Showing posts with label mental illness. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mental illness. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Mental health isn't the issue - stigma is
Mark Dayton at his campaign headquarters in downtown Minneapolis.
Many politicians have overcome admissions of addiction or depression, thanks to better understanding of the manageable diseases. Can Dayton, too?
There was a time when the public admission of mental illness could derail a candidate's political career.
That could still happen to Mark Dayton, the Democratic candidate for governor who went public this week with his history of depression. But if so, experts say, it's the stigma -- not the disease itself -- that would sabotage his run for office.
Today, more than a decade into Prozac Nation, there is no reason why someone being treated for mild to moderate depression shouldn't hold a job with enormous responsibility, doctors say. Abraham Lincoln and Winston Churchill both suffered from depression, they say, and that was long before Prozac and even more effective medications that are available now.
READ MOE @ Minneapolis Star Tribune
Thursday, November 26, 2009
'Doctors should stop pushing drugs at depressed people'
Despite a large increase in cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) doctors are still pushing drugs at patients, according to Dr Jennifer Wild, a senior lecturer at the Institute of Psychiatry.
In this week's Scrubbing Up, she argues that GPs need to understand that psychological therapies like CBT work and should choose to offer them.
People with depression often get better when they change the way they think.
Since therapy is more likely to achieve this with longer-lasting results than drugs, doctors need to stop pushing pills and start pushing treatments that work.
Depressed people feel low, worthless, and often suicidal. They need treatment.
Six million people suffer from depression and anxiety in the UK, and surveys show that most do not want to take drugs.
They want a treatment with long-lasting results.
READ MORE @ BBC NEWS"
'Distorted thinking'
This treatment is cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT).
CBT is based on a well-supported theory of how depression starts and what keeps it going: distorted thinking patterns.
Change people's thoughts and recovery occurs.
In this week's Scrubbing Up, she argues that GPs need to understand that psychological therapies like CBT work and should choose to offer them.
People with depression often get better when they change the way they think.
Since therapy is more likely to achieve this with longer-lasting results than drugs, doctors need to stop pushing pills and start pushing treatments that work.
Depressed people feel low, worthless, and often suicidal. They need treatment.
Six million people suffer from depression and anxiety in the UK, and surveys show that most do not want to take drugs.
They want a treatment with long-lasting results.
READ MORE @ BBC NEWS"
'Distorted thinking'
This treatment is cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT).
CBT is based on a well-supported theory of how depression starts and what keeps it going: distorted thinking patterns.
Change people's thoughts and recovery occurs.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Psychiatrist Helped Demonstrate Psychotherapy Is Cost-Effective
Whether psychotherapy is cost-effective was an important question during President Clinton's health care reform effort. Lessons from that era remain relevant during current health reform debates.
If psychotherapy has a place in the American health care system of tomorrow, give some credit to psychiatrist Susan Lazar, M.D., and other clinician-researchers who helped establish the evidence base for the cost-effectiveness of psychotherapy beginning more than 16 years ago.
That was when Hillary Rodham Clinton's Health Care Task Force was at work. Though the exact content of health insurance benefit packages hasn't yet been a focus of today's health care debates, a decade and a half ago task force members were weighing the relative value of any health care service as a criterion for inclusion in mandated benefits.
And “value” meant cost-effectiveness—the cost of providing the service compared with the benefits derived from the service.
READ MORE @ PSYCHIATRIC NEWS
If psychotherapy has a place in the American health care system of tomorrow, give some credit to psychiatrist Susan Lazar, M.D., and other clinician-researchers who helped establish the evidence base for the cost-effectiveness of psychotherapy beginning more than 16 years ago.
That was when Hillary Rodham Clinton's Health Care Task Force was at work. Though the exact content of health insurance benefit packages hasn't yet been a focus of today's health care debates, a decade and a half ago task force members were weighing the relative value of any health care service as a criterion for inclusion in mandated benefits.
And “value” meant cost-effectiveness—the cost of providing the service compared with the benefits derived from the service.
READ MORE @ PSYCHIATRIC NEWS
Sunday, November 22, 2009
The stigma of mental illness The suicides of a German footballer and two of my colleagues show how destructive is the stigma of psychiatric ill-health
Last week's suicide of the German goalkeeper Robert Enke revealed more than the terrible news of one man's death, the cruelty of depression and the pressures on sportsmen to protect the public's idealised view of them; it also exposed the ongoing shame and stigma of mental illness. For years he had been struggling with depression, kept secret from the public and his colleagues for fear of a vicious backlash that could, he apparently feared, raise questions about his capacity to care for his adopted baby girl and play for his nation.
Rather than risk this, and perhaps further despairing under the force of these private terrors, he chose the solution of death. That this seemed preferable to risking public awareness of his depression and the imagined consequences of personal shame, family destruction and exclusion from his nation's crucial sporting event, demonstrates something of the huge level of hatred that mental illness still evokes in the public imagination. The stigma only worsens the burden on those with mental health problems, typically reported as one in four of the adult population in the UK.
When people die by their own hand, a response of shocked disbelief, of the sense of an awful secret that has been starkly exposed, occurs all too often. How is it in this advanced age of emotional literacy, psychological self-help and media shrinks that the shame of depression and other mental illness causes people to desperately try to hide their problems rather than challenge society to accept that they, like so many others, are vulnerable?
READ MORE @ THE GUARDIAN
Rather than risk this, and perhaps further despairing under the force of these private terrors, he chose the solution of death. That this seemed preferable to risking public awareness of his depression and the imagined consequences of personal shame, family destruction and exclusion from his nation's crucial sporting event, demonstrates something of the huge level of hatred that mental illness still evokes in the public imagination. The stigma only worsens the burden on those with mental health problems, typically reported as one in four of the adult population in the UK.
When people die by their own hand, a response of shocked disbelief, of the sense of an awful secret that has been starkly exposed, occurs all too often. How is it in this advanced age of emotional literacy, psychological self-help and media shrinks that the shame of depression and other mental illness causes people to desperately try to hide their problems rather than challenge society to accept that they, like so many others, are vulnerable?
READ MORE @ THE GUARDIAN
Monday, October 26, 2009
Purging the stigma of mental illness
Joseph Rochford, associate professor of psychiatry at McGill and a director at the Douglas Hospital, hopes the hospital's Mini-Psych School will help debunk myths surrounding people suffering from mental disorders.
"Molecular biologists and geneticists are like the engineers who develop a new Formula One racing car. We're the ones who test drive it and then go back and say 'this is how it behaves.' "
That's Joseph Rochford, associate professor of psychiatry at McGill University and director of the Douglas Hospital Research Centre, on what a behaviour pharmacologist does.
The head of the neurophenotyping centre at the Douglas Institute studies how drugs used for treating mental disorders affect behaviour.
Starting this week, Rochford - also the director of academic affairs - will launch the Douglas's Mini-Psych School by giving the first session on the myths of mental illness. The purpose of the six-week course is to educate and sensitize the public to mental health issues.
READ MOEW @ MONTREAL GAZETTE
"Molecular biologists and geneticists are like the engineers who develop a new Formula One racing car. We're the ones who test drive it and then go back and say 'this is how it behaves.' "
That's Joseph Rochford, associate professor of psychiatry at McGill University and director of the Douglas Hospital Research Centre, on what a behaviour pharmacologist does.
The head of the neurophenotyping centre at the Douglas Institute studies how drugs used for treating mental disorders affect behaviour.
Starting this week, Rochford - also the director of academic affairs - will launch the Douglas's Mini-Psych School by giving the first session on the myths of mental illness. The purpose of the six-week course is to educate and sensitize the public to mental health issues.
READ MOEW @ MONTREAL GAZETTE
Friday, July 17, 2009
Vets’ Mental Health Diagnoses Rising
A new study has found that more than one-third of Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans who enrolled in the veterans health system after 2001 received a diagnosis of a mental health problem, most often post-traumatic stress disorder or depression.
The study by researchers at the San Francisco Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center and the University of California, San Francisco, also found that the number of veterans found to have mental health problems rose steadily the longer they were out of the service.
The study, released Thursday, was based on the department health records of 289,328 veterans involved in the two wars who used the veterans health system for the first time from April 1, 2002, to April 1, 2008.
The researchers found that 37 percent of those people received mental health diagnoses. Of those, the diagnosis for 22 percent was post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, for 17 percent it was depression and for 7 percent it was alcohol abuse. One-third of the people with mental health diagnoses had three or more problems, the study found.
READ MORE @ NYTIMES
The study by researchers at the San Francisco Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center and the University of California, San Francisco, also found that the number of veterans found to have mental health problems rose steadily the longer they were out of the service.
The study, released Thursday, was based on the department health records of 289,328 veterans involved in the two wars who used the veterans health system for the first time from April 1, 2002, to April 1, 2008.
The researchers found that 37 percent of those people received mental health diagnoses. Of those, the diagnosis for 22 percent was post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, for 17 percent it was depression and for 7 percent it was alcohol abuse. One-third of the people with mental health diagnoses had three or more problems, the study found.
READ MORE @ NYTIMES
Monday, July 13, 2009
Map Of Your Brain May Reveal Early Mental Illness
John Csernansky wants to take your measurements. Not the circumference of your chest, waist and hips. No, this doctor wants to stretch a tape measure around your hippocampus, thalamus and prefrontal cortex.
OK, maybe not literally a tape measure, but he does want to chart the dimensions of the many structures in the human brain. From those measurements -- obtained from an MRI scan -- Csernansky will produce a map of the unique dips, swells and crevasses of the brains of individuals that he hopes will provide the first scientific tool for early and more definite diagnosis of mental disorders such as schizophrenia. Diagnosing the beginning stage of mental disorders remains elusive, although this when they are most treatable.
The shapes and measurements of brain structures can reveal how they function. Thus, Csernansky hopes his brain maps will reveal how the brains of humans with and without major mental disorders differ from each other and the time frame over which those differences develop.
READ MORE @ SCIENCE DAILY
OK, maybe not literally a tape measure, but he does want to chart the dimensions of the many structures in the human brain. From those measurements -- obtained from an MRI scan -- Csernansky will produce a map of the unique dips, swells and crevasses of the brains of individuals that he hopes will provide the first scientific tool for early and more definite diagnosis of mental disorders such as schizophrenia. Diagnosing the beginning stage of mental disorders remains elusive, although this when they are most treatable.
The shapes and measurements of brain structures can reveal how they function. Thus, Csernansky hopes his brain maps will reveal how the brains of humans with and without major mental disorders differ from each other and the time frame over which those differences develop.
READ MORE @ SCIENCE DAILY
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
To predict the severity of mental disease, consider the family
We've all been asked at routine visits to the doctor to record our family's history with medical problems like cancer, diabetes or heart disease. But when it comes to mental disorders, usually mum's the word.
New findings by researchers at the Duke Institute for Genome Sciences & Policy (IGSP) make a strong case for changing that status quo. They have found that 30 minutes or less of question-and-answer about the family history of depression, anxiety, or substance abuse is enough to predict a patient's approximate risks for developing each disorder and how severe their future illness is likely to be.
"There are lots of kids with behavior problems who may outgrow them on their own without medication, versus the minority with mental illnesses that need treatment," said Terrie Moffitt, a professor of psychology and neuroscience in the IGSP. "Family history is the quickest and cheapest way to sort that out."
Researchers who are on the hunt for genes responsible for mental disorders might also take advantage of the discovery, added Avshalom Caspi, an IGSP investigator and professor of psychology and neuroscience. "It suggests they may be better off selecting people with more serious illness or, better still, collecting family history information directly," he said.
That mental illnesses tend to run in families is certainly no surprise. In fact, psychiatric conditions are some of the most heritable of all disorders. But the link between family history and the seriousness of psychiatric disease has been less certain.
Moffitt, Caspi and their colleagues looked to 981 New Zealanders born at a single hospital in 1972 or 1973, who are participants in what is known as the Dunedin Study. Researchers have been tracking the physical and mental health and lifestyles of those enrolled in the longitudinal study since they were 3 years old.
READ MORE @ EUREKALERT
New findings by researchers at the Duke Institute for Genome Sciences & Policy (IGSP) make a strong case for changing that status quo. They have found that 30 minutes or less of question-and-answer about the family history of depression, anxiety, or substance abuse is enough to predict a patient's approximate risks for developing each disorder and how severe their future illness is likely to be.
"There are lots of kids with behavior problems who may outgrow them on their own without medication, versus the minority with mental illnesses that need treatment," said Terrie Moffitt, a professor of psychology and neuroscience in the IGSP. "Family history is the quickest and cheapest way to sort that out."
Researchers who are on the hunt for genes responsible for mental disorders might also take advantage of the discovery, added Avshalom Caspi, an IGSP investigator and professor of psychology and neuroscience. "It suggests they may be better off selecting people with more serious illness or, better still, collecting family history information directly," he said.
That mental illnesses tend to run in families is certainly no surprise. In fact, psychiatric conditions are some of the most heritable of all disorders. But the link between family history and the seriousness of psychiatric disease has been less certain.
Moffitt, Caspi and their colleagues looked to 981 New Zealanders born at a single hospital in 1972 or 1973, who are participants in what is known as the Dunedin Study. Researchers have been tracking the physical and mental health and lifestyles of those enrolled in the longitudinal study since they were 3 years old.
READ MORE @ EUREKALERT
Friday, May 8, 2009
More Americans taking drugs for mental illness
Many more Americans have been using prescription drugs to treat mental illness since 1996, in part because of expanded insurance coverage and greater familiarity with the drugs among primary care doctors, U.S. researchers said on Tuesday.
They said 73 percent more adults and 50 percent more children are using drugs to treat mental illness than in 1996.
Among adults over 65, use of so-called psychotropic drugs -- which include antidepressants, antipsychotics and Alzheimer's medicines -- doubled between 1996 and 2006.
"What we generally find is there has been an increase in access to care for all populations," said Sherry Glied of Columbia University in New York, whose study appears in the journal Health Affairs.
READ MORE @ REUTERS
They said 73 percent more adults and 50 percent more children are using drugs to treat mental illness than in 1996.
Among adults over 65, use of so-called psychotropic drugs -- which include antidepressants, antipsychotics and Alzheimer's medicines -- doubled between 1996 and 2006.
"What we generally find is there has been an increase in access to care for all populations," said Sherry Glied of Columbia University in New York, whose study appears in the journal Health Affairs.
READ MORE @ REUTERS
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Listen without prejudice
People with mental health problems deal with bigotry daily. What training is being offered to public sector workers to address this?
At any one time, one in six of us will have a mental health problem. The majority of us will surely have had some contact with someone who has personal experience of mental ill health. Yet stigma and discrimination are widespread and stop many people from admitting to mental health problems and doing things that the rest of us take for granted: applying for jobs; going out and meeting new friends; going to clubs and the shops; and even using public services like buses and libraries.
Every year the Department of Health carries out a public attitudes survey to gauge beliefs and attitudes towards people with mental illness. The 2008 survey found that one in eight people would not want to live next door to someone with a mental health problem, while a third thought those with mental health problems should not have the same rights to a job as everyone else.
The new statutory disability equalities duty (part of the Disability Discrimination Act) and the government-led social inclusion agenda are spurring public services to ensure people with mental health problems have equal access to mainstream services, from housing and transport through to education, arts, health and sport.
READ MORE @ THE GUARDIAN
At any one time, one in six of us will have a mental health problem. The majority of us will surely have had some contact with someone who has personal experience of mental ill health. Yet stigma and discrimination are widespread and stop many people from admitting to mental health problems and doing things that the rest of us take for granted: applying for jobs; going out and meeting new friends; going to clubs and the shops; and even using public services like buses and libraries.
Every year the Department of Health carries out a public attitudes survey to gauge beliefs and attitudes towards people with mental illness. The 2008 survey found that one in eight people would not want to live next door to someone with a mental health problem, while a third thought those with mental health problems should not have the same rights to a job as everyone else.
The new statutory disability equalities duty (part of the Disability Discrimination Act) and the government-led social inclusion agenda are spurring public services to ensure people with mental health problems have equal access to mainstream services, from housing and transport through to education, arts, health and sport.
READ MORE @ THE GUARDIAN
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Mental Illness Doesn't Predict Violent Behavior - Even when combined with substance abuse, psychiatric woes rank low as risk factor, study finds
Mental illness alone is not a predictor of future violent behavior, but mental illness combined with substance abuse or dependence does increase the risk, according to U.S. researchers who analyzed data collected from nearly 35,000 people.
People who have a severe mental illness but no substance abuse or a history of violence weren't any more likely than any other person in the general population to be violent over a period of three years, the study found. But the risk for future violence reached the level of statistical significance when mental illness was combined with substance abuse.
Still, the mental illness/substance abuse combination only ranked ninth on the study's list of the top 10 predictors of future violence. The predictors, listed from first to tenth, were: age (younger people are more likely to commit violence); history of violence; gender (males are more prone to violence); history of juvenile detention; divorce or separation in the past year; history of physical abuse; parental criminal history; unemployment in the past year; mental illness with substance abuse; and victimization in the past year.
RERAD MORE @ U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT
People who have a severe mental illness but no substance abuse or a history of violence weren't any more likely than any other person in the general population to be violent over a period of three years, the study found. But the risk for future violence reached the level of statistical significance when mental illness was combined with substance abuse.
Still, the mental illness/substance abuse combination only ranked ninth on the study's list of the top 10 predictors of future violence. The predictors, listed from first to tenth, were: age (younger people are more likely to commit violence); history of violence; gender (males are more prone to violence); history of juvenile detention; divorce or separation in the past year; history of physical abuse; parental criminal history; unemployment in the past year; mental illness with substance abuse; and victimization in the past year.
RERAD MORE @ U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT
Monday, February 2, 2009
Bipolar Disorder Linked to Higher Mortality from Medical Illnesses
Bipolar disorders appear to increase the risk of early death from a medical illness, according to a literature review study published as the lead article this week in the journal Psychiatric Services.
The researchers comprehensively reviewed 17 studies involving more than 331,000 patients. Evidence suggested that people with bipolar disorder have a higher mortality from natural causes compared to people in the general population of similar age and gender but without mental illness. The various studies indicated that the risk was from 35 percent to 200 percent higher. The risk is the same for men and women. The most common conditions leading to premature death were heart disease, respiratory diseases, stroke, and endocrine problems such as diabetes.
"The review of data gathered from large population studies suggests that having bipolar disorder is similar to being a smoker in terms of increasing a person's risk of early death," said Dr. Wayne Katon, a University of Washington (UW) professor of psychiatry. He co-authored the study with third-year UW psychiatry resident Babak Roshanaei-Moghaddam. The article is titled, "Premature Mortality from General Medical Illnesses Among Persons with Bipolar Disorder: A Review." Katon is a noted researcher on the interplay between life-shortening medical conditions and mood disorders.
People with bipolar disorder tend to have manic phases and depressed phases in their lives. During mania, they might be too wound up to sleep, their thoughts might race, and they might have boundless energy. During depression, they might feel painfully sad, hopeless, and immobilized.
READ MORE @ NEWSWISE
The researchers comprehensively reviewed 17 studies involving more than 331,000 patients. Evidence suggested that people with bipolar disorder have a higher mortality from natural causes compared to people in the general population of similar age and gender but without mental illness. The various studies indicated that the risk was from 35 percent to 200 percent higher. The risk is the same for men and women. The most common conditions leading to premature death were heart disease, respiratory diseases, stroke, and endocrine problems such as diabetes.
"The review of data gathered from large population studies suggests that having bipolar disorder is similar to being a smoker in terms of increasing a person's risk of early death," said Dr. Wayne Katon, a University of Washington (UW) professor of psychiatry. He co-authored the study with third-year UW psychiatry resident Babak Roshanaei-Moghaddam. The article is titled, "Premature Mortality from General Medical Illnesses Among Persons with Bipolar Disorder: A Review." Katon is a noted researcher on the interplay between life-shortening medical conditions and mood disorders.
People with bipolar disorder tend to have manic phases and depressed phases in their lives. During mania, they might be too wound up to sleep, their thoughts might race, and they might have boundless energy. During depression, they might feel painfully sad, hopeless, and immobilized.
READ MORE @ NEWSWISE
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Adoption and Mental Illness
Does adoption pose psychological risks? University of Minnesota researchers revisited this controversial issue recently and found that common DSM-IV childhood disorders are more prevalent in adoptees than nonadoptees.1 They also found that adoptees are more likely to have contact with mental health professionals.
The mental health of adoptees has become an increasingly important issue as the number of adoptions in the United States continues to rise. According to the National Council For Adoption,1 there were 130,269 domestic adoptions and 21,063 intercountry adoptions in 2002. (In 1996 there were 108,463 domestic adoptions and 11,303 intercountry adoptions.) US Census figures in 2000 indicated that nearly 1.6 million children and teenagers under 18 years in the US and Puerto Rico are adopted.2
The adoption study compared a random sample of 540 adolescents born in Minnesota, who were not adopted, with a representative sample of adoptees (514 international adoptees and 178 domestic adoptees). The children had been placed by the 3 largest adoption agencies in Minnesota.3
“All of the kids were adopted within the first 2 years of life, but the great majority were adopted within the first year,” said Margaret A. Keyes, PhD, lead author of the study and a research psychologist. “The average age at placement was 4 months. So it is not as if you are looking at 3- and 4-year-olds coming over on a plane from a faraway country.”
READ MORE @ PSYCHIATRIC TIMES
The mental health of adoptees has become an increasingly important issue as the number of adoptions in the United States continues to rise. According to the National Council For Adoption,1 there were 130,269 domestic adoptions and 21,063 intercountry adoptions in 2002. (In 1996 there were 108,463 domestic adoptions and 11,303 intercountry adoptions.) US Census figures in 2000 indicated that nearly 1.6 million children and teenagers under 18 years in the US and Puerto Rico are adopted.2
The adoption study compared a random sample of 540 adolescents born in Minnesota, who were not adopted, with a representative sample of adoptees (514 international adoptees and 178 domestic adoptees). The children had been placed by the 3 largest adoption agencies in Minnesota.3
“All of the kids were adopted within the first 2 years of life, but the great majority were adopted within the first year,” said Margaret A. Keyes, PhD, lead author of the study and a research psychologist. “The average age at placement was 4 months. So it is not as if you are looking at 3- and 4-year-olds coming over on a plane from a faraway country.”
READ MORE @ PSYCHIATRIC TIMES
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Psych Patients With Cost-Sharing Plans Use More Services
People whose insurance plans better share the burden of the cost for mental health services use these programs more than those whose plans pick up less of the bill, a new study says.
The findings were based on a study of Medicare patients, some of whose plans provided equal cost-sharing and others whose plans put a greater cost burden on the patients. The patients in the study had recently received psychiatric discharges from facilities.
The study was published in the Dec. 24/31 issue of Journal of the American Medical Association.
U.S. health insurers have historically imposed higher out-of-pocket costs and greater restrictions for the use of mental health services than other medical illnesses.
READ MORE @ WASHINGTON POST
The findings were based on a study of Medicare patients, some of whose plans provided equal cost-sharing and others whose plans put a greater cost burden on the patients. The patients in the study had recently received psychiatric discharges from facilities.
The study was published in the Dec. 24/31 issue of Journal of the American Medical Association.
U.S. health insurers have historically imposed higher out-of-pocket costs and greater restrictions for the use of mental health services than other medical illnesses.
READ MORE @ WASHINGTON POST
Saturday, November 8, 2008
US general bucks military silence on mental health
It takes a brave soldier to do what Army Maj. Gen. David Blackledge did in Iraq.
It takes as much bravery to do what he did when he got home.
Blackledge got psychiatric counseling to deal with wartime trauma, and now is defying the military's culture of silence on the subject of mental health problems and treatment.
"It's part of our profession. ... Nobody wants to admit that they've got a weakness in this area," Blackledge said about mental health problems among troops who return from America's two wars.
"I have dealt with it. I'm dealing with it now," said Blackledge, who came home with post-traumatic stress. "We need to be able to talk about it."
As the United States marks another Veterans Day on Tuesday, thousands of troops continue coming home with anxiety, depression and other emotional problems.
Up to 20 percent of the more than 1.7 million who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan are estimated to have symptoms. In a sign of how tough it may be to change attitudes, roughly half those who need help are not seeking it, studies have found.
READ MORE @ INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE
It takes as much bravery to do what he did when he got home.
Blackledge got psychiatric counseling to deal with wartime trauma, and now is defying the military's culture of silence on the subject of mental health problems and treatment.
"It's part of our profession. ... Nobody wants to admit that they've got a weakness in this area," Blackledge said about mental health problems among troops who return from America's two wars.
"I have dealt with it. I'm dealing with it now," said Blackledge, who came home with post-traumatic stress. "We need to be able to talk about it."
As the United States marks another Veterans Day on Tuesday, thousands of troops continue coming home with anxiety, depression and other emotional problems.
Up to 20 percent of the more than 1.7 million who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan are estimated to have symptoms. In a sign of how tough it may be to change attitudes, roughly half those who need help are not seeking it, studies have found.
READ MORE @ INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE
Monday, November 3, 2008
Fears over new drug orders for mental health patients - Powers to administer compulsory treatment come into force today
Campaigners have expressed concern about the potential misuse of new powers for the compulsory treatment of people with mental illness that come into force in England today.
Under changes to mental health legislation, some patients discharged from hospital may be placed under a community treatment order (CTO) that forces them to take their medication – even where they may have damaging side-effects and be of limited use.
The changes are designed to help so-called "revolving door" patients, those stuck in a cycle where they stop taking their medication and become so unwell that they require hospital admission.
Now where a patient refuses to take medication, they can be held and treated in hospital for 72 hours. If they still refuse, the CTO is revoked and they become a detained patient again.
READ MORE @ THE GUARDIAN
Under changes to mental health legislation, some patients discharged from hospital may be placed under a community treatment order (CTO) that forces them to take their medication – even where they may have damaging side-effects and be of limited use.
The changes are designed to help so-called "revolving door" patients, those stuck in a cycle where they stop taking their medication and become so unwell that they require hospital admission.
Now where a patient refuses to take medication, they can be held and treated in hospital for 72 hours. If they still refuse, the CTO is revoked and they become a detained patient again.
READ MORE @ THE GUARDIAN
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Persons With Serious Mental Illness Face Higher Prevalence of Obesity
Obesity is a public health crisis within the general population; however, overweight and obesity issues are even more prevalent in persons with serious mental illness, according to a new report, scheduled to be released on October 3, 2008 by the National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors (NASMHPD).
Findings and recommendations from the report appear in the September 22 issue of Mental Health Weekly, making the journal the first major media outlet to inform the public of this new technical report.
NASMHPD calls the crisis "an epidemic within an epidemic," and say they hope the new report will go a long way toward improving the systems that provide care and treatment to the SMI population.
READ MORE @ MARKET WATCH
Findings and recommendations from the report appear in the September 22 issue of Mental Health Weekly, making the journal the first major media outlet to inform the public of this new technical report.
NASMHPD calls the crisis "an epidemic within an epidemic," and say they hope the new report will go a long way toward improving the systems that provide care and treatment to the SMI population.
READ MORE @ MARKET WATCH
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Stigmatising attitude of medical students towards a psychiatry label
The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of a psychiatric label attached to an apparently normal person on the attitude of final year medical students at a Nigerian university.
Methods: A questionnaire with sections on demographic information, a single-paragraph case description illustrating a normal person, a social distance scale and questions on expected burden was used to elicit responses from 144 final year medical students who have had previous exposure to psychiatric posting.
The students consisted of two randomly assigned groups; group A received a case description with a psychiatric label attached while group B received the same case description but without a psychiatric label.
READ MORE @ 7TH SPACE INTERACTIVE
Methods: A questionnaire with sections on demographic information, a single-paragraph case description illustrating a normal person, a social distance scale and questions on expected burden was used to elicit responses from 144 final year medical students who have had previous exposure to psychiatric posting.
The students consisted of two randomly assigned groups; group A received a case description with a psychiatric label attached while group B received the same case description but without a psychiatric label.
READ MORE @ 7TH SPACE INTERACTIVE
Friday, August 22, 2008
Psychedelic drugs could heal thousands
New research into the benefits of hallucinogens alongside psychotherapy is welcome: in my experience they change lives
There is a horrible sense of meaninglessness and chaos that comes from the extreme loneliness of being cut off. Trauma, whether sustained in the family, or in the military during combat, renders millions feeling unsafe, insecure, mistrustful, and in the end isolated, lonely and desperate. Judith Lewis Herman, who wrote the definitive book on trauma and recovery, stated that all so-called mental illness and suffering could be seen as a person's misguided attempt to survive trauma. Fear separates, love unites. We all wish to grow to freedom, to belong, to participate. Hatred is like gangrene, shame is deadly. Forgiveness is but a faint hope.
Sandoz began to market LSD in 1947 as a psychiatric panacea, the cure for everything from schizophrenia to criminal behaviour, sexual perversions, alcoholism, and other addictions. During a 15-year period beginning in 1950, research on LSD and other hallucinogens generated over 1,000 scientific papers, several dozen books and six international conferences, and LSD was prescribed as an adjunct of psychotherapy to over 40,000 patients. The current research using psychedelics heralds a reawakening to the magnificent healing possibilities of these now prohibited substances. After over 40 years of repression or oppression, Rick Doblin of Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (Maps), and others are spearheading a more enlightened, less hysterical and terrified approach to the use of these substances. I am participating in what hopefully will be Canada's first government approved clinical trials in 40 years, sponsored and organised by Maps, evaluating MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for subjects with treatment-resistant post-traumatic stress disorder.
READ MORE @ THE GUARDIAN
There is a horrible sense of meaninglessness and chaos that comes from the extreme loneliness of being cut off. Trauma, whether sustained in the family, or in the military during combat, renders millions feeling unsafe, insecure, mistrustful, and in the end isolated, lonely and desperate. Judith Lewis Herman, who wrote the definitive book on trauma and recovery, stated that all so-called mental illness and suffering could be seen as a person's misguided attempt to survive trauma. Fear separates, love unites. We all wish to grow to freedom, to belong, to participate. Hatred is like gangrene, shame is deadly. Forgiveness is but a faint hope.
Sandoz began to market LSD in 1947 as a psychiatric panacea, the cure for everything from schizophrenia to criminal behaviour, sexual perversions, alcoholism, and other addictions. During a 15-year period beginning in 1950, research on LSD and other hallucinogens generated over 1,000 scientific papers, several dozen books and six international conferences, and LSD was prescribed as an adjunct of psychotherapy to over 40,000 patients. The current research using psychedelics heralds a reawakening to the magnificent healing possibilities of these now prohibited substances. After over 40 years of repression or oppression, Rick Doblin of Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (Maps), and others are spearheading a more enlightened, less hysterical and terrified approach to the use of these substances. I am participating in what hopefully will be Canada's first government approved clinical trials in 40 years, sponsored and organised by Maps, evaluating MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for subjects with treatment-resistant post-traumatic stress disorder.
READ MORE @ THE GUARDIAN
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Stigma of mental illness pervasive: CMA head: 10% of Canadians think those who are ill could 'just snap out of it' if they wanted to, new survey finds
Almost half of Canadians believe that a diagnosis of mental illness is merely an "excuse for poor behaviour and personal failings" and one in 10 thinks that people with mental illness could "just snap out of it if they wanted," according to the startling findings of a new opinion poll.
The survey, commissioned by the Canadian Medical Association, shows that the stigma of mental illness remains pervasive, making it the "final frontier of socially acceptable discrimination," Canada's top doctor says.
Brian Day, a Vancouver orthopedic surgeon and president of the CMA, said the survey "shines a harsh, and frankly unflattering, light on the attitudes we Canadians have concerning mental health."
But he added that it is best to expose such views and tackle them head-on rather than allow stigma to fester. "It's important that these data be out there and we discuss them," Dr. Day said.
READ MORE @ THE GLOBE AND MAIL
The survey, commissioned by the Canadian Medical Association, shows that the stigma of mental illness remains pervasive, making it the "final frontier of socially acceptable discrimination," Canada's top doctor says.
Brian Day, a Vancouver orthopedic surgeon and president of the CMA, said the survey "shines a harsh, and frankly unflattering, light on the attitudes we Canadians have concerning mental health."
But he added that it is best to expose such views and tackle them head-on rather than allow stigma to fester. "It's important that these data be out there and we discuss them," Dr. Day said.
READ MORE @ THE GLOBE AND MAIL
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