This book review of H.I.S.S. of the A.S.P. is about a brilliant book that is one of the best books about sensitive people available today, and in my opinion, a must read for all highly sensitive people. In 2003, David Ritchey, an independent psychological researcher, published his groundbreaking work: The HISS of the ASP. The title refers to a scientifically based questionnaire he created to discover more about highly sensitive people, referred to by him as anomalously sensitive people, hence the word ASP. Most of the literature about highly sensitive people (HSP’s), focus on social and…
Mental Health
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Book Review Of H.I.S.S. Of The A.S.P.
HSP Health Blog25 Jan 2012 | 9:06 am -
January is Stalking Awareness Month
Dr. Deb20 Jan 2012 | 4:38 pmJanuary has been designated Stalking Awareness Month in the United States.Stalking, as defined by Dr. J. R. Meloy, is defined as "the willful, malicious and repeated following and harassing of another person." Stalking can affect anyone no matter gender, race, socio-economic status or geographic location. According to data in the United States, 1 in 12 women and 1 in 45 men will be stalked in their lifetime.Although significant attention has been devoted to adult perpetrators and victims of stalking, there is persuasive evidence that stalking begins at a much younger age. Research suggests… -
Abused children's brains work like soldiers' do
New Scientist - Mental Health6 Dec 2011 | 10:23 amBrain scans show that children from violent homes detect threats in the same way that soldiers do -
Science News » Ethnic Disparities Persist in Depression Diagnosis and Treatment Among Older Americans
NIMH | Recent Updates26 Jan 2012 | 10:33 amOlder racial and ethnic minorities living in the community are less likely to be diagnosed with depression than their white counterparts, but are also less likely to get treated, according to a recent NIMH-funded analysis published online ahead of print December 15, 2011, in the American Journal of Public Health. -
Survivors Of Hurricane Katrina Struggle With Mental Health Years Later, Study Says
Mental Health News From Medical News Today27 Jan 2012 | 3:00 amSurvivors of Hurricane Katrina have struggled with poor mental health for years after the storm, according to a new study of low-income mothers in the New Orleans area. The study's lead author, Christina Paxson of Princeton University, said that the results were a departure from other surveys both in the design and the results...
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NIMH | Recent Updates
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Science News » Ethnic Disparities Persist in Depression Diagnosis and Treatment Among Older Americans
26 Jan 2012 | 10:33 amOlder racial and ethnic minorities living in the community are less likely to be diagnosed with depression than their white counterparts, but are also less likely to get treated, according to a recent NIMH-funded analysis published online ahead of print December 15, 2011, in the American Journal of Public Health. -
Blog Post » Balancing Immediate Needs with Future Innovation
26 Jan 2012 | 10:54 amDr. Insel responds to discussion from the National Advisory Mental Health Council concerning the need to balance research funding for basic science and mental health services. -
Audio » 2011 Society for Neuroscience Conference Highlights
26 Jan 2012 | 3:34 pmThe 2011 Society for Neuroscience Conference was held in Washington, DC. -
Concept Clearance » New Experimental Medicine Studies: Fast-Fail Trials (FAST)
27 Jan 2012 | 9:05 amThis initiative seeks to expeditiously test and analyze novel pharmacological interventions and their molecular and/or clinical targets for treating clinical dimensions of psychopathology associated with traditional psychiatric disorders. -
Concept Clearance » Development of Tools to Explore the Synaptome
27 Jan 2012 | 1:47 pmThe purpose of this initiative is to encourage applications to develop novel technologies and/or tools to facilitate the study of genes and proteins at the synapse on a large scale.
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Mental Health News From Medical News Today
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Survivors Of Hurricane Katrina Struggle With Mental Health Years Later, Study Says
27 Jan 2012 | 3:00 amSurvivors of Hurricane Katrina have struggled with poor mental health for years after the storm, according to a new study of low-income mothers in the New Orleans area. The study's lead author, Christina Paxson of Princeton University, said that the results were a departure from other surveys both in the design and the results... -
Mental Illness Affects 1 In 5 Americans
23 Jan 2012 | 12:00 pmIn the past year, 45.9 million Americans above the age of 18 years, or 20% of 18 year-olds, experienced mental illness, according to a new national report. Mental illness amongst those aged between 18 and 25 years (29.9%) was more than double as high, compared with people aged 50 years or older (14.3%)... -
Link Between PCE In Drinking Water And An Increased Risk Of Mental Illness
22 Jan 2012 | 2:00 amPCE in drinking water linked to an increased risk of mental illness The solvent tetrachloroethylene (PCE) widely used in industry and to dry clean clothes is a neurotoxin known to cause mood changes, anxiety, and depression in people who work with it... -
1 In 5 Americans With Mental Illness, National Survey
21 Jan 2012 | 2:00 amSome 45.9 million, or around 1 in 5 American adults (age 18 and over) experienced a mental illness in the past year, according to the US government's latest National Survey on Drug Use and Health, released this month... -
Gossip Is Good For You!
19 Jan 2012 | 11:00 amFed up with listening to your spouse or co-workers gossiping away? Leave be, says a new research from University of California Berkeley. Gossip helps to prevent bad behavior, prevent exploitation and reduces stress levels...
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msnbc.com: Mental health
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Medication helps some with mild depression
26 Jan 2012 | 1:14 pm -
How books, puzzles may help ward off Alzheimer's
23 Jan 2012 | 6:06 pmDoing puzzles and reading books have been linked with a decreased risk of Alzheimer's disease, and a new study may explain why — it reduces the accumulation of harmful proteins in the brain. -
'Shrooms may be clue to new depression drugs
23 Jan 2012 | 4:22 pmThe brains of people tripping on magic mushrooms have given the best picture yet of how psychedelic drugs work and British scientists say the findings suggest such drugs could be used to treat depression. -
Mentally ill flood ERs as states cut services
26 Dec 2011 | 12:06 pmAcross the country, emergency room doctors are facing a spike in psychiatric crises — attempted suicide, severe depression, psychosis — as states slash mental health services and the country's worst economic crisis since the Great Depression takes its toll. -
Medical pot for ADD, OCD? State mulls petition
21 Dec 2011 | 12:01 pmState officials will consider a request to allow medical marijuana for people with attention deficit disorder and obsessive compulsive disorder.
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ScienceDaily: Mental Health News
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How a parent's education can affect the mental health of their offspring
26 Jan 2012 | 12:39 pmCould depression in adulthood be tied to a parent's level of education? A new study by a medical sociologist suggests this is the case. -
Working too much is correlated with two-fold increase in likelihood of depression
25 Jan 2012 | 4:23 pmThe odds of a major depressive episode are more than double for those working 11 or more hours a day compared to those working seven to eight hours a day. -
Mechanism sheds light on how the brain adapts to stress
25 Jan 2012 | 12:26 pmScientists now have a better understanding of the way that stress impacts the brain. New research reveals pioneering evidence for a new mechanism of stress adaptation and may eventually lead to a better understanding of why prolonged and repeated exposure to stress can lead to anxiety disorders and depression. -
Genetic variation increases risk of metabolic side effects in children on some antipsychotics
24 Jan 2012 | 1:03 pmResearchers have found a genetic variation predisposing children to six-times greater risk of developing metabolic syndrome when taking second-generation anti-psychotic medications. Metabolic syndrome is a cluster of conditions that are risk factors for cardiovascular disease. The study showed a close association with two conditions in particular: high blood pressure and elevated fasting blood sugar levels, which is a precursor to diabetes. -
Children with ADHD benefit from healthy lifestyle options as first-line treatment
24 Jan 2012 | 12:44 pmEvery year between 3 and 10 percent of school-age children in this country are diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Increasingly, families are using natural or complementary therapies to improve their child’s attention or behavior, and often seek advice from an integrative pediatrician, according to a new study.
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Medscape Psychiatry & Mental Health Headlines
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New Tool Helps Clinicians Evaluate Addiction Programs
27 Jan 2012 | 3:42 pmNIDA has released a new tool that aims to help clinicians and patients better evaluate addiction treatment programs. Medscape Medical News -
New Predictors May Determine Metabolic Risk in Kids on Atypicals
27 Jan 2012 | 10:22 amLarge waist circumference and a specific genetic variation may be accurate predictors of an increased risk for metabolic syndrome in children prescribed second-generation antipsychotics. Medscape Medical News -
Healthcare Gone Missing: The State of the Union Address
26 Jan 2012 | 9:59 amHenry R. Black, MD, and Roxana Mehran, MD, talked with Medscape after the 2012 State of the Union address about why healthcare was missing and what that portends. Medscape Cardiology -
Concern Over Changes to Autism Criteria Unfounded, Says APA
25 Jan 2012 | 3:22 pmThe American Psychiatric Association says concerns that proposed changes to autism criteria outlined in the DSM-5 will leave some patients out in the cold are unfounded. Medscape Medical News -
MRI Changes in Schizophrenia
25 Jan 2012 | 9:02 amA meta-analysis seeks to characterize the brain abnormalities associated with schizophrenia. Medscape Psychiatry
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New Scientist - Mental Health
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Disrupted body clock may prime you for schizophrenia
19 Jan 2012 | 11:00 amGenetic mutations that interfere with circadian rhythms could also trigger the symptoms of mental illness -
Hijack your own dreams to improve your skills
20 Dec 2011 | 12:00 pmIt's like Inception, in real life: lucid dreams offer people the ability to control their dreams and improve not only skills, but also mental health -
Abused children's brains work like soldiers' do
6 Dec 2011 | 10:23 amBrain scans show that children from violent homes detect threats in the same way that soldiers do -
Alzheimer's damage reversed by deep brain stimulation
23 Nov 2011 | 11:30 amBrain shrinkage in people with Alzheimer's disease can be reversed in some cases – by zapping the degenerating tissue with electrical impulses -
Older brains lack quick-fire connections
22 Nov 2011 | 6:00 pmBrain scans show that the striatum, an area of the brain that allows for fast responses, is less well connected in the older brain
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Blisstree » FEEL
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96% Of Us Are More Stressed Than Our Moms Were; Cut Yourself Some Slack
26 Jan 2012 | 11:40 amOn the Today show this morning, they reported that a whopping 70% of moms in the U.S. say mothering is “incredibly stressful.” On top of that, 96% feel we are far more stressed than our own mothers were. While I can certainly relate (I am a working mom with two kids), I always find reports like that interesting, because I think they can paint a picture of us as martyrs, when in fact, we’re the ones who typically bring this stress upon ourselves. And if we would just cut ourselves some slack, we could probably alleviate a lot of this angst. Yes, things like the economy, financial… -
Demi Moore Reportedly Hospitalized Over ‘Whip-Its’; Couldn’t She Have Just Had Some Wine?
26 Jan 2012 | 10:07 amAfter days of rumors, reports now indicate that “whip-its” could have been the drug of choice for Demi Moore and the reason she was rushed to the hospital earlier this week. And here I thought sucking the air out of whipped cream bottles was just for teenagers to do as a cheap and stupid way of getting high when working at Ground Round or Ben & Jerry’s. Media outlets are now claiming the actress reportedly had a seizure after inhaling nitrous oxide at her home. Known commonly as doing “whip-its,” the activity generally involves inhaling the gas from a whipped… -
At 62, Vera Wang Looks Healthy And Awesome In Harper’s Bazaar
25 Jan 2012 | 2:49 pmFashion and healthy bodies don’t always get along, but in a gorgeous spread for the February edition of Harper’s Bazaar, Vera Wang is doing her darndest to merge the two. Images from the shoot displaying the 62-year-old fashion icon’s healthy, awesome-looking body have just been released, and all I can say “Damn, Vera.” The point of the spread wasn’t to show off Wang’s muscular gams and enviable arms–it was to give the world a tour of her epic new Beverly Hills mansion. In fact, she says, she didn’t even mean to end up in the… -
Demi Moore Called Paramedics To Treat Her Exhaustion; Why Didn’t Anyone See This Coming?
24 Jan 2012 | 9:55 pmDemi Moore was taken to a hospital by paramedics on Monday night after an emergency call, and today her rep issued a statement saying she’s being treated for exhaustion due to the stresses in her life. But after her strange interview in Harper’s Bazaar at the beginning of the year, and her ever-diminishing frame in the two months since her divorce from Ashton Kutcher, wasn’t it obvious she needed some help? According to New York Daily News, the Los Angeles Fire Department confirmed that she’d called for help on Monday night. This afternoon, Moore’s rep issued… -
Psychedelic Mushrooms Reduce Brain Activity (And That’s A Good Thing)
24 Jan 2012 | 3:03 pmIn my college days, I was no stranger to the odd hit of acid or bag of ‘shrooms, and I’ve long believed in the power of drugs like these to be therapeutic under the right circumstances. I’m reading a book right now, in fact, by Ram Dass (born Richard Alpert), a Harvard psychology professor turned yogi and spiritual leader who was part of that whole 1960s scholarly cohort (including Timothy Leary) studying psychedelics. But although serious scholars (and lay people like myself and my college friends) have been studying psychedelics for decades, no one has been quite…
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World of Psychology
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Want To Feel Happier? Enjoying Childish Pleasures
27 Jan 2012 | 10:35 amMy children make me happy for many reasons, of course. But it strikes me that one reason that they make me happy is that they encourage me to engage more deeply with the physical world. Left to my own instincts, I’d drift absent-mindedly through the apartment, reading, writing, and eating cereal for dinner every night. Through my daughters, I become much more alive to ordinary pleasures — the comfort of our weirdly soft fleece blanket, the vanishing sweetness of cotton candy, the textures and colors of the Play-Doh, scented markers, and velvety pipe cleaners left scattered around the… -
Best of Our Blogs: January 27, 2012
27 Jan 2012 | 5:30 amIt’s very easy to fall down what I like to call the, “Woe is me rabbit hole.” It can start innocently enough. Maybe you’re having a particularly difficult day or you’re feeling tired, fed-up or emotionally exhausted. It’s during these times that the question you’ve been ruminating on such as, “Why this?” can easily be turned into, “Why me?” Negative thoughts like these can be seductive. Spend enough time focusing on them and they can grow into self-pity. And even worse? When you start asking yourself, “Why even… -
Faking ADHD for Special Treatment
26 Jan 2012 | 11:45 amYou might ask, “Why would anyone want to fake attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)?” Many years ago, when ADHD was first proposed as a diagnosis, you would’ve been right — few people would’ve bothered faking the diagnosis because it brought you little reward to do so. But as ADHD diagnoses bloomed over the past two decades, so did special accommodations in the school systems for children and teenagers diagnosed with the disorder. And one of the primary treatments for attention deficit disorder is stimulant medication, something that can be used for… -
4 On-the-Spot Energy Boosters
26 Jan 2012 | 7:31 amIt’s hard to get anything done when you’re dragging your feet. You might have a tough time concentrating on work or even play. Even participating in your favorite activity may not raise your energy. Many factors can explain your sluggish system. Worrying excessively or feeling overwhelmed, unhappy or angry can deplete your energy, according to Kristin Taliaferro, Master Certified life and career coach. Your habits also can lower energy levels. Not getting enough nutrients, exercise or sleep slows you down. Here are four simple ways to lift that lethargy. 1. Enjoy the great outdoors. Take… -
Johnson & Johnson Settles 3rd Risperdal Lawsuit for $158M
25 Jan 2012 | 1:44 pmIf companies are people, my friend, like Mitt Romney famously described in Iowa in August 2011, then we’re feeling a little bad for our fellow person called Janssen Pharmaceuticals, a division of health care giant Johnson & Johnson. They just got dinged with a $158 million settlement in a Medicaid fraud case in Texas for “making false or misleading statements about the safety, cost and effectiveness of the expensive anti-psychotic medication Risperdal, and improperly influencing officials and doctors to push the drug.” But we won’t feel too badly, because Janssen…
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Mental Health Blog
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Brief Opioid Therapy May Eliminate Chronic Pain
16 Jan 2012 | 6:54 pmAccording to team leaders, Ruth Drdla-Schutting and Jürgen Sandkühler along with their research team at the MedUni Vienna's Department of Neurophysiology (Centre for Brain Research); opioids can be used for more than temporary pain relief. Apparently, a strong enough dose can actually erase our memory traces of pain in the spinal cord.At the most basic level, opioids bind to specific sites, called µ-opiate receptors (MOR), which suppresses the stimulation of pain. Characteristically, opioids are only known to alleviate pain while bound to these sites, therefore once treatment is ceased,… -
HAPPY ANNIVERSARY MENTAL HEALTH BLOG
12 Jan 2012 | 6:26 am© www.mentalhealthblog.com -
Stress and Depression Linked to Aging
9 Nov 2011 | 1:27 pmResearch reveals that people that experience recurring episodes of depression or those that are exposed to chronic stress have shorter telomeres in their white blood cells. “A telomere is a region of repetitive DNA sequences at the end of a chromosome, which protects the end of the chromosome from deterioration or from fusion with neighboring chromosomes.” Consequently, as we age, telomeres, the outermost part of the chromosome, shorten. Moreover, research suggests that oxidative stress and inflammation can accelerate this process. The lengths of telomeres are suggestive of our biological… -
Remembering 9/11
11 Sep 2011 | 12:55 pmAlthough most of us remember 9/11 through media coverage, a vast amount of victims and heroes now remain permanently scarred from witnessing the tragedy first-hand. Many are still physically suffering from their exposure to a mix of fibers, metals, concrete, noxious chemicals and gases. Yet many others are suffering mentally from their experiences on that day and the days following.“Officially, as many as 10,000 firefighters, police officers and civilians who were at the disaster site here have been diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Other figures suggest more than 60,000… -
Infants Trained to Concentrate May Have Improved Abilities
4 Sep 2011 | 12:38 pmNew research suggests that infants can be trained to improve their concentration skills much earlier than once thought, which, unlike adults, can lead to improvements on unrelated tasks. Such abilities could lead to greater academic success, especially for those infants that may not be expected to thrive."Research suggests that differences in attentional control abilities emerge early in development and that children with better attentional control subsequently learn better in academic settings," said Sam Wass of the Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development at Birkbeck, University of…
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Depression News From Medical News Today
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Family History Of Psychiatric Disorders May Shape Intellectual Interests
28 Jan 2012 | 2:00 amA hallmark of the individual is the cultivation of personal interests, but for some people, their intellectual pursuits might actually be genetically predetermined. Survey results published by Princeton University researchers in the journal PLoS ONE suggest that a family history of psychiatric conditions such as autism and depression could influence the subjects a person finds engaging... -
Overworking Linked To A 2-Fold Increase In The Likelihood Of Depression
26 Jan 2012 | 5:00 amThe odds of a major depressive episode are more than double for those working 11 or more hours a day compared to those working seven to eight hours a day, according to a report is published in the Jan. 25 issue of the online journal PLoS ONE... -
Shedding Light On How The Brain Adapts To Stress
26 Jan 2012 | 3:00 amScientists now have a better understanding of the way that stress impacts the brain. New research, published by Cell Press in the January 26 issue of the journal Neuron, reveals pioneering evidence for a new mechanism of stress adaptation and may eventually lead to a better understanding of why prolonged and repeated exposure to stress can lead to anxiety disorders and depression... -
The Effects On The Brain Of Magic Mushrooms
24 Jan 2012 | 3:00 amBrain scans of people under the influence of the psilocybin, the active ingredient in magic mushrooms, have given scientists the most detailed picture to date of how psychedelic drugs work... -
Mental Illness Affects 1 In 5 Americans
23 Jan 2012 | 12:00 pmIn the past year, 45.9 million Americans above the age of 18 years, or 20% of 18 year-olds, experienced mental illness, according to a new national report. Mental illness amongst those aged between 18 and 25 years (29.9%) was more than double as high, compared with people aged 50 years or older (14.3%)...
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ScienceDaily: Depression News
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How a parent's education can affect the mental health of their offspring
26 Jan 2012 | 12:39 pmCould depression in adulthood be tied to a parent's level of education? A new study by a medical sociologist suggests this is the case. -
Working too much is correlated with two-fold increase in likelihood of depression
25 Jan 2012 | 4:23 pmThe odds of a major depressive episode are more than double for those working 11 or more hours a day compared to those working seven to eight hours a day. -
Mechanism sheds light on how the brain adapts to stress
25 Jan 2012 | 12:26 pmScientists now have a better understanding of the way that stress impacts the brain. New research reveals pioneering evidence for a new mechanism of stress adaptation and may eventually lead to a better understanding of why prolonged and repeated exposure to stress can lead to anxiety disorders and depression. -
Treatment of depression can increase work productivity
11 Jan 2012 | 9:40 amA new study found that employees with depression who receive treatment while still working are significantly more likely to be highly productive than those who do not. This is the first study of its kind to look into a possible correlation between treatment and productivity. -
Treatment for diabetes and depression improves both, researchers say
10 Jan 2012 | 8:35 amPatients simultaneously treated for both Type 2 diabetes and depression improve medication compliance and significantly improve blood sugar and depression levels compared to patients receiving usual care, according to a new study.
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Blog - Dealing with depression
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Depression sometimes shifts to bipolar disorder
21 Jan 2012 | 12:00 amDepression begins in many different ways, and can shift to bipolar disorder. The circumstances and treatment change as well. -
Antidepressant use soaring among Americans 12 and over
7 Dec 2011 | 12:00 amAntidepressant use is on the rise, particularly among women. Medications are getting better and there's less stigma to antidepressant use. -
Transcranial magnetic stimulation offers hope treating depression
19 Oct 2011 | 12:00 amTMS therapy may be a viable treatment option when antidepressants don't work. -
New antidepressant offers hope
3 Sep 2011 | 10:30 amDrug offers new choice for those struggling with finding right antidepressant. Sexual side effects appear minimal. -
Sorting out the evidence for antidepressants
22 Jul 2011 | 12:00 amDespite confusing arguments, evidence shows antidepressants work. The key is finding the right one for the individual needing treatment.
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depression
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Learn How to Recognize and Help Depressed Students
18 Jan 2012 | 7:00 amOne fifth of high school females feel depressed, but a one-on-one talk with a teacher can help. -
Health Buzz: Does Coffee Cut Depression Risk in Women?
27 Sep 2011 | 12:52 pmPlus, other potential benefits of coffee and how it can aid your workout. -
What Michelle Obama Must Be Thinking
22 Sep 2011 | 10:39 amWhat does Michelle Obama feel about her husband's presidency? -
Health Buzz: Depression Ups Stroke Risk
21 Sep 2011 | 11:38 am7 signs you could be at risk of a stroke; 5 symptoms you need to know to recognize a stroke. -
Health Buzz: Depressed Women Face Higher Stroke Risk
12 Aug 2011 | 12:10 pm7 signs you could be at risk of a brain attack; 9 surprisingly simple ways to cut salt.
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Anxiety / Stress News From Medical News Today
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Survivors Of Hurricane Katrina Struggle With Mental Health Years Later, Study Says
27 Jan 2012 | 3:00 amSurvivors of Hurricane Katrina have struggled with poor mental health for years after the storm, according to a new study of low-income mothers in the New Orleans area. The study's lead author, Christina Paxson of Princeton University, said that the results were a departure from other surveys both in the design and the results... -
Shedding Light On How The Brain Adapts To Stress
26 Jan 2012 | 3:00 amScientists now have a better understanding of the way that stress impacts the brain. New research, published by Cell Press in the January 26 issue of the journal Neuron, reveals pioneering evidence for a new mechanism of stress adaptation and may eventually lead to a better understanding of why prolonged and repeated exposure to stress can lead to anxiety disorders and depression... -
Moderate Exercise Minimizes Supervisors' Abusive Behaviors Towards Their Subordinates
25 Jan 2012 | 4:00 amIf your boss is giving you a hard time - lying, making fun of you in public and generally putting you down, he or she may benefit from some exercise, according to a new study by James Burton from Northern Illinois University in the US and his team... -
Narcissistic Men May Pay With Their Health
24 Jan 2012 | 10:00 amMen with an inflated view of their importance, who are incapable of putting themselves in other people's shoes and who see themselves as "special" and superior to others, some of the traits of a narcissistic personality, may pay for this with their health... -
When Kicking The Habit, The Poorest Smokers Face The Toughest Odds
23 Jan 2012 | 2:00 amQuitting smoking is never easy. However, when you're poor and uneducated, kicking the habit for good is doubly hard, according to a new study by a tobacco dependence researcher at The City College of New York (CCNY)...
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ScienceDaily: Anxiety News
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Mechanism sheds light on how the brain adapts to stress
25 Jan 2012 | 12:26 pmScientists now have a better understanding of the way that stress impacts the brain. New research reveals pioneering evidence for a new mechanism of stress adaptation and may eventually lead to a better understanding of why prolonged and repeated exposure to stress can lead to anxiety disorders and depression. -
When co-workers are treated poorly: 'I feel your pain ...'
11 Jan 2012 | 12:40 pmAccording to a new study, workers who witness incivility towards colleagues feel negative emotions -- especially when the incivility is aimed at workers of the same sex. The work is the first to look at the relationship between employees' observations of incivility towards same gender coworkers and negative emotions. -
Headphone music eases anxiety during prostate biopsies
9 Jan 2012 | 12:26 pmTuning in to tune out may be just what's needed for men undergoing a prostate biopsy, according to researchers. -
Listening to music can be effective for reducing pain in high-anxiety persons
5 Jan 2012 | 3:17 pmDistraction is an effective pain reliever, and a new study concludes that listening to music can be effective for reducing pain in high-anxiety persons who can easily become absorbed in cognitive activities. -
New forms of torture leave 'invisible scars,' say researchers
3 Jan 2012 | 12:53 pmUse of torture around the world has not diminished but the techniques used have grown more complex and sophisticated, according to new research.
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Psych Central News
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Buying New Experiences, Not Things, Tied to Happiness
27 Jan 2012 | 7:59 amA new study suggests that those who spend money to do things are happier than those who spend their money on possessions. In the study, investigators determined extraverts and people who are open to new experiences are more apt to spend more of their disposable income on experiences, such as concert tickets or a weekend away, rather than hitting the mall for material items. Investigators, led by San Francisco State University Professor, Ryan Howell, discovered the habitual “experiential shoppers” reported greater life satisfaction. To further investigate how purchasing decisions… -
Best Friends Provide Buffers in Bad Times
27 Jan 2012 | 7:30 amThe presence of a best friend directly affects children going through negative experiences, according to new research from Concordia University. “Having a best friend present during an unpleasant event has an immediate impact on a child’s body and mind,” said co-author William M. Bukowski, Ph.D., a psychology professor and director of the Concordia Centre for Research in Human Development. “If a child is alone when he or she gets in trouble with a teacher or has an argument with a classmate, we see a measurable increase in cortisol levels and decrease in feelings of self-worth.” In… -
Belief in Conspiracies Can Lead to Contradictions
27 Jan 2012 | 6:38 amDistrust and paranoia about government has a long history in the U.S and can lead to suspicion about claims made by authorities and belief in conspiracies. Now, a new study suggests that the attraction to conspiracy theories can lead some to endorse entirely contradictory beliefs. Researchers discovered people who endorse conspiracy theories see authorities as fundamentally deceptive. This belief that the “official story” is untrue can lead people to believe several alternative theories – despite contradictions among them. “Any conspiracy theory that stands in opposition… -
Adult Depression Influenced by Parents’ Education
27 Jan 2012 | 6:12 amEmerging research suggests depression in adulthood may be tied to a parent’s level of education. Amélie Quesnel-Vallée, Ph.D., a medical sociologist from McGill University, and co-researcher Miles Taylor reviewed 29 years of data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979. In their analysis, they reviewed associations between a parent’s education level and their children’s education level, household income and depressive symptoms. They discovered that higher levels of parental education meant fewer mental health issues for their adult children. “However, we… -
Men May Have Higher Risk of Memory Loss
27 Jan 2012 | 5:50 amA new study suggests men may be at higher risk of developing mild cognitive impairment (MCI) than women. MCI is the stage of mild memory loss that occurs between normal aging and dementia. Experts were surprised ag the finding as women generally have higher rates of dementia than men. Mayo Clinic researchers, led by study author Dr. Rosebud Roberts, followed a group of 1,450 people from Olmsted County, Minn. Study participants were between the ages of 70 and 89 and free of dementia at enrollment. Individuals underwent memory testing every 15 months for an average of three years and were also…
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Bipolar News From Medical News Today
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Lithium For Bipolar Disorder - Pros And Cons Unclear
23 Jan 2012 | 12:00 pmThe most effective long-term treatment for bipolar disorder is lithium. It offers protection against depression and mania and reduces the risk of suicide and short-term mortality. However, according to a study in The Lancet ,safety concerns have made the use of lithium controversial... -
Link Between PCE In Drinking Water And An Increased Risk Of Mental Illness
22 Jan 2012 | 2:00 amPCE in drinking water linked to an increased risk of mental illness The solvent tetrachloroethylene (PCE) widely used in industry and to dry clean clothes is a neurotoxin known to cause mood changes, anxiety, and depression in people who work with it... -
Improvements In Unipolar And Bipolar Depression Following Deep Brain Stimulation
3 Jan 2012 | 4:00 amA new study shows that deep brain stimulation (DBS) is a safe and effective intervention for treatment-resistant depression in patients with either unipolar major depressive disorder (MDD) or bipolar ll disorder (BP). The study was published Online First by Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. The study was led by Helen S... -
Rare Genetic Mutations Linked To Bipolar Disorder
2 Jan 2012 | 2:00 amAn international team of scientists, led by researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, reports that abnormal sequences of DNA known as rare copy number variants, or CNVs, appear to play a significant role in the risk for early onset bipolar disorder. The findings were published in the Dec. 22 issue of the journal Neuron... -
Link Between Opioid Abuse And Mood And Anxiety Disorders
25 Dec 2011 | 2:00 amIndividuals suffering from mood and anxiety disorders such as bipolar, panic disorder and major depressive disorder may be more likely to abuse opioids, according to a new study led by researchers from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. They found that mood and anxiety disorders are highly associated with non-medical prescription opioid use...
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ScienceDaily: Bipolar Disorder News
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Schizophrenia diagnosis associated with progressive brain changes among adolescents
2 Jan 2012 | 5:08 pmAdolescents diagnosed with schizophrenia and other psychoses appear to show greater decreases in gray matter volume and increases in cerebrospinal fluid in the frontal lobe compared to healthy adolescents without a diagnosis of psychosis, according to a new report. -
Rare genetic mutations linked to bipolar disorder
21 Dec 2011 | 1:03 pmScientists report that abnormal sequences of DNA known as rare copy number variants, or CNVs, appear to play a significant role in the risk for early onset bipolar disorder. -
Opioid abuse linked to mood and anxiety disorders
13 Dec 2011 | 6:01 pmResearchers find that mood and anxiety disorders are highly associated with non-medical prescription opioid use. -
Post-partum psychiatric episodes associated with increased risk of developing bipolar affective disorder, study finds
5 Dec 2011 | 3:58 pmExperiencing a psychiatric episode within the first 30 days post-partum appears to be associated with an increased risk of developing bipolar affective disorder, according to a new study. -
New biochemical changes found in children with ADHD
5 Dec 2011 | 9:23 amA new study shows that children with ADHD have nearly 50 percent less of a protein that is important for attention and learning. The finding may mean that there are other biochemical disturbances in the brains of individuals with ADHD than was previously believed.
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MedWire News - Bipolar Disorder
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Vascular function ‘not impaired’ in young BD patients
19 Jan 2012 | 6:00 pmUS researchers have found no evidence for impaired vascular function among relatively young patients with bipolar disorder. -
Differential neural activation patterns in children with BD and SMD
18 Jan 2012 | 6:00 pmNeural activation patterns differ between children with bipolar disorder and those with severe mood dysregulation during a motor inhibition task, researchers have found. -
Limbic network disruption may characterize bipolar disorder
17 Jan 2012 | 6:00 pmResults from a Chinese study show that bipolar disorder patients have gray and white matter abnormalities that indicate disorganization of the limbic network. -
BDNF not linked to executive function in BD patients
16 Jan 2012 | 6:00 pmExecutive function is not associated with levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor in patients with bipolar disorder, study results suggest. -
Functional impairments persist in remitted BD patients
12 Jan 2012 | 6:00 pmA significant proportion of bipolar disorder patients who receive specialized mental health care achieve symptomatic recovery, but functional recovery is much less common, study results show.
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Schizophrenia News From Medical News Today
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A Path To The Brain Through The Nose Aids Schizophrenia Research
27 Jan 2012 | 2:00 amA significant obstacle to progress in understanding psychiatric disorders is the difficulty in obtaining living brain tissue for study so that disease processes can be studied directly. Recent advances in basic cellular neuroscience now suggest that, for some purposes, cultured neural stem cells may be studied in order to research psychiatric disease mechanisms... -
Endocannabinoid System Disturbed By GABA Deficits
26 Jan 2012 | 2:00 amChanges in the endocannabinoid system may have important implications for psychiatric and addiction disorders. This brain system is responsible for making substances that have effects on brain function which resemble those of cannabis products, e.g., marijuana... -
Link Between PCE In Drinking Water And An Increased Risk Of Mental Illness
22 Jan 2012 | 2:00 amPCE in drinking water linked to an increased risk of mental illness The solvent tetrachloroethylene (PCE) widely used in industry and to dry clean clothes is a neurotoxin known to cause mood changes, anxiety, and depression in people who work with it... -
Mental Illness Protects Some Inmates From Returning To Jail
19 Jan 2012 | 2:00 amPeople with mental illness have gotten a bad rap in past research studies, being labeled the group of people with the highest return rates to prison... -
Automated Imaging Inroduced To Greatly Speed Whole-Brain Mapping Efforts
17 Jan 2012 | 2:00 amA new technology developed by neuroscientists at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) transforms the way highly detailed anatomical images can be made of whole brains. Until now, means of obtaining such images - used in cutting-edge projects to map the mammalian brain - have been painstakingly slow and available only to a handful of highly specialized research teams...
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ScienceDaily: Schizophrenia News
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In schizophrenia research, a path to the brain through the nose
25 Jan 2012 | 8:11 amA significant obstacle to progress in understanding psychiatric disorders is the difficulty in obtaining living brain tissue for study so that disease processes can be studied directly. Recent advances in basic cellular neuroscience now suggest that, for some purposes, cultured neural stem cells may be studied in order to research psychiatric disease mechanisms. But where can one obtain these cells outside of the brain? -
Brain activity linked to delusion-like experience
10 Jan 2012 | 9:20 amPeople with schizophrenia showed greater brain activity during tests that induce a brief, mild form of delusional thinking. This effect wasn't seen in a comparison group without schizophrenia. -
New gene that regulates body weight discovered
4 Jan 2012 | 2:37 pmWhile studying a brain protein related to the involuntary body movements that are side effects of drugs used to treat Parkinson's disease and schizophrenia, a pharmacy professor discovered that the protein also plays a role in regulating body weight. -
Schizophrenia diagnosis associated with progressive brain changes among adolescents
2 Jan 2012 | 5:08 pmAdolescents diagnosed with schizophrenia and other psychoses appear to show greater decreases in gray matter volume and increases in cerebrospinal fluid in the frontal lobe compared to healthy adolescents without a diagnosis of psychosis, according to a new report. -
Brain cell malfunction in schizophrenia identified
28 Dec 2011 | 10:17 amScientists have discovered that DNA stays too tightly wound in certain brain cells of schizophrenic subjects. The findings suggest that drugs already in development for other diseases might eventually offer hope as a treatment for schizophrenia and related conditions in the elderly.
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MedWire News - Schizophrenia
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DKK1 levels elevated in psychosis patients with comorbid drug abuse
19 Jan 2012 | 6:00 pmResults from an Italian study show that drug abuse is associated with increased serum levels of the protein Dickkopf-1 in patients with psychosis. -
Mortality rates elevated in elderly schizophrenia patients
18 Jan 2012 | 6:00 pmThe overall mortality rate among elderly patients with schizophrenia is more than twice that in the general elderly population, results from a Finnish study show. -
Poor insight linked to increased QoL in Chinese schizophrenia patients
17 Jan 2012 | 6:00 pmPoor illness insight is associated with increased physical quality of life, but also greater negative symptom severity, in Chinese patients with schizophrenia, study results suggest. -
Exercise capacity linked to global functioning in schizophrenia patients
16 Jan 2012 | 6:00 pmFunctional exercise capacity is significantly, positively associated with global functioning in patients with schizophrenia, research shows. -
Obstetric complications linked to NSSs in men with schizophrenia
12 Jan 2012 | 6:00 pmObstetric complications are associated with an increased prevalence of neurological soft signs in male patients with schizophrenia, Italian research suggests.
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Dr. Deb
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January is Stalking Awareness Month
20 Jan 2012 | 4:38 pmJanuary has been designated Stalking Awareness Month in the United States.Stalking, as defined by Dr. J. R. Meloy, is defined as "the willful, malicious and repeated following and harassing of another person." Stalking can affect anyone no matter gender, race, socio-economic status or geographic location. According to data in the United States, 1 in 12 women and 1 in 45 men will be stalked in their lifetime.Although significant attention has been devoted to adult perpetrators and victims of stalking, there is persuasive evidence that stalking begins at a much younger age. Research suggests… -
January is National Mentoring Month
11 Jan 2012 | 10:45 amThere are few relationships in life that are more influential than those between a mentor and a young person. I know this from both sides of the coin. You see, I have had many a mentor in my life growing up. A person who took a unique interest in me, fostered my growth and guided me onward. And I've also been a mentor to many as well., paying the experience forward.Being involved in mentoring has been so rewarding and meaningful to me. In fact, research shows that mentoring is an extraordinary experience for all involved.January is National Mentoring Month. Be mentor. Change a life. And… -
5 Tips for Kicking Post-Holiday Blues
26 Dec 2011 | 10:26 amAs the holiday season comes to an end, so, too, does the high octane way you've planned, shopped, traveled, and socialized. The holiday momentum of go, go, go, going screeches to a grinding halt. Problem is, all the neurochemistry you needed to help you get through the holidays - stress hormones called cortisol and adrenaline – are leaving you feeling burned out, irritable, and just plain cranky.Maybe your hopes for holidays with family and friends were unmet, and you now have to deal with emotional let-down. Then there's the march of the holiday bills -and thinking about paying the piper… -
Tips for Keeping the "You" in Yuletide
7 Dec 2011 | 8:25 amThe holiday season is not just a time for traditional festivities, merry making, good will and celebrating with loved ones. For some, it's the loneliest time of the year. For others, sadness of missing a loved one or recovering from a life-changing trauma tinges the season. Many fall into despair as self-reflection takes hold, measuring past accomplishment and failures. And then there are those who begin a downward spiral into the depths of depression.Worries about job security, foreclosures, the ailing economy, and everyday living can make us all vulnerable during the holiday crush. Here are… -
Sexual Abuse in Sports
30 Nov 2011 | 2:40 pmResearch shows that sexual abuse happens in all sports and at all levels, with a greater prevalence occurring within the arena of high performance and elite sports. The sporting culture, with its larger-than-life coaches, fierce competition, the need for recognition and funding, and a "win at all costs" philosophy, creates an environment that contributes to the sexual exploitation of athletes.Sexual abuse is both a physical act and a psychological experience. As a physical act, sexual abuse involves touching and non-touching behaviors. This can be done in coercive or seductive ways. As a…
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Mental Health Blog
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What Does Emotional Abuse Look Like?
27 Jan 2012 | 6:13 pmIn some ways, emotional abuse is the most common form of abuse. -
Is Depression Numbing Your Anxiety?
17 Jan 2012 | 7:01 pmYears ago depression was considered a weakness, suffered by weak people, some citing a higher rate of depression among women. -
No Two Depressions are Created Equal
7 Jan 2012 | 6:37 pmMost people don't start out in life intentionally headed toward depression. Life just takes you down that detour sometimes, for a whole host of reasons. Sometimes it's a traumatic event that shakes your world and shatters your confidence. -
Increasing mental health problems in the US?
8 Oct 2011 | 9:12 pmJohn Hopkins released some new statistics recently, indicating there has been an increase of about 2 million adults who suffer from mental illness since 1997. These statistics were based on self-reports in 2007, and the specific cause is not indicated. -
Hand Your Anxiety to a Higher Power
5 Oct 2011 | 3:50 pmAll of the work we do at The Center for Counseling and Health Resources is based on a whole-person approach to treatment and recovery from anxiety and depression.
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Beyond Meds
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On the road…
28 Jan 2012 | 5:20 amMy iatrogenesis is such that I cannot fly. I cannot be on my feet or even upright for any length of time still and the airport and a plane, too, would be close to impossible. I am traveling several hundreds of miles, out of state, to visit yet another medical practitioner. This one has the blessing of this doctor who has been helping me. I am making note of this as I won't be able to stay on top of the news while I am gone and the content of the blog will reflect that. There will be daily posts in any case as ***I've prescheduled one or two posts daily*** for the length of the trip. I may or… -
Right here, right now: Alan Watts and Chögyam Trungpa (and Fat Boy Slim!)
28 Jan 2012 | 4:05 amRight here, right now... -
ISEPP Statement on the (DSM-5)
27 Jan 2012 | 11:01 pmISEPP Statement on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders (DSM-5) The International Society for Ethical Psychology and Psychiatry (ISEPP) voices concerns over the APA’s May 2013 anticipated publication of the fifth edition of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5). FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE PRLog (Press Release) - Jan 25, 2012 - It is the position [...] -
Not easy, but worth it
27 Jan 2012 | 3:31 pmReblogged from Samsaric Warrior: Sit around your house all day recovering from surgery and your monkey mind can sure try to get the best of you. Yesterday I was sent to the ER at the local hospital to get checked out since I was experiencing some chills and a slight fever. I wasn’t thrilled about [...] -
1 in 50 children in the US are now homeless: the story of one of them
27 Jan 2012 | 11:35 amInocente is a 15-year-old girl who has spent the last 9 years homeless in San Diego. Despite her circumstances and her dark park, she paints bright and whimsical paintings.
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Bipolar Burble | Natasha Tracy | Writer
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Nominate a Superior Mental Health Advocate for $10,000
27 Jan 2012 | 12:20 pmThe National Council is an organization I recently become involved with as they have asked me to speak at their conference in Chicago this April. The National Council In their words, this organization, ... is the unifying voice of America’s behavioral health organizations. Together with our 1,950 member organizations, we serve our nation’s most vulnerable citizens — more than 6 million adults and children with mental illnesses and addiction disorders. We are committed to providing comprehensive, quality care that affords every opportunity for recovery and inclusion in all aspects of… -
Dr. Oz Show – The Shock That Could Save Your Life – Electroshock Therapy for Depression
25 Jan 2012 | 5:03 pmAs many people know the Dr. Oz show, did 30 minutes today on electroshock therapy. I’m going to talk a little about the Dr. Oz show’s representation of electroshock therapy and add a few additional facts. First off, the Dr. Oz show is a source of entertainment, like anything else on TV, so he added drama that wasn’t particularly necessary. That is the way of the show, and TV, however. Specifically, the show started off with scenes of electroshock therapy being given pre-1950 which is when you see people having convulsions in the bad old days before people were anesthetized during… -
Why are People Antipsychiatry? Part 3/3
24 Jan 2012 | 5:06 pmSo, I’ve talked about what antipsychiatry is and the history of antipsychiatry a little, and in this third and final part in the series I look at why people are antipsychiatry. Now, I understand that this is a theory and will only be true for a percentage of people. And I understand that no matter what I say, I will have a deluge of people disagreeing with me. Nevertheless, I write: Antipsychiatrists are Scared -
Bipolar Spectrum Disorders – What is Cyclothymia?
22 Jan 2012 | 4:33 pmCyclothymia is neither bipolar depression nor unipolar depression but instead it is an illness that lies somewhere in the middle. When psychiatric illnesses first started being recognized, some doctors felt that unipolar and bipolar depressions weren’t really the binary options for an illness but really just opposite ends of a spectrum. So then, one would have a spectrum where one could be a 100% bipolar depressive, or 100% unipolar depressive or they could lay somewhere in the middle. However, as illnesses need names and diagnostic criteria and not really vague percentages, bipolar and… -
Dopamine and Psychosis in Schizophrenia and News – 3 New Things
19 Jan 2012 | 12:59 pmHi all. I have a couple of announcements to make and a piece of schizophrenia research to share. Today’s post is about: Brain activity linked to delusional (psychotic) experiences in schizophrenia An interview with ShareCare Advertising on the Bipolar Burble
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Seaneen / The Secret Life of a Manic Depressive
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BDD suck my balls
21 Jan 2012 | 8:12 pmArgh. I consider myself pretty cool in terms of body dysmorphic disorder. I had therapy, it helped, I kept those strategies with me. I understand my fears are irrational. I hate the way I look. I think I will always hate the way I look. But I can get through days without thinking I am a deformed goblin, and I can go out without make-up now and spend less than 3 hours a day putting on make up. I can leave the house and mostly look at myself without wanting to break down, and I have a mirror in my house that’s bigger than a hand mirror. Two in fact. I may not look into them much, but… -
I wish my dad was coming to my wedding.
18 Jan 2012 | 4:40 amI remember the first time I realised my dad wouldn’t walk me down the aisle. I was around 20. I can’t remember the date, the month, but I clearly remember that I was sitting on a bus, in the evening, leaning against the window with my fingers covering my eyes (the sunlight must have been weaving in and out of them, so it must have been summer). A woman got on, and held onto the pole, stared ahead, in that way you do. Something about her made me look. She reminded me of the girl in a Cancer Research advert at the time, one which was being broadcast with the wild abandon of… -
The Spartacus Report into DLA reform, written, funded, researched by people with disablities. PLEASE READ IT!
9 Jan 2012 | 1:48 pmIf you read or do or tweet or talk about one thing today, please read, tweet and talk about the Spartacus Report. I will let the absolutely inspirational Diary of a Benefit Scrounger explain: A report published today (9 January) finds that Government misled MPs and Peers over the hostility to disability benefit reform. It finds that Parliament has been given only a partial view of the overwhelming opposition to the Coalition’s planned reforms of a key disability benefit, Disability Living Allowance (DLA). It finds that this opposition was previously not released to public scrutiny by the… -
2011- that was the year that was
2 Jan 2012 | 10:12 am2011 was a good year for me. It was the only year in my adult life where I haven’t had some sort of mental health crisis. I even got past the dreaded October. October seems to throw me into storms, unreasonable storms that appear from nowhere. But not this year. I did spend a lot of this year waiting to get really ill. Or nearly making myself so by going over the past for no real reason other than that’s what my brain tends to do! But I think I’ve kicked that, too. I’m quite excited about the future. It wasn’t perfect. January was sent from hell, but the year… -
I am getting married, hooray!
29 Dec 2011 | 11:26 amChristmas was good. I got engaged! Christ, I feel like a proper grown up now. Robert came to my family’s for Christmas, which meant the unromantic setting of dog wee in the kitchen (he is a very excitable boxer dog, who kept trying to shag him). But the more romantic setting of introducing Robert to my extended family and getting fat together on the sofa with the Eastenders Christmas special. On Boxing Day, Robert was rather adamant that we go for a walk in town. He was very nicely dressed- unusually so for a tramp like him- so I followed his lead and dressed up a bit, too. He was quite…
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The Trouble With Spikol
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Newt Gingrich and Bipolar Disorder Redux
24 Jan 2012 | 10:41 amI wrote about the issue of bipolar diagnosis and whether it matters for a presidential candidate. Check it out here. [...] -
Women: Gluten Allergy Might Make You Depressed
5 Jan 2012 | 10:21 amWhen I was a kid, I was aware that my grandmother was frequently sick as a result of something called “sprue.” It meant she had a weird diet, and was very thin. Sadly, she also had no... [...] -
Rape Scene in “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo” (MAJOR SPOILERS)
4 Jan 2012 | 12:27 amI had never read the books or seen the other films. I knew very little about the movie except that David Fincher (whose work I respect) directed it and the person I live with wanted to see it.... [...] -
Hate the DSM? Boycott Normal!
3 Jan 2012 | 1:01 pmFrom one of my most beloved organizations, MindFreedom, comes an effort to challenge notions of normalcy as the American Psychiatric Association meets to unveil the DSM-5. From MindFreedom.org: Free... [...] -
Shortage of Drugs for ADD/ADHD
3 Jan 2012 | 6:58 amI was in CVS the other day waiting to fill my prescription for Dexedrine, when I overheard the guy in front of me being told they were out of Adderall. The pharmacy tech suggested he go to another... [...]
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Finding Optimism
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Facebook Is Making Us Miserable
18 Jan 2012 | 6:42 pm“In my last post, I noted that Facebook and social media are major contributors to career anxiety. After seeing some of the comments and reactions to the post, it’s clear that Facebook in particular takes it a step further: Its actually making us miserable. Facebook’s explosive rate of growth and recent product releases, such as the prominent Newsticker, Top Stories on the newsfeed, and larger photos have all been focused on one goal: encouraging more sharing. As it turns out, its precisely this hyper-sharing that is threatening our sense of happiness.” Daniel Gulati. -
Me, My Depression and The Donald
18 Jan 2012 | 1:17 am“I used to hate rich people. I carried a huge chip on my shoulder for decades. It started when I was 7 years old and we moved from a small, rural town in northwest Wisconsin to a wealthy suburb in southwest Michigan. These kids belonged to country clubs. We belonged to the Elk’s Club. The girls wore monogrammed sweaters. I taped the holes in my uniform with masking tape.” This post has a great lesson about judging people. It reminds me of coming out of a lengthy depression, realizing for the first time that many of the people I knew – and judged – were actually kind… -
Common Myths about Clearing Clutter
16 Jan 2012 | 1:31 amWhen I’m not berating myself about exercise I’m feeling hassled by our cluttered house. Complexity in life – including number of possessions – affects my mental health. There is a psychological cost to clutter and I feel calmer with less. Gretchen Rubin, a well-known writer about happiness, makes the same observation: “One of my key realizations about happiness, and a point oddly under-emphasized by positive psychologists, given its emphasis in popular culture, is that outer order contributes to inner calm. More than it should…” In this post she walks… -
The Problem with Young People Today Is…
9 Jan 2012 | 3:29 amDon Mills, self-confessed “crabby old fart”, rails incessantly against young people. ”They all have “disorders”. That’s the problem with young people today.” Apart from this contention, Don’s blog really has nothing to do with mental health. I’m just passing it along as potential laugh therapy. From a recent post: “The problem with young people today is that they’re too damned soft. In my day, young people were tough, damn it. We were gristly, sinewy and hard as nails. My generation was forged in a furnace of fiery parents, sweltering… -
Psychological Benefit of Blogging for Teens
5 Jan 2012 | 8:45 pmNew research published by the American Psychological Association shows that blogging has psychological benefits for teens suffering from social anxiety. The study’s lead author, Meyran Boniel-Nissin from the University of Haifa, says that “writing about distress in itself, even without audience interaction, generates desired changes in participants. Although social feedback is an important factor in causing change in bloggers, the very writing has its own value, thus supporting the arguments and replicating the findings pertaining to the therapeutic value of traditional expressive…
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Postpartum Progress
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Winter Blues: What You Need To Know About Seasonal Affective Disorder And PPD
27 Jan 2012 | 4:18 pmOn seasonal affective disorder, what the symptoms of SAD are, and how it may impact moms with postpartum depression … It has taken me a while to get this post to all of you. Each time that I have tried to sit down and put thought and experience onto paper, I have felt stumped by lacking creativity. Perhaps it is the transition back from the holidays, I have wondered. Or the demands of a developing tw0-and-a-half-year-old. Or a busy practice and paperwork on my desk. Or the driving desire to get out of my office and release some steam outside only to be reminded that it is wet… -
Mom Searched Two Years For Diagnosis of Postpartum OCD
25 Jan 2012 | 9:56 amEvery now and then I get an email from a mom that reinforces why we need so much more awareness of perinatal mood and anxiety disorders, even among physicians. I’ve reprinted Britta Brooks’ email here, with her permission: I reached out and reached out again and again, but was told that I do not have depression. Because I took care of my household (a little too much, by the way … I cleaned and cleaned) and because I felt close to my daughter, my family physician said I didn’t have postpartum depression and that I should not worry about my visions and thoughts. I… -
Join Me In A Live Chat on Postpartum Depression Tomorrow
24 Jan 2012 | 5:52 pmOn Wednesday January 25th, I will be hosting a live chat on postpartum depression at The Motherhood. The chat is at 1pm Eastern and I really hope you’ll join me! We can chat, I can answer your questions, you can share your thoughts about postpartum depression, anxiety, antenatal depression or anxiety, postpartum OCD or PTSD … whatever you want! I hope you can make it! To join in, please register (it’s free) here. You're reading Join Me In A Live Chat on Postpartum Depression Tomorrow from Postpartum Progress. If you enjoyed this post, be sure to follow us on Twitter… -
Keeping Up With The Latest on Postpartum Depression
24 Jan 2012 | 1:05 pmI know you want to make sure you always have the latest information on postpartum depression, and access to continual support and hope. Several of you have mentioned you haven’t been receiving your subscription emails to Postpartum Progress. Don’t know why, but I thought this would be a good time to let everyone know how the subscriptions work. First, it’s free. Second, a subscription makes it much easier to keep up with what is happening on the site. You don’t have to constantly check in by finding going to our site every day. Instead, you can get an email each… -
Fact Checking The Postpartum Depression Doubters: “Pills Are The Easy Way Out”
22 Jan 2012 | 5:59 pmGina over at The Feminist Breeder Blog recently realized that she is suffering from postpartum anxiety. She was able to reach out for, and get, help from a psychiatrist. She wrote about the negative reaction she got on the web from some readers after she said she’d be taking medication in a post titled, “And This Is Why We Don’t Talk About Our Anxiety Problems on the Internet“. As you might imagine, there were people who think she is wrong to take medication and that there are plenty of other ways to get over depression and anxiety than antidepressants. You…
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A Splintered Mind
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Throwaway ToDo Lists That Organize Your Day
25 Jan 2012 | 7:16 pmOn those days that you wake up with a jetpack on and 20 minutes behind schedule, you don't have time to deal with elaborate todo list systems. Franklin Covey? Get Things Done? Obviously, those systems have their strengths, but they all require work & upkeep, something that can be thwarted by the flighty ADHD mind. Most Organizing Systems Require Maintenance The Franklin Covey system with its A, B, & Cs helps prioritize your projects, but requires daily review and reorganizing. The Get Things Done system also hopes to simplify your life by moving unimportant projects out of your… -
Moleskine for the iPhone is Overly Complicated
21 Jan 2012 | 9:28 pmSince I like jotting down notes on the go as opposed to just thinking of fantastic ideas that I later forget, I love checking out new note taking apps on the iPhone and iPad. I came across the Moleskine app a few months ago, but it languished in my "Prune" folder. I stick apps in there that I don't immediately connect with, but think that they might deserve a second, more in depth glance. Today I gave the Moleskine app a thorough look over. It's very slick, even powerful. The GUI is clean and you can tell that the developers took time to release a polished app. There are lots of features. So… -
Like Rockets Pulling My Brain Apart
21 Jan 2012 | 9:16 pmI had a nice chat with a friend from Israel the other day. His life was on the up. He had a (well deserved) promotion at work. He also had a new addition to his family that pleased him and his wife to no end. He was busy and successful, and yet he was frustrated. He didn't have time to write anymore, and when he did have time, he couldn't stick to one idea.I believe a lot of people have this very same problem. Their heads are filled with ideas, and when it comes time to actually realize these ideas, they flounder. Which idea is best? Which will capture their interest until the end? I… -
iPad Sketch #3: Two Pumpkins For Pumpkin
19 Jan 2012 | 9:24 pmOriginally published at Absentminded Author, v2. -
Hidden in the Fog There Is Promise
19 Jan 2012 | 9:24 pmOriginally published at Absentminded Author, v2. A thick, milky fog rolled in tonight from winters past, burying my apartment complex with sudden mystique. There is something about a cold, December fog that adds mood to humdrum landscapes. Perhaps it is the way everything is hidden in patches of silhouette and light, and buildings, partially revealed, take on the air of shapes that aren’t quite entirely in our world. It gives my mind nourishment for the imagination.I look upon my night in wonder, but inside I am harrowed up and troubled. If you had told me I would be working at Bigbox…
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Storied Mind
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How Stress Can Shape a Life Story
25 Jan 2012 | 6:09 pmHow Stress Can Shape a Life Story The psychologist Richard O’Connor believes that we tell ourselves stories about our lives to control stress. Stress has a way of becoming a chronic condition. It wears down your body and damages your brain, especially when combined with depression. Yet stress is a killer we often crave like a drug. We create stories that help us make sense of an unbalanced life. Stories of Challenge In my work, I often felt I wasn’t doing much if I weren’t insanely “busy,” meaning stressed out completely. As much as I swore to cut back and lead a…
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Fighting the Darkness: My Secret Battle with Depression
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Hockey Player Kevin Bieksa and the One Voice Campaign
25 Jan 2012 | 8:57 pmToday the Canucks for Kids Fund (CFKF) in conjunction with Fraser Health and Provincial Health Services Authority, and BC Children’s Hospital announced the launch of Mindcheck.ca, a resource website designed for BC youth and young adults, as well as family members and friends, to recognize symptoms and better understand the challenges of mental illness. Vancouver Canuck defenceman Kevin Bieksa -
Is Laughter the Best Medicine?
16 Jan 2012 | 10:40 pmWhen I was younger I rarely watched comedies, never listened to upbeat music or read "light" books. I focused on the depressing, because I thought it was real. Somewhere along the way, I learned that those things brought me down and changed my ways. Today I watch comedies, listen to music that is upbeat and read my fair share of bubble gum books. At first I felt as though that made me shallow. -
Guest Blog - Shortcuts to Inner Peace
5 Jan 2012 | 9:53 pmHere is a guest post by Ashley Davis Bush, LCSW Approximately 10% of Americans -- that’s close to twenty-one million people -- suffer from depression. Some accounts claim that one hundred and twenty million people worldwide suffer from this burdensome disease. While treatments range from medication to meditation, talk therapy to exercise – having an assortment of tools in your tool box is -
Happy New Year's, or is it?
1 Jan 2012 | 9:22 pmJust like Christmas, New Year's can be a very difficult time. Some people are able to make resolutions, develop new plans, and feel as though they have started the year anew. Others think back over the past year and ruminate on their failures. They don't feel like there is a point in making resolutions or plans because they will just fail anyway. I'm somewhere in-between these two ends of the -
I survived Christmas!
26 Dec 2011 | 6:54 pmEvery year I find Christmas especially difficult. I don't know if it's the stress for perfection, the financial drain, the lack of sunlight, or a combination of all three. But for whatever reason, I always struggle around Christmas time. On Boxing Day (Dec. 26) I always breath a sigh of relief that I survived the holiday once again. This year I tried to make Christmas a bit simpler. Each of my
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Anxiety and OCD Exposed
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Take an Optimistic Perspective on Your Pessimism!
27 Jan 2012 | 8:52 amNo doubt you’ve encountered or even read numerous blogs, articles, and/or books that extoll the virtues of optimism. Some research has shown that optimists tend to have better relationships, happier lives, and greater accomplishments. Some authors suggest that you can never be too optimistic and that, by implication, you should worry if you tend toward the pessimistic side of things. I suppose I should be concerned about all of this hoopla over optimism. You see, as my wife will readily verify, I rather often take a different approach. It’s something that Dr. Julie Norem calls… -
Fighting Fire with Fire: Rack up as Much Anxiety as You Can!
25 Jan 2012 | 11:50 amMost people, who have more anxiety than they want, work hard to rid themselves of their anxiety. They try relaxation training, meditation, medication, and more, all in a desperate attempt to conquer uncomfortable, distressing feelings. And who can blame them? After all, isn’t that the goal of therapy—to rid yourself of anxiety, uncertainty, doubts, and discomfort once and for all? Well, yes and no. Of course most therapists would love for you to be able to feel calm, relaxed, and peaceful all of the time. However, that goal isn’t possible for anybody. Life is full of unpredictable,… -
Challenges in Behavior Therapy
20 Jan 2012 | 12:11 pmI’m pretty sure that I came out of the womb as a cognitive behavioral therapist. Well, maybe a behavioral therapist—I guess I wasn’t using language those first few months. But, I’ve always been acutely aware of how rewards, lack of rewards, and thinking all interact and influence feelings and behavior. In my early training, I considered myself a radical behaviorist. I still do pretty much. I believe that the words we use and the thoughts we think can be considered verbal behavior. But, those beliefs are much more complex than what I wish to discuss today. What I’d like to convey in… -
Feeling Upset? Check for Distorted Thinking
17 Jan 2012 | 4:48 pmThe way you think about things can affect the way you feel. That’s a basic premise of cognitive therapy. Here’s an example. One morning you get to work and realize that you left your iPad at home. You have these thoughts: “Oh no, I forgot my iPad. I’ll never be able to get any work done today. I don’t even have my calendar. I know I have some appointments but I don’t remember when. This is terrible. If my boss finds out about this, he might fire me.” Well, after that thought you might be pretty anxious. On the other hand, what if you have these thoughts? “Oh no, I forgot my… -
One More Step Before You Decide to Get Treatment
13 Jan 2012 | 1:55 pmSo, Laura responded to my blog on Six Reasons for Not Treating Your Anxiety or OCD with one of her own blogs that may have helped you rethink your “treatment interfering beliefs” in a more productive way. If so, you’re ready to move ahead, right? Well, not quite. I think it’s also wise to take one more important step. Specifically, I’d like you first to consider accepting where you’re at, problems and all. That’s right; evaluate yourself as acceptable and OK as you are. Realize that you didn’t ask to have problems with anxiety and OCD. Rather, you have these problems for lots…
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Lawyers With Depression
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Redesigned Lawyers With Depression Website Coming Soon
16 Jan 2012 | 1:50 pmAnnouncement - A redesigned lawyerswithdepression website will premiere February 1, 2012. -
Christmas
25 Dec 2011 | 8:36 amChristmas reflections. -
Our Parents – Our Depression
29 Nov 2011 | 8:30 amLooking at our connection between our parents and our depression -
The Ghosts of Depression
31 Oct 2011 | 2:13 pmDepression is like having ghosts in our lives. -
Turning 50
16 Oct 2011 | 5:32 pmTaking stock of my life as I turn 50.
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The Reality of Anxiety
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Scripture Journal Tutorial
26 Jan 2012 | 2:28 pmThere is a quote by Susan W. Tanner, “When I know who I am, I can do anything He asks me to do.” I have been working really hard this year on learning more about who I am, where I came from, where I am going. This brings me peace. I used to not even be able to talk about death because it made me really uneasy. Knowing who I am is helping me to value myself more. I am feeling more at peace with my trials in this life, why I have them, and that I won't always have to go through them. This is a post that I am sooo excited to share with you. I feel very passionate about it because it has… -
January 31st- Support Group Call! Be there!!
18 Jan 2012 | 4:35 pmI know I know, could it be any shorter notice? I have had a whirlwind month but I still want to get a call in if you are up for it. The date and time is January 31st at 6:30 p.m. MST. I've now made signing up even easier. Here's the scoop: A Returning Member: If you have already signed up for a previous call and sent me your username for Skype, all you have to do is pay the $2.00 fee. To pay simply click on the paypal button on the right sidebar. A New Member: Please download the instructions here that will explain more about the call (system requirements, how to sign up, what to expect,… -
Guatemala Trip Update
12 Jan 2012 | 2:40 pmFirst, let me say thank you to everyone that sent me well wishes and good vibes for my trip to Guatemala. Overall I am really glad that I went. It was truly a trip of a lifetime that helped strengthen my marriage and my relationship with my kids. The first three days were unbelievably PERFECT. I had no anxiety whatsoever. I enjoyed everything. The land there is absolutely gorgeous and the people are so humble, kind, and hard working. The food was delicious and I was eating soooo much! I kept marveling at how well everything was going. It was too good to be true. It was awesome! I was actually… -
Look What I Got for Christmas!
11 Jan 2012 | 12:05 pmI sent Santa Clause my wishlist in December and I must have been a good girl. In my stocking I found this: Can you believe how expensive this is for one DVD? I couldn't justify buying it so that's why I asked Santa for it. I was tired of the same 4 episodes on my DVR and it wasn't playing any new ones. I also got this to help me drink more water and use it at the gym: I recently hurt my tailbone by being my usual clumsy self, so I have been hesitant to try the yoga out. But my body stress levels have been getting higher and I knew I needed to do something to decompress. So today I… -
Traveling with Anxiety: Trip #6- GUATEMALA!
5 Dec 2011 | 1:18 pmThis week I have a once in a lifetime opportunity. I surprised my husband with a week long trip to Guatemala and we leave on Friday. Ten years ago my husband served an LDS mission in Guatemala. This means when he was 19 years old he lived in Guatemala for two years teaching the gospel and baptizing the locals to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Ten years later the church has grown enough that a temple has been built in that area, and next week they dedicate the temple and open it up for patrons. Its such a rewarding feeling for him to know that he helped the church grow there…
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Scientific Dream Interpretation
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Going Up and Down in Dreams – Understanding Dream Warnings
27 Jan 2012 | 5:17 pmEven thought there are numerous impostors who supposedly give you information about the meaning of dreams and their importance, the only right method of dream interpretation was discovered by Carl Jung. He concluded that the dream images follow a different logic and he tried to discover the mechanism of the dream scenes. This is why he managed to discover the hidden code for the comprehension of the mysterious dream language. I’m the only one who managed to continue his dangerous research because I was prepared by the unconscious mind to bear my mission through many ways. First of all,… -
How Important Are Your Dreams? Learn The Truth
26 Jan 2012 | 6:48 pmMost people think that dreams have no meaning at all, or that they are merely reflections of our emotions and fears. Even those who believe that our dreams contain certain information about our psychological condition cannot believe that the importance of the meaning of dreams must be respected above anything else. On the other hand, dream interpretation has been distorted by so many impostors for so many years that nobody can completely trust any interpretation. Even psychologists who try to find information about the psychological issues reflected in their patients’ dreams have distorted… -
Dream Therapy and Private Lessons of Dream Translation
25 Jan 2012 | 6:13 pmYou receive private lessons of dream translation when you submit your dreams for a professional dream translation. I give you special lessons into practice, while I translate the meaning of your dreams for you. Later you will be able to translate your dreams yourself, without depending on a dream translator. The beginning is difficult because the dream language is made only by images and it follows the unconscious logic. Thus, in the beginning my lessons will help you get used with the dream logic, which is totally different from the logic of your ignorant and selfish conscience. The… -
Is It Good to Be Bad?
24 Jan 2012 | 5:27 pmYou may believe that sometimes you have to be bad if you want to live in our cruel world. If you are like most people, you probably think that you have to defend yourself from others by showing them that you won’t tolerate their mistakes. Otherwise, you won’t be respected. If you follow this mindset, this means that you let your evil anti-conscience control your behavior. This is in fact an idiotic conclusion. Whenever you are bad you have a negative attitude. What is bad can only become worse with time. You must be afraid of what is bad and never believe that you will have advantages in… -
God’s Will and My Dangerous Mission
23 Jan 2012 | 4:42 pmI couldn’t imagine that some day I would become a professional dream translator, after continuing Carl Jung’s research. I only wanted to find a solution for my own psychological problems when I started studying the meaning of dreams. I had too many vivid dreams, which I could remember with all their details. So many intriguing dreams made me feel extremely curious about the meaning of dreams. I had to understand what I was dreaming about. I had no doubt that the dream images contained important messages. I had many impressing dreams that seemed to make sense. As a literature writer, I…
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The Trouble With Spikol
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Newt Gingrich and Bipolar Disorder Redux
24 Jan 2012 | 10:41 amI wrote about the issue of bipolar diagnosis and whether it matters for a presidential candidate. Check it out here. [...] -
Women: Gluten Allergy Might Make You Depressed
5 Jan 2012 | 10:21 amWhen I was a kid, I was aware that my grandmother was frequently sick as a result of something called “sprue.” It meant she had a weird diet, and was very thin. Sadly, she also had no... [...] -
Rape Scene in “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo” (MAJOR SPOILERS)
4 Jan 2012 | 12:27 amI had never read the books or seen the other films. I knew very little about the movie except that David Fincher (whose work I respect) directed it and the person I live with wanted to see it.... [...] -
Hate the DSM? Boycott Normal!
3 Jan 2012 | 1:01 pmFrom one of my most beloved organizations, MindFreedom, comes an effort to challenge notions of normalcy as the American Psychiatric Association meets to unveil the DSM-5. From MindFreedom.org: Free... [...] -
Shortage of Drugs for ADD/ADHD
3 Jan 2012 | 6:58 amI was in CVS the other day waiting to fill my prescription for Dexedrine, when I overheard the guy in front of me being told they were out of Adderall. The pharmacy tech suggested he go to another... [...]
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Beyond Blue
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12 Ways to Pray During Lent
27 Jan 2012 | 5:46 amThis blog post has been also featured as a Beliefnet gallery. To get there click here. Lent, the 40 days preceding the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus, is supposed to be a time of fasting, where we chocoholics take an "s" of out the word "dessert," and are left with "desert." I...Read the full post here » -
And Then Life Happens …
26 Jan 2012 | 10:03 amAmerican journalist Allen Saunders was the first one to coin the phrase, “Life is what happens while you’re busy making other plans.” I’m sure most of you can appreciate the truth of those words. In the last three years, life events have had me in a kind of half-nelson, from which I keep trying to escape instead of...Read the full post here » -
Therapy Thursday: Bawl Your Eyes Out
26 Jan 2012 | 5:00 amI have decided to dedicate a post on Thursday to therapy, and offer you the many tips I have learned on the couch. They will be a good reminder for me, as well, of something small I can concentrate on. Many of them are published in my book, "The Pocket Therapist: An Emotional...Read the full post here » -
Are You Thin or Thick Skinned? Knowing Your Emotional Type
25 Jan 2012 | 5:12 amI am often told that I should grow a thicker skin. I’m too sensitive. I let things get to me too much. Most people who struggle with depression are the same. We are more transparent and therefore absorb more into the gray matter of our brain than our thicker-skinned counterpoints. In his...Read the full post here » -
January 24 Is the Most Depressing Day of the Year
24 Jan 2012 | 5:11 amIf you're feeling depressed today, you're in good company! January 24 is supposedly the most depressing day of the year.According to Dr. Cliff Arnalls, a British psychologist with Cardiff University, it's almost like clockwork. A number of factors coincide to make January 24th "the perfect...Read the full post here »
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Hodges' Model: Welcome to the QUAD
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Health & Social Care - Safe Record Keeping Project
27 Jan 2012 | 2:45 pmDear Member BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT and the Department of Health Informatics Directorate (DHID) have launched a project to develop clear and easy to follow guidance for patients and the public on the subject of health and social care records. The project will provide patients with advice on how to look after the health and social care records and other sensitive personal data that they are creating or health and social care providers are sharing with them. BCS is inviting individuals or organisations to tender for the contract to carry out this work. Further information about the… -
Scope, Space, Nursing, Informatics: Fusion II (care)
25 Jan 2012 | 6:10 pmAfter Paolo Perrotta (see post January 20, 2012): and Paolo Perrotta, (2010). Metaprogramming Ruby, The Pragmatic Bookshelf. p.75. Imagine being a care coordinator making sense and sense making (Dervin, 2005) your way through a new health and social care referral: here is the care program(me) approach. You jump from care problem, to strength, to further assessment question ... until the care domain priority is resolved. A decision point. That's the initial scope (and in an urgent / crisis situation this is resolved in an instant). The scope is not defined in a single program, but several in… -
Scope, Space, Nursing, Informatics: Fusion I
20 Jan 2012 | 12:52 pmPaolo Perrotta writes: Imagine being a little debugger making your way through a Ruby program. You jump from statement to statement until you finally hit a breakpoint. Now, catch your breath and look around. See the scenery around you? That's your scope. You can see bindings all over the scope. Look down at your feet, and you see a bunch of local variables. Raise your head, and you see that you're standing within an object, with its own methods and instance variables; that's the current object, also known as self. Further away, you see the tree of constants so clear that you could mark your… -
KT EQUAL event 'Design ahead: design for an ageing population'
19 Jan 2012 | 5:09 pmDear KT EQUAL Supporters, We are pleased to announce the latest KT EQUAL event entitled 'Design ahead: design for an ageing population' to be held on Friday 2nd March 2012 at the Innovation Centre, Bath. We have an ageing population, but a reducing health and social care budget. Increasingly individuals will be expected to self-purchase products and services that will allow them to live independently. This will provide a large ‘silver’ consumer market for products that are designed and priced appropriately. Although there is some awareness amongst industry of this market opportunity,… -
Social Media in Healthcare Infographic
16 Jan 2012 | 3:40 pmVia: PowerDMS Although the emphasis of this graphic is USA centric there are many aspects that apply generally, especially social media policy. If anyone has health care infographics with a UK, EU, developing nations focus please get in touch. Thanks to Ray Lau, Graphic Designer for approaching me regards this.
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Ask the Psychologist: Online Clinical Psychologist
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Isolated as a Child; I Have No Empathy. Am I a Sociopath?
27 Jan 2012 | 7:13 amQ: I grew up an extremely shy kid. I was an only child and lived in a big house in the woods with very busy parents. My parents were wonderful, but didn’t communicate well, didn’t show emotions, and had really high expectations. Growing up, I had very few friends and very little to no social [...]Tags: character disturbance, child development, narcissism, personality disorders, self awareness, therapy -
What is My Diagnosis? What is the Treatment?
26 Jan 2012 | 7:52 amQ: I am 30 years old and I need your opinion. I have been facing the following conditions continuously for the last two years. Fatigue or loss of energy almost every day Body feels heavy / muscle tension / cramps Increased need for sleep / excessive sleep Feel emptiness / loneliness / unhappiness Inability to [...]Tags: CBT, depression, medications, relationships -
How Does Fear Affect Death?
26 Jan 2012 | 7:09 amQ: If you are absolutely sure that you will die, when you are in fact very close to death, will your natural fight/flight response make things worse for you in terms of survival? That is, would your natural fear of death hasten your death or perhaps, on the contrary, prolong your life? A: Much like [...]Tags: anxiety and stress -
Feeling Guilty — I Fell in Love With My Therapist
25 Jan 2012 | 7:14 amQ: I am 24 years old and am doing a master’s program. Last spring I went to a psychotherapy clinic for counseling. My counselor was extraordinarily beautiful. While in session, I experienced ‘transference’ feelings and told her that I was falling in love with her. She quit my therapy suddenly. I miss her a lot [...]Tags: boundaries, ethics, guilt, psychology profession, therapy -
Help, I Have Chronic Insomnia!
24 Jan 2012 | 7:34 amQ: Six months ago I started my first job. When I was studying, I usually slept from around 2 am, but now my job demands that I sleep earlier. So I tried going to sleep earlier — at 12 midnight. However, my sleep quality has degraded greatly, and I’ve developed chronic insomnia. I’ve tried many [...]Tags: sleep
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Brought to My Senses
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My story in Chicken Soup for the Soul: Family Caregivers
15 Jan 2012 | 8:34 pmI just found out that one of my stories will be published in Chicken Soup for the Soul: Family Caregivers: 101 Stories of Love, Sacrifice and Bonding, and I’m pretty excited about it! The book will be released in March and … Continue reading → -
Draft Framework for the National Plan to Address Alzheimer’s Disease Released Today
9 Jan 2012 | 8:21 pmAmen, the Draft Framework for the National Plan to Address Alzheimer’s Disease was released today, the long awaited results of the National Alzheimer’s Project Act passed a year ago! It appears to be a step in the right direction, and in … Continue reading → -
RIP Bruce: Remembering A Special Alzheimer’s Victim
20 Nov 2011 | 1:32 pmIt was strange timing to learn of the passing of a fellow resident from the Alzheimer’s unit where my mother lived while I was attending the Memory Loss Conference a few weeks ago. I ran into the head nurse from … Continue reading → -
Author Carolyn Brent on Aging Parents, Caregiving Issues, Family Relationships
5 Nov 2011 | 6:30 amToday I have the great pleasure of being the host on Day 5 of the Virtual Blog Tour of author Carolyn A. Brent whose book Why Wait? The Baby Boomers’ Guide to Preparing Emotionally, Financially and Legally for a Parent’s … Continue reading → -
November is National Alzheimer’s Disease Awareness Month
30 Oct 2011 | 5:00 pmEach year, November is dedicated as National Alzheimer’s Disease Awareness Month. It is an especially significant time for me to reflect on how this disease has changed my life. Anyone who has witnessed a loved one struggle and eventually succumb … Continue reading →
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If You're Going Through Hell Keep Going
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Off The Pity Pot
26 Jan 2012 | 4:38 pmThis morning when I woke up, I read what I wrote yesterday. It really upset me. I wanted to kick that person so much and say "wake up! snap out of it". I thought about something I learned in AA. I was on the "Pity Pot". This is not a good place to be. I wiped off the cobwebs, made myself a cup of coffee. Took care of feeding and watering the cat and cleaning her litter box. I sat down with -
Winter in my soul
25 Jan 2012 | 10:46 amI've noticed one thing that's been happening over the last two years. My agoraphobia is getting worse and worse. I can get out of my apartment one day a week, the rest- the other six days I am too afraid? fearful? anxious? to leave. It was never like this. I haven't seen my psychiatrist in a month. I haven't seen the state worker since Thanksgiving. I'm overwhelmed. No energy. It's like a -
Solidarity with PIPA
18 Jan 2012 | 10:42 amToday Wikipedia closed down. Google has a black box over it. Even my darling LOL Cats are with it. As a writer and blogger I have to agree with them. I had a post for today, but I am not putting it up. Instead, I am going to leave you all with some links from the Cheezeburger Network and their wonderful cats. From the Cheezeburger Network site: PIPA is a poorly envisioned Senate copyright -
Annual Winter Cold
9 Jan 2012 | 5:29 pmI'm here. I'm truly amazed at all the kind comments I got on the last piece about New Year's Eve, and will get to writing back to them. I went out on NYE with my parents, came home about 9pm EST, and was asleep by 10ish. Thank you to Anonymous to gave me that really good piece of advice. Since then, I've been feeling poorly, sleeping way more than I want to but it's not from depression, -
I Truly Hate New Year's Eve
30 Dec 2011 | 3:56 pmNothing has changed in the ten years since I wrote this blog's most popular post, why I hate New Year's Eve. It's one of my most favorite pieces I ever wrote. That said, nothing but nothing has changed. I hate New Year's Eve more than anything. More than Brussels Sprouts. More than having a mammogram. I'd rather have a root canal than celebrate it. Nothing but nothing in my book is as bad as
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Una Vita Bella
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I Haven’t Forgotten
19 Jan 2012 | 10:46 pmYou may or may not know that I am now working full-time. I am a single parent now and I am living a busy and hectic life. I have fibromyalgia, but I certainly don’t look the picture, if there is one. What I think is amazing is how I have been able to do so much more than I thought I could even a year ago, it truly does feel miraculous… but what I sometimes wonder is “how long can I keep this up?” or sometimes I just selfishly wish people knew that things were hurting and difficult, sometimes I wish people knew that things might be harder for me. But mostly, I am simply… -
Tug of War
7 Jan 2012 | 6:20 pmLife feels so messy today… like that build up of laundry that somehow multiplied over night into an enormous heap, things sometimes feel insurmountable. I know I am not alone in juggling all of the many things entailed in raising children as a single mother, working full-time, paying bills, buying groceries, doctors appointments, social obligations, etc. All of us cope with these things on some level. I don’t want to play the fibromyalgia and depression cards either. While not everyone copes with those issues, we all have something, don’t we? For some of us it is just more… -
Hello Good Friend
7 Dec 2011 | 8:19 pmImage by Big Grey Mare via Flickr It has been so long since I have written, I am unsure of whether or not to even try… I am unsure of who I will write for anymore. I suppose, as it all began, I am writing for me. My absence has felt so long, but all the while I have thought of my blog like a good friend that I let down by disappearing into the whirlwind of this life. I have thought of you, my readers, I have thought of myself, the pieces of me that I left here open, breathing, sometimes seeming lifeless but always still alive in my words. I have wondered if I could ever return, for what… -
Give a Click for Depression Awareness Month
6 Oct 2011 | 11:39 amPlease join me in welcoming this guest post to Una Vita Bella, for a very important cause that is near and dear to my heart! Give a Click for Depression Awareness Month What better time to spread awareness about depression than Depression Awareness Month. October is not just for Halloween anymore. It is also a time to highlight the long arm of depression in our communities. There are many people who do not recognize the symptoms of depression, or where to find therapeutic resources if they do. The stigma attached to mood disorders is still stronger than our willingness to acknowledge how… -
Getting Lost and Getting Found
22 Aug 2011 | 10:31 pmSometimes we just lose our way…some of us are a little better at getting lost than others, I think. I would like to think that getting lost is also akin to taking an adventure. Truth is, it doesn’t always feel so adventurous, though. I love adventures… I like to set out on a new experience, voyage or expedition with anticipation and the excitement of a child! Getting lost doesn’t start out with that same kind of curiosity though, in fact, when you get lost, it most often takes you by surprise and leaves you feeling like a child, scared and uncertain. There are many…
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All RSS Feeds
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Why Men From Rural Communities Avoid Seeking Mental Health Counseling
27 Jan 2012 | 9:00 pmMen, in general, are far less likely than women to seek professional help for mental health problems. But a new study, led by Joseph H. Hammer and David L. Vogel of the Department of Psychology at Iowa State University, suggests that men from rural communities are even more resistant than urban-dwelling men when it comes to getting psychological counseling. The study expands upon previous research by the team and explores the factors that create barriers to treatment. For example, in the study, Hammer and colleagues identified self-... -
Psychotherapy News Weekly Round-Up
27 Jan 2012 | 4:30 pmA GoodTherapy.org Psychotherapy News Weekly Round-Up Please take a look at these latest news articles and tell us what you think! Genes Influence Criminal Behavior, Research Suggests Sign Of Autism Can Be Seen In Infants -
Do Cancer Survivors Handle Stress Better or Worse Than Others?
27 Jan 2012 | 4:00 pmThe emotional impact of a cancer diagnosis is overwhelming. People who undergo cancer treatment come through recovery having learned how to deal with an immense amount of stress. Some individuals cope better than others. Research examining reactions to stress in cancer survivors has provided mixed results. Several studies suggest that cancer survivors are more resilient than their healthy counterparts,... -
?Protecting? Your Spouse or Partner When One of You Has Cancer
27 Jan 2012 | 1:14 pm?Sam? and ?Ellen? have been married for 42 years. They have had a good life together. They?ve raised 4 children and have 11 grandchildren. They?ve had their ups and downs but have always managed to get through the hard times, until now. Sam?s diagnosis of stage IV prostate cancer has really thrown them for a loop. They?ve just had their first visit with the oncologist, who was very nice and explained things very well. However, out of the entire visit, each of them only really heard one thing. Sam heard that treatment will make him impotent, and Ellen heard that the 5-year su... -
New Study Examines Predictors of PTSD and Depression after Trauma
27 Jan 2012 | 11:46 amExperiencing a traumatic event can cause an individual to develop significant mental health problems, most commonly posttraumatic stress or depression. Many times, individuals who have been exposed to trauma develop varying degrees of both of these issues. Early detection is critical for diagnosis and treatment. In a recent study, Birgit Kleim of the Institute of Psychiatry at Kings College in London examined the specific factors used in cognitive models designed to assess PTSD and depression to determine their validity and predict...
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Nathy's blog
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Should We All Suffer From Memory Loss?
23 Jan 2012 | 10:16 amMemory loss can come in many forms and at different stages of life for each of us. Some experience minor lapses such as forgetting where they put their keys or directions to a new place. Others gradually develop serious loss in memory like forgetting friends and family members. Preserving memory is an important aspect of healthy living, well being and brain health. What many people do not realize is that there are countless elements and behaviors that can cause such slips in memory. While medications can help with various health issues, they can also interfere with or cause a loss of memory. -
Brain Plasticity And Learning
14 Nov 2011 | 11:06 amThe manner in which a child learns and retains new information is involved in brain plasticity. It is the way in which the brain can change its physical structure in response to information it experiences. It can also help someone to regain certain functions which were lost due to injury and disease. Let’s explore both of these aspects further. A child is born with billions of brain cells, many of which are interconnected through neural networks. As the child becomes exposed to certain stimuli, the effects of brain plasticity cause physical changes in the brain such that new neural pathways… -
Cognitive Abilities Change Throughout Life
21 Oct 2011 | 11:23 amYour cognitive abilities allow you to process the world around you. This is something that everyone does a bit differently, but there are a lot of similarities to how our brains work and how we perceive the information we receive each day. Your cognition has an effect on how you learn and store memories also. The ability for your brain to break down things into steps has to do with your cognitive brain and this is something that is necessary for many actions of daily life. If your cognition is impaired, your memory and even your coordination can be thrown off. Perception is a cognitive… -
The Different Cognitive Abilities That Make Up Our Mind
13 Oct 2011 | 8:30 amPeople face adversity and problems on a daily basis. While some are as minute as not being able to find your cell phone in the morning, others can have serious life altering affects. The abilities that influence the acquisition and application of your knowledge in problem solving are cognitive abilities and cognitive domains. The makeup of these abilities is far vaster than most would ever imagine. Let's try to provide here some broad examples about cognition. Category Flexibility Category flexibility consists of the mind’s ability to generate or use different sets of rules to combine or… -
Neurons Role In Brain Communication
30 Sep 2011 | 10:41 amThe human brain consists of over 100 billions of neurons. Neurons are the building blocks of the nervous system. These cells process information in the brain and are responsible for receiving and transmitting information. Each neuron part has a role in the communication of information all through the body. Neurons are like fiber optic cables that run our bodies. All day and night these neurons flash at lightening speeds to your brain. Each neuron cell has a body called an axon and lots of dendrites. The body of the cell holds the nucleus that controls many of the cell’s activities. Other…
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CogniFit's blog
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Variety Is The Key To Efficient Mind Exercise
27 Jan 2012 | 8:00 amThe mind deserves as much attention as the body when it comes to pushing it to the extreme. Physical activity is a must in order to stay healthy, fit and in shape. Mind exercise is just as crucial for staying sharp, focused and alert in life. And the only way to make the most of this exercise is to practice with variety. Something that can greatly impact the brain in a negative way is routine. People often get in the habit of doing the same things every day and even doing those certain things a specific way. For instance, many wake up, make a pot of coffee, read the newspaper, brush their… -
Why Are Cognitive Skills So Important?
26 Jan 2012 | 8:00 amCognitive skills are extremely important to us. They make up things such as our attention levels, memory, logic, auditory processing and processing speeds of the brain. The better optimized your cognitive skill are the better thinker you will be. So how do you improve these skills? The best way to improve them is simply to use them! Often in our day to day lives we lose track of doing things that make our brain more efficient. We seem to walk through our daily lives on auto pilots. Rarely do we stop to learn something new or experience something new that will help our brain be a better… -
What is Brain Fitness and Why Do You Care?
25 Jan 2012 | 8:00 amWe have all had those days. You wake up and just can’t seem to get it together. You can not seem to focus, keys are missing things just don’t seem to becoming together. We all have these days. The reality is that these days can become less when our brain is in optimal condition. If you have never really thought about your brain or what brain fitness means to you then you are certainly not alone. When people think about being healthy they think about eating healthy or getting exercise most people never consider what their most important organ the brain needs. Brain fitness is just as… -
Understanding How the Brain Works
24 Jan 2012 | 8:00 amYour brain is one of the most intricate and fascinating organs in your body. The human brain weighs only about 3 pounds but holds 100’s of billions of cells that are used as command central for the rest of your body. Your brain is involved in every body function from thinking to wiggling your fingers. The way it controls these functions is impressive sending signals through your neurological system to get your body to do what you want. Your brain works in conjunction with your spine and nervous system to regulate and control all the functions of your body. Your brain can be broken down into… -
Brain Functions And Brain Parts
23 Jan 2012 | 8:00 amThe brain is a magnificent and extraordinary element to the human body. While it makes up such a minute amount of the body, its impact speaks volumes to its importance. And with so much responsibility, it only makes sense that each portion has a complex brain function. Here are just a few of the many brain parts. Cerebral Cortex The cerebral cortex is the outermost layer of the cerebral hemisphere. This is composed solely of gray matter. With the cortices acting asymmetrical, both hemispheres are able to analyze sensory data, perform memory functions, learn new information, form thoughts and…
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My Social Anxiety Disorder
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Quote
12 Jan 2012 | 11:58 amvia https://www.facebook.com/timetochangefriend me on facebook -
My New Blog
30 Dec 2011 | 12:58 amI know I have been neglecting this blog quite a bit, but it is because I have created a new blog. It is entirely different though, as it is a blog about saving, earning, winning, and spending money wisely. I'm trying to generate an income online and create a job for myself. So the blog is about my slow journey to become financially independent. As always, I sincerely appreciate the support and everyone who takes the time to read this blog or my new one. http://youngandpennywise.blogspot.com/ -
12 Dec 2011 | 12:43 am
12 Dec 2011 | 12:43 amThis post is long overdue. And I appreciate all your patience. I know when bloggers with mental health related topics stop posting for a while, it is natural to assume it is because they are not in a good place. Over these past few weeks and months I have gone through a lot of positive experiences. I have moments where I truly feel like I am taking huge strides in moving forward. But I still have the occasional day or weeks even, where the hopelessness once again sets in. And it still feels so paralyzing. I have completed some very significant… -
Expectations
9 Dec 2011 | 11:58 pm"Anger always come from frustrated expectations." - Elliot Larson "I am not in this world to live up to other people's expectations, nor do I feel that the world must live up to mine." - Fritz Peals "The best things in life are unexpected - because there were no expectations." - Eli Khamarov "Never idealize others. They will never live up to your expectations. Don't over-analyze your relationships. Stop playing games. A growing relationship can only be nurtured by genuineness." - Leo F. Buscaglia "I am open to the guidance of synchronicity, and do not… -
My Last Doctors Appointment
3 Dec 2011 | 3:52 pmOn Friday, I had an appointment with my doctor at the hospital, to check in on how I was doing on my medication. I have been taking 30mg Celexa since August, and 20mg for a couple more months prior. After giving it much thought, I have come to the conclusion that it is not helping. I have no issues taking medication if it truly helps. But I just don't feel much of a difference. So I explained this to my doctor. He suggested I increase my dose to 40mg and then in a month we will re-evaluate. Since I've tried 3 other medications first…
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Tawdaw.com
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Magic With The Svengali Deck DVD
21 Jan 2012 | 5:03 pmProduct Description On this DVD, you will learn more than a dozen mini illusions that can be performed with the Svengali Deck. These tricks require no complicated sleight of hand. Within minutes of watching the step-by-step instruction portion of the DVD, you’ll be able to perform magic with the Svengali Deck anywhere and anytime. This DVD will teach you how to: • Make a card vanish and reappear in the deck • Instantly know what card your spectator has freely chosen • Find a chosen card anywhere in the deck • Turn the entire deck into the chosen card • Make a chosen card appear on… -
Invisible Deck Bicycle Back Red
21 Jan 2012 | 4:58 pmThese are the best Invisible Decks on the market today. Effect: Remove a deck of “Invisible Cards” from your pocket. Ask a spectator to remove the “Invisible Cards” from the box and shuffle them. Next, have him spread the “cards” face down on the table and remove any one. Have him “show” his imaginary card to the audience, but make sure he doesn’t show it to you! Of course, he is to remember the name of his card! Now ask him to take the deck and spread it face-up on the table. He is to replace his card face down into the face-up deck. You… -
Invisible Deck Bicycle Back Blue
21 Jan 2012 | 4:55 pmThese are the best Invisible Decks on the market today. Effect: Remove a deck of “Invisible Cards” from your pocket. Ask a spectator to remove the “Invisible Cards” from the box and shuffle them. Next, have him spread the “cards” face down on the table and remove any one. Have him “show” his imaginary card to the audience, but make sure he doesn’t show it to you! Of course, he is to remember the name of his card! Now ask him to take the deck and spread it face-up on the table. He is to replace his card face down into the face-up deck. You… -
Invisible Deck Aviator Back Red
21 Jan 2012 | 4:45 pmThese are the best Invisible Decks on the market today. EFFECT Remove a deck of “Invisible Cards” from your pocket. Ask a spectator to remove the “Invisible Cards” from the box and shuffle them. Next, have him spread the “cards” face down on the table and remove any one. Have him “show” his imaginary card to the audience, but make sure he doesn’t show it to you! Of course, he is to remember the name of his card! Now ask him to take the deck and spread it face-up on the table. He is to replace his card face down into the face-up deck. You… -
Invisible Deck Aviator Back Blue
21 Jan 2012 | 3:31 amThese are the best Invisible Decks on the market today. Effect: Remove a deck of “Invisible Cards” from your pocket. Ask a spectator to remove the “Invisible Cards” from the box and shuffle them. Next, have him spread the “cards” face down on the table and remove any one. Have him “show” his imaginary card to the audience, but make sure he doesn’t show it to you! Of course, he is to remember the name of his card! Now ask him to take the deck and spread it face-up on the table. He is to replace his card face down into the face-up deck. You…
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justAna
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Psychiatric drug-induced suicide attempt: how to differentiate real suicide from drug-induced (repost)
18 Jan 2012 | 12:27 pm"Drug-induced suicide ideation should be explained by those who are in charge of taking care of heath. However little is said about this fact that has been experienced by many people. I'm reposting it because some people can doubt that what they are feeling is really drug-induced.There is a huge difference between wanting to die and just the act of killing oneself that is planted in the mind when we are dealing with drug-induced suicidal ideation. Trust your instincts and, please, search for help if you feel you are suicidal because of an antidepressant or any other… -
Merry Christmas!!
22 Dec 2011 | 7:39 amMerry Christmas and a great 2012 for all of us! -
A new therapy is born: the doorway therapy
18 Dec 2011 | 4:03 amI did read this study by Professor Gabriel Radvansky about the hypothesis that when we pass through a doorway we have memory lapses. "Recalling the decision or activity that was made in a different room is difficult because it has been compartmentalized."I tend to see these hypotheses and their experiments as funny after studying treatments and therapies that don't work or are based on wrong theories, and I cannot help thinking that a new therapy is born: the patient that suffers from a trauma will pass through X number of doorways and will be healed.The number of doorways will be stipulated… -
I'm still here and will never leave
14 Nov 2011 | 5:26 amI'm here, I'll always be here. Although I'm not publishing at this blog at the other I'm dealing wiht issues that raise awareness about subjects that helps people see how corporations are destroying lives and also write about the pharmaceutical industries like this post about the harms of Ritalin.I found this video with a great performance of "Jeremy" a song that touches many hearts.It must be the third time this song is at this blog and it is also at the other."I don't need love, I don't need no mom and dad." This is what those who don't have parents or have them as kind of enemies try to… -
Telepsychiatry: get your psychiatric medicine by call-center
1 Oct 2011 | 9:49 amTelepsychiatry is here to solve the bureaucracy of getting a prescription:This is the greatest example to expose how psychiatry is being done. Why go to your doctor to get a prescription?They prescribe in 15 minutes the first time and the other consultations are done in five minutes, time to say "How you're doing"/ "Fine."/ "Need prescription of what medicines?"/ "Seroquel, Paxil, Geodon/Abilify/Klonopin and Cymbalta" / he writes... "Here they are, see you next month!" "Bye"Do it by phone!"Our focus is on Prevention. We look for patterns, predict relapse before it happens, and reduce harm.
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chipur
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Your Brain on Stress: New Shtuff!
26 Jan 2012 | 8:02 pmKnowledge is always, always, always power. In our case, the more we know about how the brain works, the more hope abounds. Here’s some new research on stress. A looong time ago, I posted an article on a wondrous interplay of anatomy and physiology known as the HPA axis (that would be hypothalamus/pituitary gland/adrenal glands). If you want to understand how your body responds to stress (including your “fight/flight” response), learning about the HPA axis will get you there. And being even somewhat comfortable with the HPA axis will help you get the most from this post. Read…
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Choosehelp.com
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New Screening Test Predicts Odds of Addiction Treatment Success
26 Jan 2012 | 2:36 amBy testing for your unconscious beliefs about the positive and negative consequences of drug use a newly develop screening test reveals how likely you are to benefit from addiction treatment. -
5 Questions to Ask When Picking a Drug Rehab
23 Jan 2012 | 7:31 amChoosing the right drug rehab is no easy task, and since the right program can make the difference between success and failure, the stakes are high and making the right decision is pretty important. Here are 5 questions you need to ask and answer abo... -
SAMHSA’s 10 Rules for a Successful Recovery
18 Jan 2012 | 4:16 amAfter convening a panel of experts and consumers to talk about what’s really important in the recovery process SAMHSA has released an updated 10 rule guidebook on sustaining a successful recovery. Here are the 10 things you need to do to achieve an... -
No More Surfing for Sex or Porn: 10 Tips for Controlling Your Internet Use
15 Jan 2012 | 11:31 pmWhile complete internet abstinence might be best, going offline for good isn’t a reasonable option for many. Here are 10 strategies to help you control your surfing for those times when you have to be online. -
The Importance of Resilience in Addiction Recovery
14 Jan 2012 | 6:07 amResilient people adapt to change and bounce back from adversity – and resilient people are less likely to react to tragedy or great stress with relapse back to substance abuse. If you’re in recovery, resilience can save your life. Read on to lear...
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Nurse Educator |Burnout Nurses| Nurses Voice| Mentally Happy Nurses | Mental Health Nurse |Social Media Nurse
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Nurse Burnout and Frustrated
27 Jan 2012 | 10:13 pmNurses In the world of health care, you can guarantee one thing – you will never have the same kind of day every shift. It is a fast paced, fast moving, constantly changing world. Continuing education is a must to be able to keep up with the skills and procedures to taking care of [...] -
Clean Naturally With Purification Essential Oil
25 Jan 2012 | 1:01 amClean Naturally With Purification Essential Oil By: Lori Thayer Have you resolved to use more natural products for your home and family this year? Essential Oils are a great way to get rid of chemicals and clean naturally. Purification Essential Oil is great for purifying the air. It neutralizes odors, not just covering them up [...] -
Rockcastle Shooting Center “Ladies” Concealed Carry Class
23 Jan 2012 | 1:01 amRockcastle Shooting Center "Ladies" Concealed Carry Class This Saturday I spent my day a little different than normal. In a class, for "Ladies Only" at Rock Castle Shooting Center Concealed Carry Class. I have shot guns many times in my life but I did it for fun – at targets like cans, plates, post [...] -
Does the 3ft Rule Still Work?
19 Jan 2012 | 1:01 amBy: Sandi Krakowski Today's article is sure to create a storm of questions so I'll be sure to do my best to answer them as we move along. But this is a very critical article that is being written with a heart of compassion and understanding for a very specific group of people. My first online [...] -
The Amazing World of Essential Oils
18 Jan 2012 | 1:01 amEssential oils have been used throughout time dating back to 4500 BC. From perfumes and aromatherapy to cooking and medicinal purposes, essential oils have been used in everyday life for centuries. In modern days, research shows that pure essential oils can provide similar benefits to humans and animals that they give to plants. The way [...]
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Journal of a Male Childhood Abuse Survivor
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Kindness
27 Jan 2012 | 7:48 amKindness lifts you of the ground if true It makes stones featherweight If it lives inside of you mikefrawley: Nice has many friendsI want somethingyou owe meneed me pleaseKindness travels light, carries little baggage,and walks ever alone Today, I will choose kindnessWanna Play? It is best to be kind whenever possibleand it is always possibleThe Dalai Lama -
amandasellers: Brilliant!
27 Jan 2012 | 7:40 amamandasellers: Brilliant! -
Preview of my Book in Progress. Please Comment!
26 Jan 2012 | 1:39 pmThis is a bit of the book that I’m working on. I’m writing it in Dutch, so the below part is translated to English by Google and corrected by me. Any feedback would be welcome! Enjoy! The clock hit seven. I got up to go to the bathroom and take a shower. There were dents and cracks in the bathroom door. Apparently my mother endured a lot the day before. I looked at myself in the mirror. I was very tired. In movies you always see how men do boxing moves to boost themselves. I tried that too, but it didn’t work. I stepped into the shower. The hot water felt wonderful. It felt like…
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scottdm's blog
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The Role of Mentors in the Development of Expertise: Bruce Wampold wins the Beckman Award Honoring Inspirational Professors
11 Jan 2012 | 4:10 pmSaturday, January 7th, 2012, 7:00 pm EST The Carter Presidential Libary Atlanta, Georgia In 2008, the Elizabeth Hurlock Beckman Trust Award was created to honor inspirational professors, academic faculty members who have inspired their students to "create an organization, concept, procedure, or movement which has demonsrably conferred a benefit on the community." This last week, I had the honor of joining my former professor and long time mentor, Bruce Wampold, Ph.D., at the Carter Presidential Library in Atlanta, Georgia as he received the 2011 Beckman Award. I… -
Looking Back, Looking Forward
5 Jan 2012 | 8:13 pmBidding goodbye to last year and welcoming the new always puts me in a reflective frame of mind. How did my life, work, and relationships go? What are my hopes for the future? Just two short years ago, together with colleagues from around the world, the International Center for Clinical Excellence (ICCE) was launched. Today, the ICCE is the largest, global, web-based community of providers, educators, researchers, and policy makers dedicated to improving the quality and outcome of behavioral health services. Clinicians can choose to participate in any of the 100-plus… -
What's disturbing Mental Health? Opportunities Lost
29 Nov 2011 | 3:03 pmIn a word, paperwork. Take a look at the book pictured above. That massive tome on the left is the 2011 edition of "Laws and Regulations" governing mental health practice in the state of California. Talk about red tape! Hundreds and hundreds of pages of statutes informing, guiding, restricting, and regulating the "talking cure." Now, on top of that, layer federal and third party payer policies and paperwork and you end up with...lost opportunities. Many lost opportunities. Indeed, as pointed out in our recent article, The Road to… -
Optum Health and the ICCE: Partnering to Achieve Excellence in Behavioral Health
26 Nov 2011 | 11:18 amMonday, November 28th, 2011 Chicago, IL & Goldern Valley, MN The members, associaties, and directors of the International Center for Clinical Excellence are proud to announce a partnership with Optum Health's Campaign for Excellence. Optum Health works with employers, payers, and providers serving nearly 60,000,000 people. Their "Campaign for Excellence (CFE)" was specifically designed to enhance the quality and outcome of behavioral health services by recognizing top performing clinicians. To date, over 4,000 providers spread across the United States are… -
Cutting Edge Feedback
22 Nov 2011 | 11:23 amEarth | Time Lapse View from Space, Fly Over | NASA, ISS Using feedback to guide and improve the quality and outcome of behavioral health services is growing in popularity. The number of systems available for measuring, aggregating, and interpreting the feedback provided by consumers is increasing. The question, of course, is, "which is best?" And the answer is, "it depends on the algorithms being used." Over a decade ago, my colleagues and I developed a set of mathematic equations that enabled us to plot the "expected treatment response"…
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Mental Health Day
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A Disclaimer: It's About to Get Personal
20 Jan 2012 | 12:11 amIt’s not easy to blog about your life and personal things when certain eyes are on your words and you know you’ll probably hear about it if you say this or that. I don’t care too much about appearances, but others close to me do, and appearances have to be maintained. Don’t talk about yourself too much. Keep your secrets close to your chest. Emotion is bad. Yes, it makes it really hard to write about your life. That’s where I come from. I don’t want to be there, but those things tend to follow you and they tend to tell you what they think whether you want to hear it or… -
The Badger Family & the Unthinkable
2 Jan 2012 | 12:40 amIf you don't know who Madonna Badger is, or what happened at her home on Christmas morning, you must be living under a dusty rock somewhere, but to recap: her Stamford house burned down, killing her parents and her three young daughters.Why am I blogging about this? Because I haven't been able to get it out of my mind for a solid week. This has haunted me unlike any other news story I can recall. I've read a lot about devastating fires recently. First a house in the next town over burned down a few weeks before Christmas, killing a 24-year-old woman and her parents. Her teenage sister had to… -
Baby Steps
30 Dec 2011 | 1:09 amI don't know how you define 'victory' when it comes to faith. I always thought victory meant getting over something - like, one day you wake up and realize you're not addicted to alcohol anymore, or you suddenly have super strong faith where you once were barely hanging on. I guess maybe I'm changing my mind about all that.Over the past month or so, I've been dealing with a lot of depression and anxiety for different reasons. More than usual, actually. Seeing as how I have depression and bipolar disorder, it's not like I don't deal with it normally. There were extra pressures this year,… -
It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like LADY GAGA!!!!!
18 Dec 2011 | 1:46 am"Well, nobody ELSE comes to Hershey Park looking like that!"OK, so I go to Hershey Park Christmas Candylane to look at Christmas lights and eat free chocolate (thanks Chocolate World) and not only do I get all that... I also see Lady Gaga. Buying chocolate. Lady Gaga buying chocolate. Dinner AND a show!I'm telling you this not because I love Lady Gaga. I actually don't know more than one of her songs. I'm just not into it. I'm also not telling you this because I'm star-struck. I don't really care. It's just an interesting topic because not so long ago I said, "I wouldn't know Lady Gaga if I… -
Attitudes of Gratitude and the Reach of Faith
11 Dec 2011 | 10:54 pmMerry Christmas, everyone! Is it not the best time of year? The lights, the smells, the music... I love Christmas and always have. I'm not wild about crowded malls, but that's the only complaint I can really lodge.I am doing my best to practice an 'attitude of gratitude' these days, and not just because it's the holiday season. You have to admit, though, Christmas is a great time of year to really test it out and learn how to live it, because even though things are especially lovely this time of year, you can't always say the same of people. They're stressed, they're in a hurry, you're in…
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children and anxiety disorder | anxiety disorder in children | behavioral therapy for children
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Preventing Anxiety Forgetfulness
26 Jan 2012 | 6:58 amAn individual’s ability to recall things can be affected by three factors. These three factors include synapse clogging, neuronal pathway deterioration and stress. Too much exposure to stress can lead to anxiety forgetfulness. This is the reason why those people who are suffering from stress tend to forget things. This applies to both children and [...] Related posts:What is Generalized Anxiety Disorder? These days, more and more people are getting prone to stress. And who would not be? This modern day, fast... Weight Control For Children To Avoid Stress And Anxiety Adults are not the only… -
Anxiety-Free Child Program Review – Is The Program a Scam Or A Real Deal?
2 Jan 2012 | 5:06 pmThere are quite a few reviews of Anxiety-Free Child Program on the Internet. There is only one problem with most of them – they are not really reviews, but rather short, generic texts written by people, who apparently did not even read the program. How Is This Review Different From Other Reviews on The Internet [...] Related posts:Is James Lehman’s Total Transformation Program Scam? NOTE: This is a third party review, written by a guest author. Due to the fact that many parents are... What You Need to Know Regarding Child Anxiety Treatments If you want to learn about child anxiety… -
Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy For Children – What Parents Need To Know
29 Dec 2011 | 12:10 pmAny parent is afraid of having their child diagnosed with an anxiety disorder. While other health conditions can be unpleasant, many are easily identified and cured or managed, but anxiety disorders are still not particularly well understood or treated. Advances in therapy and treatment techniques over the past few decades have improved the quality of [...] Related posts:Alternative Treatments for Children Anxiety Does your child suffer from anxiety? Do you want to avoid pharmaceuticals and traditional treatments? Although not as well-documented –... Natural Anti-Anxiety Techniques for… -
Brief Overview Of Asperger Syndrome Symptoms And Treatments for Children
2 Dec 2011 | 6:34 amNot all children with Asperger syndrome are the same, so every treatment program will be a little different. Some children need more help with social skills, others with motor skills or academic problems, so you have to look at the child in question. Some Asperger treatments, however, have proven to be effective for many children [...] Related posts:Autism In Children – Causes, Symptoms And Treatment What are the Causes of Autism? Autism is a condition that affects many people, both children and adults. Autistic people... -
Panic Attacks In Children And Teens – Causes, Symptoms And Treatment
27 Nov 2011 | 8:19 amResearchers seem to be all over the place when trying to determine the causes of panic attacks in children. Panic disorder in children is tremendously complicated because the way child’s body – and mind – responses to panic. Not just in terms of immediate physical response, but also the timing of the response. For example, [...] Related posts:How To Help Children With Panic Attacks There are more children with panic attacks around the world than you would expect. Often times, these panic attacks go... How To Deal With Children’s Panic Attacks Are Children Panic Attacks…
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HSP Health Blog
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Causes Of Social Phobia
27 Jan 2012 | 8:29 amphoto credit: CMMooney It is useful for highly sensitive people to understand the causes of social phobia which often result in the crippling self consciousness and which can contribute to the HSP tendency to have an introverted personality. Social Phobia is sometimes referred to either as Generalized Social Phobia, which NIMH states is the most common anxiety disorder, or Social Anxiety Disorder. In 2008, The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) released the results of a study: Social Phobia Patients Have Heightened Reactions to Negative Comments. The researchers used functional brain… -
Book Review Of H.I.S.S. Of The A.S.P.
25 Jan 2012 | 9:06 amThis book review of H.I.S.S. of the A.S.P. is about a brilliant book that is one of the best books about sensitive people available today, and in my opinion, a must read for all highly sensitive people. In 2003, David Ritchey, an independent psychological researcher, published his groundbreaking work: The HISS of the ASP. The title refers to a scientifically based questionnaire he created to discover more about highly sensitive people, referred to by him as anomalously sensitive people, hence the word ASP. Most of the literature about highly sensitive people (HSP’s), focus on social and… -
What Is Special About NIA?
23 Jan 2012 | 8:48 amPhotograph provided by Nia Technique (www.nianow.com). What is special about NIA? If I could pick one exercise program that I think would be great for highly sensitive people, it would be NIA. NIA stands for Neuromuscular Integrative Movement. It was founded in 1983 by Debbie Rosas and Carlos AyaRosas, two fitness trainers, who felt that there was a need for a better exercise program. NIA , located online at NIANOW was the result of their effort to integrate martial arts, dance and healing arts disciplines into a program that celebrates movement and, as they say again and again,… -
How Does Stress Become A Stress Disorder?
20 Jan 2012 | 2:12 amphoto credit: scott1723 How does stress become a stress disorder? We all suffer from stress which is a natural part of life. Our challenging culture and busy lives are so ingrained that we have become too accepting of stressors so that we may minimize their effects. Stress has many damaging consequences that are easy to overlook: Stress effects can last longer than we realize. It is easy to think of stress as something short term because we usually think of it as a temporary event or phenomenon. A disagreement, someone cutting you off in traffic, these are each finite short term events. -
Hitting The Bullseye
16 Jan 2012 | 9:45 amCrop Circle on a Tree © by Benimoto From our earliest days we are taught that being right is very important. We are taught right from wrong. We go to schools that tell us with our grades and other badges of achievement what we have hit the mark and when we have missed. So the importance of hitting the mark – the bullseye – remains significant if not essential in our eyes. The bullseye or target has ancient roots since hunting was a primary survival skill for our ancestors. For them missing the target likely meant that they were some animal’s dinner. The bullseye can…

