It’s generally understood that mental illness, especially when untreated, takes a great toll on the person who has it. But family members who take on the heavy burden of caregiving for a loved one with a psychiatric disease are also impacted.

Now that the 21st Century Cures Act has been signed into law, one name in particular comes to mind when considering this watershed moment for mental health reform: E. Fuller Torrey, M.D., the psychiatrist 60 Minutes once described as a “very angry man at war with the federal government which he says wastes billions on mental health.”

Mental illness has remained a consistent factor in police shootings for the past two years in a row, according to 2016 data reported by the Washington Post.

Mark Weiser, chair of the department of psychiatry at Tel Aviv University and associate director for treatment trials for the Stanley Medical Research Institute (SMRI), has become the hound of research transparency in neuroscience clinical trials, which makes him the friend of mental health patients and consumers. Weiser is encouraging the scientists conducting those studies to be more transparent about what they find by sharing data and being forthright when findings don't confirm theories.

When Pennsylvania father Keith Kutz received a call earlier this month informing him that his severely mentally ill son, Travis, was being transferred from prison to Norristown State Hospital, he had mixed feelings. While Kutz is overjoyed that his son is finally getting the treatment he needs, the question remains: why did Travis have to languish behind bars for 18 months before a psychiatric bed became available?

The Office of Research and Public Affairs (ORPA) in 2016 expanded its program of public education about treatment and public policy issues in severe mental illness (SMI) with its release of three original new studies and co-publication of a fourth.

Listen to Dr. E. Fuller Torrey, John Snook and Frankie Berger of the Treatment Advocacy Center discuss details about the landmark Mental Health Reform legislation last week in a conference call celebrating its passage.

In the latest installment of their series The Desperate and the Dead, the Boston Globe Spotlight Team looks to San Antonio, Texas for possible fixes for fatal flaws in Massachusetts' mental health system.

A recent Buzzfeed investigation exposes a nightmare for those with mental illness and their families. The article, INTAKE: Locked On the Psych Ward, details the findings of a year-long investigation into our nation's largest psychiatric hospital chain, Universal Health Services (UHS), and suggests UHS "turns patients into profits."