Montana Warm Line Blog

9/11 Mental Health: What We Now Know About Trauma

2011-09-09T08:45:00.000-06:00

By Catherine Pearson, Huffington Post

In the days following 9/11, scores of mental health professionals and grief counselors rushed to directly-impacted areas, hoping to help people cope with the traumatic event.

Many gathered groups together -- asking survivors how they felt, what they thought and what the worst part of their experience was before providing them with basic stress management.

But in the 10 years since 9/11, many have abandoned the approach -- known as psychological or crisis debriefing -- in light of studies suggesting it does little to prevent post-traumatic stress. Instead, a growing number of psychologists support a new approach to helping children and adults who show signs of distress immediately after disasters: "Psychological First Aid."

In a new report published in a special 9/11 anniversary issue of the journal American Psychologist, Dr. Patricia Watson, a senior education specialist with the National Center for PTSD, and her co-authors explain the goal of the method is to reduce distress while linking survivors with key outside services. It is meant to be flexible -- highly specific and sensitive to factors including timing, age and an individual's personal preferences.

"Prior to PFA being routinely used, oftentimes providers would swoop in and try to 'help' everyone," Watson told HuffPost. "Implying that a disaster survivor 'needs' interventions in order to recover implies that they don't have the resources to recover on their own. They may accept this help, which actually removes an opportunity for them to work out their problems on their own."

The term Psychological First Aid has been used to describe a number of approaches over the years, but the National Child Traumatic Stress Network and National Center for PTSD (with which Watson works) codified a comprehensive model and operations guide, which can be used by all manner of providers including disaster response workers, in the years following 9/11 and other disasters like Hurricane Katrina.

That guide spells out eight areas of focus, including how to make initial contact and engage people in a non-intrusive way, how to calm disoriented survivors, how to help address their immediate concerns and how to point them towards services they might need down the road.

The method is highly adaptable, Watson explained. If providers only have a few minutes with an individual, they might focus on addressing immediate needs; if it is a week or two after a disaster and they have more time, they might run through all eight areas -- if they determine the individual needs them.

The real key to PFA, she said, is that it is not a one-size-fits-all approach to immediate post-disaster intervention.

"It is pretty common sense," said HuffPost blogger Dr. Lloyd Sederer, medical director of the New York State Office of Mental Health. In a blog post, he hailed the response to 9/11 as "the largest and most effective" mental health disaster responses in history, but explained that debriefing posed certain risks.

"There was this idea that you are supposed to talk about something in the immediate wake of it, but people process trauma differently," he said.

Indeed, Watson said providers should remember not to assume that everyone exposed to a disaster will actually be traumatized by it. In an essay introducing the special edition of American Psychologist, Roxanne Cohen Silver, a psychologist at the University of California at Irvine, explained that, while studies suggest the mental health impact of 9/11 may have been broader than anticipated, Americans also proved more resilient than many mental health professionals predicted.

"It became very clear after 9/11 that the impact of communal and collective trauma spilled over beyond the directly-impacted communities in New York City, Washington, D.C., and Pennsylvania," Silver said. "But in general, the message was one of resilience, rather than psychopathology. We saw normal reactions to an abnormal event."

Watson tweaked that message slightly, saying that what resulted were "understandable" or "expected" reactions to an abnormal event. PSA -- which she and her co-authors explain has not yet been systemically studied -- attempts to avoid labeling acute, immediate reactions as symptoms or disorders.

"It is not rocket science," said Watson. "It is trying to make a complete framework for intervening that is very conversational, very partner-oriented and very, very practical."

What is keeping us from treating mental health like physical health?

2011-05-27T11:19:00.002-06:00

Mental health and addiction issues touch all of us.

This year, one in four Americans will experience a diagnosable mental illness -- disorders including depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder and addiction.
Unfortunately, only one in three of these people will seek the treatment and support they need, jeopardizing their physical health and quality of life.

May is Mental Health Month, a special annual commemoration that began
more than 60 years ago to raise awareness of mental health conditions
and mental wellness for all. It is an ideal time for us to reflect on how far we have come since the first Mental Health Month was celebrated and look toward the future.

Without a doubt, mental health care has changed dramatically in the last six decades. Where a mental health disorder was once a hopeless situation -- a source of shame that meant institutionalization -- people today have access to effective treatments and programs that allow them to get their lives back.

We have unprecedented tools to diagnose and treat even severe mental illnesses. Socially, we have come a long way as well. Legislators are more aware of how mental illness affects our communities, and the vital need for strong funding and infrastructure in mental health care.

More and more, we are seeing public figures coming forward to discuss their personal and familial battles with many mental health and addiction disorders. These stories inspire hope and promote early intervention and treatment.

We've advanced mental health care significantly, but we still have work to do to see that those who need help and support receive it. Data shows that mental health conditions are responsible for more disability than chronic diseases like arthritis and diabetes.

Two-thirds of all visits to family physicians are due to stress-related symptoms. High levels of stress have been found to predict heart
disease, the world's leading cause of death, more often than high cholesterol, cigarette smoking or obesity.

People with depression are more likely to develop diabetes than those without symptoms of depression. Serious mental illnesses can shorten a person's lifespan by up to 25 years.

With these staggering statistics in mind, we have to ask: Why do two-thirds of those in need of mental health support and treatment never seek help? We would never leave a broken limb unattended or allow a loved one to suffer with unmanaged diabetes. What is keeping us from treating our mental health in the same way that we treat our physical health?

The answers to these questions are rooted in our attitudes about mental health. Many in our society cling to long-held beliefs that mental health and addiction disorders are a result of socioeconomic status, character flaws, bad parenting, growing up or growing older. Others mistakenly believe that those who have mental health and addiction disorders can never recover.

We can correct these misperceptions.

This community has been a wonderful supporter of mental health providers and many residents have been advocates for their friends and family members who are working toward recovery in their lives. Let's take the opportunity that Mental Health Month provides to talk openly and honestly about mental health. Together, we can close the gap between those who need care and those who receive it.

Article by Suzanne Koesel is CEO of Centerstone of Indiana. She may be reached at suzanne.koesel@centerstone.org. The Centerstone crisis line is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at (800) 344-8802 for anyone seeking help.

Never Going Back: Memories of A Suicide Attempt by Amy Kiel

2011-05-15T19:03:00.002-06:00

It’s a bit daunting to say the word “never”, especially when we are referring to depression. Depression has an element of surprise and the benefit of disguise in it’s arsenal, but there is a part of me that believes I never have to go back, that I never will experience the darkest depths of depression ever again.

My Most Trying Times With Depression

I look back on some of my most trying times with depression now and I see that I have come so far. Even though I still struggle with the daily challenges of living with chronic depression, the worst of times from my memory are behind me. It was almost 5 years ago that I lay in bed one summer day crying and tormented by my mental pain and anguish, struggling with the decision of whether or not to take my own life.

I had been recently diagnosed with fibromyalgia and the physical pain I was in daily was intense. I had become a person that I never wanted to be. I felt completely useless to my family, my friends and to the world. I believed in my mind that day that the world would be better served without me in it. Even though I believed this to be true, I was still scared and a bit uncertain. So, in my bed, in my own quiet world, my family in the living room beyond, I grappled with spiritual beliefs and weighed the pros and cons. As the pain in my mind became too great I picked up my prescription bottle and began swallowing pills. One pill at a time with a sip of water. I counted each one. I took them deliberately and a bit slowly. I wrote a letter to my family. I apologized for leaving them, but reassured them that life would be better without me.

My Saving Grace From Suicide

I swallowed the thirteenth pill and shortly after my daughter came into my room. She was seven years old at the time. She asked me what was wrong and I asked her if she could get me more water, I had just run out. Her appearance in my room perhaps saved me or perhaps I saved myself because of her appearance. I somehow realized, upon seeing her, that I had to stop taking those pills. She was, before that day, an angel to me and she has been one ever since. I asked my little girl to get my husband. When he came to the room I handed him the letter, I did not know what to say. He read the letter and looked at me, saw the pill bottle and went to call my mother who lived close by. Someone called 911.

The experience from there only became more chaotic. I can barely stand to think of it for it makes my stomach turn so much. The dark black color of the charcoal, the tube in my nose and throat, it was unwelcome and yet necessary to avoid any damage to my body from the pills I had swallowed.

The psychiatric unit I was taken to was cold. The bathroom tiles were icy and hard. I was crumpled on the floor, ill from the charcoal, now vomiting and cramping. It was an experience I will never forget and pray no one ever has to experience. I cried and moaned. No one heard me. The next day I awoke, alive and well, but very grumpy. I was definitely not happy to be there. I wanted to go home. I wanted the nightmare to be over. I just wanted the pain to stop.

No Vacancy for Suicide

Five years later, I am here tell you, that I will never go back to that emotional place again. I may struggle with severe depression in my lifetime, as depression seems quite fond of me. It is honestly difficult to say “never”, but I know in my heart that I will not allow myself to get that low again before I seek help and let someone know that I am thinking suicidal thoughts. It is not an option to consider. It has been wiped from any list I might have of solutions to despair. It has been a remarkable road to here and while I cannot say that I have all the power over depression, I can say that there is no room for it here. When it comes to suicidal thoughts, there is simply no vacancy.

If you or someone you care about is in crisis, please visit Visit the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline or call 800-273-TALK. There is help available.

Kennedy Launches Initiative to Promote Brain Research

2011-05-09T19:38:00.003-06:00

APA has joined an impressive list of government officials, mental health advocacy groups and experts, scientists, and clinicians to launch former Congressman Patrick Kennedy's campaign to support the development of effective new treatments for neurological and mental disorders and dramatically increase funding for and coordination of brain research.

The American Psychiatric Foundation has stepped up with a $50,000 grant to support the conference that will launch the campaign, known as “The Next Frontier: One Mind for the Brain.” The conference will be hosted by the Massachusetts General Hospital Starr Center from May 23 to 25. Co-chairs Kennedy and Garen Staglin are referring to the Next Frontier campaign as a “moonshot to the mind,” and its goal is to map what Kennedy calls the “inner space of the mind” within the next decade…

During 16 years in the U.S. House of Representatives, Kennedy wrote and co-sponsored dozens of bills on issues related to mental illness and improving the lives of people with psychiatric disorders. Also, he used his position and profile to raise understanding of these disorders, including speaking openly about his own battles with mental illness and those of his family.

Read the full article by Richard Faust at Psychiatry Online
and learn more about The Next Frontier at Moonshot.org.

Seven graduate from the Center for Mental Health's Peer Employment Training Program

2011-04-04T12:01:00.003-06:00

The Center for Mental Health celebrated a milestone on March 18 when seven people graduated from the Peer Employment Training Program.

Peer specialists use their life experiences with mental illness, as well as recovery knowledge and skills, to support other people recovering from serious mental illness, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, major depression or PTSD.

PET program graduates, Sonja Letz, William Gange, Virginia Carnes, Joseph Olson, Kelli Jackson and Frans Swier, can apply for jobs and join other peer specialists already employed by the center.

Peer Employment Training is an 80-hour college level course that includes homework each night, a midterm and a final exam.

For many, severe and disabling mental illnesses have prevented them from working for many years, so the program also serves as a transition back to the world of work.

"The peer specialists have really enriched our services," said Center for Mental Health Foundation Director Heidi Gibson. "They can intercept people who walk in with a mental health crisis, and their expertise helps prevent the crisis from escalating. Early intervention means people need fewer services down the road."

All participants must first complete Wellness Recovery Action Plan training so that they can develop their own self-care strategy.

"Recovery doesn't mean they're 'cured,' " CMH interim CEO Sydney Blair said. "It means mental illness is no longer the biggest thing in their life. It means they can dream again about having a very full life. People can, and do, get better."

For information about graduation or opportunities for upcoming trainings, call Peer Support at 727-4315 or send an email to peersupport@center4mh.org.

How Depression Dulls the World—Literally

2011-03-23T21:30:00.004-06:00

The condition seems to affect how our senses work, and researchers may one day use this to make an objective diagnosis of depression.

A sad person who says that the world looks dull and gray and that flowers no longer smell so sweet may not just be speaking figuratively. Two recent studies from Germany provide evidence that sensory perception is diminished in depressed individuals.

To determine if depression has an effect on vision, neuropsychiatrist Ludger Tebartz van Elst of the University of Freiburg hooked up depressed patients and control subjects to a pattern electroretinograph, a device that measures electrical signals in the retina. When viewing black-and-white checkerboard images, people with depression showed markedly reduced electrical responses.

The effect may originate in the retina’s amacrine cells, which feed sensory input to the neurons in the eye. Amacrine cells rely on the neurotransmitter dopamine to function, and mood disorders have been linked to dopamine dysfunctions in the brain. Tebartz van Elst believes the visual response test could serve as an objective measure for establishing a diagnosis of depression: “The patients don’t have to say anything at all—they just keep their eyes open,” he says.

Separately, otorhinolaryngologist Thomas Hummel of the University of Dresden Medical School explored odor perception in depressed patients. Compared with control subjects, he found, people suffering from depression were less able to detect weak smells; MRI scans revealed that they had smaller olfactory bulbs, the brain structures involved in odor perception. Both Hummel and Tebartz van Elst next plan to investigate whether the successful treatment of depression restores the richness of the senses.

Via Discover Magazine article by Eliza Strickland

Free Depression or Bipolar Disorder Monitoring Program Available to Consumers

2011-02-03T10:41:00.000-07:00

Free Depression or Bipolar Disorder Monitoring Program Available to Consumers

Consumers with depression or bipolar disorder, being treated by a primary care physician, may benefit from additional monitoring by a trained pharmacist.

The program is seeking participation by consumers with depression or bipolar disorder. The program is funded by a grant funded by the Montana Department of Health and Human Services and is free to consumers. Patients receive a complete review of all of their medications, education brochures, and monitoring for the effects of their illness. All information collected is sent back to the primary care physician for review and interpretation.

To qualify, consumers must be on four or more medications, which can include over the counter or herbal medicines. Medications are not provided. Trained pharmacists are currently available in Billings, Roundup, Kalispell, and Lewistown or by Skype.

For more information please call Carla Cobb at 406-670-3722 or Dee Holley at 406-896-8805.

Innovative ways to move forward during budget cuts

2011-01-28T11:19:00.002-07:00

A guest blog by Corinna West of CorinnaWest.com

At least 46 states have now cut budgets that help vulnerable low income people, especially those of us with mental illness. In times of struggle, it’s easy to hunker down and try to keep doing the same things we have always been doing, just with less money. I personally think we need to do more than just stick out our hands out and say, “Please don’t cut us… Please.” However, another way out of our difficulty is to find radically new ways of doing things that cost significantly less money while providing even higher quality results. Here are a couple of key suggestions for how we can keep high quality community health care even during budget cuts.

* Recognize the community mental health centers as sources of innovation and progress. In Kansas and Missouri, the states in which I work, they are the only providers of medicaid billable peer support, assertive community outreach, case management, and employment services. Although many people think that private health care is preferable, in the mental health system it might not be. The public care is the only place possible to get these evidence based treatments that help move people towards recovery. Innovation should be our primary response to economic difficulties, not stagnation.

* Recognize that the alternative to community based care is often hospitalization or jail, at up to 40 times the cost. It would be a significant cost savings to keep people treated in the community rather than re-institutionalizing us.

* For every dollar spent on rehabilitating a disabled person to be able to go back to work, $10 is returned to the economy. U.S. Census Bureau, 1986

* Increasing the amount of peer support would reduce overall mental health costs by increasing people’s recovery, helping people to get more involved in their community, and decreasing reliance on the mental health system. Peer support is an evidence based practice and often peer supporters can work at lower expense than professional with a higher educational requirement.

* Respite care centers cost 1/5 as much as psychiatric hospitalization and shift funding from large institutions to small community based mental health center or local consumer run organizations. Providing people in crisis with peer run centers would save large amounts of public funding. This would also increase people’s ability to stay closer to their local communities and keep their family and native supports involved. Respite care does less to delay peoples’ recovery than does institutionalization. There are quite a few existing models in the U.S.

* Trauma-informed care involves dealing with people’s primary experiences of loss of choice, voice, and control. Increasing the use of trauma informed care in the community mental health centers will greatly decrease costs by helping people to end the revolving cycle of becoming so strongly influenced by emotions brought on by past overwhelming experiences.

* Treat sex offenders in the criminal justice system instead of leaving them indefinitely in more expensive hospital situations that take away beds from people in crisis.

* Consumer run organizations promote well-being and recovery and are very cost-effective. One study found that the more people used these programs, the greater their increase in well-being.

* Some psychiatric medications may be less effective that previously reported and may in fact worsen long term outcomes. Keeping non-medication options like peer support, employment services, and respite care available is crucial to helping people who don’t respond to meds. For depression, this may be the majority of people according to a re-review of the data from the STAR-D trial, the biggest ever government funded clinical trial of antidepressants. This data shows that only 7.7% of participants did not relapse or drop out the end of the one year trial. If we were simply to admit the existence of a large percentage of people that aren’t helped by meds, then we could as a society make other treatments the primary option for up to 40% who have negative medication effects and not the positive benefits. This would drastically reduce medication expenditures and then we wouldn’t have to resort to using preferred drug lists that limit medication choice for the people that ARE being helped by their medications. This would free up vast amounts of funding for more recovery oriented approaches to mental health treatment.

In conclusion, although budgets are very lean in almost every state, now would be the time to radically rethink our approach to funding. We could fund approaches like the ones above that have been consistently shown to be effective while have significant cost savings. Many of in the consumer movement have appreciated the move towards recovery approaches, because we know recovery is possible. We are the evidence. We would love to help bring innovation into our states to help relieve the budget shortfall.

Follow Corrina on twitter or on the web at http://corinnawest.com/

Baucus working to reduce Guard, Reserve suicides

2011-01-20T10:30:00.000-07:00

by Jennifer Donohue (Clark Fork Chronicle)

Montana's senior U.S. Senator Max Baucus expressed deep concern about military suicides after the Army released new data today showing suicides of Army Reserve and National Guard soldiers increased significantly to 145 in 2010, including two members of the Montana Army National Guard. Baucus is working with the Pentagon to implement the law he passed in 2009 to make sure troops get the care they need and deserve by requiring the military to conduct improved assessments to help identify signs of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and suicidal tendencies.

“Montana is proud to have more brave men and women volunteering for service than almost any other state in the country – many of them as citizen soldiers in the Guard and Reserves. The news of increased suicides among our citizen soldiers is deeply troubling. This issue hits home in the worst way because we have already lost too many Montana heroes to suicide. We owe it to our troops, their families and their communities to tackle this problem head on,” Baucus said. “I will continue working with military leaders at the Pentagon until I am confident every Guard and Reserve unit across the country has the tools and resources it needs to keep our troops safe while deployed and here at home.”

In 2009, Baucus wrote and passed a law to establish a new assessment program to identify post-traumatic stress disorder, suicidal tendencies, and other behavioral health conditions both before troops deploy and after they come home – including troops serving in the Guard and Reserve. Baucus is working with the Pentagon to confirm that it is in full compliance with the law and identify any additional resources that would help implement it.

Baucus modeled the law after an innovative program used by the Montana National Guard. The law requires the military to provide mental health assessments for every soldier, Marine, airman, and sailor during the 60 day period before a deployment and six, twelve, and twenty-four months after they’ve returned home. The assessments are to be provided in a private, clinical setting by licensed mental-health professionals or troops trained and certified to perform the assessments.

A recent study released in the American Journal of Psychiatry found pre-screening, like that required by Baucus’ law, to be a very effective tool in reducing mental health problems in the military. The report said pre-deployment screening helped decrease the need for clinical care for combat stress, psychiatric and behavioral disorders, and suicidal tendencies.

Baucus also plans to reintroduce his VET Act this Congress to help veterans find good-paying jobs when they come home by making it easier for businesses to get tax credits for hiring troops returning home from service.

Health Care Reform Contains Major Expansion Of Access To Mental Health Services

2011-01-17T11:14:00.001-07:00

By Amanda Terkel

WASHINGTON -- The health care law that Republicans are targeting for repeal provides significant assistance and options for people with mental illness, an issue that has received increased attention as details emerge about the alleged shooter in Arizona on Saturday.

"The shooter was a very disturbed individual and it appears there were so many warning signs that he was going to do something horrible," Rep. Allen West (R-Fla.) wrote on his Facebook page. "We should be focusing on the mental health crisis in our country, not politics."

As Igor Volsky of ThinkProgress points out, Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Mich.) similarly told MSNBC Tuesday, "A bad guy is going to get a gun. What we have to do is "intervene earlier in that cycle of violence when they have this kind of mental disability."

Lawmakers looking for a way to boost mental health services might want to start by checking out last year's Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which both West and Rogers support repealing. Mental health advocates have hailed the law for its expansion of access.

In 2008, President George W. Bush signed landmark "parity" legislation requiring employers to provide mental health insurance benefits comparable to traditional medical coverage. It also barred insurance companies from setting higher co-pays or deductibles for mental health services.

That law, however, applied only to people who already have insurance. Chris Koyanagi, policy director at the Judge David L. Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law, told The Huffington Post that the Obama administration's signature health care law is at least as key.

"While the 2008 law was very important in terms of people who have insurance through their employer, the great thing about the Affordable Care is that it's everybody," said Koyanagi, whose organization has produced a report on the 2010 law's impact. "If you have a serious mental illness, you have trouble staying employed. There's a whole group of people for whom parity would never have applied without this statute. We've had a lot of people just falling right through the cracks because they don't come with any way to pay, and they're the folks with the most serious problems."
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Koyanagi highlighted two major elements of reform: More Americans are projected to be enrolled in private insurance under the 2010 law, which is required to provide coverage for mental health and substance abuse services, and it is also expected to significantly increase Medicaid availability.

"The expansion of Medicaid to people with incomes under 133 percent of poverty who would not otherwise have been able to get on the Medicaid program is going to include a lot of people with mental health needs," she said.

Before the Affordable Care Act, low-income childless adults with severe mental illnesses were not able to get Medicaid assistance, and therefore had no way to pay for mental health services. "Certainly the repeal of ACA would drastically hurt a lot of childless adults with serious mental illness who need treatment," Koyanagi said.

Acquaintances of Jared Lee Loughner, the man charged in Saturday's Arizona shootings, have described him as a troubled individual with worrisome behavior. One of his community college classmates wrote in an email about Loughner, "We have a mentally unstable person in the class that scares the living crap out of me. He is one of those whose picture you see on the news after he has come in to class with an automatic weapon."

Dr. Anthony Lehman, a professor at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, said that early reports on Loughner seem to follow a familiar pattern (with an atypical outcome) of the "failures of mental health systems to respond to young people with serious mental illness."

"As I understand, he began having problems as early as high school, dropped out of high school and was identified as someone who was having problems, and then proceeded in some of the history that we just heard about with involvement with the police and problems in college, but never received, I guess as best we know, any mental health treatment," Lehman said on PBS's "Newshour."

Despite the recent attempts to expand access and services, mental health is still woefully undertreated. In the past year, Arizona's Pima County, where Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (R-Ariz.) and 19 others were shot Saturday, has seen more than 45 percent of its mental health services recipients forced off the public rolls.

In response to the shooting, House Republican leadership postponed its vote on the Repealing the Job-Killing Health Care Law Act, which was supposed to take place Wednesday. The House is expected to pick it back up next week.

Neither West nor Rogers returned calls seeking comment.

Statement of Mental Health America on theTragedy in Arizona

2011-01-10T10:36:00.002-07:00

Mental Health America joins Americans in mourning the loss of those killed in Saturday’s tragic and senseless attack and expressing our wishes for the full recovery of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and fellow citizens who were injured. Our thoughts and prayers are with the families and loved ones of those who lost their lives and everyone who is affected by these horrific events. And we join in applauding the brave actions of individuals who prevented greater harm.

It will likely take many days to understand the reasons and motivations behind this national tragedy. Many have pointed to mental health as an issue.

It must first be emphasized that people with mental health conditions are no more likely to be violent than the rest of the population. And we have science-based methods to successfully treat persons with even the most severe mental illnesses. A very small group of individuals with a specific type of mental health symptoms are at greater risk for violence if their symptoms are untreated.

At the same time, we must recognize that the nation’s mental health system is drastically under-funded and fails to provide Americans living with mental health conditions with the effective community-based mental health services they need. Sadly, in the current environment of strained state budgets, mental health services have been cut drastically just as demand for these critical services has risen dramatically.

It is also important that, as a community, we assist persons with signs and symptoms of mental illnesses to seek treatment. Although rare, when a person becomes so ill that he/she is a danger to themselves or others state laws provide a way to get them help even if they don’t believe that they need it. The best strategy, however, is to have an accessible system of care that is easy to use.

Science has not developed tools to predict reliably individuals at risk for violence. But we can reduce the small risk of violence in those with certain mental health conditions by investing in proven intensive, coordinated community-based mental health services and making certain that they can access these services.

We do not know if the mental health system failed in this situation or if there were missed opportunities or if effective treatment might have averted this tragedy.

We do hope that we can find answers and create solutions that prevent this from ever happening again.

Mental Health America (www.mentalhealthamerica.net) is the country's leading nonprofit dedicated to helping all people live mentally healthier lives. With our century of service to America and our more than 300 affiliates nationwide, we represent a national movement that promotes mental wellness for the health and well-being of the nation— everyday and in times of crisis.

Families worry mental health cuts will send kids spiraling

2010-12-28T16:18:00.001-07:00

By Victoria Kim, Los Angeles Times

A week before Christmas, Judy Powelson was awaiting her son's first visit home in nine months with a mix of excitement and trepidation.

Earlier in the year, the 17-year-old's mental illness had spiraled out of control to the point that he attacked her, kicked a teacher in the groin and was hospitalized for psychiatric treatment. But since he entered residential treatment funded in part by the state, she'd seen him go through marked improvements — getting a 3.11 GPA and being voted MVP in soccer.

Now Powelson's son, identified in court papers as T.G., is one of 20,000 students across California whose mental health services may be in jeopardy in the new year because of a line-item veto by the governor. In October, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger slashed $133 million in funding for what are known as AB 3632 services, a 25-year-old program that requires state and local education and mental health agencies to jointly provide education-related mental health services.

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Families with children who suffer from mental illnesses ranging from depression to schizophrenia and who depend on these services have been thrown into chaos, parents and advocates say. Several counties, including Orange and Alameda, have sent out notices indicating that the services will be discontinued in January, attorneys representing the parents said.

"If my son loses this treatment, I will lose my son," Powelson said, her voice quivering. "I will lose him to mental illness, I will lose him to the criminal justice system, to drug abuse, to suicide."

She has filed a declaration about her son's situation as part of a federal class-action lawsuit seeking to block cutbacks to or discontinuation of the services. This month, a federal judge in Los Angeles heard arguments from attorneys representing the families and various state and local agencies but said he would wait until the new year before considering whether to issue an injunction.

U.S. District Judge George Wu said it wasn't immediately clear what would happen come Jan. 14, when a temporary order restoring the funding for the services is due to expire. He said he also wanted to wait for the outcome of a separate state court case in Sacramento challenging the governor's veto, which is scheduled to be heard in early January.

"I understand that the state agencies are pointing the finger and saying, 'It's your problem, it's your problem, it's your problem,' " Wu said at the hearing, adding that each agency was "waiting for somebody to blink." But he said it wasn't the right time for him to issue an order because "it's a complicated situation.... Bad things have not happened, but may happen in the future based on how these agencies act."

Attorneys representing various state and county agencies said they were trying to determine where the funds would come from, not dodging their responsibilities. They also said the four named plaintiffs in the case were currently receiving the necessary treatment and had not been notified that it would be taken away.

"They're here prematurely," said Supervising Deputy Atty. Gen. Jennifer M. Kim, representing the governor's office and the California Department of Mental Health.

Attorneys for the plaintiffs contended that a statewide court order was immediately necessary because vulnerable children were at risk of being harmed while the case was being litigated.

"Every day, a new county is saying they can't provide the services," said Laura Faer, an attorney for Public Counsel, which filed the class-action lawsuit along with Disability Rights California and the law firm Gibson Dunn & Crutcher.

David Campos, whose son is the lead plaintiff, said he felt his child was being left behind while government agencies passed the blame.

"Everybody's waiting for somebody else to take the first step," said Campos, whose son, identified as A.C. in court papers, has been receiving counseling since kindergarten. Campos and his wife, Gail, have been trying to get help for their son ever since they adopted him at age 4 knowing he suffered the effects of fetal alcohol syndrome and had been neglected and abused.

This summer, their son twice attempted suicide — swallowing half a bottle of Tylenol and trying to hang himself — and landed in juvenile hall. Through AB 3632 funding, he is receiving residential treatment for oppositional defiant disorder and attention deficit hyperactive disorder in Texas.

"When I heard the news [of the cut], I felt like I had been punched in the stomach," Gail Campos wrote in a declaration submitted with the court. "My son so desperately needs these services to get better, and I don't want him to end up in the criminal system or homeless."

Powelson said the treatment for her son, who has been diagnosed with oppositional defiant disorder and intermittent explosive disorder, had been like the "light at the end of the tunnel" for her family.

"The bad days before turned into bad weeks and bad months. My husband used to say it was like a piano falling from a tall building," she said. "Now, in treatment, he has a safe place to fall."

Troop Discharges High for 'Pre-Existing' Psychiatric Disorders

2010-12-17T09:20:00.000-07:00

A pair of recently released government reports shows that more military trainees are being discharged for "pre-existing" psychiatric conditions than any other reason, with those cases particularly high among Marines.

The numbers suggest the military, under pressure to find recruits for two wars over the better part of the last decade, may not be catching the signs of mental illness during the enlistment process. While ailments ranging from asthma to hearing problems to orthopedic conditions accounted for a large percentage of discharges, mental health issues were the most common cause.

The military's Medical Surveillance Monthly Report and its Accession Medical Standards Analysis & Research Activity Report both confirmed this trend -- the statistics varied drastically depending on the branch.

Among Marines, 44 percent of discharges between 2004 and 2009 for pre-existing conditions were for psychiatric complications. That percentage was 24 in the Army and 18 in the Navy. It was less than 1 percent in the Air Force. The disorders ranged from depression to ADD to bipolar disorder.

The studies tracked recruits who were discharged for conditions that surfaced within six months of joining the military -- meaning many were probably discharged during training and did not see combat.

Paul Sullivan, director of veterans advocacy group Veterans for Common Sense, said the numbers reflect the "recruiting shortfall" the military has had to deal with. He said sloppier vetting opens the door for problems to surface after new member are enlisted.

In total, 3,636 Marines were discharged for psychiatric reasons between 2004 and 2009. In the Army, 4,359 were discharged. The Pentagon did not respond to a request for comment.

However, the startlingly high number of psychiatric-based discharges for recruits comes as the Pentagon faces complaints that it may be discharging combat troops on spurious mental-health grounds. Though the military has moved to recognize more cases of post-traumatic stress disorder -- as opposed to classifying them simply as "personality disorders" -- lawmakers have complained that the military is finding other psychiatric reasons to discharge troops.

The distinction is critical in determining what kind of benefits packages the discharged service member receives -- PTSD discharges get a 50 percent disability payment and health care benefits, while others do not receive that level of help after leaving the military.

Four lawmakers wrote to Defense Secretary Robert Gates in October complaining that the military was discharging members for "other physical or mental conditions not amounting to disability."

"While it is a good thing that the Pentagon has moved away from unfairly discharging combat troops by erroneously claiming a service member had a (personality disorder) rather than addressing the harmful effects of combat stress, we need to ensure a new method is not being used to deny combat veterans the care and benefits they deserve," they wrote. The letter was signed by Sens. Kit Bond, R-Mo.; Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa; Sam Brownback, R-Kansas, and Patrick Leahy, D-Vt.

They cited Pentagon data showing that while personal disorder discharges were down dramatically over the past few years, discharges for other "physical or mental" conditions rose from 1,453 to 3,844 between fiscal 2006 and 2009. Many of those conditions were labeled as "adjustment disorder," they wrote.

"We are particularly concerned that troops who display symptoms of combat stress are being expeditiously chaptered out of the military by the medical bureaucracy prior to their condition meeting formal diagnostic criteria for PTSD or other conditions that would constitute disability," the senators wrote.

Sullivan described this "patient dumping" as a serious problem in the military.

"The military finds it more expedient ... to improperly kick out tens of thousands of troops," he said.

In a response to the senators' letter, the Army assured them that it would continue to review the circumstances for such discharges.

Thomas Lamont, assistant secretary of the Army, wrote in a memo that the Army made sure soldiers discharged due to various disorders were "appropriately screened" for PTSD and traumatic brain injury.

"The Army is dedicated to ensuring that all soldiers with physical and mental conditions caused by wartime service receive the care they deserve," he wrote.

Source: Fox News

Support a MHA of MT grant to prevent suicide

2010-12-02T21:35:00.002-07:00

Please support our grant to promote the Montana Suicide Prevention Lifeline 800-273-TALK (8255) on movie theater screens, and highway billboards.

Vote by sms texting 104356 to 73774 (PepsiFreshText), or on the web at http://www.refresheverything.com/stopsuicide

Note that you should not receive spam by texting or voting on the web

Thank You -

Julio Brionez
Prevention Coordinator
Mental Health America of MT

Mental Illness Hit 1 in 5 U.S. Adults in Past Yea

2010-11-23T11:17:00.001-07:00

A new survey finds that 20 percent of U.S. adults -- over 45 million people -- experienced mental illness in the past year.
Overall, 4.8 percent (11 million people) suffered serious mental illness, 8.4 million people had serious thoughts of suicide, 2.2 million made suicide plans, and one million attempted suicide, according to the 2009 National Survey on Drug Use and Health. Nearly 20 percent (8.9 million) of adults with mental illness in the past year also had a substance abuse disorder, the report found. The rate was 25.7 percent for those with a serious mental illness -- about four times higher than the rate of 6.5 percent among people without a serious mental illness,
The survey was released by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
Among its other findings:
* Women are more likely than men to experience mental illness -- 23.8 percent vs. 15.6 percent.
* Young adults had the highest rate of mental woes (30 percent) while those aged 50 and older had the lowest rate (13.7 percent).

"Too many Americans are not getting the help they need and opportunities to prevent and intervene early are being missed," SAMHSA Administrator Pamela S. Hyde said in an agency news release.

Read more here.

The Connection Between Substance Abuse and Mental Health

2010-11-09T10:23:00.001-07:00

Our mental health affects the way that we feel and respond to life on a daily basis. When there is something wrong or out of balance in our mental state, it is going to throw off everything until it is properly
addressed, diagnosed, and treated. There is a very definite connection that has been discovered between substance abuse and mental health, or better said, a lack of true mental health. This is not to say that every person who abuses drugs or alcohol have a mental illness, but that there is a higher rate of mentally ill addicts than those who are not.

Of course, there is also the fact that many people believe that substance abuse and addiction are mental illnesses in and of themselves. This may very well be the case, but even if it's not, substance abuse is certainly an ailment of sorts and it needs to be treated alongside the mental illness that may have brought it on to begin with.

Many times, people with a mental illness, especially one that has not been diagnosed and is not being treated by a professional, will begin to "self-medicate". This essentially means that they will seek out substances that relieve the inner pain, stress, confusion, or other negative feelings that they are experiencing. For instance, a person with severe depression may begin to take "uppers" to allow them to feel happiness, even if it's only temporary. Often, the person with the mental health problem doesn't understand why they feel the way that they do, but once they find a substance that relieves the bad feelings, they are likely to become addicted quite quickly.

When that occurs, the person is now dealing with a dual diagnosis, meaning that there is a substance abuse problem as well as an additional mental health problem and both will need to be addressed and treated. An inpatient facility is likely the place to start, where the person is going to have intensive treatment, followed by aftercare day treatment programs for the substance abuse and psychiatric treatment and monitoring for the mental illness.

It is so easy to judge people that we see who are obviously dealing with substance abuse, but there is always an underlying problem that has led to the point we are seeing today. Often, that problem has to do with a mental illness that needs to be properly diagnosed and treated by a professional.

Published by Victoria Tiegert

Mental illness stigma lingers even though people understand it's a brain disease

2010-11-04T09:28:00.001-06:00

By Shari Roan, Los Angeles Times

Public perception of mental illness and addiction has changed significantly -- and for the good -- in the last 15 years. That doesn't mean, however, that people feel comfortable working or living near or being friends with someone with mental illness, according to a major new survey.

The study compared people's responses to vignettes involving mental illness and addiction to gauge public understanding of the illness and feelings toward those who are ill or addicted. The surveys took place in 1996 and 2006. The idea, the researchers said, was to assess whether major efforts to improve the treatment of mental conditions and eliminate stigma in the United States is working. Several sweeping efforts have been made in the past two decades to educate Americans on mental illness. A major theme of these campaigns is that mental illnesses and addiction are biological, brain-based, sometimes-genetic illnesses that are each "a disease like any other."

The survey finds the public has embraced that concept, but only to a point. The percentage of people who attributed depression to neurobiological causes increased from 54% of those surveyed in 1996 to 67% in 2006. Those who endorsed psychiatrists to help treat alcoholism increased from 61% to 79% in the 10-year period.

However, the willingness to associate with people with these disorders did not change much. For example, the percentage of people who said they are unwilling to work closely with someone with major depression was 46% in 1996 and 47% in 2006. The percentage of people who considered people with schizophrenia to be a danger to others was 54% in 1996 and 60% in 2006.

Though research and treatment options for people with mental illness or addiction have clearly improved, many could be held back by social stigma, said the authors of the study, led by Indiana University researchers. "Public attitudes matter," they wrote. "Attitudes can translate directly into fear or understanding, rejection or acceptance, delayed service use or early medical attention."

It may take a new approach -- something other than science-based anti-stigma campaigns -- to change public attitudes, the authors said. One such approach is to focus on the "abilities, competencies, and community integration of persons with mental illness and substance use disorders."

(Which brings to mind Los Angeles Laker's star Ron Artest and his efforts to raise money for mental health services by raffling his NBA Championship ring. Artest, who has been treated for depression, has been outspoken about the importance and value of seeking treatment. His "Win My Bling" raffle raised $120,000 in just one day last week.)

In a commentary accompanying the study, Dr. Howard H. Goldman of the University of Maryland points to encouraging signs that people with these diseases can live on equitable terms with those who have not suffered addiction or mental illness.

"We may not have eliminated social stigmatization of symptomatic individuals with mental illness," he wrote. "But improved treatment has helped many of them to make their symptoms and dysfunction less visible and less problematic."

The papers appear in the current issue of the American Journal of Psychiatry.

Two Hours At TV Or Computer Screen Linked To Psychological Problems In Kids

2010-10-11T11:23:00.002-06:00

A child who spends at least two hours a day in front of a TV screen or computer monitor has a significantly higher risk of developing psychological problems, no matter how much physical activity they do, researchers from the University of Bristol's Centre for Exercise, Nutrition and Health Sciences, England reported in an article published in the American Journal of Pediatrics. The more physically active children who were in front of a screen for at least two hours a day appeared to do better than their sedentary peers in emotional and peer problems, but fared worse in behavioral areas, including hyperactivity.

This latest study, called The PEACH project, assessed over 1,000 kids aged ten and eleven years. The investigators gathered data on how long they spent in front of a computer monitor and/or TV screen, as well as their mental health. The children's levels of physical activity were measured and recorded using an activity monitor.

The researchers found that those children who spend at least two hours watching TV and/or using their computer for non-homework use (recreational use) had higher psychological difficulty scores compared to their peers who spent less time in front of screens. The investigators add that the difficulty scores persisted, irrespective of how physically active the children were.

In other words, it appears that regular prolonged exposure to monitors/screens increases the risk of psychological problems, and exercise does not seem to get rid of the problem.

The authors believe that limiting a child's exposure to TV/Computer screens could play an important role in protecting their current and future mental health and well-being.

Source: "Children's Screen Viewing is Related to Psychological Difficulties Irrespective of Physical Activity"

A Teacher's Suicide: Lessons Learned

2010-10-08T13:28:00.002-06:00

Suicide is often seen as the tip of the iceberg. When Mr Ruelas', a Los Angelos teacher, died by suicide last week, it is acknowledged that the motives are far from clear. However some have associated Mr. Ruelas' love of teaching, his despair about the recent release of teacher performance ratings and his shame at being listed as a "less than effective" teacher compelled him to take a fatal jump. I also have the experience losing someone I love to suicide and searching for answers that can bind my anguish. My mother killed herself when I was four years old and as a child psychiatrist, mother, daughter I spent 18 years asking the impenetrable question of "Why?"

The lessons learned for those of us who lose someone to suicide is that it is usually a complex set of events, biological, cultural, conscious, unconscious motives. In ninety percent of suicides there is an underlying mental illness that exacerbates how someone responds to an immediate crisis whether it is a loss of a job, a divorce, the vicissitudes in life that can leave us bereft. In "psychological autopsies" when researchers interview friends and family, someone often has suffered from depression or bipolar disorder.

When someone is depressed and suicidal they can often have lethal misperceptions. Their desperate misery can be fueled by the faulty logic that their problem is permanent and that ending their life is the only solution. If I had climbed next to Mr. Ruelas on the remote forest bridge, the kind of metaphorical outreach that I do with my patients in my office, I would have counseled him in the words of Galway Kinell in his poem to a suicidal friend, "Wait, Wait for now, the need for new love is faithfulness to the old." I would have asked him to look at the evidence that a bad report card can permanently derail a career or can he recognize that this is the "faulty logic" of depression. When someone is suicidal they can see themselves as a perceived burden and that they will not be missed.

The aftermath of Mr. Ruelas' death is a stark reminder that none of us are expendable. As an extension of Mr. Ruelas' love for his students, I want each of them to get the message that depression is a treatable illness. We have life sustaining support to help those in their darkest hours find another way.

Blog by: By Nancy Rappaport, M.D - A Teacher's Suicide: Lessons Learned

Mental Health Courts Appear to Shorten Jail Time, Reduce Re-Arrest for Those With Psychiatric Illness

2010-10-05T11:24:00.002-06:00

Special mental health courts appear to be associated with lower post-treatment arrest rates and reduced number of days of incarceration for individuals with serious psychiatric illnesses, according to a report posted online October 4 that will appear in the February 2011 print issue of Archives of General Psychiatry.

"Mental health courts are an increasingly popular post-booking jail diversion program," the authors write as background information in the article. "Mental health courts have the laudable goal of moving persons with serious mental illness out of the criminal justice system and into community treatment without sacrificing public safety." These courts have expanded from one or two in 1997 to approximately 250 today. In general, eligible clients follow specific procedures for enrollment into the court, such as having a hearing before a mental health court judge, entering a guilty plea and agreeing to the terms of the court. Treatment is usually a condition of enrollment, and courts reserve the right to sanction defendants who violate the terms.

Specifically, in the 18 months following enrollment in the mental health court, participants were significantly less likely than those treated in the usual manner to be arrested again (49 percent vs. 58 percent). Over the same period, mental health court participants had a decline of 0.8 arrests per year (from 2.1 to 1.3), compared with a decline of 0.6 in the usual treatment group (from 2.6 to 2.0).

The above story is reprinted (with editorial adaptations by MHA of MT staff) from materials provided by JAMA and Archives Journals.

Social Rejection Literally Affects the Heart

2010-09-29T10:51:00.000-06:00

We all know that the phrase heartbroken is reflective of a social rejection. New research suggests the phrase may also have some physiological truth as researchers determine social rejection does affect the heart.

Dutch researchers have determined social rejection isn’t just emotionally upsetting; it also makes your heart rate drop for a moment.

The report is published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.

Research has shown that the brain processes physical and social pain in some of the same regions. A team of Dutch researchers wanted to find out how social pain affects you physically.

For the study, volunteers were asked to send the researchers a photograph of themselves. They were told that for a study on first impressions, students at another university would look at the photo to decide whether they liked the volunteer.

This was just a cover story for the real experiment.

A few weeks later, each volunteer came to the laboratory, had wires placed on their chest for an electrocardiogram, and looked at a series of unfamiliar faces—actual students from another university.

For each face, the volunteer was asked to guess whether that student liked them. Then they were told whether the person actually “liked” them or not—although this was merely a computer-generated response.

Each participant’s heart rate fell in anticipation before they found out the person’s supposed opinion of them.

Heart rate was also affected after they were told the other person’s opinion—if they were told the other student didn’t like them, the heart dropped further, and was slower to get back up to the usual rate. The heart rate slowed more in people who expected that the other person would like them.

The results suggest that the autonomic nervous system, which controls such functions as digestion and circulation, gets involved when you’re socially rejected.

“Unexpected social rejection could literally feel ‘heartbreaking,’ as reflected by a transient slowing of heart rate,” the researchers write.

Source: Association for Psychological Science

Men Respond to Stress by Shutting Down

2010-09-29T10:34:00.001-06:00

A new study finds that stressed men have diminished activity in brain regions responsible for understanding others’ feelings.

In the investigation, researchers had men look at angry faces. The results suggest the silent and stoic response to stress might be a “guy thing” after all.

“These are the first findings to indicate that sex differences in the effects of stress on social behavior extend to one of the most basic social transactions — processing someone else’s facial expression,” said Mara Mather, director of the Emotion and Cognition Lab at USC.

In an article appearing in the journal NeuroReport, Mather and her coauthors present a series of tests indicating that, under acute stress, men had less brain response to facial expressions, in particular, fear and anger.

Men under acute stress showed decreased activity not only in the fusiform face area but also decreased coordination among parts of the brain that help us interpret what emotions these faces are conveying.

In a marked sex difference, women under stress showed the opposite — women under stress had increased activity in the fusiform face area and increased coordination among the regions of the brain used in interpreting facial emotions compared to the control group.

“Under stress, men tend to withdraw socially while women seek emotional support,” Mather said.

Source: University of Southern California

Violent Crime Less Frequent in Neighborhoods with Businesses

2010-09-27T03:12:00.001-06:00

Neighborhoods that combine residential and business developments have lower levels of some types of violent crime, suggests a new study.

The findings were equally true in impoverished areas as they were in more affluent neighborhoods, possibly offering city planners and politicians a new option in improving crime-afflicted areas, according to the researchers.

“A residential neighborhood needs more than the addition of one or two businesses to see any positive impact on violent crime,” said Christopher Browning, professor of sociology at Ohio State University and lead author of the study.

“There needs to be a sufficient density of businesses and residences throughout the community to really see the benefits.”

The findings are significant as more cities across the country move toward mixed developments as a way to bolster downtowns and run-down neighborhoods, said Browning.

The study appears in the current issue of the Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency and was supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation.

Source: Ohio State University

Physically Fit Kids Have Bigger Hippocampus

2010-09-20T09:31:00.000-06:00

Children who are physically active actually boost their own brain development, according to a study by the University of Illinois.

The researchers observed 49 participants, aged nine to ten, and found that physically fit children tend to have a bigger hippocampus and also perform better on memory tests than kids who are less fit.

For the study, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was used to measure the relative size of specific structures in the brains of the child participants.

“This is the first study I know of that has used MRI measures to look at differences in brain between kids who are fit and kids who aren’t fit. Beyond that, it relates those measures of brain structure to cognition,” said University of Illinois psychology professor Art Kramer, who led the study with Laura Chaddok, doctoral student.

The study’s main focus was the hippocampus, a structure set deep in the brain and known to play a major role in memory and learning. Previous studies in older adults and animals have shown that exercise can enlarge the hippocampus. A bigger hippocampus is linked to stronger spatial reasoning and other cognitive tasks.

This study appears in the journal Brain Research.

Source: University of Illinois

Ron Artest To Auction NBA Championship Ring For Mental Health

2010-09-16T09:55:00.002-06:00

Remember Ron Artest? The Los Angeles Lakers player who, after his team won the 2010 NBA Championship, publicly thanked his psychologist – the woman who “really helped [him] relax a lot”?

Well, it seems Artest is taking his new-found appreciation for mental health professionals a step further.

According to NBA.com, not only did the small forward appear with Rep. Grace F. Napolitano, the co-chair of the Congressional Mental Health Caucus and author of the Mental Health in Schools Act, at a Los Angeles middle school a couple of Thursdays ago to “to call for passage of federal legislation and encourage students to reach out to a health-care worker if they need,” but he’s also “planning to sell the championship ring as a fundraiser to put more psychologists, psychiatrists and therapists in schools.”

In the meantime, you can keep up with Ron Artest at his official website, www.ronartest.com.

High Altitude Suicide Risk?

2010-09-16T09:47:00.002-06:00

Provocative new research suggests high altitude is in some way related to suicide risk. The assertion is challenging as the mountainous West is renowned for the beauty of its towering mountains and high deserts.

Perry F. Renshaw, M.D., Ph.D., MBA, professor of psychiatry at the University of Utah School of Medicine and colleagues, report that the risk for suicide increases by nearly one third at an altitude of 2,000 meters, or approximately 6,500 feet above sea level.

The high suicide rates in the West prompted Renshaw, the study’s senior author and also an investigator with the Veterans Affairs Rocky Mountain (VISN 19) Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center (MIRECC), to undertake the research.

“We thought it was reasonable to ask if some aspect of high altitude is related to suicide,” he said.

“Altitude was the strongest factor we could find in our study. But we believe there’s also some other factor we can’t account for yet.”

After analyzing data from a U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) database with information on 3,108 counties in the lower 48 states and District of Columbia, Renshaw and his colleagues concluded that altitude is an independent risk factor for suicide, and that “this association may have arisen from the effects of metabolic stress associated with mild hypoxia (inadequate oxygen intake)” in people with mood disorders.

In other words, people with problems such as depression might be at greater risk for suicide if they live at higher altitudes.

Source: University of Utah Health Sciences

Mental Illness Stigma Entrenched in American Culture; New Strategies Needed, Study Finds

2010-09-15T11:56:00.001-06:00

A joint study by Indiana University and Columbia University researchers found no change in prejudice and discrimination toward people with serious mental illness or substance abuse problems despite a greater embrace by the public of neurobiological explanations for these illnesses.

The study, published online Sept. 15 in the American Journal of Psychiatry, raises vexing questions about the effectiveness of campaigns designed to improve health literacy. This "disease like any other" approach, supported by medicine and mental health advocates, had been seen as the primary way to reduce widespread stigma in the United States.

"Prejudice and discrimination in the U.S. aren't moving," said IU sociologist Bernice Pescosolido, a leading researcher in this area. "In fact, in some cases, it may be increasing. It's time to stand back and rethink our approach."

Stigma, the well-documented reluctance by many to socialize or work with people who have a mental or substance abuse disorder, is considered a major obstacle to effective treatment for many Americans who experience these devastating illnesses. It can produce discrimination in employment, housing, medical care and social relationships, and negatively impact the quality of life for these individuals, their families and friends.

The above story is reprinted (with editorial adaptations by Mental Health America of Montana staff) from materials provided by Indiana University.

False Memories from Simply Observing Others

2010-09-15T11:12:00.000-06:00

Have you ever wondered if you really did something, or did you just remember the event because you watched someone else perform the action?

If so, don’t feel bad. Experts continue to gather evidence that memory is not always reliable.

Interestingly, the insight came as a team of psychologists were studying imagination, a recognized method by which false memories can be created.

In an experiment, psychologists found that people who had watched a video of someone else doing a simple action — shaking a bottle or shuffling a deck of cards, for example — often remembered doing the action themselves two weeks later.

“We were stunned,” says Gerald Echterhoff, of Jacobs University Bremen. As a result, Echterhoff and collegues changed the focus of the invesitgation to examine this phenomenon with a series of experiments.

In each experiment, participants performed several simple actions. Then they watched videos of someone else doing simple actions—some of which they had already performed, and some of which they had not.

Two weeks later, they were asked which actions they had done. They were much more likely to falsely remember doing an action if they had watched someone else do it. This happened even when participants were told about the effect and warned that it could happen to them.

Source: Association for Psychological Science

Perceptions of Life Threat Can Cause Long-Term Distress

2010-09-15T11:08:00.001-06:00

Perceptions about one’s safety during a disaster—even from a distance—can leave emotional scarring and long-term issues with mental health.

These findings are part of a study that focused on 1,500 residents of Stockholm who had been in the disaster area during the 2004 tsunami that occurred in the Indian Ocean. Surprisingly, some of those displaying signs of long-term mental distress had not been affected directly by either self harm or harm to friends and family.

“A difficult experience can lead to an excess of feelings and impressions. This is normal and can be seen as a sign that the mind and body need time to work through what happened,” said Dr. Lars Wahlström of the Crisis and Disaster Psychology Unit at the Center for Family and Community Medicine (CeFAM) in Stockholm.

Part of the doctoral thesis “Disaster and Recovery,” conducted at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden, researchers had participants—all over 15 years of age—fill out a questionnaire regarding their experiences 14 months after the incident.

Results revealed that 30 percent of those interviewed were still experiencing symptoms that included post-traumatic reactions, mood disturbances or sleep issues. Of those still experiencing mental health issues, 20 percent had not been directly affected, but they had perceived their presence and experience in the region as life-threatening.

“It would seem that the very experience of threat to life leaves traces,” Wahlström said, adding that survivors of disasters could possibly be better evaluated for potential long-term effects by asking more pointed questions about their perceptions. “It might be enough for a nurse at the emergency ward to sit down for a moment and ask what the survivor has been through and how the experience felt. After survivors’ first reactions have subsided, at the latest within a month, those who felt a threat to life should be contacted again to find out how they are doing.”

Doctoral thesis: “Disaster and recovery,” Lars Wahlström, Karolinska Institute

More children in the United States are receiving diagnoses of bipolar disorder

2010-09-14T08:36:00.001-06:00

Mental health professionals say that more and more children are receiving diagnoses of and treatment for bipolar disorder, and at younger ages. This is a serious brain disorder in which a person goes through extreme mood episodes of mania and depression, going from intense excitement and lack of focus to sadness and even suicidal behavior.

A 2007 study in the Archives of General Psychiatry found that the number of office visits resulting in a diagnosis of bipolar disorder for those under 19 was 1,003 per 100,000 people in 2002-03 in the United States. This was a dramatic uptick from 25 per 100,000 people in 1994-95.
Bipolar Disorder 101

"The prevalence of bipolar disorder in children in genuinely growing, but I think it's also because we are also becoming more aware that children who have very wild and very problematic mood swings may have bipolar disorder," said Dr. Rakesh Jain, a psychiatrist in Lake Jackson, Texas.

But another reality that's not popular among parents is that sometimes, components of the child's environment contribute to these behavioral disturbances, said Dr. Charles Raison, psychiatrist at Emory University.

There are, of course, children who genuinely have bipolar disorder, but he cautions that ideally, as a first line of defense, family support and therapy would be given to the child and problematic environments -- be it home or school -- would be improved, and then medication would be given as needed.

The story is featured inCNN.

Health News

New Study Reconciles Conflicting Data On Mental Aging

2010-09-14T08:31:00.002-06:00

A new look at tests of mental aging reveals a good news-bad news situation. The bad news is all mental abilities appear to decline with age, to varying degrees. The good news is the drops are not as steep as some research showed, according to a study published by the American Psychological Association.

"There is now convincing evidence that even vocabulary knowledge and what's called crystallized intelligence decline at older ages," said study author Timothy Salthouse, PhD.

Longitudinal test scores look good in part because repeat test-takers grow familiar with tests or testing strategies, said the University of Virginia psychologist. Factoring out these "practice effects" showed a truer picture of actual mental aging, according to Salthouse.

Still, the declines, although pervasive, are smaller than thought, according to the report in the July issue of Neuropsychology. That finding contradicts data gathered by the other major research approach to aging, cross-sectional studies, which compare the performance of different age groups at the same time.

Source:

American Psychological Association

Brain Scans May Track Childhood Psychological Disorders

2010-09-13T09:17:00.000-06:00

Physicians are encouraged to look at brain scan data in a new way. According to a study at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, doctors should be able to analyze the development of a child’s brain and also keep track of any possible psychological or developmental disorders after a typical five-minute scan.

“Pediatricians regularly plot where their patients are in terms of height, weight and other measures, and then match these up to standardized curves that track typical developmental pathways,” says senior author Bradley Schlaggar, MD, PhD, a Washington University pediatric neurologist and the A. Ernest and Jane G. Stein Associate Professor of Neurology.

“When the patient deviates too strongly from the standardized ranges or veers suddenly from one developmental path to another, the physician knows there’s a need to start asking why.”

Schlaggar and his colleagues propose a new way of looking at brain scanning data that moves beyond observing the brain from only a structural point of view. This would be especially helpful in the monitoring and treating of patients with psychiatric and developmental disorders.

According to Schlaggar, he has sent children with obvious, profound psychiatric conditions for MRI scans and received results marked “no abnormalities noted.”

“That’s typically looking at the data from a structural point of view—what’s different about the shapes of various brain regions,” he adds. “But MRI also offers ways to analyze how different parts of the brain work together functionally.”

The study is featured this week in Science.

Washington University in St. Louis

Double the Costs for Worksite Mental Illness

2010-09-13T09:14:00.000-06:00

A new Canadian study reveals that mental illness is associated with more lost work days than any other chronic condition.

When researchers calculated the actual cost of mental health leave, they found that on average, it’s double the cost of a leave for a physical illness.

The study, published in the Journal of Occupational & Environmental Medicine, looked at data tracking the short-term disability leave of 33,913 full-time employees in Ontario.

Results showed that the cost to a company for a single employee on a short-term disability leave due to mental health concerns totals nearly $18,000.

Source: Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH)

The Take 5 to Save Lives campaign asks supporters to take 5 steps

2010-09-10T10:47:00.000-06:00

The Take 5 to Save Lives campaign asks supporters to take 5 steps:

Learn the signs

Join the movement

Spread the word

Support a friend

Reach out if you need help

Visit the campaign website to learn more about these 5 steps and how you or your organization can help spread the word.

For more information: http://www.take5tosavelives.com

High Schools Pilot Suicide Prevention Program

2010-09-10T10:27:00.000-06:00

A new model for suicide prevention seeks to use the power of peer influence to change high school suicide rates for the better.

Undertaken by researchers at the University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC), the Sources of Strength program will be the subject of a long-term study at high schools across New York and North Dakota.

Developed in the late 1990s by Mark LoMurray alongside other tribal and rural suicide prevention workers in North Dakota, the Sources of Strength program identifies a culturally diverse group of youth leaders to change behaviors through targeted messaging activities.

According to research team leader Peter Wyman, Ph.D., associate professor of psychiatry at URMC, the program’s objective is to “strengthen how teens handle depression, stress and other problems by training influential teen ‘peer leaders’ who work to change coping practices in their friendship networks.”

Identified youth leaders may include a mix of low-risk and at-risk teens who are trained to influence others to adopt positive coping mechanisms in connection with emotional crisis. The leaders work under the monitoring of adult mentors.

Current statistics reveal that suicide accounts for more deaths in youth and young adults aged 10 to 24 than all other natural causes combined. As many as eight percent of adolescents attempt suicide each year, with up to one third requiring medical attention.

“Sources of Strength is an innovative and promising program,” Wyman said.

Source: University of Rochester Medical Center

Can Psychological Trauma Be Inherited?

2010-09-09T10:27:00.000-06:00

An emerging topic of investigation looks to determine if post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can be passed to subsequent generations.

Scientists are studying groups with high rates of PTSD, such as the survivors of the Nazi death camps. Adjustment problems of the children of the survivors — the so-called “second generation” — is topic of study for researchers.

Studies suggested that some symptoms or personality traits associated with PTSD may be more common in the second generation than the general population.

It has been assumed that these transgenerational effects reflected the impact of PTSD upon the parent-child relationship rather than a trait passed biologically from parent to child.

However, Dr. Isabelle Mansuy and colleagues provide new evidence in the current issue of Biological Psychiatry that some aspects of the impact of trauma cross generations and are associated with epigenetic changes, i.e., the regulation of the pattern of gene expression, without changing the DNA sequence.

They found that early-life stress induced depressive-like behaviors and altered behavioral responses to aversive environments in mice.

Source: Elsevier

Ultrasound Technology Helpful in Treating Self-Harm Patients

2010-09-09T10:26:00.000-06:00

According to a new study, radiologists, while using ultrasound technology and a minimally-invasive procedure, are able to successfully diagnose and treat patients who engage in a troubling self-harming behavior known as self-embedding.

Self-harm (or self-injury) is the general name used to describe a variety of disturbing behaviors in which a person intentionally causes harm to his or her body with no suicidal intent. It is a troubling trend among teenagers, and surprisingly, more common in girls.

The most common forms of self-injury include cutting oneself, bruising, burning, breaking bones, hair pulling, and the swallowing of toxic substances. Self-embedding–the focus of this study– takes the behavior of cutting a step further as the person will puncture the skin in order to insert a foreign object.

Sometimes these objects are left under the skin for years, and many of them have escaped detection during typical X-ray examinations. Ultrasound technology, however, is offering new hope for diagnosing and treating patients who self-embed.

Source: Radiological Society of North America

Psychological Abuse During Pregnancy Linked to Postnatal Depression

2010-09-08T18:31:00.000-06:00

Postnatal depression is strongly linked to psychological abuse by an intimate partner during pregnancy, independent of any physical or sexual violence, according to the research of Dr. Ana Bernarda Ludermir of the Universidade Federal de Pernambuco in Recife, Brazil and colleagues at the School of Social and Community Medicine at the University of Bristol.

These findings are significant as most social policies currently focus on prevention and treatment of physical violence only.

A total of 1,045 women between the ages of 18 and 49 years were included in the study and interviewed during pregnancy and after delivery. The women, who were receiving care at primary health care clinics during their third trimesters, were given a questionnaire that assessed partner violence.

The findings showed that 270 (26 percent) of these women suffered from postnatal depression, and the most common form of abuse was psychological (28 percent).

Source: University of Bristol

Bipolar Does Not Increase Risk of Violent Crime

2010-09-08T18:16:00.001-06:00

By Rick Nauert PhD Senior News Editor

A new Swedish study suggests that a person with bipolar disorder is not at increased risk of aggression. However, substance abuse associated with bipolar does increase the chance of violent crime.

The public debate on violent crime usually assumes that violence in the mentally ill is a direct result of the perpetrator’s illness.

Twenty-one percent of patients with bipolar disorder and a concurrent diagnosis of severe substance abuse (alcohol or illegal drugs) were convicted of violent crimes, compared to five percent of those with bipolar disorder but without substance abuse, and three percent among general public control individuals.

The differences remained when accounting for age, gender, immigrant background, socioeconomic status, and whether the most recent presentation of the bipolar disorder was manic or depressed.

“Interestingly, this concurs with our group’s previous findings in schizophrenia, another serious psychiatric disorder, which found that individuals with schizophrenia are not more violent than members of the general public, provided there is no substance abuse,” says professor Niklas Långström, head of the Centre for Violence Prevention at Karolinska Institutet.

According to the researchers, the findings support the need for initiatives to prevent, identify and treat substance abuse when fighting violent crime. Additionally, Långström hopes that the results will help challenge overly simplistic explanations of the causes of violent crime.

“Unwarranted fear and stigmatization of mental illness increases the alienation of people with psychiatric disorder and makes them less inclined to seek the care they need,” Långström comments.

Source: Karolinska Institutet

TNS Electrical Stimulation Helps Depression

2010-09-07T20:51:00.001-06:00

By Traci Pedersen
Reviewed by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on September 4, 2010

A new therapy that electrically stimulates a major nerve in the brain shows promising results for relief of major depression. The treatment — trigeminal nerve stimulation (TNS) — reduced depression symptoms by an average of 70 percent during an eight-week study conducted at UCLA.

Major depression is a disabling brain condition resulting in depressed mood, negative effects on sleep, energy, decision-making and memory, and possible thoughts of death or suicide. The disorder affects 15 million adults in the U.S., and according to the World Health Organization, by 2020 it will be the second-largest contributor to disability in the world.

Although antidepressants have helped many people recover from major depression and resume their lives, there is only a 30 percent success rate for patients taking their first medication. If the first drug doesn’t work, patients typically continue trying a series of other antidepressants. Most of these medications have significant side effects, including obesity, sexual dysfunction, drowsiness, nausea and fatigue.

Dr. Ian A. Cook, the Miller Professor of Psychiatry at the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at UCLA and the study’s head investigator, presented the results at a recent National Institutes of Health conference on depression and other psychiatric disorders. There he noted that 80 percent of the subjects achieved remission with electrical stimulation, a significant statistic in this pilot study.

TNS Electrical Stimulation Helps Depression

Memory problems more common in men?

2010-09-07T08:54:00.000-06:00

ScienceDaily (Sep. 6, 2010) — A new study shows that mild cognitive impairment (MCI) may affect more men than women. The research is published in the September 7, 2010, print issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.Memory problems more common in men?

Meditation Improves Attitude of Teenage Boys

2010-09-03T12:22:00.001-06:00

Researchers have discovered a particular form of meditation known as mindfulness meditation appears to improve the outlook of male teenagers.

The technique, based on the processes of learning to become more aware of our ongoing experiences, was found to increase well-being in adolescent boys.

Researchers from the University of Cambridge analyzed 155 boys from two independent UK schools, Tonbridge and Hampton, before and after a four-week crash course in mindfulness.

After the trial period, the 14- and 15-year-old boys were found to have increased wellbeing, defined as the combination of feeling good (including positive emotions such as happiness, contentment, interest and affection) and functioning well.

Source: University of Cambridge

Brain Imaging Shows Brain Changes in Depression

2010-09-02T10:53:00.002-06:00

Traditionally, depression is suspected when symptoms that suggest impaired psychosocial functioning are present for more than two weeks. Symptoms of depression include an overwhelming feeling of sadness, difficulty to experience pleasure, sleep problems, and difficulties with engaging in everyday life.

Emerging research addresses the neural bases of depression as well as how treatment can induce changes in the brain. Modern brain imaging techniques such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) are often used to view brain modulations.

This line of research expands the commonly accepted premise that depression is associated with dysfunction of specific brain regions involved in cognitive control and emotional response.

Source: European College of Neuropsychopharmacology

Attention, Couch Potatoes! Walking Boosts Brain Connectivity, Function

2010-08-29T12:38:00.003-06:00

ScienceDaily (Aug. 27, 2010) — A group of "professional couch potatoes," as one researcher described them, has proven that even moderate exercise -- in this case walking at one's own pace for 40 minutes three times a week -- can enhance the connectivity of important brain circuits, combat declines in brain function associated with aging and increase performance on cognitive tasks.

The study, in Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience, followed 65 adults, aged 59 to 80, who joined a walking group or stretching and toning group for a year. All of the participants were sedentary before the study, reporting less than two episodes of physical activity lasting 30 minutes or more in the previous six months. The researchers also measured brain activity in 32 younger (18- to 35-year-old) adults.

Rather than focusing on specific brain structures, the study looked at activity in brain regions that function together as networks.

"Almost nothing in the brain gets done by one area -- it's more of a circuit," said University of Illinois psychology professor and Beckman Institute Director Art Kramer, who led the study with kinesiology and community health professor Edward McAuley and doctoral student Michelle Voss. "These networks can become more or less connected. In general, as we get older, they become less connected, so we were interested in the effects of fitness on connectivity of brain networks that show the most dysfunction with age."

See the entire story at: Science Daily

Suicide Stereotypes Exposed as Myths

2010-08-19T13:00:00.002-06:00

By Jeanna Bryner, LiveScience Managing Editor

No single cookie-cutter model for suicide can explain an individual's desire to take his or her life. And that's good news, said one psychologist who studies suicidal behaviors across cultures.

To the surprise of many people, suicide is more common than homicide. Many suicide stereotypes would suggest men and women differ in their suicidal behaviors in predictable ways that hold true regardless of culture. For instance, experts have thought that women are more likely to engage in suicidal behavior than men, yet they ultimately die of suicide at a lower rate because their suicide attempts tend less often to be fatal.

That gender paradox holds up for some women in the United States but may not in other countries, according to Silvia S. Canetto of Colorado State University. Canetto’s research suggests culture is key in shaping suicide tendencies as well as how we view suicide. If suicide isn't a one-size-fits-all behavior that holds across the board, there's hope for change, she contends.

"All of a sudden you realize it's not an inevitable general, universal pattern that men are more likely to die of suicide than women," Canetto told LiveScience. "Then you can see the behavior is not fixed. It's a modifiable characteristic." And if it's modifiable, an understanding of the particulars of suicide for a particular group could help experts work to reduce suicide.

Source: LiveScience

Internet Counseling Aids Mental Health

2010-08-10T11:40:00.003-06:00

By Rick Nauert PhD Senior News Editor
Reviewed by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on August 9, 2010

A new study has found that psychiatrists can accurately assess a patient’s mental health by viewing web-based or e-mail files.

Specifically, University of California at Davis investigators found psychiatrists could diagnose and counsel individuals after viewing videotaped interviews that are sent via telecommunications lines.

The approach, called asynchronous telepsychiatry, uses store-and-forward technology, in which medical information is retrieved, stored and transmitted for later review using e-mail or Web applications.

Source: UC Davis

The healing effects of forests

2010-08-04T12:00:00.001-06:00

ScienceDaily (2010-07-26) -- Forests -- and other natural, green settings -- can reduce stress, improve moods, reduce anger and aggressiveness and increase overall happiness. Forest visits may also strengthen our immune system by increasing the activity and number of natural killer cells that destroy cancer cells.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/07/100723161221.htm#

Teenage Competition: Helpful or Harmful?

2010-07-07T15:25:00.000-06:00

By Rick Nauert PhD Senior News Editor
Reviewed by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on July 7, 2010

Teenage Competition: Helpful or Harmful?Are teenagers too competitive? Does being competitive influence teenage girls more than boys? Is being competitive a good or a bad thing when you’re a teenager?

New research suggests the answer is: “it depends.”

Researchers say competing to win is detrimental to girls’ social relationships and has been linked to higher levels of depression, whereas this was much less the case for boys.

However, competing to excel is beneficial to the well-being of both genders.

A new study by Dr. David Hibbard from California State University and Dr. Duane Buhrmester from the University of Texas finds that the influence of competitiveness on psychological well-being and social functioning in adolescents depends on both the type of competitiveness and the teenager’s gender.

Their findings are published in Springer’s journal Sex Roles.

Competitiveness can be both a virtue and a vice. One person’s win can be another person’s loss and the drive to be better than others, when taken too far, can appear ruthless and selfish.

Consequently, competitiveness may have social and emotional downsides and its effects are likely to differ for males and females. Indeed, research shows that competitiveness is rated both as more typical of adult males and as more desirable for males than for females.

To date, the implications of competitiveness for males and females during late adolescence – a time when high school seniors are looking to assert their identities for jobs that involve varying levels of ambition and competition, while at the same time working to establish close friendships and romantic relationships – have not been investigated fully.

Hibbard and Buhrmester’s work looks at the effect of two types of competitiveness on teenagers’ psychological well-being and social functioning in late adolescence: competing to win (that is, to dominate and outperform others), and competing to excel (that is, to perform well and surpass personal goals).

A total of 110 twelfth-grade high school students from the Richardson Independent School District in Dallas, Texas, their best same-gender friends and their parents completed questionnaires assessing a combination of competitiveness, gender-role orientation, self-esteem, depressive symptoms, loneliness, aggression, empathy, close relationship qualities, and school grades.

The authors found that teenage boys scored higher on ‘competing to win’ than girls but there were no gender differences for ‘competing to excel’ scores.

For girls, competing to win was linked to higher levels of depression and loneliness and to fewer and less close friendships. Competing to excel was linked to higher self-esteem and less depression for both genders, but was largely unrelated to social functioning.

Hibbard and Buhrmester conclude: “The overarching issue this study explored was whether competitiveness as a motivational orientation is good or bad for males and females. The findings clarify, to some degree, western cultures’ ‘ambivalence’ about competitiveness. The view that competitiveness is the road to emotional well-being is supported to the extent that one is talking about competing to improve oneself or excel. On the other hand, if one is talking about competing to win or show dominance over others, then females seem to pay a socio-emotional price.”

New Software Can Detect Depression in Blog Posts

2010-06-25T20:27:00.000-06:00

By Jessica Ward Jones, MD, MPH Associate News Editor
Reviewed by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on June 25, 2010

A new software program can tell whether a blogger is depressed.

The program scans online text and blogs, identifying not only obvious keywords, but even subtle clues that can determine the blogger’s psychological state.

“The software program was designed to find depressive content hidden in language that did not mention the obvious terms like depression or suicide,” said Professor Yair Neuman of Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Israel, who led the study.

“A psychologist knows how to spot various emotional states through intuition. Here, we have a program that does this methodically through the innovative use of ‘web intelligence,’” said Neuman.

Many people with depression are undiagnosed. While there are a number of screening tools available on the Internet, only individuals who suspect they may have depression are likely to use these tools.

To design the program, named Pedesis, Professor Neuman and his team first used extensive English language web searches to define word patterns associated with depression, analyzing the text associated with the search term: “depression is like….”

For example, the program might detect words that express different emotions, like colors that the writer uses to metaphorically describe a situation, such as “black.” Other concepts associated with depression that might trigger the software include terms like sleep deprivation, or loneliness.

To test the program they analyzed more than 350,000 texts from 17,031 bloggers. (Permission from the bloggers was obtained prior to the study.) The Pedesis software identified the 100 most depressed and the 100 least depressed bloggers.

A panel of four clinical psychiatrists reviewed the posts from each group and found that there was a 78 percent correlation between their clinical impressions based on the texts and the software’s diagnosis.

Computer-generated diagnosis or online therapy is not a substitute for human interaction, but may provide a useful screening tool. “No one can actually replace excellent human judgment,” says Neuman. “The problem is that most people are not aware of their situation and they will never get to an expert psychologist.”

Although the Pedesis program was originally designed for academic purposes, Neuman hopes that these findings could be useful clinically, to screen for potential suicides. If implemented on a widespread basis, a screening process might increase the user’s awareness of his or her condition, and provide recommendations. If the blogger agrees, he or she could seek professional help.

PTSD And Depression Common In Returning Combat Soldiers

2010-06-08T13:30:00.000-06:00

How often do soldiers returning after seeing combat in Iraq and Afghanistan develop mental disorders like post-traumatic stress disorder and depression?

A new study funded by the U.S. Army finds 8 to 14 percent of infantry soldiers who served in Iraq and Afghanistan return seriously disabled by mental health problems. Between 23 and 31 percent return with some impairment.

About half the soldiers with either PTSD or depression also misused alchohol or had problems with aggressive behavior.

Psychiatrists from the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research anonymously surveyed more than 18,000 soldiers who served in regular army units and the National Guard. The surveys were taken both 3 months and 12 months after their return from service abroad.

The researchers conclude that it's clear even a year after deployment, "many combat soldiers have not psychologically recovered." Because the time between deployment is often only a year to 18 months for active soldiers, a "sizable proportion" are likely returning to with lingering mental health issues.

Article by Scott Hensley/NPR

Smoking While Pregnant May Raise Psychiatric Risks in Kids

2010-05-04T10:26:00.001-06:00

By Madonna Behen
HealthDay Reporter

TUESDAY, May 4 (HealthDay News) -- A woman who smokes while pregnant increases her baby's risk of developing psychiatric problems in childhood and young adulthood, a new Finnish study suggests.

While there's plenty of evidence that smoking during pregnancy puts unborn children at risk for long-term health problems such as asthma, ear infections and respiratory disease, this research is among the first to find a connection between prenatal smoking and an increased risk for mental illnesses, such as attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and depression, in the mother's offspring.

Researchers at Turku University Hospital in Finland analyzed the birth records of more than 175,000 Finnish children born in the late 1980s, as well as their use of psychotropic medications as children and young adults.

Children exposed to prenatal smoking were 32 percent more likely overall to have taken a psychiatric drug than children whose mothers didn't smoke during pregnancy, the researchers found. The risk was even higher in the offspring of women who smoked more than a pack a day while pregnant. Their kids were 44 percent more likely to use psychiatric drugs than children whose moms didn't smoke.

Study author Mikael Ekblad said animal studies have shown that prenatal nicotine exposure interferes with the development of fetal brain cells. "In our previous study, published in the Journal of Pediatrics in February 2010, we found that prematurely born infants exposed to prenatal smoking had smaller frontal and cerebellar brain volumes than the unexposed infants. These brain regions are important for normal cognitive development," said Ekblad, a medical student and pediatric researcher.

The researchers collected data on all children born in Finland from 1987 through 1989. In addition to information about maternal smoking, they looked at gestational age, birth weight and five-minute Apgar scores. Using records from Finland's Social Insurance Institution, they also examined the children's use of psychotropic medications between 1994 and 2007.

Roughly 12 percent of the young adults had used psychiatric medications, and of this group, about 19 percent had mothers who smoked during their pregnancies.

The researchers found that exposure to prenatal smoking increased the risk for using all psychotropic drugs, but especially ADHD medications, antidepressants and drugs to treat addiction. For example, kids whose mothers smoked more than a pack of cigarettes a day were two and a half times more likely to take stimulants for ADHD than kids whose moms didn't smoke during pregnancy.

The risk for all medication use was similar in males and females, and remained after adjusting for risk factors at birth, such as Apgar scores and birth weight.

Since mental illness often runs in families, the researchers also controlled for a possible genetic connection by analyzing records of the mother's psychiatric inpatient care prior to giving birth. "One of the strengths of our study is that we could control for maternal mental health diseases," said Ekblad, who added that the genetic effect is higher in psychiatric problems that require hospitalization.

"This is an interesting study which raises the important possibility that prenatal exposure to smoking may pose additional risks that have not been identified to date, but based on the information available so far, the effect seems to be small," said Neil Grunberg, a professor of medical psychology, clinical psychology and neuroscience at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Md.

Grunberg also questioned whether the study adequately controlled for possible genetic and environmental factors. "In the U.S., there is a high correlation between smoking and psychological disorders," said Grunberg. In addition, many people have a family history of psychiatric disorders, even though they themselves have never been diagnosed with one, he said.

The findings were to be presented Tuesday at the Pediatric Academic Societies annual meeting in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

Law enforcers learn about mental illness with crisis intervention training

2010-05-01T13:40:00.001-06:00

By Jodi Hausen, Chronicle Staff Writer

A man waved a saber sword wildly in the air as his wife screamed obscenities at him. An agitated couple complained about loud music from a "weird" neighbor's apartment.

Meanwhile, a woman said her neighbors had surreptitiously installed cameras in her home and were involved in a pornography ring.

All these fictitious incidents were happening in the sky boxes at Montana State University's Bobcat Stadium Friday and law enforcement officials were there to respond to them.

Though these practice scenarios were nothing new for the 24 law enforcement officers who were handling these situations, they were doing so with a better understanding of mental illness and a new way to deal with it after participating in a weeklong crisis intervention training.

"You can write them as many citations for noise as you want, but you're really here for a mental health issue," said Gallatin County Deputy Don Peterson and a previously-trained CIT participant after officers dealt with one chaotic scene -- a wheelchair-bound drug-abusing mother and her three mentally-ill teen daughters, their two angry neighbors and a very loud boom box.

"Time (spent) now will save you time later," Peterson added.

Before CIT was instituted in the county last year, officers were less familiar with mental illness and more likely to try to resolve an aberrant situation expediently. However, calming down an agitated person with psychological issues takes time and patience, they were taught. And if the officers succeed in calming a person, it often results in fewer arrests overall and a better outcome for the person they are dealing with.

The training "definitely gives you a better understanding and different tools on how to deal with people with mental illness as opposed to feeling like you have to resolve the situation quickly," Bozeman police officer Scott McCormick said. "It slows you down."

That sentiment was repeated by Deputy Doug Lieurance after the sword-swinging man amped-up on cocaine with the screaming wife tried to barricade himself in one room and then locked himself in another. Eventually he, too, was calmed down.

"Time is on your side," Lieurance said. "He hasn't made any aggressive moves."

And though one participant saw his law enforcement training at odds with CIT philosophy in this hostage-rescue scenario, trainers argued that forcibly pulling the wife over a counter would only escalate the scene and could lead to a deadly force situation.

"Don't compromise yourself for Ms. Belligerent here," Lieurance said. "Don't make her problem your problem."

"But there's no right or wrong," Deputy Jim Andrews, who coordinates the training, said. "It's to make you think."

Put on by the Gallatin County Sheriff's Office for officers mostly from Gallatin County, volunteers (like Friday's actors) and assistants came from a variety of local and statewide agencies including Gallatin County Drug and Alcohol Services, Probation and Parole, Court Services,, Attorney's Office and Gallatin Mental Health Center, the Help Center, Bozeman Deaconess Hospital, Spectrum Medical, National Alliance of Mental Illness and Montana State Hospital in Warm Springs.

This is the third CIT session in Gallatin County and the second in as many months due to demand, Andrews said.

"We've kind of rounded a corner" with this third class, Andrews said. "Before we needed to convince officers this is a good thing. But now people are talking about it and they know."

"This group rounds me out," Gallatin County Sheriff's Lt. Jeff Wade, who has been in charge of the training, said. Now about 45 percent of Gallatin County's law enforcement officers are CIT-trained, including at least one from every agency, save for Montana Highway Patrol who don't deal with these issues often.

MSU police officer Thad Winslow said the training was definitely beneficial.

"The biggest thing is just understanding the (mental health) resources that are available and on top of that just getting a better understanding that there's a lot more to why people are doing what they're doing," he said. "They're not just violating the law."

People with mental illness have new Bozeman facility

2010-04-28T20:21:00.000-06:00

By JODI HAUSEN, Chronicle Staff Writer

The services at Gallatin Mental Health Center haven't changed but the space in which they are delivered has.

In February, the center opened Hope House and Eck House -- a mental health crisis center and a four-unit subsidized housing facility for people with mental illness, respectively.

Now, two more facilities - Gallatin County Outpatient Services and the Open Arms Drop-In Center -- have opened for business.

"We're kind of in the fogginess of moving in," Scott Malloy, director of the center, said sitting in his office during a brief break Monday.

With vaulted ceilings, wood floors and walls and furnishings in muted earth tones, all the facilities at the campus have a more homey feeling than a typical institution for patients with mental illness. Instead of fluorescent lights, numerous large windows and warm-toned lighting fixtures brighten the rooms.

The 8,700-square-foot outpatient facility boasts a dividable conference room with video-conferencing capabilities, offices and "a really awesome lobby," Malloy said, explaining that their former entryway in the Medical Arts Building on North Willson Avenue was about the size of his current office.

Next door, a fish swam around a small plastic container on an end table, waiting to be plunked back into its bowl at the new drop-in center Monday.

Clients sitting on recently-installed upholstered furniture there were pleased with their new space that houses two offices, a small meeting room, laundry, deck with barbecue and kitchen and pantry lined with red Folgers coffee containers.

"I love it," said John Watson, the drop-in center's director. "We've gone from two rooms at North Willson (to this) in two years."

The 50 mental health center employees did a majority of the moving over the weekend, along with the help of offenders sentenced to the Gallatin County work release program, Malloy said.

If there is a missing piece from the new campus, it is public transportation directly to it, both directors said. Although it us less than a half-mile walk from Bozeman Deaconess Hospital where the Streamline bus already stops, Malloy said he is hoping Streamline will add a stop off Haggerty Lane in front of the campus when the free bus service revamps its maps in the fall.

To celebrate the campus and Mental Health Month, the center, which assists up to 1,000 clients at any given time, will be hosting an open house next week and a series of talks throughout the month of May.

For more information, call 522-7357.

New Research on Suicidal Behavior

2010-04-13T14:25:00.001-06:00

Determining who is at risk for suicide is an arduous and inexact endeavor. Even trained clinicians can miss warning signs.

Researchers have now developed an instrument they believe will help predict those at risk.

Matthew Nock of Harvard University, along with colleagues from Harvard University and Massachusetts General Hospital, modified a well-known word-association test to measure associations between life and death/ suicide and examined if it could be effective in predicting suicide risk.

The Implicit Association Test (IAT) is a widely used test that measures automatic associations people hold about various topics. Participants are shown pairs of words; the speed of their response indicates if they unconsciously associate those words.

In the IAT version used in this study, participants classified words related to “life” (e.g., breathing) and “death” (e.g., dead) and “me” (e.g., mine) and “not me” (e.g., them).

Faster responses to “death”/”me” stimuli than “life”/”me” stimuli would suggest a stronger association between death and self.

People seeking treatment at a psychiatric emergency room participated in this study. They completed the IAT and various mental health assessments. In addition, their medical records were examined six months later to see if they had attempted suicide within that time.

The results, reported in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, revealed that participants presenting to the emergency room after a suicide attempt had a stronger implicit association between death/ suicide and self than did participants presenting with other psychiatric emergencies.

In addition, participants with strong associations between death/ suicide and self were significantly more likely to make a suicide attempt within the next six months than were those who had stronger associations between life and self.

These results suggest that an implicit association between death/ suicide and self may be a behavioral marker for suicide attempts. These findings also indicate that measures of implicit cognition may be useful for identifying and predicting clinical behaviors that tend not be reported.

As Nock explains, “these results are really exciting because they address a long-standing scientific and clinical dilemma by identifying a method of measuring how people are thinking about death and suicide that does not rely on their self-report.”

He adds, “we are hopeful that this line of research ultimately will provide scientists and clinicians with new tools for measuring how people think about sensitive clinical behaviors that they may be unwilling or unable to report on verbally.”

Mahzarin Banaji, also of Harvard University and a co-author of this study, adds that this work presents a strong argument for the importance of funding basic behavioral research.

“These results are an example of basic research helping to solving a troubling and devastating problem in every society. The method we used was designed to understand the mind, but it turned into a technique that can predict disorders of a variety of sorts. One wonders why funding agencies that should know better about the value of basic research seem so naive when it comes to decisions about what is in the public’s interest.”

By Rick Nauert PhD Senior News Editor
Reviewed by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on April 13, 2010

U.S. will allow pilots to take antidepressants

2010-04-05T15:50:00.000-06:00

By Reuters - Fri Apr 2, 11:08 AM PDT

The Federal Aviation Administration said on Friday it was lifting a ban on antidepressants for pilots with mild to moderate depression. To be cleared to fly, pilots who take the drugs must pass screening tests to show they have been successfully treated for at least a year.

Officials said they believed the ban had caused pilots to forego treatment or hide the fact they were taking medication to treat depression. The FAA is offering a six-month grace period for pilots to come forward without penalty if they are currently suffering from depression or are under treatment.

"We need to change the culture and remove the stigma associated with depression. Pilots should be able to get the medical treatment they need so they can safely perform their duties," FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt said.

Officials said they did not know how many pilots would be affected but noted that about 10 percent of the population suffers from depression.

Pilots who take antidepressants will be monitored for the length of their careers, the FAA said.

The policy applies to four antidepressants -- Eli Lilly and Co's Prozac, Pfizer Inc's Zoloft, and Celexa and Lexapro from Forest Laboratories Inc.

Dr. Fred Tilton, the FAA's federal air surgeon, said other medications may be allowed if pilots are being effectively treated with them.

Tilton said antidepressants were originally banned because older medications carried risks such as sedation that were considered unacceptable in the cockpit. Newer medications have side effects that can be manageable, he said.

(Reporting by Lisa Richwine; Editing by Steve Orlofsky))

Suicide Among the Young: How to Try to Prevent It

2010-03-25T10:13:00.000-06:00

To the Editor:

Re “After Three Suspected Suicides, a Shaken Cornell Reaches Out” (front page, March 17):

Suicide is a tragedy, made worse when occurring in youth. Many university campuses, not only Cornell, are beleaguered by this excruciatingly painful problem. After all, they have our youth and promise in their classes, seminars and dormitories.

The continuing neglect of the major cause of suicide among youth is shocking. The bulk of coverage in the media largely misses it. It is not only about stress, long winter nights, school challenges or failures, loneliness or social isolation. After all, most people who face these stressors do not kill themselves.

Thus, although stress might precipitate it, it is about mental illness, most commonly mood and substance abuse disorders. Until we as a country face the challenge of reaching our youth and providing high-quality mental health services, until we can reduce the stigma of seeking help for psychiatric conditions, we are crippled in our efforts to stem this scourge.

Our future is our youth. We are duty-bound to reach them and maximize the likelihood not only of their survival but also of their success.

Maria A. Oquendo
New York, March 17, 2010

The writer is a professor of clinical psychiatry and vice chairwoman for education in the department of psychiatry at Columbia University.

•

Study links bullying to cognitive deficits, brain changes

2010-03-18T10:07:00.001-06:00

By ANNE MCILROY, Toronto Globe and Mail

They lurk in hallways, bathrooms, around the next blind corner. But for the children they have routinely teased or tormented, bullies effectively live in the victims' brains as well -- and not just as a terrifying memory.

Preliminary evidence shows that bullying can produce signs of stress, cognitive deficits and mental-health problems.

Now University of Ottawa psychologist Tracy Vaillancourt and her colleagues at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario plan to scan the brains of teens who have been regularly humiliated and ostracized by their peers to look for structural differences compared with other children.

"We know there is a functional difference. We know their brains are acting differently, but we don't know if it is structural as well," said Vaillancourt, an expert in the biology of bullying.

She says she hopes her work will legitimize the plight of children who are bullied, and encourage parents, teachers and school boards to take the problem more seriously.

Vaillancourt has been following a group of 17-year-olds since they were 12. All 70 of the children were routinely bullied during those years -- teased, harassed, threatened or excluded.

Physical violence is relatively rare, she says, because their tormentors are smart enough to know it will get them into trouble.

"For many of these kids, every day is a nightmare," she said. They go to school and no one will talk to them. Someone deliberately bumps into them in the hallway, and all the other children laugh. They get called horrible names.

The researchers will start with brain scans of 15 of the extreme cases, like the child who stood in her gym uniform while other kids put her school clothes in the toilet and urinated on them.

There are also teenagers in the study who have been bullied for five straight school years.

The scientists have already shown that children who are bullied are more likely than other kids to have cognitive deficits.

They score lower on tests that measure verbal memory and executive function, a set of skills needed to focus on a task and get the job done. Mental-health problems, such as depression, are also more common.

Vaillancourt suspects they will also have a smaller hippocampus, a part of the brain involved in memory. Depression has been shown to be related to a smaller hippocampus. As well, animal studies have shown that chronic high levels of stress can kill brain cells. Vaillancourt says this kind of damage may help explain why children who are bullied often perform poorly academically.

She will also be looking for a smaller prefrontal cortex, which plays a role in being able to pay attention and other executive functions.

These kinds of differences have been documented in functional magnetic resonance imaging, or MRI, studies of children who have been neglected or abused. Vaillancourt suspects the chronic stress of being bullied will have a similar impact.

She and her colleagues have already published research showing that boys who are bullied tend to produce more of the stress hormone cortisol. It is as if their system is in permanent overdrive.

It's the opposite for the girls; they tend to produce less cortisol than average, as though their stress response system is overly subdued.

"At some point, their brains stop reacting," said Vaillancourt, who holds a Canada Research Chair in children's mental health and violence prevention.

These changes to the brain's stress response system may be linked to the higher rates of depression among children who are regularly picked on by their peers, especially girls. The adolescent years are when peer relations are most important and when girls, more than anything, want to belong, Vaillancourt says.

(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)

Depressed woman loses benefits over Facebook photos

2010-03-10T11:20:00.001-07:00

A Quebec woman on long-term sick leave is fighting to have her benefits reinstated after her employer's insurance company cut them, she says, because of photos posted on Facebook.

Nathalie Blanchard, 29, has been on leave from her job at IBM in Bromont, Que., for the last year and a half after she was diagnosed with major depression.

The Eastern Townships woman was receiving monthly sick-leave benefits from Manulife, her insurance company, but the payments dried up this fall.

When Blanchard called Manulife, the company said that "I'm available to work, because of Facebook," she told CBC News this week.

She said her insurance agent described several pictures Blanchard posted on the popular social networking site, including ones showing her having a good time at a Chippendales bar show, at her birthday party and on a sun holiday - evidence that she is no longer depressed, Manulife said.

Blanchard said she notified Manulife that she was taking a trip, and she's shocked the company would investigate her in such a manner and interpret her photos that way.

"In the moment I'm happy, but before and after I have the same problems" as before, she said.

Blanchard said that on her doctor's advice, she tried to have fun, including nights out at her local bar with friends and short getaways to sun destinations, as a way to forget her problems.

She also doesn't understand how Manulife accessed her photos because her Facebook profile is locked and only people she approves can look at what she posts.
Insurer confirms it uses Facebook

Her lawyer Tom Lavin said Manulife's investigation was inappropriate.

"I don't think for judging a mental state that Facebook is a very good tool," he said, adding that he has requested another psychiatric evaluation for Blanchard.

"It's not as if somebody had a broken back and there was a picture of them carrying ...a load of bricks," Lavin said. "My client was diagnosed with a major depression. And there were pictures of her on Facebook, in a party or having a good time. It could be that she was just trying to escape."

Manulife wouldn't comment on Blanchard's case, but in a written statement sent to CBC News, the insurer said: "We would not deny or terminate a valid claim solely based on information published on websites such as Facebook." It confirmed that it uses the popular social networking site to investigate clients.

Insurance companies must weigh information found on such sites, said Claude Distasio, a spokeswoman for the Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association.

"We can't ignore it, wherever the source of the information is," she said. "We can't ignore it."

Blanchard estimated she's lost thousands of dollars in benefits since Manulife changed her claim.

Story by CBC News via http://www.cbc.ca/canada/montreal/story/2009/11/19/quebec-facebook-sick-leave-benefits.html

Montana mental health court shows early successes

2010-03-01T09:27:00.001-07:00

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) -- Officials say a new adult mental health court in Billings is showing some modest successes in its first year.

The mental health court is designed to help criminal defendants with clinical mental health disorders learn to treat their illnesses and live within the law. The program is only available to 14 people this year, but planners hope to expand the court to serve 40 people in its second year and 70 people in its third.

Billings Police Lt. Mark Cady says he's seen the court lead people who were frequently in trouble to change their ways. The program is still new in Billings, but early numbers suggest that only 10 percent of participants are going on to re-offend.

---

Information from: Billings Gazette, http://www.billingsgazette.com

Why Symptoms of Schizophrenia Emerge in Young Adulthood

2010-02-26T15:43:00.003-07:00

ScienceDaily (Feb. 26, 2010) — In reports of two new studies, researchers led by Johns Hopkins say they have identified the mechanisms rooted in two anatomical brain abnormalities that may explain the onset of schizophrenia and the reason symptoms don't develop until young adulthood. Both types of anatomical glitches are influenced by a gene known as DISC1, whose mutant form was first identified in a Scottish family with a strong history of schizophrenia and related mental disorders. The findings could lead to new ways to treat, prevent or modify the disorder or its symptoms.

full article can be found at this link

Have Your Say On New Psychiatric Manual

2010-02-10T22:39:00.001-07:00

By Alix Spiegel

Finally, after years of work, the American Psychiatric Association has put out the list of mental illnesses it intends to include in its new Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.
Have your say on a new psychiatric guide.

A new guidebook to the psychiatrist's couch is coming.

The DSM, as it's called for short, is incredibly influential. Doctors use it to diagnose patients, of course, but insurance companies also consult it in their decisions about reimbursements. Courts, schools, governments and researchers also turn to the manual for guidance on behavior that deviates from normal.

The manual and the secretive process for its drafting have attracted their share of controversy over the years. And the APA has been careful to say that this is a "proposed draft" of the new DSM, the fifth edition. For the first time, the group is inviting "public input."

Anyone--including you--can log on and tell the nice people working on DSM their thoughts about, say, the new proposed Temper Dysregulation Disorder. You have 10 weeks to speak up.

The people at the APA say they are doing this because they want to be transparent and take advantage of the Internet, but doing this could create some problems.

There are quite a few hot-button changes like the elimination of Asperger's that are sure to inflame passions. What will the APA do if Asperger's groups rally the troops and organize a write-in campaign? Will Asperger's be put back?

The APA has made a big deal of the DSM being the product of an intense scientific process. So if the group changes the contents based on interest group politics, they open themselves to fresh criticism that the DSM is less scientific than claimed.

Fish oils 'beat mental illness'

2010-02-02T12:49:00.001-07:00

Taking a daily fish oil capsule can stave off mental illness in those at highest risk, trial findings suggest.

A three-month course of the supplement appeared to be as effective as drugs, cutting the rate of psychotic illness like schizophrenia by a quarter.

The researchers believe it is the omega-3 in fish oil - already hailed for promoting healthy hearts - that has beneficial effects in the brain.

A "natural" remedy would be welcomed, Archives of General Psychiatry says.

"The finding that treatment with a natural substance may prevent, or at least delay, the onset of psychotic disorder gives hope that there may be alternatives to antipsychotic drugs," the study authors said.

“ If young people can be treated successfully with fish oils, this is hugely preferable to treating them with antipsychotics ”
Alison Cobb Mind

Antipsychotic drugs are potent and can have serious side effects, which puts some people off taking them.

Fish oil supplements, on the other hand, are generally well tolerated and easy to take, say the scientists.

The international team from Austria, Australia and Switzerland tested the treatment in 81 people deemed to be at particularly high risk of developing psychosis.

Natural choice

Their high risk was down to a strong family history of schizophrenia, or similar disorders, or them already showing mild symptoms of these conditions themselves.

For the test, half of the individuals took fish oil supplements (1.2 grams of omega-3 fatty acids) for 12 weeks, while the other half took only a dummy pill. Neither group knew which treatment they were receiving.

Dr Paul Amminger and his team followed the groups for a year to see how many, if any, went on to develop illness.

Two in the fish oil group developed a psychotic disorder compared to 11 in the placebo group.

Based on the results, the investigators estimate that one high-risk adult could be protected from developing psychosis for every four treated over a year.

They believe the omega-3 fatty acids found in the supplements may alter brain signalling in the brain with beneficial effects.

Alison Cobb, of the mental health charity Mind, said: "If young people can be treated successfully with fish oils, this is hugely preferable to treating them with antipsychotics, which come with a range of problems from weight gain to sexual dysfunction, whereas omega-3s are actually beneficial to their general state of health.

"These are promising results and more research is needed to show if omega-3s could be an alternative to antipsychotics in the long term."

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/health/8490937.stm

Published: 2010/02/02 00:02:02 GMT

© BBC MMX

Self-Control Just Might Be Contagious

2010-01-28T15:37:00.002-07:00

MONDAY, Jan. 18 (HealthDay News) -- If you spend time with people who exhibit self-control -- resisting the death-by-chocolate cake after a restaurant meal, for instance -- you can expect your own self-control to be pretty good, too, according to new research.

But the opposite seems true, too: Spending time with people with less-than-ideal self-control will influence you negatively, the researchers found.

"Before, we knew people tended to hang out with other people who were like themselves," said Michelle vanDellen, a visiting assistant professor of psychology at the University of Georgia, who led the research, which was published online in the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin.

"But in these studies, we actually show there is a direct effect of our friends' behavior on our own behavior," vanDellen said. The findings apply, she said, "not only to the people we [choose to] hang out with, but those we are forced to hang out with," such as co-workers on the job.

The conclusions came from five studies conducted by vanDellen and her co-author, Rick Hoyle of Duke University.

The best study, she said, and the most fun, involved 71 participants and two plates of food -- one stacked with carrot sticks, the other with freshly baked chocolate chip cookies. The participants either watched someone exhibit self-control by eating the carrots and leaving the cookies, or vice versa. Later, the participants took self-control tests (not involving cookies and carrots). Those who had watched a person eat cookies did less well than those who had watched someone eat carrots.

In another study, the researchers found that 36 participants randomly assigned to think of a friend with good self-control persisted longer on a handgrip test used to measure self-control than did the participants assigned to think about a friend with bad self-control.

Another study involved assigning 42 people to list the names of friends with good and bad self-control. As the participants took a test designed to measure self-control, a name was flashed very briefly on a computer screen. Those who saw the name of a friend with good self-control did better on the test than those who saw the name of a friend with poor self-control.

The researchers also assigned 112 people to write about a friend with good self-control, a friend with bad self-control or an outgoing friend. Those who wrote about a friend with good self-control did best on a test of self-control, those who wrote about a friend with bad self-control did worst and those who wrote about an outgoing friend scored in between the others.

In the fifth study, 117 people were randomly assigned to write about friends with good or bad self-control. Those who wrote about a friend with good self-control did better on word identification tests related to self-control, the researchers found.

"I think the message is really two-fold," vanDellen said of the research. "The first is, one way you can improve your behavior is by finding social networkers that support you." It makes sense, she said, to seek out people you know have self-control if you want to boost your own.

The other message, she said, is accountability. The research suggests that others aren't just watching your behavior when you show a lack of self-control but might actually be influenced by it. If a woman's husband is trying to lose weight, for instance, the last thing she should do is act like a lazy person who doesn't exercise in front of him, she said.

The research findings make sense, said Connie Diekman, director of university nutrition at Washington University in St. Louis. "Surrounding yourself with motivated, healthy people improves your odds of staying in control," she said.

Diekman said that's certainly the case with healthy eating. "When it comes to making healthy choices, we know that it is easier to skip dessert, limit portions or purchase the right foods if others we are with support these behaviors," she said.

By Kathleen Doheny HealthDay Reporter Copyright © 2010 ScoutNews, LLC. All rights reserved.

PBS Series Profiles Adolescents with Severe Depression

2010-01-21T11:06:00.000-07:00

The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is airing a national three-part series this month on emotional health called This Emotional Life. Daniel Gilbert, Ph.D., Harvard University psychology professor and author of Stumbling on Happiness, narrates an exploration of the struggles and triumphs of individuals who grapple with the complexities of their mental health every day. A Part 2 profile highlights the intractable depression of Caitlin, a high school student who has suffered from the mood disorder since the eighth grade.

“Human beings change a great deal during adolescence, so while somebody is struggling with depression, they’re unable to make the social gains, the intimacy gains, the academic gains that are so necessary when somebody is developing from adolescence to a young adult. It essentially robs people of their lives,” said Caitlin’s doctor, Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist Sheila Marcus, M.D., from the University of Michigan. “The problem with letting depression linger is we know that there are subtle changes in the brain such that it’s an illness that becomes harder to treat as you let it take its course.”

Caitlin’s story underscores the need for early identification of depression and other mental health disorders so that treatment can promptly begin and young people can be given the best chance for a healthy future.

This Emotional Life will be re-broadcast on PBS throughout January. Check local listings or purchase the series DVD, available for $34.99.

Switching Antidepressants

2010-01-18T14:34:00.003-07:00

Even today, the general public has little understanding of what's entailed in taking an antidepressant medication. Many think their doctor will give them a "miracle pill" and their depression will be cured. Unfortunately, for many, that's not the case.

As you may have discovered already, there's a large group of people with major depression for whom the first, even second antidepressant doesn't perform the way they hoped it would.
This brings us to our new special report on "Switching Antidepressants". In 5 pages, exclusively on HealthyPlace.com, find out
• why people with major depression sometimes switch antidepressant medications
• why you should never suddenly stop your antidepressant
• how to change antidepressants safely

It's a must-read for anyone taking an antidepressant and comes along with audio comments from HealthyPlace.com members who share their personal insights into changing antidepressants and their experiences with antidepressant discontinuation syndrome; something you never want to have.

You might also want to read the "Gold Standard for Treating Depression," an in-depth, authoritative examination of the best treatments for depression, which includes depression treatment video interviews with award-winning mental health author, Julie Fast.

Earlier Bedtimes May Fight Teen Depression

2010-01-04T09:39:00.000-07:00

Teens Who Regularly Sleep 5 or Fewer Hours Are 71% More Likely to Report Depression

By Bill Hendrick, WebMD Health News
Reviewed by Louise Chang, MD

Jan. 1, 2010 -- Adolescents whose parents set earlier bedtimes are significantly less likely to suffer from depression or have suicidal thoughts compared to youngsters who hit the sack later, new research indicates.

Youngsters in the study whose parents set bedtimes of midnight or later were 24% more likely to suffer from depression and 20% more apt to have thoughts of suicide, compared to youngsters with bedtimes of 10 p.m. or earlier, researchers report in the Jan. 1 issue of the journal SLEEP.

This suggests sufficient sleep may offer youngsters some protection from depression and thoughts of suicide, the researchers say.

Adolescents who reported they usually sleep five or fewer hours per night were 71% more likely to report depression, and 48% more likely to have thoughts of committing suicide, compared to young people reporting eight hours of sleep nightly, the study shows.

"Our results are consistent with the theory that inadequate sleep is a risk factor for depression," says study researcher James E. Gangwisch, PhD, of Columbia University Medical Center in New York.

He and his colleagues collected data on 15,659 adolescents and their parents who had participated in the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, a school-based sample of students in seventh to 12th grades, between 1994 and 1996.

The researchers found that:

* The average sleep duration was 7 hours and 53 minutes. The researchers note that adolescents need 9 hours of sleep daily.
* Nearly 70% of youngsters said they went to bed at a time that complied with the weeknight limit set by their parents.

The researchers say lack of sleep may produce moodiness that hinders the ability to cope with stresses of daily life, harming relationships with peers and adults. They say educating adolescents and their parents about the benefits of healthier sleep practices may be beneficial.

The researchers conclude that parents of adolescents should set earlier bedtimes to make sure their teens get adequate sleep.

One of the researchers, Gary K. Zammit, PhD, of Columbia, reported receiving research support from GlaxoSmithKline and other pharmaceutical companies. He also disclosed he has financial interests in two companies involved in sleep research.

Online Community for Young Adults Living with Mental Illness

2009-12-08T11:22:00.003-07:00

NAMI has embarked on a project to build an online community that consists of a resource center and a social networking Web site specifically designed for young adults (ages 18 to 26) living with mental illness.

Young adult consumers have been driving the development of the online community, StrengthofUs, from the very beginning. We have been receiving and incorporating an incredible amount of input and feedback on various elements including design, applications and resource topics, and have been working on an ongoing basis with an Expert Advisory Group of young adult consumers.

We are now seeking additional young adults who are interested in becoming involved with any of the activities below. If you know of any young adults who would interested in participating, please have them email Dana Markey, Program Coordinator, at danac@nami.org.

1. WHAT DOES STRENGTH MEAN TO YOU?

In conjunction with the online community project, we would like to hear from young adults on “What Does Strength Mean to You?” This question can be answered in the following forms:
Artwork
Photographs
Short Vignettes
Poems
Videos

Submitted content will be reviewed for incorporation into the online community. The deadline for submissions is Monday, January 4th. Submissions should be sent to Dana Markey, Program Coordinator, at danac@nami.org.

2. BETA TESTING THE ONLINE COMMUNITY

StrengthofUs includes a social networking Web site where young adults can link with each other and their local communities by creating a profile, sending messages, participating in discussion groups, posting blogs and other content and using calendars.

We are seeking a group of young adults to actively participate in beta testing the social networking Web site and reviewing the online community as a whole. The beta test of the online community will begin in January.

Those interested in beta testing the Web site should contact Dana Markey, Program Coordinator, at danac@nami.org as soon as possible.

StrengthofUs will publicly launch in late March 2010. We are extremely excited for the opportunity to work with young adults on this project and address the unique needs of this age group. Thank you for your time and we look forward to hearing from you!

Detailed Project Description:

NAMI’s Online Community/Social Networking Website for Transition-Age Youth

NAMI’s Child & Adolescent Action Center (CAAC) has received a two year grant to develop an online community/social networking website for transition-age youth between the ages of 18 to 24. The website will be geared toward those who are living with a mental illness as well as those who want to learn more about mental health or how to support their friends or family members living with a mental illness.

The website will include information and resources on topics pertaining to mental health and transition-age issues, including:
· Advocacy
· College-Based Services and Accommodations
· Connection to Community Activities
· Employment
· Relationships
· Housing
· Independent Living, Social, and Coping Skills
· How to Support a Friend or Family Member with a Mental Illness
· Information on Diagnosing and Treating Mental Illness
· Peer Support and Services
· Strategies for Overcoming Social Isolation
· Social Security

Equally important, the website will also have a social networking component that will allow website users with shared interests and concerns, and those seeking information, to connect with one another and their local communities. The website will enable youth to create a profile and communicate with each other within a safe and secure environment.

In order to ensure an effective web community is developed, NAMI surveyed over 250 transition-age youth to collect their input and feedback on what they want and need from an online community/social networking website. NAMI has also created an Expert Advisory Group of transition-age youth to provide the young adult perspective and guide NAMI’s work throughout the development of the website. This group will provide ongoing guidance on the layout, design, content, and promotion of the website.

The website will be launched March 2010. For more information about this project, please contact Dana Markey, Child and Adolescent Program Coordinator, at danac@nami.org.

We are extremely excited to develop an online community/social networking website that will better meet the unique need of transition-age youth. Stay tuned for more details!

2009 Voice Awards Put Mental Health Recovery On Center Stage

2009-12-04T12:09:00.000-07:00

The Voice Awards Web site (www.voiceawards.samhsa.gov) has been updated! Check it out for information about the 24 films, television shows, and individuals that were honored at the 2009 Voice Awards event on Wednesday, October 14, at Paramount Studios in Hollywood, CA. There are also photos that capture red-carpet arrivals and award presentations, as well as the after-party celebration that was underwritten by our Program Participants. This year’s event was hosted by Academy Award-winning actor and mental health consumer Richard Dreyfuss, and brought together 500 guests from the entertainment industry and consumer and advocacy communities.

We encourage all of you to stay alert for television or film productions that meet the nominating criteria for award. The link to information about the nomination process and eligibility period for the 2010 Voice Awards can be found on the Web site. We’d like to acknowledge the efforts of all who contribute to SAMHSA’s goal to promote understanding and support for individuals with mental health issues.”

Why the holiday suicide myth persists

2009-11-30T15:36:00.000-07:00

By Kim Painter, USA TODAY

You could blame George Bailey. In the 1946 holiday film It's a Wonderful Life, that fictional character contemplated suicide on Christmas Eve, possibly giving birth to the idea that suicides climb during the winter holidays.
But moviemaker Frank Capra had it wrong: Study after study shows no such link; in fact, suicide numbers peak in the spring and may even dip in December, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Still, the holiday suicide myth has amazing staying power.

For the past decade, Dan Romer, a researcher at the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania, has been tracking mentions of suicide and the holiday season in stories published in U.S. newspapers from mid-November to mid-January. His first study, covering the 1999 holiday season, found that just 23% of stories debunked the myth and the rest reinforced it. By 2006, 91% of stories debunked the myth, and Romer took some credit: Publicizing the facts had nearly killed the myth, he thought.

He was wrong. In the 2007 season, the myth was back in half of stories, he says. And Romer just completed his analysis of 2008 holiday coverage. He found that 38% of stories supported the myth and 62% debunked it – an improvement he attributes partly to a myth-busting report published last December in the British Medical Journal.

He can't explain why nearly four in 10 stories still linked suicide and the holidays. "No one does it maliciously," he says. "I think they are trying to help people."

But the myth may harm people instead.

"It might unnecessarily put people on their guard or increase their anxiety," says Ronald Pies, a psychiatrist at Tufts University School of Medicine, via e-mail. Worse, he says, some people "on the brink" of self-harm might feel encouraged to follow through when they read or hear that holiday suicides are common. The myth might become a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Romer agrees: "You don't want to convey the message that this is acceptable or that there's a good reason to do it."

But why does this particular myth persist?

One reason may be that the holidays fall during a time of year that can be trying for many people, says Paula Clayton, medical director of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. People with seasonal affective disorder (SAD) tend to become depressed as days get shorter and darker. They come out of their depression in the spring.

Meanwhile, some people do suffer short-term blues linked directly to the hubbub and stress of the holidays, she says. People in mourning for a loved one can feel especially sad as special days come and go without that person, she says.

Pies adds: "I certainly would expect that, in the present financial crisis, the usual blues would be intensified for many families facing loss of savings, unemployment, etc."

But, experts say, suicide is almost always the act of someone who has endured deep depression or another mental illness for months or years – not someone with a passing case of the blues.

The holiday suicide myth may detract attention from the real needs of people who might consider suicide at any time of year, Clayton says: "There are a lot of untreated people out there."

Meanwhile, researchers continue to look for the real patterns in suicidal behavior, says Alexander Crosby, a CDC researcher. "That can help us in terms of finding protective factors," he says.

And one protective factor, he says, is "connectiveness" – that is, how connected people are to friends, families and communities.

Fittingly enough, that was the very thing (along with an angel) that saved George Bailey after all.

Copycat effects after media reports on suicide: A population-based ecologic study.

2009-11-19T12:57:00.002-07:00

Authors: Niederkrotenthaler, D., Till, B., Kapusta, N., Voracek, M., Dervic, K., & Sonneck, G. (2009). Social Science and Medicine, 69(7), 1085-1090.

The authors explored whether the risk of an increased number of suicides after a media report on suicide is associated with the social characteristics of the person whose suicide was reported. Celebrity status of the person whose suicide was reported was the only variable associated with an overall increase in the number of suicides after the media report of a suicide. That is, a suicide report involving a celebrity resulted in an increase in the total number of suicides in the 29 days following the report. However, the study also revealed three factors associated with an increase in the risk of “similar” suicides (that is, suicides of persons of the same sex, in the same age group, or who use the same method as the person whose suicide was reported in the media) over that same time period.

The first factor is celebrity status.

The second factor is whether the person who was reported to have died by suicide was in the same age group as the people exposed to the support (that is, people seem to be more likely to imitate a suicide if the person who died by suicide was in their age group).

The third factor was definitiveness. Definitively labeling a death as a suicide in a media report (rather than reporting it as a suspected suicide) increased the risk for similar suicides.

The study also revealed that media reports of the suicide of an individual convicted of, or suspected of, crimes were associated with a decrease in similar suicides. None of the variables were found to be associated with a post-media report increase in “dissimilar” suicides (that is, suicides by people in another age group, of the other sex, or who chose a different method). Nor was the density of media suicide reports found to be associated with an increase in suicides.

The authors concluded that increases in suicides after a media report of a suicide is most pronounced for:

(1) people with social characteristics similar to the person whose suicide was reported, because they are more likely to identify with the deceased than other people; and

(2) persons seen as socially superior (celebrities) and thus as role models to be imitated. Reporting a suicide of persons of whom society disapproves (i.e. criminals) was associated with a lower risk of copycat suicides.

The study also found that reports of the suicide of middle-aged people were more likely to be followed by similar suicides than reports of suicides of people in other age groups. The authors speculated that this may be a consequence of the fact that the study utilized newspaper reports and that most newspaper readers are middle-aged. They suggested that additional research should be conducted on media that target children, adolescents, and the elderly. The authors also noted that only a limited fraction of suicide reports in the media were followed by an increase in suicides. The research team used data on suicides from the nonprofit information center Statistics Austria during the period July 1996–September 2006 and reports on suicide in the 13 most widely read Austrian newspapers (which reach 74.2% of that country’s population) during the same time period. Among the celebrity suicides reported during this period were those of rock stars Falco and Michael Hutchence and British weapons expert David Kelly.

Survey Reveals Big Gap in Understanding of Depression

2009-11-12T10:25:00.002-07:00

Arlington, VA— Americans do not believe they know much about depression, but are highly aware of the risks of not receiving care, according to a survey released today by the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI).

See full survey results at http://www.nami.org/depression.

The survey provides a "three dimensional" measurement of responses from members of the general public who do not know anyone with depression, caregivers of adults diagnosed with depression and adults actually living with the illness.

Seventy-one percent of the public sample said they are not familiar with depression, but 68 percent or more know specific consequences that can come from not receiving treatment—including suicide (84 percent).
Sixty-two percent believe they know some symptoms of depression, but 39 percent said they do not know many or any at all.
One major finding: almost 50 percent of caregivers who responded had been diagnosed with depression themselves, but only about 25 percent said they were engaged in treatment.
Almost 60 percent of people living with depression reported that they rely on their primary care physicians rather than mental health professionals for treatment. Medication and "talk therapy" are primary treatments—if a person can get them—but other options are helpful.

Fifteen percent of people living with depression use animal therapy with 54 percent finding it to be "extremely" or "quite a bit" helpful. Those using prayer and physical exercise also ranked them high in helpfulness (47 percent and 40 percent respectively).

When people living with depression discontinue medication or talk therapy, cost is a common reason, but other significant factors include a desire "to make it on my own," whether they believe the treatment is actually working and in the case of medication, side effects.

"The survey reveals gaps and guideposts on roads to recovery," said NAMI Executive Director Michael J. Fitzpatrick. "It tells what has been found helpful in treating depression. It can help caregivers better anticipate stress that will confront them. It reflects issues that need to be part of ongoing health care reform."

"There are many treatment strategies," said NAMI Medical Director Ken Duckworth. "What often works is a combination of treatments that fit a person and their lifestyle. Research indicates that the combination of medication and psychotherapy are most effective. But physical exercise, prayer, music therapy, yoga, animal therapy and other practices all can play a role. The good news is that 80 percent or more of the public recognize that depression is a medical illness, affecting people of all ages, races and socioeconomic groups, which can be treated.”

Harris Interactive conducted the survey for NAMI on-line between September 29 and October 7, 2009. Participants included 1,015 persons who did not know anyone diagnosed with depression, 513 persons living with depression and 263 caregivers of a family member or significant other diagnosed with depression. The survey was made possible with support from AstraZeneca, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Eli Lilly & Co. and Wyeth. NAMI does not endorse or promote any specific medication, treatment, product or service.

The National Alliance on Mental Illness is the nation's largest grassroots mental health organization dedicated to improving the lives of individuals and families affected by mental illness. NAMI has over 1100 state and local affiliates that engage in research, education, support and advocacy.

Antidepressants 'work instantly'

2009-10-27T10:40:00.000-06:00

Antidepressants get to work immediately to lift mood, contrary to current belief, UK researchers say.

Although patients may not notice the effects until months into the therapy, the team say they work subconsciously.

The action is rapid, beginning within hours of taking the drugs, and changes negative thoughts, according to the Oxford University researchers.

These subtle, positive cues may add up over time to lift the depression, the American Journal of Psychiatry reports.

It may also explain why talking therapies designed to break negative thought cycles can also help.

“ We found the antidepressants target the negative thoughts before the patient is aware of any change in feeling subjectively ”
Lead researcher Dr Harmer

Psychiatrist Dr Catherine Harmer and her team at Oxford University closely studied the reactions of 33 depressed patients and 31 healthy controls given either an antidepressant or a dummy drug.

The depressed patients who took the active drug showed positive improvements in three specific measures within three hours of taking them.

These patients were more likely to think about themselves in a positive light, rather than dwelling on their bad points, the researchers said.

They were also more likely to see the positive in others.

For example, if they saw a grumpy person they no longer internalised this to think that they must have done something wrong to upset the person.

New drugs

This was despite feeling no improvement in mood or anxiety.

Dr Harmer said: "We found the antidepressants target the negative thoughts before the patient is aware of any change in feeling subjectively.

"Over time, this will affect our mood and how we feel because we are receiving more positive information."

She said the findings could help scientists looking for new drugs to treat depression.

Dr Michael Thase, a psychiatrist from the University of Pennsylvania, said the findings challenged conventional wisdoms and were potentially "paradigm-changing".

But he said much more research was needed.

"The highest research priority is to confirm that the rapid effects observed in this study are predictive of eventual clinical benefit."

He said it was possible that switching off the negative thoughts was a crucial part of the therapy.

Alternatively, it might merely be a sign that the drug was beginning to work at the cell level in the brain.

Paul Farmer, chief executive of Mind, said: "This research may contribute to our understanding of how our bodies respond to antidepressants, but the changes recorded can't always be felt by patients and it can be some weeks before they begin to feel the symptoms of depression easing.

"We must also remember that the side-effects of medication can often be felt straight away long before the benefits really kick in, and this will always affect people's experiences in the initial stages of treatment."

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/health/8304782.stm

Published: 2009/10/26 00:37:16 GMT

Virtual reality tackles 'shell shock' By Fergus Walsh

2009-10-21T10:02:00.001-06:00

A virtual reality computer programme is being used to treat Iraq war veterans in the US.

The soldiers are able to relive the sights, the sounds and even the smells of warfare.

In a small windowless room a US marine puts on a 3D headset and picks up a dummy rifle.

Sergeant Robert Butler has been a marine for nearly 20 years and done two tours of Iraq.

After his last stint he returned with post traumatic stress disorder - what was once called shell shock.

Now he can finally deal with painful memories of the horrors of war.

Sergeant Butler believes his psychological problems stem from a patrol in 2005 where he witnessed the death of a father and his teenaged son who were killed after being caught up in a fire fight.

His son was about the same age as the boy who died.

Recluse

"When I first came back I was just a complete recluse and avoided outside contact," he said.

Initially he was reluctant to join the virtual Iraq programme.

"I thought PTSD was something the doctors dreamed up for job security," he said.

“ Our different senses are very powerful cues to our memory ”
Commander Scott Johnston Clinical psychologist

"But I'd hit the point in my life where I felt I had zero control and was about to lose the one thing in my life that meant the most which was my family, so I was prepared to try anything."

Sergeant Butler demonstrates the computer scenario which was used to help him.

On a computer screen I can see the same image projected onto Sergeant Butler's visor.

He is in the front seat of a Humvee armed vehicle patrolling the streets of Iraq; each time he turns his head, the viewpoint on the screen changes.

Sights, sounds and smells

An explosion ahead cracks the front windscreen and you see that the virtual soldier sitting alongside him is wounded, blood streaming down his arm.

The platform, on which Sergeant Butler is sitting, vibrates, to add to the sense of reality.

And there are not just the sights, sounds and vibrations of war, there are also the smells.

These come from a machine which can release the scent of burning rubber, Middle Eastern spices, cordite, diesel fuel - even body odour.

Commander Scott Johnston, a clinical psychologist, runs the programme at the Naval Medical Center San Diego.

He said: "Our different senses are very powerful cues to our memory.

"Instead of allowing the person to continue to avoid these memories and haunt them, if we bring them out into the daylight and really face them we can decrease the negative effects on the individual."

Unlocking thoughts

This begins to explain how the programme is supposed to work.

The theory is that by repeatedly running the computer scenario it enables soldiers with PTSD to unlock and then discuss troubling wartime experiences which have been buried away.

After each thirty minute session on the computer, the soldiers have an hour of talking therapy with a psychologist.

"I'm a completely changed person", says Sergeant Butler.

"Am I 100%? No, because PTSD will always be part of my life; those memories never go away.

"But it definitely has helped me to take steps and file that information.

"It does come up, it gets processed like any other memory and I'm able to do the things a lot more now than before the war."

Commander Johnston says the preliminary results are exciting.

"We found that 30 out of 40 of our subjects were able to return to full duty so we are now starting to implement it across the different services for our returning warriors."

Many British as well as American troops have suffered psychiatric problems after serving in the Middle East.

But the Ministry of Defence in London has yet to be convinced by the virtual Iraq programme.

It says for some years it's been exploring the possible uses of virtual reality in treating mental health conditions, but this is still very much "work-in-progress".

Colleges See Rise In Mental Health Issues

2009-10-21T09:59:00.001-06:00

October 19, 2009

They may not tell their roommates or even close friends, but on college campuses all across the United States, more students than ever before are seeking psychiatric help, according to recent national surveys of campus therapists.

And it's not just for homesickness and relationship problems, says the University of Michigan's Daniel Eisenberg. He directs the Healthy Minds Study, a multicenter study that queries primarily students, but also a sampling of college counselors, about mental health issues, including the prevalence of clinical depression, anxiety and eating disorders on campus. Eisenberg says his findings dovetail with those of a large national survey of counseling center directors, led by the University of Pittsburgh's Robert Gallagher.

For the full story, follow the link below:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=113835383

8.3 Million U.S. Adults Considered Suicide Last Year

2009-09-24T18:11:00.001-06:00

THURSDAY, Sept. 17 (HealthDay News) -- A national survey has found that more than 8 million adults in the United States seriously considered suicide last year, with younger adults the most likely to contemplate taking their own lives.

In addition to nearly 8.3 million thinking about committing suicide, 2.3 million made a plan to do so, and 1.1 million actually attempted it, according to a federal government study released Thursday.

The findings are from data collected in a 2008 survey of 46,190 people aged 18 or older. It's the first national scientific survey of its size to examine this public health issue, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).

The study found significant age-related differences in the risk of suicidal thoughts, planning and attempts. For example, adults aged 18 to 25 were far more likely (6.7 percent) to have seriously considered suicide than those aged 26 to 49 (3.9 percent) and those aged 50 and older (2.3 percent). Similar disparities were found in suicide planning and attempts.

Females had marginally higher levels of suicidal thoughts and behaviors than males. Only 62.3 percent of those who attempted suicide received medical attention for their suicide attempts, while only 46 percent of those who attempted suicide stayed in a hospital overnight or longer for treatment of their suicide attempts.

Substance abuse was associated with increased risk of seriously considering, planning or attempting suicide, the report showed. People with substance abuse disorders were more than three times as likely to have seriously considered suicide as those without substance abuse disorders -- 11 percent versus 3 percent. Those with substance abuse disorders were four times more likely to have planned a suicide (3.4 percent versus 0.8 percent) and nearly seven times more likely to have attempted suicide (2 percent versus 0.3 percent).

"This study offers a far greater understanding of just how pervasive the risk of suicide is in our nation, and how many of us are potentially affected by it," Eric Broderick, SAMHSA acting administrator, said in a news release from the agency.

"While there are places that people in crisis can turn to for help like the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline [1-800-273-TALK], the magnitude of the public health crisis revealed by this study should motivate us as a nation to do everything possible to reach out and help the millions who are at risk -- preferably well before they are in immediate danger," Broderick said.

Tough economy can take its toll on your health

2009-09-11T11:49:00.001-06:00

The Dallas Morning News - September 07, 2009

Sep. 7--The longest recession since World War II has wreaked havoc on consumers' personal finances and thrown millions out of work.

The emotional upheaval from the sick economy also has resulted in physical ailments, such as headaches, backaches, neck aches and insomnia.

In other words, the economy can be bad for your health.

"We are seeing more people who are feeling overwhelmed," said Dr. Charles Herlihy, a psychiatrist and medical director at Texas Health Springwood Hospital. "It begins to take a toll on them emotionally, physically."

The margin for economic security is razor-thin these days, raising the stress level for many.

"Retirees are worried about having enough income to pay their bills. Some question if they can stay retired," said Lynn Lawrance, a certified financial planner at Financial Network Investment Corp. in Dallas.

"Many who are still employed are kicking like crazy to keep their head above water now, let alone worry about retirement," she added.

One of the worst scenarios is when people feel that they've lost control of their personal finances.

"They really spiral down into significant depression when they don't have control over their finances," said Dr. Art Mollen, an osteopathic family physician and author of Healthonomics: The Handbook for Balancing Your Physical & Financial Checkbooks.

"Once it affects mental function, it's going to affect their physical function," he said. "They may lose weight, they may gain weight, depending on how the depression is affecting them."

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine questioned 250 homeowners going through foreclosure in Philadelphia and found that 47 percent showed symptoms of depression, with 37 percent exhibiting signs of major depression.

The rate was especially high considering previous research showed that only about 12.8 percent of people living in poverty were depressed, the study found.

"Although the health status of homeowners has traditionally tended to be better than that of renters, the financial and emotional stress of foreclosure may undermine the potential benefits of homeownership," said the study, which will appear in the October edition of the American Journal of Public Health.

It's no surprise that the researchers found deep attachment to homes.

"There is a sense of hope when people buy their homes," said Craig Evan Pollack, an internist who recently completed a fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and is now an associate scientist at Rand Corp.

"The difference between those dreams and hopes and [the] reality that people are finding themselves in may be part of the stress that people are feeling, and a sense of sadness as well."

Losing control

Money and all its aspects are important symbols of success, power, dominance and accomplishment.

"Everyone likes to have a certain amount of control in their life, and all of a sudden when they're losing their home, they're losing their job, that affects their overall self-confidence," said Mollen, medical director and founder of the Mollen Clinic in Scottsdale, Ariz.

The first step in regaining control over your finances is acknowledging what you've lost, said Todd Mark, vice president of education at Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Greater Dallas.

"If you've got a financial crisis, what is the root cause?" he said. "Is it lack of income or has your income been steady? Is it an unplanned expense that you weren't prepared for?"

For example, if you got caught with an unexpected car repair bill, you can avoid that in the future by stashing away savings for emergencies.

Likewise, if your debt is out of control, stop charging on credit cards and start paying off that bill. If you're having trouble making payments, contact your creditors quickly and see if they will work with you.

Action plan

"You can only regain control once you analyze where you are, what your potential challenges are and develop an action plan of tackling those as a goal of moving forward positively," Mark said.

Make a brutally honest assessment of your finances and be patient.

"Say to yourself, 'It took me years to get into this debt, and it will take me years to get out of it,' " Mark said.

There are certain aspects of your finances you can't control.

"When stuff happens, what you do or don't do is critical," Lawrance said. "If you're passive, it's easy to feel that you have no control. If you become proactive and take charge of what you can, you'll feel like you still have some control."

Her remedy?

Take a piece of paper and draw a line down the middle. "In the first column, write what you can control or influence. In the other column, put what you can't control."

For example, you can't control the economy, but you can cut back your spending and do side jobs to increase your income.

"You may have to work longer hours," Lawrance said, but you should balance that with exercise, a healthy diet and plenty of sleep.

"Make sure you include items for your career, for your physical, financial and mental health and relationships," she said.

The Soloist - Events in Bozeman, MT

2009-08-26T08:15:00.002-06:00

Wednesday, September 9th - 7:30 pm - Brick Breeden Fieldhouse - MSU - free
Convocation Address by The Soloist author Steve Lopez

Friday, September 1th - 7:00 pm - Bozeman Public Library - Free
The Soloist Movie Showing

ABC Primetime to Cover Issue of Mental Health Treatment

2009-08-25T15:38:00.001-06:00

Tonight ABC Primetime will focus on the important issue of mental health treatment. Check your local guides for more information.

Tonight's segment will highlight the Bruce family tragedy and the Mad Pride movement.

Workplace Suicides Set Record

2009-08-25T15:36:00.000-06:00

The U.S. Department of Labor reported last week a record 28 percent rise in workplace suicides, further evidence of the impact of the recession on the mental health of Americans. The total number of people who completed suicide last year was 251, the highest figure since the agency's Bureau of Labor Statistics began reporting. The total number of people who died on the job dropped 10 percent. That was the lowest number since 1992. (The Associated Press, 8/21/09)

October PBS Program Will Focus on Mental Health Reform

2009-08-21T09:15:00.000-06:00

MINDS ON THE EDGE: Facing Mental Illness is a multi-platform media project that explores severe mental illness in America. The centerpiece of the project is a television program that will air on PBS stations in October 2009. The program, MINDS ON THE EDGE: Facing Mental Illness, effectively illuminates challenging ethical issues as well as systemic flaws in program and policy design, service coordination, and resource allocation that are contributing to a mental health system that is widely acknowledged to be broken. MINDS ON THE EDGE also provides a glimpse of many solutions that are currently being implemented across the country. These innovations, many shaped by the guidance and expertise of people with mental illness, offer promising solutions and hopeful direction to transform the mental health system. For more information about this project, visit http://www.mindsontheedge.org/.

Elderly people who committed suicide, described by those who knew them.

2009-08-21T09:11:00.000-06:00

“Why do they become vulnerable when faced with the challenges of old age?"

Abstract from Suicide Prevention Resource Center

June 12, 2009

[International Psychogeriatrics] The majority of elders who die by suicide share a few similar patterns in their life histories, personal relationships, and personalities, according to a small study. They have survived considerable difficulties in life and many have become “action-oriented achievers,” usually in a work context. Those who knew them best describe them as strong-willed, stubborn, and so “closed” they could not be known at a personal level. Identifying elders with these characteristics may be a key to engaging those who are least able to either seek or accept help. [Read more]

Dating Web Site Matches Mentally Ill Singles

2009-08-21T09:06:00.001-06:00

Friday, February 06, 2009

Associated Press

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Lynne had someone to spend Christmas and New Year's with this year. And that's unusual.

"It's been a long time since I've been with anybody for the holidays," the 50-year-old Albuquerque native said recently. "That was different."

Many people find dating stressful. But, for Lynne, who was diagnosed with depression, anxiety and other mental disorders at 19, dating invariably ends in disaster.

But about a month ago, Lynne began seeing a 53-year-old man she met through a dating web site designed specifically for people with mental illness.

The site — TrueAcceptance.com — was launched last year by an Albuquerque social worker to help people like Lynne find healthy relationships.

Read the full story here.

Farmer suicides spotlight lack of mental health care in rural America

2009-08-11T14:38:00.006-06:00

The Michigan Messenger
7/23/09

Crisis help lines for agricultural workers are serving an important support role for farmers in economic distress. However, accessing mental health care can be a challenge in rural farming areas, with some residents having to travel long distances to access a mental health service provider.

“To farmers there is a real kinship with the land and livestock,” explained Dr. Mike Rosmann, executive director of AgriWellness. “Ownership of a family farm — sometimes a farm that has been in the family for generations — is the triumphant result of a multitude of struggles. Losing the farm or the livestock is viewed as an ultimate loss, one that brings shame to the generation that has let down its forebearers and has dashed the hopes of successors.”

Doctors miss depression nearly 50% of the time

2009-08-11T14:30:00.001-06:00

General practitioners often have great difficulty properly diagnosing cases of depression, according to the results of a new study. An analysis of more than 50,000 patients finds that doctors miss true cases of depression about half the time and incorrectly diagnosis it in 19 percent of healthy people. Writing in the journal The Lancet, the researchers said: "Our results should not be interpreted as a criticism of GPs for failing to diagnose depression but rather a call for better understanding of the problems that non-specialists face." (Sciencedaily, 8/03/09)

Psychiatric Drugs Gain Acceptance

2009-08-11T14:29:00.001-06:00

A growing number of Americans now have a positive opinion on psychiatric medications, a new study contends. About five out of six people surveyed felt psychiatric medications could help people control psychiatric symptoms. But many also expected the medications could help people deal with day-to-day stress. "This finding calls for a more targeted and selective approach in public information campaigns aimed at improving public understanding of the proper uses of psychiatric medications," said the lead author of the report, Dr. Rami Mojtabai, of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. (The Los Angeles Times, 7/31/09)

MSU receives $800,000 grant to train mental health nurse practitioners

2009-08-11T14:21:00.001-06:00

Montana State University's College of Nursing has received a three-year, $814,021 grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration to prepare nurses to be family psychiatric mental health nurse practitioners.

The new distance-based graduate option has been developed to shore up a shortage of primary mental health care providers across Montana, according to Patricia Holkup, who directs the program. "The faculty at the College of Nursing are delighted to have this opportunity to address the stark need in Montana for primary providers in mental health care," Holkup said. "The development of the new option within the state-supported Master of Nursing graduate degree program represents a collaborative effort between state-wide mental health representatives and faculty from the MSU College of Nursing."

Family psychiatric mental health nurse practitioners are advanced practice nurses who provide a full range of psychiatric services to individuals and families, Holkup said. Special emphasis will be placed on preparing advanced practice nurses to deliver psychiatric mental health care to a diverse range of families and individuals living in rural communities.

Most of the state has been designated as a mental health professional shortage area, Holkup added.

The curriculum will take five semesters to complete, and six nurses will begin taking core classes this fall semester. The graduate nursing courses will be taught using Web-based distance learning technologies. Supervised clinical rotations will be completed in the students' home communities whenever possible.

In addition, a post-master's certificate will be offered.

Nurses interested in learning more about the option should visit the College of Nursing's Web site at
http://www.montana.edu/nursing/academic/mn.htm or contact Lynn Taylor, the graduate program's administrative assistant, at lynnt@montana.edu or
(406) 994-3500.

Applications for admission for the fall of 2010 are due Feb. 15, 2010.

10% of Americans Take Antidepressants

2009-08-11T14:19:00.000-06:00

US Antidepressant Use Rises

The number of Americans using antidepressants doubled from 1996 to 2005, while the number seeing psychiatrists continued to fall, a study shows. About 10 percent of Americans—or 27 million people—were taking antidepressants in 2005, according to research published in the Archives of General Psychiatry. The findings highlight the need for doctors who are not psychiatrist to be trained to diagnose and manage depression so patients get effective treatment, said the study’s lead author, Mark Olfson, a professor of clinical psychiatry at Columbia University and New York State Psychiatric Institute. (USA Today, 8/03/09)

Study: Depression seen in children as young as 3

2009-08-04T09:45:00.000-06:00

By LINDSEY TANNER, AP Medical Writer Lindsey Tanner, Ap Medical Writer – Mon Aug 3, 5:17 pm ET

CHICAGO – Depression in children as young as 3 is real and not just a passing grumpy mood, according to provocative new research.

The study is billed as the first to show major depression can be chronic even in very young children, contrary to the stereotype of the happy-go-lucky preschooler.

Until fairly recently, "people really haven't paid much attention to depressive disorders in children under the age of 6," said lead author Dr. Joan Luby, a psychiatrist at Washington University in St. Louis. "They didn't think it could happen ... because children under 6 were too emotionally immature to experience it."

Previous research suggested that depression affects about 2 percent of U.S. preschoolers, or roughly 160,000 youngsters, at one time or another. But it was unclear whether depression in preschoolers could be chronic, as it can be in older children and adults.

Luby's research team followed more than 200 preschoolers, ages 3 to 6, for up to two years, including 75 diagnosed with major depression. The children had up to four mental health exams during the study.

Among initially depressed children, 64 percent were still depressed or had a recurrent episode of depression six months later, and 40 percent still had problems after two years. Overall, nearly 20 percent had persistent or recurrent depression at all four exams.

Depression was most common in children whose mothers were also depressed or had other mood disorders, and among those who had experienced a traumatic event, such as the death of a parent or physical or sexual abuse.

The new study, funded by the National Institute of Mental Health and released Monday in the August issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, did not examine depression treatment, which is highly controversial among children so young. Some advocates say parents and doctors are too quick to give children powerful psychiatric drugs.

Though sure to raise eyebrows among lay people, the notion that children so young can get depressed is increasingly accepted in psychiatry.

University of Chicago psychiatrist Dr. Sharon Hirsch said the public thinks of preschoolers as carefree. "They get to play. Why would they be depressed?" she said.

But depression involves chemical changes in the brain that can affect even youngsters with an otherwise happy life, said Hirsch, who was not involved in the study.

"When you have that problem, you just don't have that ability to feel good," she said.

And, in fact, Luby said she has separate, unpublished research showing that chemical changes seen in older children also occur in depressed preschoolers.

Dr. Helen Egger, a Duke University psychiatrist who also has studied childhood depression, said it is common among people in her field to first see depressed kids in their teens. Their parents will say symptoms began very early in childhood, but they were told, "Your child will grow out of them," Egger said.

Typical preschoolers can be moody or have temper tantrums, but they quickly bounce back and appear happy when playing or doing everyday activities. Depressed children appear sad even when playing, and their games may have themes of death or other somber topics. Persistent lack of appetite, sleep problems, and frequent temper tantrums that involve biting, kicking or hitting also are signs of possible depression, Egger said.

Luby said another sign is being preoccupied with guilt over common mishaps. For example, a depressed 3-year-old who accidentally breaks a glass might keep saying, "Mommy, I'm sorry I did that," and appear unable to shake off that sense of guilt for days, she said.

University of Massachusetts psychologist Lisa Cosgrove said she is skeptical about the accuracy of labeling preschoolers as depressed, because diagnostic tools for evaluating mental health in children so young aren't as well tested as those used for adults.

And Cosgrove said that while early treatment is important for troubled children, "we just have to make sure that those interventions aren't compromised" by industry pressure to use drugs.

Previous research has suggested that rising numbers of preschoolers are taking psychiatric drugs, including Prozac, which is used to treat depression.

Egger said that there is little research on the effects of psychiatric medicine in very young children, and that psychotherapy should always be tried first.

Dr. David Fassler, a University of Vermont psychiatry professor, stressed that depression in very young children is still pretty rare. However, without treatment, "it can have a devastating and often lasting effect on a child's social and emotional development," he said.

"Hopefully, studies such as this will help parents, teachers, and pediatricians recognize the signs and symptoms of preschool depression so they make sure young children get the help they need and deserve," Fassler said.

I Was a Baby Bulimic

2009-07-17T09:57:00.001-06:00

New York Times
July 15, 2009

I have neither a therapist’s diagnosis nor any scientific literature to support the following claim, and I can’t back it up with more than a cursory level of detail. So you’re just going to have to go with me on this: I was a baby bulimic.

Maybe not baby — toddler bulimic is more like it, though I didn’t so much toddle as wobble, given the roundness of my expanding form. I was a plump infant and was on my way to becoming an even plumper child, a ravenous machine determined to devour anything in its sights. My parents would later tell me, my friends and anyone else willing to listen that they’d never seen a kid eat the way I ate or react the way I reacted whenever I was denied more food. What I did in those circumstances was throw up.

(Continue reading here.)

Vets’ Mental Health Diagnoses Rising

2009-07-17T09:45:00.008-06:00

New York Times
July 16, 2009

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.

(Continue reading.)

College Students With Depression Twice As Likely to Drop Out

2009-07-17T09:37:00.000-06:00

College students with depression are twice as likely as their classmates to drop out of school, new research shows. But the study also indicates that lower grade point averages depended upon a student's type of depression. "The correlation between depression and academic performance is mainly driven by loss of interest in activities," said Daniel Eisenberg, assistant professor at the University of Michigan School of Public Health and principal investigator of the study. "This is significant because it means individuals can be very depressed and very functional, depending on which type of depression they have.” (ScienceDaily, 7/7/09)

Children of Bipolar Parents Progress Along Pathway to Bipolar Disorder

2009-07-09T08:12:00.001-06:00

02 July 2009

Journal of Affective Disorders

MedWire News: The offspring of bipolar disorder patients have an increased risk for anxiety, sleep, mood, and substance use disorders, which, in turn, places them at an increased risk for bipolar disorder, say Canadian scientists.

A broad range of symptoms and disorders from across the spectrum of psychiatric problems have been diagnosed in bipolar offspring. It has not been established, however, whether or not there is a predictable clinical sequence from non-specific, non-mood psychopathology to specific, mood psychopathology in offspring.

Read the full article here.

Treatment of Depression in Adults Should Consider Children

2009-07-06T15:26:00.000-06:00

Physicians and other health care professionals who treat adults with depression also should consider the effects of the illness on their patients' children, according to a new report from the National Research Council and the Institute of Medicine. “Depression interferes with quality of parenting and puts children of all age levels at risk for poor health and development," said Mareasa Isaacs, executive director of the Washington, D.C.-based National Alliance of Multi-Ethnic Behavioral Health Associations. "The message is that it's really important to look at depression as something that affects not only the individual, but the children and other members of the family." (AAFP News, 7/3/09)

The 10 by 10 Campaign - Wellness Update

2009-07-06T14:41:00.005-06:00

Volume 7
July 6, 2009
Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS), Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)

Greetings! This is the summer 2009 update on the 10 by 10 Campaign to promote wellness for people with mental illnesses and reduce early mortality by 10 years over the next 10 year time period. In This Issue:

-Guest Columnist
-The truth about madness
-Wellness: What You Need to Know
-Risk: Fatal illness more likely in bipolar patients
-Mood disorders common in polycystic ovary syndrome
-Moving nation from sick care toward wellness care
-General exercise guidelines for people with disabilities
-Depression in cancer patients: inquire or don’t, but be concerned
-Studies try to tease apart the links between depression and hearth disease
-Social rejection linked with pain in depresses patients
-Poor mental health, asthma risk linked?
-Loneliness as harmful as smoking and obesity, say scientist
-Happenings All Over the Country
-Spread the Word
-An active campaigner for the Pledge for Wellness
-Quotes-of-the-Month

(To read the newsletter, click here.)

Schizophrenia Linked to Higher Risk of Dying From Cancer

2009-06-30T14:41:00.000-06:00

From HealthDay News

Cancer is the second leading cause of death for people with schizophrenia, after suicide, a new French study reports. Researchers from the University of Reims in France found that people with schizophrenia die from cancer at four times the rate of the general population, making it the second leading cause of death in that group. The study, published online in Cancer, said that doctors should pay closer attention to cancer prevention and early detection in people with schizophrenia. Lung cancer was a leading killer among men, possibly due to the high rate of smoking in the group. Among women, the risk of dying from breast cancer was significantly higher than in the general population. The higher death rate might be due to several factors, including a delay in diagnosis and less compliance to treatment. (HealthDay News, 6/23/09)

Frontline: The New Asylums

2009-06-26T10:15:00.002-06:00

Note: This program was aired in 2005, but is worth watching.

PBS Frontline: POV

Fewer than 55,000 Americans currently receive treatment in psychiatric hospitals. Meanwhile, almost 10 times that number -- nearly 500,000 -- mentally ill men and women are serving time in U.S. jails and prisons. As sheriffs and prison wardens become the unexpected and often ill-equipped caretakers of this burgeoning population, they raise a troubling new concern: Have America's jails and prisons become its new asylums?

In "The New Asylums," FRONTLINE goes deep inside Ohio's state prison system to explore the complex and growing issue of mentally ill prisoners. With unprecedented access to prison therapy sessions, mental health treatment meetings, crisis wards, and prison disciplinary tribunals, the film provides a poignant and disturbing portrait of the new reality for the mentally ill.

Watch the full program here.

Media Opportunity: Depression Stories Wanted

2009-06-25T10:39:00.002-06:00

From NAMI National:

A reporter working on a story about major depression would like to speak with someone who lives with depression and can share his or her candid experiences about how family helped them work through their depression. Specifically, she is interested in someone who can give examples of steps a person can take to ask their loved ones for help. For this story she cannot consider candidates with bipolar disorder.

Please send your name, phone number and a brief description of your experience (250 words or less) to Christine Armstrong. NAMI will not release any personal information to the media without your explicit consent.

Great Falls woman shares pain of suicide to help others

2009-06-19T09:35:00.002-06:00

Cynde Jacobsen shared the story of her husband's suicide on a Great Falls news broadcast this week. She is a Center for Mental Health Foundation Board Member and longtime mental health advocate. Watch the video here. Cynde will be a keynote speaker at tomorrow's Beautiful Minds walk.

Report Finds Rural Mental Health Issues Overlooked

2009-06-11T08:52:00.001-06:00

Rural Americans remain underserved in terms of health insurance coverage and mental health providers, a new report finds. The Center for Rural Affairs report, “Mental Health: Overlooked and Disregarded in Rural America,” points out that major depression rates in some rural areas significantly exceed those in urban areas. Teens and older adults in rural areas have significantly higher suicide rates than their urban counterparts. It calls for health care reform that includes an affordable, meaningful public health insurance option. And any such reform should also ensure that all Americans, rural and urban, have reasonable access to quality mental health care. (The Grand Island Independent, 5/29/09)

Good Mood Can Run a Long Time After Workout

2009-06-11T08:45:00.002-06:00

Moderate exercise may lead to a happy day, a recent study shows. It has long been recognized that moderate exercise can cause mood improvement; however a study at the University of Vermont shows that better moods can be sustained up to 12 hours after the exercise is over.

"There are other studies that show there is acute improvement in mood after exercise, but we found those improvements are more durable than we thought," says Jeremy Sibold, an assistant professor in the University of Vermont's Department of Rehabilitation and Movement Science.

That's an especially important finding for people who have depression or stress, he says.

"Daily exercise can improve your mood and mitigate some of the stressors of your day," Sibold says. "It's clear that exercise is critical for both physical health and mental health."

(USA Today 6/2/09)