Wednesday, July 13, 2005

Hill District a microcosm of mental health challenges for African Americans (Pennsylvania) Pittsburgh Post-Gazette story - "For about nine months, Earl Hill has directed mental health care at the Hill House, where the 30-year-old program is a satellite of UPMC's Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic. His position puts Hill on the front line of mental health wellness for black Americans and he knows that depression, anxiety, psychosis and suicide are as real as heart attacks or diabetes. Unfortunately, only one-third of Americans get the mental health care they need and for black Americans the gaps in mental health treatment and services are wider than ever. The Hill District, where many of Hill's 1,500 clients come from, is a microcosm of the mental health challenges for African Americans..."  
  

Mexican painter triumphs in spite of illness AP story reprinted at PsycPORT - "Since his schizophrenia was diagnosed in 1991, Alfonso Lorenzo Santos has divided his time between a psychiatric clinic in Cuernavaca and his tiny lime-green house in this remote mountain village. At home, he often gets so violent his neighbors chain him to a wall. Yet despite his anger and terrifying delusions, Mr. Lorenzo has become one of Mexico's most innovative folk painters, piling points upon points of paint on paper, like tiny tiles in a mosaic. To his psychiatrist, Mr. Lorenzo paints as if he were blinded by the sun and sees floating black dots in front of him. To Francesco Clemente, a celebrated Italian artist who encourages Mr. Lorenzo's work, the Mexican appears 'to see images through a telescope - he breaks things down to their elemental level.'"