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Billy Joel was in a dark place after Sept. 11, 2001, and he says he used booze in a failed effort to find his way out of it. The 64-year-old Piano Man, who made headlines in the early 2000s not for his music but rather for a spate of automobile crashes, has been through two stints in rehab – in 2002 and 2005. In an interview with the New York Times, the singer-songwriter says that his drinking and depression stemmed from the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Joel, however, says that alcohol wasn’t to blame for the crashes. "My mind wasn’t right. I wasn’t focused. I went into a deep, deep depression after 9/11,” the singer-songwriter said. “I was kind of in a mental fog, and [the crashes] had nothing to do with the booze. “9/11 just knocked the wind out of me,” he continued, “and I don’t know even now if I’ve recovered from it. It really, really hurt that man could do that to man.” Joel told the newspaper that he drank during difficult times in his life, such as during his multiple divorces. His second stint in rehab began after third wife Katie Lee told him, “You’re drinking way...

Three years after "Obamacare" was passed, California has unveiled the first details about what people will be charged for coverage by 13 health plans offering policies in the state's exchange. All health plans purchased through Covered California must cover a range of services called Essential Health Benefits that include mental health and substance use disorder services such as behavioral health treatment. More than twice as many drug and alcohol addicts in California will be eligible for substance abuse treatment under the plan, with coverage beginning Jan. 1, the Associated Press reports. Nationwide,  an additional 3 million to 5 million people with drug and alcohol problems will become eligible for insurance coverage, according to the AP's analysis of government data. The benefits fit into the following 10 categories:

About 20 percent of the children in the United States suffers from a mental health disorder, according to a new report by the  Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). This is the first report to describe the number  of youths  aged 3–17 years who have specific mental disorders, including ADHD, disruptive behavioral disorders such as oppositional defiant disorder and conduct disorder, autism spectrum disorders, mood and anxiety disorders including depression, substance use disorders, and Tourette syndrome. The report also includes information on a few indicators of mental health, specifically, mentally unhealthy days and suicide. The study cited data collected from 1994 to 2011 that showed the number of children with mental disorders is growing. It suggested improvements in diagnoses as one possible explanation for the increase. "Millions of children in the U.S. have mental disorders that affect their overall health and present challenges for their loved ones," Dr. Tom Frieden, director of the CDC, said in a news release. "In addition, the financial costs of childhood mental disorders are at least an estimated $247 billion each year. We are working to both increase our understanding of these disorders, and help scale up programs and strategies to promote children's mental health...

Robert Weiss, senior vice president of clinical development with Elements Behavioral Health and director of the Sexual Recovery Institute, talks about his own recovery from sexual addiction and the founding of his treatment center in L.A. Weekly's People 2013 issue. In the magazine's annual roundup of what it calls "the city's most fascinating people," Weiss says he feels he has the opportunity to save lives through his Sexual Recovery Institute treatment center. Weiss came to grips with his own sexual addiction in 1985, when, on the advice of a friend, he began attending a 12-step program for sexual addiction. Weiss said he was promiscuous from the age of 14 into his mid-20s. There, "I started to realize I had a self," Weiss says. "I realized I couldn't maintain my sexual behavior and still like myself. "Right around that time, AIDS came crashing down, and people were dying all around us. I never got HIV, and I don't know why. I was lucky. I should have died." Realizing other people with sexual addictions would die if they didn't get treatment, Weiss decided to do something about it: He earned a master's in social work at UCLA. He then landed a job...

Three women freed from about a decade of captivity in a Cleveland home have a new ordeal in front of them. It's very likely they have PTSD. Amanda Berry, now 27, Georgina DeJesus, 23, and Michelle Knight, 32, may also suffer from Stockholm syndrome, where they came to empathize with their captors," Caroline Landis, Ph.D., clinical psychologist and professor of pediatrics at Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital in Cleveland, told Parenting Magazine. Their joint confinement might have also presented some potentially damaging psychodynamics along with the obvious morale boost. They had each other for comfort and support,which may have been lifesaving for them. But on the flip side, “in situations like this where there are multiple hostages or prisoners, it is not unusual for one captive to be treated far worse or to have a psychological response that is more severe than the other prisoners,” David Sack, M.D., CEO of Promises Treatment Centers, told the magazine. “The person whose treatment is less severe or who copes with it better often feels guilty that they did not/could not do more to help the more severely affected victim. This guilt can haunt them for a lifetime," Sack said. For those with PTSD,...

Greg Skipper, MD, director of Professional Health Services at Promises Treatment Centers, has co-authored an article on physician impairment in the Journal of the American Medical Assn. (JAMA). JAMA, established in 1883, is among the most influential and prestigious peer-reviewed medical journals today. The article “Identification of Physician Impairment” explains that because alcohol, narcotic and seditive addiction are as common among physicians as the general population, safeguards such as physical examinations and random drug-testing of doctors are needed to protect patients. Dr. Skipper notes that in other high-risk industries, such as the airline industry, regulations  have been put in place to protect the public. Medicine should be the same, the authors of the article say. Dr. Skipper’s co-authors include Julius Cuong Pham, MD, PhD, and Peter Pronovost, MD, PhD, both of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. “We are honored to have our work selected for publication in JAMA,” said Dr. Skipper. “Physicians are susceptible to drug and alcohol problems at similar rates as the general population, affecting about 1 out of every 10 individuals. If these issues can be identified and treated, we can help physicians continue practicing safely.” Greg Skipper, MD, has more than 30 years of experience shaping the professionals health movement. He is...