About 1.4 million hospitalizations in 2006 involved patients who were admitted for a mental illness, while another 7.1 million patients had a mental disorder in addition to the physical condition for which they were admitted, according to the latest News and Numbers from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. The 8.5 million hospitalizations involving patients with mental illness represented about 22 percent of the overall 39.5 million hospitalizations in 2006.

A study carried out in the Institute of Neurosciences of the University of Granada (Spain) and the Mental Health Unit of the Hospital Neurotraumatológico of Jaen (Spain) has evaluated the quality of life of patients suffering from bipolar disorder (BD), in comparison with the general population, and which variables are connected with patients with a lower quality of life.

Impulsiveness can be a common feature of mania, particularly the inability to inhibit behavioral responses. This neuroimaging study examined bipolar patients during their first episode of mania to clarify the brain functioning associated with response inhibition in this early phase of illness. 16 first-episode bipolar patients and 16 healthy subjects were underwent functional MRI scanning (fMRI) while performing a response inhibition task.

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One in 50 people in England were in contact with NHS specialist services for those with severe or enduring mental health problems in 2006-07, according to a new report by The NHS Information Centre. The number accessing specialist services, which cover care by specialist psychiatric teams in hospital or in the community, has risen over the four years covered by the report, reaching more than 1.1 million in 2006-07.

Mental illness is one of the last surviving stigmas in today's liberal society. Class, race, religion, gender and sexual orientation, are all off-limits now as reasons for discrimination, social exclusion, jokes or disparaging remarks of any kind. Where these are concerned, we've come a long way in terms of tolerance, fairness and sensitivity to the feelings of others; as a rule, words are chosen carefully so as not to offend and legislation ensures fair treatment.

Commenting on the Annual Health check, Lisa Rodrigues, Chair of the

The Mood Disorders Association of Ontario (MDAO) today launches "It's All In Your Head!" an initiative to promote awareness of the work of the MDAO and dispel myths about mental illness. Volunteers will be in the Yonge-Eglinton subway station and the Yonge-Eglinton Centre to hand out "heady" information to commuters during the evening rush hour. Mood disorders, such as depression and bipolar disorder will affect one in five individuals at some point in their life.

Young adults who had bipolar disorder as children are likely to suffer from manic episodes, according to an article released on October 6, 2008 in Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. Bipolar disorder is a severe mood disorder that involves episodes of mania and depression. There is significant debate about how pediatric bipolar disorder, which affects children, should be diagnosed.

Forest Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE: FRX) and Gedeon Richter Plc announced preliminary top-line results from a phase II clinical trial of cariprazine (RGH-188), an investigational antipsychotic, in patients with acute mania associated with bipolar I disorder.