mental health

Love NOLA: One Step Forward In Mental Illness

Brett Will Taylor — Fri, 17 May 2013 21:26:13 +0000

My, how we love our characters in New Orleans. Which is a good thing.

Locals still talk about Ruthie the Duck Girl, even though she died in 2008. In my neighborhood of Tremé, we have a tall man with a scraggly beard who pushes a grocery cart around, having random conversations with a street corner. Or an empty can.

Community Impact Series: National Alliance on Mental Illness

Ian McNulty — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 13:25:00 +0000

Family members are often the first to notice signs of mental illness in a loved one, and in many cases they hold the key to unlocking treatment. One local nonprofit is helping them cope with the impact of mental illness on the whole family and showing them how to be better advocates for the long haul.

New Southeast Louisiana Hospital Firm Hires About 125 of 354 Laid Off

The Associated Press — Mon, 31 Dec 2012 19:58:03 +0000

The new private operator of a St. Tammany Parish psychiatric hospital has hired about 125 of the 354 workers laid off by the state.

Red Cross tips on Isaac anxiety

WWNO Staff — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 01:07:55 +0000

With Isaac poised to make landfall in the same areas of the Gulf Coast struck by Hurricane Katrina seven years ago, the American Red Cross has a series of tips for families and individuals in the region that may experience anxiety about the storm and anniversary.

Centers for developmentally disabled approved for privatization

The Associated Press — Thu, 02 Aug 2012 18:38:40 +0000

Louisiana's health department has received approval to hire private companies to run state facilities in Hammond and Bossier City that care for the developmentally disabled.

The Civil Service Commission agreed to the plans Wednesday without objection.

Mandeville psychiatric hospital prepares to close

The Associated Press — Mon, 23 Jul 2012 17:22:19 +0000

Almost 60 years since it opened, the Southeast Louisiana Hospital — a psychiatric facility that gained national notoriety in 1959 when then-Gov. Earl Long was briefly committed there — is preparing to close down its daily operations.

Brother: Family shooting suspect was off medicines

The Associated Press — Sun, 10 Jun 2012 01:12:02 +0000

HOUMA — A man charged with fatally shooting his sister and wounding her boyfriend was a paranoid schizophrenic who was off his medication, his brother says

Joseph Voisin, 44, has been arrested for killing Mary Voisin, 47, and wounding Christopher Smith, 45, Thursday at their home in Gray, La.

Landrieu's State of the City & Chamber Music in New Orleans

WWNO Staff — Fri, 25 May 2012 00:00:00 +0000

On this week's episode we'll hear from Mayor Mitch Landrieu about violent crime, Eve Abrams profiles mental health in the city, and a new music festival comes to New Orleans.

Mental Health Care

Eve Abrams — Thu, 24 May 2012 12:49:28 +0000

One enduring legacy of Hurricane Katrina and the storm's aftermath is stress. Stress about home, family, money, environment, and on and on. But stress doesn’t stay stress; it has a tendency to become other things. Eve Abrams investigates how dealing with hard situations, in a New Orleans helping fewer mental-health patients, has affected the health, safety, and moral compass/future of our city.

City Scrambles to Find Mental Health Beds At Risk From LSU Cuts

Eileen Fleming — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 10:00:00 +0000

A proposal to cut mental services at the Interim LSU hospital system in New Orleans has officials scrambling to find space to treat the mentally ill. Officials say the cuts are not only a health issue, but also a matter of public safety.