mental illness

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Zynga CEO's Stalker Also Snuck Into Google

Vera Svechina left behind angry letter, Russian-language book

(Newser) - The story just gets weirder. First, Zynga CEO Mark Pincus got a restraining order against amateur filmmaker/former Russian stripper Vera Svechina, who was reportedly stalking him. Now comes the news that Svechina also gained access to the inner offices of Google in March, leaving behind a Russian-language book and an...

Judge Orders Mental Exam for Loughner

He'll be transferred to Springfield, Mo., for videotaped evaluation

(Newser) - Jared Lee Loughner needs to have his head examined ASAP, according to a federal judge. US District Judge Larry Burns ordered a psychiatric evaluation yesterday to determine whether the alleged Tucson shooter is fit to stand trial, the AP reports. The evaluation must be carried out no later than April...

Even After People Lose Gun Rights, Guns Remain

Loophole in taking firearms from those who've lost privilege

(Newser) - Roy Perez shot his mother, a neighbor, and a 4-year-old girl one day with a gun he never should have had—yet bought quite legally. The New York Times takes a look at another loophole in the nation's gun laws, one that fails to take guns away from people who've...

Bizarre 'Pet Hoarding' Surges in US
 Bizarre 'Pet Hoarding' Surges 

Bizarre 'Pet Hoarding' Surges

Many hoarders start as rescuers, experts say

(Newser) - You've heard of hoarding , but did you know it applies to pets, too? Experts say a growing number of Americans are hoarding large numbers of animals that become more and more difficult to take care of as they overwhelm their owners. Tragically, 25% of pet hoarders started out as rescuers...

Mental Disorders Rise Sharply Among Soldiers

1 in 9 medical discharges attributed to PTSD, related ailments

(Newser) - News that the Pentagon is making it easier for soldiers to qualify for disability payments because of post-traumatic stress disorder comes at a good time: The number of cases is rising steadily, reports USA Today . Army stats show that the number of soldiers who left the service solely because of...

Mom: Van der Sloot 'Sick in His Head'

Joran refused to get help, fled to Peru

(Newser) - Joran Van der Sloot fled to Peru two days before he was to be committed to a mental institution, says mom Anita Van der Sloot, breaking her silence for the first time since her son was charged in the murder of a Peruvian woman he met there. "My son...

Congressional Death Threats Up 300%: FBI

Most suspects are men with guns, many mentally disturbed

(Newser) - Death threats against members of Congress are up 300% this year, the FBI tells Politico , and almost everyone doing the threatening owns guns. Capitol Police say they've had to dramatically step up security efforts, which were also boosted in 2009. “We have about 12 open cases at any given...

Outdoor Workouts Improve Mental Health

Exercise in fresh air boosts mood; for greater benefits, just add water

(Newser) - Moving your workout outdoors improves overall mental health, and the benefits kick in within the first 5 minutes, researchers say. To get the greatest mood boost from exercise in fresh air, work out near a body of water, British scientists advise. In an analysis of 10 studies involving 1,250...

Parents Warned Cops About Pentagon Shooter

Bedell had mental issues, maybe a gun

(Newser) - The man who opened fire in front of the Pentagon last night had a history of mental illness and had become so erratic that his parents reached out to local authorities weeks ago with a warning that he was unstable and might have a gun, authorities said today. Bedell, 36,...

Judge: Smart's Alleged Abductor Fakes Mental Illness

Brian Mitchell ruled competent to stand trial

(Newser) - The man charged in the 2002 kidnap and rape of then-14-year-old Elizabeth Smart has been faking mental illness and is in fact competent to stand trial, a Utah judge ruled today. Nothing “impedes his rational and factual understanding,” Dale Kimball writes of Brian Mitchell, 56. “It is...

Man Used Bogus ID to Get Near Biden at Ceremony
Man Used
Bogus ID to Get Near Biden at Ceremony
VANCOUVER OLYMPICS

Man Used Bogus ID to Get Near Biden at Ceremony

Canadian cops believe he may be mentally ill

(Newser) - A man using false accreditation was able to get within several yards of Vice President Joe Biden before being arrested at the Vancouver Olympics' opening ceremony, police said today. The unarmed man was stopped when he got about 12 rows from where Biden was sitting in a specially protected VIP...

China Executes British Drug Smuggler

Akmal Shaikh, said to be mentally ill, dies by firing squad

(Newser) - Despite protests from the British government and human-rights activists worldwide, China today executed by firing squad a Briton convicted of smuggling drugs into the country. Supporters say Akmal Shaikh, 53, had bipolar disorder; the Foreign Office’s complaint centered on concerns China had not taken those issues into account in...

Fake Lottery Winner Causes Store Ruckus

Ohio woman gets 'extravagant' without meds, daughter says

(Newser) - An Ohio woman may be charged with inciting panic after telling a store full of shoppers that she had won the lottery and was treating. Police had to show up at the Burlington Coat Factory to put down the ruckus when word got out, the Columbus Dispatch reports. The 45-year-old...

At Heart of Marilyn's Fall, a 'Very Sick Girl'

Monroe's life, death explored in another tell-all, but there's still no 'external villain'

(Newser) - J. Randy Taraborrelli’s new 541-page biography, The Secret Life of Marilyn Monroe, doesn’t really deliver on promises of “explosive,” “revelatory” discoveries—at least, “not to a Marilyn obsessive like myself,” writes Lori Leibovich for DoubleX. “Instead, there is the deepening of the...

Genius, Madness Linked to Gene

Study links creativity to gene associated with mental illness

(Newser) - The reason why many creative people like Vincent Van Gogh show self-destructive tendencies is in the genes, researchers have discovered. Scientists in a new study found that volunteers identified as the most creative also had the highest levels of a gene variant associated with psychosis and depression, the Daily Telegraph...

Uighur Won't Leave Brother at Gitmo—So He's Staying

Neither is guilty, but one has no offer of resettlement

(Newser) - Bahtiyar Mahnut, a Chinese Uighur detainee at Guantanamo Bay, is guilty of no crime. In fact, he’s free to leave and even has an offer of sanctuary from the island nation of Palau, like all of his compatriots save one. And that one, his brother Arkin, is why he’...

Insane Asylums Weren't So Bad: Oliver Sacks

(Newser) - Mental health experts have lost touch with the benefits of old-fashioned insane asylums, where patients once enjoyed a sense of community and jobs like cleaning and farming, Oliver Sacks writes in the New York Review of Books. Touching on a new book of Christopher Payne photographs called Asylum—which offers...

Experts Warn Parents of Toddler Depression

Children as young as 3 may need help

(Newser) - Some toddlers who seem cranky or sad could be suffering from chronic depression, PsychCentral reports. A new study finds that some children as young as 3 already show clear symptoms of clinical depression. The condition was most common in children who had suffered abuse or the loss of a parent,...

Cannibal Mom Diagnosed With Schizophrenia, Depression

Decapitated baby's dad wants 'ultimate price'

(Newser) - Otty Sanchez, the Texas 33-year-old who confessed to stabbing, decapitating, skinning, and eating portions of her newborn son, had been diagnosed with schizophrenia and postpartum psychosis before Sunday’s slaying, the San Antonio Express-News reports. She’s been charged with capital murder, and is currently in hospital under 24-hour surveillance....

Genetic Faults Link Manic Depression, Schizophrenia

Research slowly unravels genetic causes of mental illnesses

(Newser) - Scientists have discovered genetic variations that link schizophrenia to manic depression for the first time, the Independent reports. Research made possible by technical advances found that thousands of tiny genetic faults raised the risk of both mental illnesses, which had previously been believed to be completely distinct conditions. Experts hope...

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