In this city of crazies, lots of people joked that a judge’s ruling to release mental patients from group homes and allow them to live in their own apartments was nothing special. But not Post columnist Andrea Peyser, who calls the decision (cue eye-roll) "insanity." Peyser opines that the move will strengthen “the army of the damned,” leading to more incidents like a 2005 stabbing by an unsupervised mental patient who went off his meds and attacked a baby. She also accuses the judge who made the ruling, Nicholas Garaufis, of a potential conflict of interest. more ›

On Monday a federal judge ruled that the state must begin moving mentally ill New Yorkers out of "warehouse-like" institutions into more normal quarters, but concerned parties are already voicing their objections. "We are ground zero of this grand experiment that the judge has unleashed," City Councilman James Sanders Jr., a representative for Far Rockaway which houses many of the group homes, told the Daily News. "No one knows what this is going to do." A patient at a facility in the area worried that though mentally ill New Yorkers want to "live their lives the way the rest of us do," it might not be possible. "These people don't even know how to shower or shave, let alone shop or cook," said Robert Evans, who plans to move out of his group home. "It won't work out." more ›

For years mentally ill adults have been "warehoused" in overpopulated, for-profit group homes, but no longer. Today Judge Nick Garaufis called for the state to begin clearing out the facilities and allowing residents to go live in apartments of their own. The order applies to about 4,300 New Yorkers who, according to Jennifer Mathis, deputy legal director of the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law, will now be able to "live their lives the way the rest of us do." more ›

The debate about Joaquin Phoenix's strange behavior as of late continues. Refusing to believe it's a hoax, despite a camera crew following him around for a documentary, the LA Times is going down the mentally ill route. So far the most talked about display of his new bearded, mumbling persona has been from his appearance on Letterman (which just re-aired last night). The psychiatrist the paper talked to said "much of Phoenix's behavior on Letterman hinted at mental illness, such as wearing sunglasses, which may suggest paranoia. 'There is something wrong. And it's beyond drug abuse.' The public should refrain from mocking Phoenix." So basically he's like 0% crazy, 80% beard and 20% sunglasses. MTV News asked Phoenix's publicist about the Doc's diagnosis, which she labeled: "wildly inappropriate." more ›

The family of a possibly insane killer who butchered a doctor now wants him to be reexamined. Last week, a lawyer for David Tarloff, who killed a psychiatrist in her Upper East Side office and attacked her colleague with a variety of knives in February, mentioned his client's problems and now a motion reveals their extent. more ›

David Tarloff, who is accused of slaying an Upper East Side therapist with a meat cleaver, is apparently getting some bad treatment himself on Rikers Island. Reportedly he isn't receiving his medication properly, or at all. more ›

Despite some bizarre behavior during his arraignment earlier this week, David Tarloff has been found fit to stand trial for the cleaver-hacking murder of psychologist Kathryn Faughey. The initial target of Tarloff's wrath was Dr. Kent Shinbach, whose office was next door to Faughey's. Shinbach apparently had Tarloff institutionalized some years ago and the schizophrenic man had undergone electro-shock treatments. more ›

Fingers are being pointed at a Queens psychiatrist who allowed David Tarloff to be released 10 days before he killed an Upper East Side psychologist and attacked another. Tarloff had been arrested after assaulting a security guard at St. John's Episcopal Hospital, and police say Dr. Reddy Bezwada's evaluation read, "The individual does not require further psychiatric treatment at this time." more ›

New York University's Child Study Center is pulling the plug on a controversial ad campaign publicizing childhood mental health problems that was considered stigmatizing. The campaign was meant to raise awareness of conditions like Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Asperger's Syndrome, autism, depression, and bulimia. more ›