Mental Health
Ezzard addresses Mac’s admission of mental health issues
(CNS): Ezzard Miller, the representative for North Side and former opposition leader, is the first, and so far only, member of the Legislative Assembly to publicly comment on the alleged assault on a woman by House Speaker McKeeva Bush last weekend. Calling for his resignation or, if necessary, his enforced removal, Miller expressed serious concern […]
Docs agree Webb insane but court to decide verdict
(CNS): Travis Webb (27), who was charged with attempted murder after he buried a 3-year-old child alive in a shallow grave in a family yard in November 2018, has been ruled insane by psychiatrists instructed by both the crown and the defence.
Child hospitalised from troubled care home
(CNS): A teenage resident at the Frances Bodden Children’s Home was taken to hospital Christmas Eve following what is believed to be a suicide attempt. Officials from the Department of Children and Family Services have failed to respond to CNS enquiries about the incident but the RCIPS has confirmed that police and medics were called […]
Minister dodges health cover issue
(CNS): The health minister said very little about the pressing issue of health insurance costs when he spoke for almost two hours on Monday during the debate on the Unity government’s $2 billion budget. Despite having some of the most intractable problems of any minister, including garbage collection failures and the increasing struggle many face […]
Deals signed with builders on mental health centre
(CNS): Three local contractors that have been selected to work on the government’s proposed long-term residential mental health facility in East End signed their contracts last week, government officials said in a release. Government had to tender the project several times after it struggled to find a single general contractor that was available to do […]
Contractors picked for mental health facility
(CNS): Government has said three different contractors have now been selected to begin work on the long-awaited, but derailed, Long-term Residential Mental Health Facility (LTRMHF) in East End. The health ministry said Ron Wilson’s Equipment has secured the contract for the enabling works package, worth around CI$1.3M; the CI$5.8M main building work contract has been […]
LRC poses decriminalising suicide
(CNS): The Law Reform Commission has published a discussion paper asking the public to submit their comments on the decriminalisation of suicide, which many people may be surprised to learn is still an offence in the Cayman Islands. The paper follows a referral via the Attorney General from the Alex Panton Foundation, a mental health […]
Denver decriminalises ‘magic mushrooms’
(CNS): The people of Denver, Colorado, have voted to decriminalise ‘magic mushrooms’ by a slim margin. While the natural hallucinogen remains illegal, the vote shifts law enforcement resources away from pursuing people using it. Campaigners for decriminalisation say psilocybin, the psychedelic compound found in some species of mushroom, is safe, non-addictive and has therapeutic benefits […]
Anti-bullying legislation gathers dust
(CNS Local Life): More than half of young people in the Cayman Islands have been bullied, often causing severe mental health problems, and yet there has been little effort by parliament to act on the draft legislation to counter it, which has been around for years. At a recent presentation on bullying, for which only […]
Tender troubles stall mental health facility
(CNS): The health ministry is re-doing the tender process for the long-awaited and much-needed residential mental health facility after it appears the original tendering process failed to secure a deal with any of the previous bidders. Government officials have failed to explained what happened with earlier attempts to find a contractor to build the facility, […]
Youth struggle with suicidal thoughts, self-harm
(CNS Local Life): Results of the mental-health component of the 2018 Cayman Islands Student Drug Use (CISDUS) biennial survey, which were shared at the recent Youth Mental Health Symposium, pointed to issues concerning students considering suicide, engaging in self-harm and being bullied. More than 200 people attended the second annual symposium, held 23 February and […]
