Mentally Illness

All things considered, the past six months have been good to Crenshaw Scott and Carlos Contreras. In January, the two men, 37 and 39 respectively, moved from uncertain, unstable worlds into a new universe that revolves around Hillview Village, an apartment complex for 50 formerly homeless adults in Pacoima. Once homeless and in and out of mental institutions, Scott and Contreras now live in apartments of their own.

SACRAMENTO -- A federal judge Thursday called California's use of large amounts of pepper spray to subdue mentally ill prisoners a "horrific" violation of constitutional protections against cruel and unusual punishment. U.S. District Judge Lawrence Karlton's order requires California to continue revising policies that govern how mentally ill inmates in the state's prisons are disciplined, including the use of solitary confinement. He found that such isoaltion of mentally ill inmates "can and does cause serious psychological harm" and must be limited.

A housing project that allows homeless adults who are mentally ill or recovering from drug or alcohol abuse to share apartments is the first of its kind in Orange County, housing officials said. Henderson House, actually a pair of apartment buildings, is unusual because of its blend of residents and the fact that it will be self-supporting rather than subsidized once all eight units are rented.

ALBUQUERQUE - When Wynema and Michael Gonzagowski moved to town about two years ago, family and friends warned them about what they described as the heavy-handed tactics and aggressive attitude of Albuquerque police. At first the couple brushed off the warnings, saying things couldn't be as bad as what they had experienced in Los Angeles in the LAPD's Rampart Division, which became infamous for corruption in its anti-gang unit in the 1990s. But the Gonzagowskis, like others here, began to grow suspicious of their Police Department.

Nearly half of all cigarettes purchased in the United States are smoked by people who suffer from mental illnesses, according to Harvard Medical School research. Mentally ill people are roughly twice as likely to smoke cigarettes as those without mental illnesses, according to the research, published in today's Journal of the American Medical Assn.

A Santa Ana board-and-care home was closed Thursday as police and state regulators launched separate investigations into the death of an infant born there to a mentally disabled resident who later arrived at a hospital with the baby's body in a plastic bag, authorities said. Staff at the facility where the woman lives discovered the nearly full-term baby when they went to change the diaper of the woman, who has the mental capacity of a 2-year-old, police said.

Re "A Positive Link of Mind and Body" by Rosalynn Carter, Commentary, May 7: It is essential that the public be informed of the necessity of providing mental-health care access to everyone. All too often there is stigma attached to psychotherapy or hospitalization for mental illness. As Carter so aptly stated, there are so many benefits to good mental-health care, including a decrease in worker absenteeism and a decrease in visits to physicians. MARCIA BERNSTEIN California Society for Clinical Social Work Sacramento

Re "A new look at Laura's Law," March 10 Allowing court-ordered Laura's Law treatment for adults with severe mental illnesses can help everyone if done correctly. The most important part of the article states that people suffering from debilitating mental illness - like Matthew Hoff, who aged out of mental health programs and is now serving time in prison - "may not recognize that they are ill. " Mental illness affects cognition, the ability to think clearly, and people who are severely affected need caring help.

Almost as soon as Matthew Hoff turned 18 and aged out of the mental health programs he'd been enrolled in since childhood, he was out on the streets and in and out of jail. His parents tried to get him back into treatment for bipolar and other brain disorders he suffers, but the young man wasn't cooperative and he wasn't considered dangerous or gravely disabled. So they stood by helplessly as their son faded from their reach. Less than a year later, Hoff walked into a Buena Park bank with a robbery note and left with a handful of cash.

Nearly 1 in 5 U.S. soldiers had a common mental illness, such as depression, panic disorder or ADHD, before enlisting in the Army, according to a new study that raises questions about the military's assessment and screening of recruits. More than 8% of soldiers had thought about killing themselves and 1.1% had a past suicide attempt, researchers found from confidential surveys and interviews with 5,428 soldiers at Army installations across the country. The findings, published online Monday in two papers in JAMA Psychiatry, point to a weakness in the recruiting process, experts said.

It's hard for me to even think about the horrific way in which Kelly Thomas died. I know too many people like him - lost, sick, disoriented souls who, through no fault of their own, have been hit with a disease that puts them in peril. Not guilty, came the verdict last week. The two Fullerton police officers caught on camera viciously beating Thomas in 2011 were acquitted of criminal wrongdoing in his death. Whether you agree or disagree with the jury, there's plenty of guilt to go around.

A Los Angeles County judge accused of shoving and injuring a woman during a dispute about her dog's waste wants the case dismissed because of what his lawyer says is her history of mental illness. City prosecutors say the altercation occurred July 18 when L os Angeles County Superior Court Judge Craig Richman saw Connie Romero place a plastic bag of animal waste on the curb next to a street. Romero, 51, accuses Richman of knocking her down from behind, leading to a cut over her left eye, a scrape on her left shoulder and swelling on her wrist.

My brother John called me last summer to tell me that he had finally figured out our family secret. I was his mother, he said. I am not, of course. My brother is 38 years old, but I will always think of him as he was in his early 20s, when he was diagnosed with schizophrenia. His good looks landed him work as a model, and he was a math whiz. Today, he is still attractive and wickedly smart at times, but his skin is weathered from years of homelessness and he is missing half of a finger on his right hand from one of his "stays" in a county jail.

The federal government on Friday announced it had drafted new rules aimed at keeping people who have been involuntarily committed to psychiatric treatment from buying guns. The Department of Health and Human Services said one proposed rule would "remove unnecessary legal barriers" to states reporting the names of patients involuntary admitted to psychiatric care. Those names would enter the National Instant Criminal Background Check Systems -- NICS -- that would be used by most gun dealers as a condition of sale.