 7 p.m. on WRAL.

The suicide rate among Army soldiers hit a record high in 2009 and for the first time ever exceeded the rate in the civilian population. Many blame Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD. PTSD is an adverse reaction to traumatic events that can cause irritability, anxiety, sleeplessness and depression. It became a formal diagnosis in 1980 and since then new types of medications and psychotherapy have been developed that are effective in treating the disorder. Getting soldiers to seek treatment is a challenge however. Many soldiers fear that others will see them as weak for having PTSD and many fear it will hurt their military careers.

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RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. — Lengthy U.S. Army deployments increase the occurrence of depression, anxiety, sleep disorders and other mental health diagnoses for soldiers’ wives left at home, according to a new study by researchers at RTI International, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences.

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As Albemarle Mental Health Center crashed and burned this past year, patients accustomed to the agency’s therapy services often found themselves choking on the smoke.
Debra Belangia was one of those directly affected by AMHC’s demise.
The Currituck County resident began outpatient therapy at AMHC’s Dare County unit about a year ago. She said it took all the courage she could muster to acknowledge she needed treatment for her depression and to seek help.

Belangia said she found a compassionate, helpful therapist who she was able to see every other week. In addition, one of AMHC’s psychiatrists prescribed her medication that made her symptoms more bearable.

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Hickory – Contrary to popular belief, the highest rate of suicide is not during the holiday season, according to UNC School of Social Work professor Jodi Flick. Flick presented “Suicide in Adults and Children: Prevention, Intervention and Postvention,” Nov. 23 at a workshop titled “Depression and Suicide: What You Need to Know” at Catawba Valley Community College. Story continues here ➤

examiner has redacted any reference to prior mental illness in the autopsy report of a fraternity president shot by Archdale police in August.

Guilford County Medical Examiner Gordon Arnold had initially listed “depression” as a contributing condition to the suicide threat that led to the shooting death of Court land Smith, 21.

But Chief Medical Examiner John Butts crossed out that word Wednesday, along with the words “alcoholism” and “depression” under Smith’s medical history. “No prior history of depression or alcoholism,” Butts wrote. Story continues here ➤

Coastal Horizons new Shallotte office is open for business. Behind Ocean City Chevrolet on U.S. 17, the new facility will provide mental health, substance abuse, rape crisis and other programs for local residents.

The office’s medical director, Dr. David A. Joseph, came to Brunswick County from Seattle several years ago. When he began seeing patients, he realized the need for more intervention.

“I tried to set up a private practice, and I recognized a need for drug and alcohol abuse counseling. Everyone who came in had dual diagnoses,” he recalled, meaning in addition to their substance abuse problems, they also had mental health diagnoses such as depression or anxiety. Story continues here ➤

(Parenting.com) — Shortly before last Mother’s Day, 28-year-old Lauren Meehan-Machos broke down in front of her startled husband. “This is more than I can handle,” she sobbed.

The typically confident and self-assured Cary, North Carolina, mom — a former Miss New Hampshire — had felt overwhelmed and panicky since giving birth to her first child, Luke, two months prior. She’d obsessed so much about getting feedings and naps “right” that she stopped eating and sleeping herself. She cried continuously. She started throwing up. Story continues here ➤

I recently witnessed someone near and dear to me diagnosed with clinical depression.

Though I am a nurse, I never knew the impact this could have not only on the person but the family and those who love them. When I received the call from this person sharing a very disappointing event in her life, I felt I could share a few of my nursing skills to help her see “this is not the end of the world.” Story continues here ➤

HICKORY, N.C. — What kind of personal pain would cause a 42-year-old pastor to abandon his family, his calling and even life itself? Members of a Baptist church here are asking that question after their pastor committed suicide in his parked car in September.

Those who counsel pastors say Christian culture, especially Southern evangelicalism, creates the perfect environment for depression. Pastors suffer in silence, unwilling or unable to seek help or even talk about it. Sometimes they leave the ministry. Occasionally the result is the unthinkable.

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Depression in children looks different than depression in adults.

That’s one thing parents and mental health professionals learned last week at a seminar on helping children cope with the symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Story continues here ➤

CHAPEL HILL The state’s chief medical examiner has redacted any reference to prior mental illness in the autopsy report of a UNC fraternity president shot by Archdale police in August.
Guilford County Medical Examiner Gordon Arnold had initially listed “depression” as a contributing condition to the suicide threat that led to the shooting death of Court land Smith, 21 Story continues here ➤

KERNERSVILLE – When Tim Hull’s memory began to fail and bouts of anger and severe depression clouded his normally quiet life, he sank into despair.

By July, Hull, 40, was refusing to leave his home, except when seizures shook his body and his wife, Leann, took him to the hospital and to doctors’ visits. Story continues here ➤

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Published: 02:36 PM, Tue Oct 13, 2009
Study: Support helps military wives better handle stress

A staff report

CHAPEL HILL – Wives of active-duty soldiers are at risk for psychological problems such as depression, loneliness and burnout, according to a study released today by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Spouses are more likely to handle stress well if they are encouraged to build stronger relationships with their friends and communities. They can potentially lower their long-term medical costs if they receive military support services, including mental health care, the study said. Story continues here ➤

Rha Goddess brought her audience into the tumultuous mind of a young woman suffering from manic depression with her performance Friday night.

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Ten years ago, John Gallagher threw himself headfirst from the third floor of a hospital window.

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Depression is a major illness that plagues approximately 18.8 million adults in the United States, according to the National Institute of Mental Health. The good news is research suggests that 80 percent of patients with depression will improve with the proper treatment. The Pfeiffer University Marriage and Family Therapy Institute (Pfeiffer Institute) in Charlotte wants to help anyone who believes they suffer from this disorder by offering free depression screenings to the community.

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Marines are kicking off their boots and breaking out the yoga mats. Through integrative restoration (iRest) veterans are able to combat post traumatic stress disorder, depression, chronic pain and insomnia following deployments, according to information about the program.

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