Mental Health

John Leonardo, Arizona U.S. Attorney, Supports Obama's Gun-Control Plan

John Leonardo, Arizona U.S. Attorney, released a letter to the public today that expresses support for banning certain kinds of guns and requiring background checks for all sales of firearms. Leonardo begins his letter by explaining that the "political climate for a constructive discussion about gu ... More >>

Chad Campbell, House Democrat, Releases Plan for Schools, Guns, and Mentally Ill

To the credit of the Arizona House Minority Leader, Democrat Chad Campbell, he unveiled a pretty wide-ranging plan to change laws related to school safety, mental health, and guns.Unfortunately for Campbell, he's in the blood-red legislature in Arizona, so let's just say it's the thought that counts ... More >>

Feedback from the Issue of Thursday, January 19th, 2011

Dr. Mark Salerno Is Living Proof That It's Possible to Overcome Mental Illness

Blue Job

Woman to Cops After Trying to Run Them Over With Truck: "I Freaked Out"

Police suspect Rebekah Corwin might be mentally ill.​The Maricopa woman who police say used her truck to try and run down several officers -- with three young children in the vehicle -- offered cops the following explanation for her strange behavior: "I freaked out."Since our post this morning abo ... More >>

Five Reasons Why a Mental Health Evaluation Should NOT be a Prerequisite For Buying a Gun

​ Forget background checks for a moment. Maybe, in reaction to Saturday's mass shooting in Tucson, a whole new take on the problem is needed when it comes to potentially dangerous, mentally ill people buying guns. Maybe a complete mental health evaluation should be conducted on people who wan ... More >>

Arizona's Surprisingly Good Mental Health Laws Might Have Prevented Tragedy

Charles "Chick" Arnold​Arizona's mental health laws are among the best in the country and might have been used to get Jared Loughner treatment if applied properly, says Charles "Chick" Arnold, the state's leading expert in mental health law. "While our system sucks, our statutes are the be ... More >>

Tucson Schools Often Turn Away Mental Health Training, Expert Says

​While details are still trickling in as to the exact extent that mental illness -- and a lack of reporting/intervention -- may have played a role in preventing the tragedy in Tucson, one local mental health professional tells New Times that Tucson school administrators regula ... More >>

DMX Moved to Mental-Health Unit at Arizona State Prison Complex

Arizona Department of Corrections Rapper DMX​Rapper Earl Simmons, better known as DMX, is housed in a mental-health unit at an Arizona State Prison Complex facility called Alhambra near 25th street and Van Buren.DMX was sentenced to a year in jail (minus 113 days served) on December 16 ... More >>

Uncle Scrooged

Take a load off and watch classic flick

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Should be Qualifying Ailment for Medical Marijuana, Says Local Doctor

​ A local doctor of psychiatry and internal medicine plans to petition the state to allow post-traumatic-stress disorder as a qualifying ailment for marijuana under Proposition 203. In a draft petition, (see below), Dr. Sue Sisley of St. Joseph's Hospital points out that some research shows po ... More >>

Our Award Winners

Jesse James, Husband of Oscar-Winner Sandra Bullock, in Arizona for Sex Rehab; Why Would he Go Anywhere Else?

www.avagascerfiles.comJesse James and wife Sandra Bullock prior to the news that James is a "sex addict"​Welcome to Arizona, the sex-rehab capitol of the world. Jesse James, the bad-boy biker husband of Sandra Bullock, has reportedly checked into a sex-rehab center near Tucson after Bull ... More >>

Tiger Rumors Continue to Whirl; "Sources" Say He's Already in Arizona Rehab Center

The Meadows, the rehab center Tiger is said to be attending, has hosted other celebs like David Duchovny and Eric Benet​Gossip rags from Pebble Beach to St. Andrews are reporting today that golf's greatest gigolo is already in an Arizona rehab center and being treated for sex addiction.According t ... More >>

Suspect in Baseball-Bat Killing of Two Boys Found Incompetent to Stand Trial; New Hearing May Take Months

  ​The man accused of a random, fatal baseball-bat attack on two little boys playing in a park in December has been found incompetent to stand trial -- for now. Joe Sauceda Gallegos, 39, a reported schizophrenic with a history of mental problems, became the only ... More >>

Dr. Deception: Joseph Franzetti Dispenses $300 Psych Evaluations Like They’re Flu Shots, but the Reports Are Useless

Marcia Powell Did Have Next of Kin, Says Guardian During Hearing

Why was Marcia Powell's plug pulled so quickly, when an investigation has now revealed next of kin?During a hearing today in Commissioner Michael Hintze's courtroom, the public guardian for Marcia Powell -- the inmate who died May 20 after prolonged exposure to 107 degree temperatures in an outside ... More >>

Surfing the Tiber

Lo-fi Italians bring continental bent to garage rock

Gotta Catch ‘Em All: The Link Between OCD and Video Games

Cowboy Junkies

Arizona Medical Board's hands-off approach to relapsed addict physicians is endangering patients

Death Wish

The Final Exit volunteers call it assisted suicide. Prosecutors may call it manslaughter

Don't Know Smack

Down from the mountain, a softly lit Heath Ledger can't save this by-the-numbers Aussie drug flick

It Girl

Welcome to the Cult of Katie Rose. Hope your liver can handle it

Yo Mama

Amaré Stoudemire's troubled mother walks out of a rehab center again. A judge allows her to return again, but she faces probable prison time

Death Sentence

Maricopa County jail personnel handled an unruly prisoner so harshly that he died. So what else is new?

Get Out of the Chronic Rescue Rut . . .

And accept that you can't always save the people you love

Bad Medicine

Locking up cold medicine makes the politicians feel good -- but it won't put a dent in Arizona's meth habit

Mad for Blue

True colors

Letters

Letters from the issue of Thursday, June 16, 2005

Assisted Suicide

A county psychiatrist's indifferent treatment of a disturbed inmate leads to a courthouse hanging

Shot At Redemption

Twelve years ago, Gordon Lederer got away with murder. But he couldn't escape his conscience

Letters

Letters from the week of October 28, 2004

Indian Givers

The Havasupai trusted the white man to help with a diabetes epidemic. Instead, ASU tricked them into bleeding for academia.

Welcome Back Warrior

The government was supposed to take care of mentally disabled Marine combat veteran Brian Callan. It didn't.

A is for Artist (A is also for Arsonist)

From brilliance to madness and beyond, Jacob Martinez's artistic and personal journey has taken him further than he'd ever dreamed. The fire inside now quelled by medication, the nightmare of his mental illness is over. But at what price?

Head Trip

Young writer's memoir examines bipolar disorder

Helping Lucia

'Intensive probation' wasn't enough to keep mentally ill woman on her meds

Shape Up or Sharpe Out

Trouble-plagued NFL vet faces stint in Valley rehab

Villain or Victim?

Poli-Psyche

Will a long-distance analysis of McCain tell us anything new?

Concealed Weapons

Despite some misfires, The Pistoleros keep looking for a break and say that rumors of their demise are greatly exaggerated

Grant's Doom

State misspent $350,000 of federal funds earmarked for HIV and substance-abuse services

Methology - Part I

Arizona is awash in crystal methamphetamine, a highly addictive stimulant that makes the weak strong, the lazy motivated, the fat thin, the trivial profound. Abuse it enough, and it can also make you psychotic.

The OD Couple

Gridlock'd's Shakur and Roth kick detox thriller into high gear

Sins of Commission

The story of a psychotic Vietnam veteran who died on the streets rattles the mental-health-care and judicial communities, triggering investigations and calls for reform

MENTAL HEALTH MASQUERADE

THE OFFICE OF THE COURT MONITOR IS SUPPOSED TO HOLD THE MENTAL-HEALTH-CARE SYSTEM ACCOUNTABLE TO ITS CLIENTS. BUT NOBODY'S BEEN HOLDING THE OFFICE ITSELF ACCOUNTABLE.

USING SLEDGEHAMMERS TO SWAT FLIES

THE COUNTY ATTORNEY'S OFFICE VIGOROUSLY PROSECUTES FELONY CHILD ABUSE CHARGES. EVEN WHEN NO CHILDREN HAVE BEEN ABUSED.

WHO DID ANN ROPER STAB?

HER HUSBAND HAD 18 PERSONALITIES. SHE SAYS SHE WAS PROTECTING HERSELF AGAINST ONE THAT ATTACKED HER.