Just a few words……

  Just to announce that this blog, “Living in Stigma”  is officially closed effective December 31, 2007.  There will be no new postings.  I feel I have accomplished what I set out to do with this blog; this was to educate, provide newsworthy articles, share a little of the experiences with my own mental illness, and hopefully in some way prevent the mistakes that I made.

I wish to thank everyone who visited this blog, especially the regular visitors; you are all special.  This blog will remain open to view or comment on any post.  I will still visit this blog regularly and if you wish to contact me, you may leave a comment or via e-mail:  cherished-thoughts@hotmail.com

I would really appreciate your likes or dislikes of  “Living in Stigma”, and perhaps suggestions.  Please comment at the end of this post.

Thanks for your support.

Debbie (Cherished79) 

Carnival Mental Illness - Edition #3

Carnival Mental Illness – Edition #3 – December 28, 2007

I welcome everyone to the third edition of Carnival Mental Illness.

Both the first and second editions were raving successes, and December’s submission count was incredible. 

Submissions are:

Articles & Information

Dana at Principled Discovery  presents: Fundamentalism, Psychotropic drugs and Mass Murder

Albert Foong at Urban Monk  includes an interesting article on self-esteem and much more entitled: Psychology’s unique contribution to your Compassion and Self-Esteem

Motherjones-rn at Nurse Ratched’s Place  wrote an excellent article (and a *must read*) on eating disorders; namely anorexia titled:  Dying to be Beautiful 

Therapydoc over at Everyone Needs Therapy  submitted: Using What You’ve Got, describing “You don’t have to be ill to get better”.

Shaheen Lakhan at GNIF Brain Blogger  presents a very interesting article: Beat Depression with Brain Food while Eating Junk Food 

Charles H. Green at Trust Matters  submitted: Larry David, Seinfeld and Social Networking describing: How “Curb Your Enthusiasm” has been used to teach mentally ill patients social skills and why it works for ordinary folks as well.

Dr Martin Russell at his blog discusses Are You Going Wrong Right?

Lucynda Riley at Witch on White Mountain writes a lesson-to-be-learned article titled: Think before you shout something out a window!!!

Support Information

Keyboard Culture Community, Lori Prokop Co-Founder at Keyboard Culture presents:  and explains the following:     

Supporting Trauma Survivors – Part I

In this article by Dr. Patricia Sherman, Healing is Possible Expert at Keyboard Culture, you will learn how to support people and loved ones as they go through traumatic experiences. When we experience trauma or the feeling of being “broken in some way,” we may actually become stronger as we heal.

Supporting Trauma Survivors – Part II

Dr. Patricia Sherman, Healing is Possible Expert at Keyboard Culture says one of the ways in which we can support trauma survivors is to provide a “holding environment” for them as they recover as survivors contemplate moving through trauma into healing.

Personal Writings 

Addy at “All That I Am, All That I Ever Was” wrote a personal article on the major taboo subject of suicide.  These are very well written and must read.  **Triggers**

“All That I Am, All That I Ever Was”: Let’s talk about suicide…Part 1

This is the first part in a series of 3 articles I wrote regarding suicide. They deal with my own suicide attempts, and also the suicide of someone close to me. Raising suicide awareness is something I am passionate about, more needs to be done to help those suffering from the loss of a loved one, and for those suffering suicidal thoughts.

Addy at “All That I Am, All That I Ever Was” writes another personal article: “All That I Am, All That I Ever Was”: My War against Mental Illness

~~~

Once again, thank you for the submissions to the 3rd edition of Carnival Mental Illness.   

I just want to state that this will be the final presentation of this Carnival on my ”Living in Stigma blog.  It is still up in the air, as to who will be continuing with Carnival Mental Illness, so until then, Carnival Mental Illness will come to a close.  I had great support and terrific submissions, however, due to my decision to close this blog, I will not be continuing.  Thanks to everyone.

Antidepressants: Can They Lose Effectiveness Over Time?

Mayo Clinic psychiatrist Daniel Hall-Flavin, M.D., answers:

I’ve been taking Prozac for depression for several years. In the last few months, I’ve noticed the medication doesn’t seem to be having the same effect, and I feel more depressed. Can you explain this?……a patient questions:

Answer

You describe a phenomenon that affects approximately 20 percent of people who take antidepressants — the so-called “poop-out” effect. In such cases, the medications simply stop being effective. Doctors don’t fully understand what causes this. But factors that you and your doctor may want to consider include:

Relapse or worsening of depression. For most people, depression is a disease that will recur at least once — if not more frequently — after the first episode. Sometimes depression worsens for no apparent reason or due to added stress that overrides the effects of the medication.

Underlying medical condition. Some conditions, such as hypothyroidism, can cause depressive symptoms. It is important to rule out such conditions as a cause of worsening depression.

Aging. Sometimes depression can get worse as you get older.

A new medication. Some medications for unrelated conditions can interfere with the way your body metabolizes and uses antidepressants, decreasing their effectiveness.

Reassessment of original diagnosis. For example, it is possible that an illness previously diagnosed as depression may actually be bipolar disorder, in which depression is a prominent feature.

The good news is that adjusting the dosage, changing medications or adding other medications is usually effective in countering the “poop-out” effect. Psychotherapy also can help.

For all these reasons, it is important to have a psychiatrist trained in the use of antidepressant medications review all of the possible causes and interventions that may be helpful when an antidepressant seems to lose its effectiveness.

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/antidepressants/AN01312

‘TIS THE SEASON

‘TIS THE HOLIDAY SEASON
I spent three Christmases in hospital; two I couldn’t even leave to go home for Christmas dinner.  Difficult to accept for all concerned, but I was just too unwell and they felt I was a risk.

So, three or four others and me sat in a gloomy dining room and picked at our ‘turkey dinner’.  Each dinner consisting of turkey roll, faux mashed potatoes, lukewarm gravy, a few veggies, stale roll and a packet of cranberry sauce and butter.   I did awaken to a gift planted on my side table; a decorative bag with some goodies, which I thought very sweet.

The Christmas year when permitted home, was only a two hour visit, and barely enough time to wolf down a holiday dinner.  As memory serves me, I believe we found a diner open and ate there; but don’t recall it being turkey.

Christmas mood in hospital was somber, the tree in the TV room stood virtually naked due to no string of lights permitted; could warrant a potential suicide attempt, only a few crocheted decorations placed sparingly.  Most patients were struggling greatly with this season; pressure put upon them with family holiday plans.  They tried their best to put on the façade of ‘smiles and cheer’, all the while they were drowning inside.  Who wants to even think of Christmas period?  For me, frankly, as far as receiving gifts I could have cared less.  That may sound ungrateful, however, when you are in such a state of blackness and hopelessness all that your mind can grasp is sometimes ‘nothing’.

I did have my family, but I was up to my neck in quicksand with this jail sentence called depression, and at my wits end at what to do.  The doctors; the profession that was supposed to rescue me from this ‘mess and pain’, didn’t do their jobs very well.  Here I was spending Christmas Day eating turkey roll off a styrofoam plate, while they would have ‘roasted chestnuts on the open-fire’ the night before, and carved a real turkey on Christmas Day.  Seems a trifle unfair, doesn’t it?

So, for this holiday season, just for a moment give a thought to someone who may be spending Christmas in the hospital.  That person deserves to be home looking at a brightly lit tree with some gifts underneath.  He/she maybe getting Christmas dinner in the hospital, but I can almost guarantee it will be turkey roll.

Happy Holidays.
Deb

High Blood Pressure May Heighten Effects of Alzheimer’s Disease

ScienceDaily (Nov. 29, 2007) — Having hypertension, or high blood pressure, reduces blood flow in the brains of adults with Alzheimer’s disease, according to a new study presented today at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America.

“While hypertension is not a cause of Alzheimer’s disease, our study shows that it is another hit on the brain that increases its vulnerability to the effects of the disease,” said study co-author Cyrus Raji, scientist and M.D. and Ph.D. candidate at the University of Pittsburgh where the study was conducted.

Hypertension is a condition in which the blood circulates through the arteries with too much force. According to the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, approximately 50 million Americans have hypertension. People with hypertension are at elevated risk for heart attack, stroke and aneurysm. Recently, there has been mounting evidence tying cardiovascular health to brain health.

“This study demonstrates that good vascular health is also good for the brain,” said co-author Oscar Lopez, M.D., professor of neurology and psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh. “Even in people with Alzheimer’s disease, it is important to detect and aggressively treat hypertension and also to focus on disease prevention.”

For the study, the researchers used arterial spin-labeled magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), which can measure blood flow in the brain, to image 68 older adults. Arterial spin-labeled MRI is a novel, noninvasive technique that requires no external contrast agent.

The patient group included 48 normal individuals, including 38 with hypertension and 10 without; 20 Alzheimer’s patients, including 10 with hypertension and 10 without; and 20 adults with mild cognitive impairment, 10 with hypertension and 10 without. Mild cognitive impairment, which affects brain functions such as language, attention and reasoning, is a transition stage between normal aging deficits in the brain and greater levels of dementia.

The MRI results showed that in all patient groups blood flow in the brain was substantially decreased in patients with hypertension compared to those without. Cerebral blood flow was lowest among the Alzheimer’s patients with hypertension, but the normal group with hypertension showed significantly lower cerebral blood flow than the normal group without hypertension.

“These results suggest that by changing blood flow to the brain, hypertension–treated or untreated–may contribute to the pathology of Alzheimer’s,” Raji said.

Co-authors are C. Lee, M.D., W. Dai, Ph.D., J.Becker, Ph.D., L. Kuller, M.D., H. Gach, Ph.D., et al.

Adapted from materials provided by Radiological Society of North America.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/11/071128114847.htm

Teen Boys at Growing Risk for Eating Disorders

Decade of data shows increase in weight-control behaviors across cultures

By Robert Preidt

FRIDAY, Nov. 23 (HealthDay News) — Eating disorders rose significantly among American boys between 1995 and 2005, according to a study that examined weight control behaviors among high school students.

The study, based on an analysis of national data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System, identified a large increase in all forms of weight control behaviors among males, including dieting, diet product use, purging, exercise and vigorous exercise.

Hispanic males were most likely to practice weight control, while white males were least likely, said the study authors, led by Y. May Chao of Wesleyan University in Middletown, Conn.

They also found a significant overall increase in dieting and diet product use among female adolescents. White females were most likely practice weight control while black females were least likely, the researchers said.

The increased weight control behavior noted in males suggests growing social pressure for males to achieve unrealistic body expectations, thus increasing the risk of body dissatisfaction and eating disorders, the study authors said.

“Considering that males have negative attitudes toward treatment-seeking and are less likely than females to seek treatment, efforts should be made to increase awareness of eating disorder symptomatology in male adolescents, and future prevention efforts should target male as well as female adolescents,” the researchers wrote.

The study was published online in the International Journal of Eating Disorders

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_58003.html

My 2 Cents:  Finally an article that focused on male adolescents and eating disorders.  They too experience the dieting, purging, excessive exercise and strive for constant weight control.  And once again, it’s social pressure for males and females to achieve the “right” body”.

Suicide Risk Increased in Sexually Abused Teens

By Amy Norton

Wednesday, November 28, 2007 - NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Teenagers who have ever been sexually abused appear to have a higher suicide risk than their peers, but their families may be able to make a difference, a large study suggests.

Researchers found that among nearly 84,000 Minnesota adolescents, those with a history of childhood sexual abuse were much more likely than their peers to have contemplated or attempted suicide.

However, the study also found that several protective factors seemed to buffer abused teenagers against this risk — most importantly, a sense of “family connectedness.” Teenagers who said they could talk to their parents about their problems, for example, or who felt their families generally cared about them were less likely to be suicidal.

“The findings suggest that there might be ways to lower the suicide risk among young people with a history of sexual abuse,” Dr. Marla E. Eisenberg, the lead researcher on the study, told Reuters Health.

She and her colleagues at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis report the findings in the Journal of Pediatrics.

The researchers evaluated survey data from 83,731 students in the 6th, 9th and 12th grades. Overall, 4 percent said they’d been sexually abused by someone unrelated to them, 1.3 percent said a family member had abused them, and 1.4 percent reported both forms of sexual abuse.

In general, the students with a history of sexual abuse were more likely than their peers to say they’d thought about or attempted suicide at some point. At greatest risk were those who said they’d been abused by both a family member and someone outside the family; more than half of this group said they’d tried to kill themselves.

However, having positive relationships with adults seemed to reduce some of this risk, the study found. Abused teens who said they had teachers or other adults in their lives who cared about them were less likely to report suicidal behavior.

The most important protective factor was a sense of family connectedness — which the study measured by asking teens the extent to which they felt their families cared about and understood them, and whether they could discuss their problems with their parents.

“If connections with family members, teachers or other school personnel, or other adults in the community were strong, young people had a much lower risk of suicide, even if they were particularly vulnerable due to sexual abuse,” Eisenberg said.

The implication, she and her colleagues write, is that strengthening these connections for abused teenagers could help lower their suicide risk.

According to Eisenberg, some potential ways to improve family connections could be to encourage parents to listen to their children’s problems and talk to them in a “non-judgmental” way, or to simply spend more time with them.

SOURCE: Journal of Pediatrics, November 2007.

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_58133.html

My 2 Cents:  For some reason, as a survivor sexual abuse, this article bothered me.  I felt I should post it, even though I am bias.  It just painted a nicey-nicey kind of story of stats and a nice article outcome.  Always a sore spot with me; suicidal risk (attempts) connected directly/indirectly to sexual abuse.  Not everyone who has been sexually abused will attempt suicide, but as the study shows, the risk is high.  I agree with that; I did.  Maybe they should have come across a little tougher or stronger sounding in the article.  After all this is sexual abuse not bunions.

WELCOME

     This site is dedicated to those individuals living with mental illness, affecting them most deeply along with their spouses, family and friends.

Many forms of mental illness take their shape in Depression, Bipolar Disorder and Schizophrenia, just to name a few.  A major note is that mental illness is neither one’s fault nor a character flaw, however, many live in a society laced with stigma.

Catch up on what’s in the news dealing with mental health issues, articles written by myself, articles discovered in medical sites and magazines – all aimed to inform you.

So, grab a cup of coffee, take a wee browse, learn something new – and most of all - just enjoy.   Lots of links in the sidebar.  Leave a comment or two if you would like.  Thanks for taking a peek.

Graphic for site  Header:  www.submit.manscostyle.com/submit/26_stigma.jpg

Smoking and Depression Often Occur Together In New Mothers

ScienceDaily (Nov. 24, 2007) — Smoking and depression often go hand-in-hand for new mothers, according to a new study by Temple University researcher Dr. Robert Whitaker.

“While smoking and depression adversely affect a mother’s health, the combination may also affect the health of her child,” Whitaker said.

For children, the potential consequences of maternal smoking include sudden infant death, asthma, ear infections and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, while the potential consequences of maternal depression include behavior problems, language delay and childhood depression.

“Giving a mother who smokes the telephone number to a ‘quit line’ is probably not going to be enough if smoking is helping the mother cope with her symptoms of untreated depression,” said Whitaker, a pediatrician and professor of public health at Temple University. “Depression and addiction to tobacco should not be diagnosed or treated in isolation from each other.”

The issue is particularly troublesome for low-income families.

“Unfortunately, an adequately financed primary-care system for low-income mothers does not exist beyond pregnancy. You can improve the well-being of the child by addressing the health and well-being of the mother. Care of mothers and their children should be better integrated in our healthcare system,” Whitaker said.

Data for the analysis came from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study. In 20 U.S. cities, 4,898 mothers were surveyed at the time of delivery, from 1998 to 2000. In a follow-up survey 15 months later, 4,353 (89 percent) of mothers reported their smoking behavior and symptoms of a major depressive episode during the prior 12 months.

The follow-up survey showed that the 12-month prevalence of a major depressive episode was 46 percent higher among smokers and that the prevalence of smoking was 33 percent higher among those who had a major depressive episode in the prior 12 months.

“Most recently, healthcare policy has focused on children’s access to healthcare, but we also have to keep the mother’s health in the discussion,” Whitaker said.

“A pediatrician will often see an infant who is wheezing and who has a mother who smokes. The mother may also have symptoms of depression. However, pediatricians often lack the time, skills and mandate to treat the mothers. A better referral network of adult healthcare providers might be one way to help the pediatrician help these mothers, and to, in turn, help the children,” Whitaker said.

This research was published in the November 2007 issue of Preventive Medicine.

Adapted from materials provided by Temple University

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/11/071123205247.htm

Non-Drug Treatment Effective For Major Depression: Study Suggests

ScienceDaily (Nov. 23, 2007) — For the first time in a large-scale study, transcranial magnetic stimulation has been shown to be an effective, non-drug treatment for major depression. Current antidepressant therapies are not beneficial for at least a third of depressed individuals, leaving many with a lack of adequate treatment options.

Co-author Dr. Philip Janicak, professor of Psychiatry at Rush University Medical Center, says the treatment may be an option for patients with major depression who have not responded to conventional antidepressant medications.

Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), a non-invasive technique that excites neurons in the brain by magnetic pulses introduced through the scalp, has previously been identified as a potential new treatment for depression but prior, smaller studies have shown conflicting results.

The authors present the results from the first large scale, multi-center, double-blind, sham-controlled study of TMS as a treatment for people with depression who had not responded to prior antidepressants and who were not taking antidepressant medications during the study. After four to six weeks of active or sham TMS, response and remission rates with active TMS were approximately twice those of sham.

This study was also associated with a low dropout rate, due to generally mild side effects, indicating that the treatment was well-tolerated by patients.

Dr. John P. O’Reardon, the corresponding author on this project and associate professor of Psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania, explains, “These results indicate that TMS provides a novel and attractive treatment option for patients with major depression who have not responded to conventional antidepressant medications.”

Dr. John H. Krystal, editor of Biological Psychiatry, highlights the significance of this article’s findings. “This study provides new support for the efficacy of TMS as a ‘stand alone’ treatment for depression. This finding could be particularly important for patients who do not tolerate antidepressant medications, for whom they are not safe, or who have not benefited from other alternative treatments.”

O’Reardon adds, “As indicated by recent large scale, government-sponsored, studies of existing treatment options for major depression conducted by the National Institute of Health (the STAR-D reports), there is a great need to develop new effective treatments for patients, especially those not benefiting from first line interventions. The results of this study indicate that TMS offers new hope to patients in this regard.”

The article is “Efficacy and Safety of Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation in the Acute Treatment of Major Depression: A Multisite Randomized Controlled Trial” by John P. O’Reardon, H. Brent Solvason, Philip G. Janicak, Shirlene Sampson, Keith E. Isenberg, Ziad Nahas, William M. McDonald, David Avery, Paul B. Fitzgerald, Colleen Loo, Mark A. Demitrack, Mark S. George and Harold A. Sackeim.

The article appears in Biological Psychiatry, Volume 62, Issue 11 (December 1, 2007), published by Elsevier.

Adapted from materials provided by Rush University Medical Center.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/11/071123200405.htm

My 2 Cents:  I would give anything not to have to take any psychiatric meds, however, I am skeptical with this study.  Perhaps due to the fact that I have spent too many years in a depressive stupor and although meds were at times very ineffective; they are basically ’saving’ my life now. (My opinion only on this).

Carnival Mental Illness - Edition #2

Carnival Mental Illness – Edition #2 – November 30, 2007

I welcome everyone to the second edition of Carnival Mental Illness.

The first edition was a raving success, so I am excited to continue on with new submissions each time. 

At times we sit in wonderment; how can we share our experiences, both good and bad with other people in the same boat.  Blogging gets the word out; it’s our voice…we have been there, sat in  hospital beds also, taken the medications, perhaps experienced ECT and lost careers and felt frustrated that nothing was effective.  We identify blackness all too well.  Here we can communicate some research information also.

Submissions are:

Research, Discussions, Information & Studies

Therapydoc provides something to think about at Everyone Needs Therapy:  

Borderline Personality Disorder and the DSM

It’s not an easy one to sum up, even in a DSM

 

Articles

Deb Serani at Dr. Deb submitted this article Joe Pantaliano is Fighting Stigma:

This post highlights actor Joe Pantoliano and his stigma fighting organization.

Sunshine writes a piece that hits home from Muzzles Off: Breaking Psychiatric Silence:  

Stigma starts at home

Megan Bayliss discusses A Conversation About Self-Harm at Imaginif:

“If the act of cutting or self harm had a voice, what would it say? My bet is that it would want to be looked at, listened to, made to feel real. Will you ignore it because it is not polite to tell anyone that your loved one self harms or will you spend the time listening to the voice of self harm?”

Deb Serani presents Lifestyle Matters at Dr. Deb:

“This post looks at how lifestyle change can help with depression.”

Therapydoc at Everyone Needs Therapy presents Being Great and the Self in Self-Esteem:

Having a “disorder” tends to have an effect upon self-esteem. This post might help put that into perspective.

Shaheen Lakhan at GNIF Brain Blogger submitted two excellent articles definitely worth the read again in this edition:

Mental Illness: Writing Our Own Scripts

Life experiences.  It’s about what does work or doesn’t work or what will work.  Labeling for ourselves and others.

and

The Stigma of Neuropathic Pain

Society Stigma

This article addresses patients with “neuropathic pain”; chronic pain and the use of pain medication. It gives a scenario when a patient comes to hospital for surgery, post operatively controlling pain with medication.

“Both the medical team and surgical team are uncomfortable administering higher doses of medication. They prefer to consult the pain management team, referring to the pain as “neuropathic”.”

Personal Writings

Denise Fletcher writes what all of us can relate to at Muzzles Off: Breaking Psychiatric Silence

A World Away 

My journey back to health; struggling with mental illness.

Lucynda Riley submitted her article Hold Me Accountable at A Public Diet:

A personal account of emotions and dieting

Cherished is including this submission Have You Ever Wondered at Living in Stigma:

HAVE YOU EVER WONDERED WHERE YOU WOULD BE IF IT WEREN’T FOR DEPRESSION?

“I have wondered and thought about that many, many times over the years.  This illness catapulted me into a life of depressive despair, loneliness, hospitalizations; loss of so many things, including me”.

~~~

Once again, thank you for the submissions to the 2nd edition of Carnival Mental Illness.   Any suggestions for the next Carnival are greatly appreciated (what you would prefer to view or include), or leave comments.  Also, if your wish to nominate someone else’s article or post along with your own; please do so.

Please note: next month’s carnival’s submissions deadline will change due to the Christmas season.  Submissions will be accepted no later than December 20, 2007, and Carnival Mental Illness Edition #3 will be presented December 28, 2007.  This submission form will make it easier.

Brain Pattern Associated With Genetic Risk of OCD

ScienceDaily (Nov. 26, 2007) — Cambridge researchers have discovered that individuals with obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and their close family members have distinctive patterns in their brain structure. This is the first time that scientists have associated an anatomical trait with familial risk for the disorder.

These new findings, recently reported in the journal Brain, could help predict whether individuals are at risk of developing OCD and lead to more accurate diagnosis of the disorder.

Obsessive compulsive disorder is a prevalent illness that affects 2–3 % of the population. OCD patients suffer from obsessions (unwanted, recurrent thoughts, concerns with themes of contamination and ‘germs’, the need to check household items in case of fire or burglary, the symmetrical order of objects or fears of harming oneself or others) as well as compulsions (repetitive behaviours related to the obsessions such as washing and carrying out household safety checks). These symptoms can consume the patient’s life, causing severe distress, alienation and anxiety.

OCD is known to run in families. However, the complex set of genes underlying this heritability and exactly how genes contribute to the illness are unknown. Such genes may pose a risk for OCD by influencing brain structure (e.g. the amount and location of grey matter in the brain) which in turn may impact upon an individual’s ability to perform mental tasks.

In order to explore this idea, the researchers used cognitive and brain measures to determine whether there are biological markers of genetic risk for developing OCD. Using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), the Cambridge researchers captured pictures of OCD patients’ brains, as well as those of healthy close relatives (a sibling, parent or child) and a group of unrelated healthy people.

Participants also completed a computerised test that involved pressing a left or right button as quickly as possible when arrows appeared. When a beep noise sounded, volunteers had to attempt to stop their responses. This task objectively measured the ability to stop repetitive behaviours.

Both OCD patients and their close relatives fared worse on the computer task than the control group. This was associated with decreases of grey matter in brain regions important in suppressing responses and habits.

Lara Menzies, in the Brain Mapping Unit at the University of Cambridge, explains, “Impaired brain function in the areas of the brain associated with stopping motor responses may contribute to the compulsive and repetitive behaviours that are characteristic of OCD. These brain changes appear to run in families and may represent a genetic risk factor for developing the condition. The current diagnosis of OCD available to psychiatrists is subjective and therefore knowledge of the underlying causes may lead to better diagnosis and ultimately improved clinical treatments.

“However, we have a long way to go to identify the genes contributing to the distinctive brain structure found in OCD patients and their relatives. We also need to identify other contributing factors for OCD, to understand why close relatives that share similar brain structures don’t always develop the disorder.”

Adapted from materials provided by University of Cambridge.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/11/071126114002.htm

Graphic:  www.sfn.org

 

Is This As Good As Life Gets?

  I used to ask myself, practically every day during my illness; is this it?  What if I never get better?  Does it get any better?

Sounds pessimistic, but my history of recurring hospital admissions and medications that were ineffective, coupled with suicide attempts and unrelenting depression, didn’t illustrate a positive picture.  At separate hospital admissions, I was frequently greeted by the same bed, same patients and same nurses who knew precisely my medications.  Nothing changing; asking “is this as good as it gets?”

It’s frightening, and no one should ever have to endure this type of life.  Depression, for me, proved a nasty existence.  After spending months in hospital, then at last discharged, I would forever feel that I was one footstep away from hospital waters every waking day.  Always just a step away from hell; existing only on the surface.

And now I feel somewhat selfish.  I do have a new life now; but a life filled with stress and I feel overwhelmed at times.  Yes indeed, I have broken free from the jaws of depression to a degree, but now have taken on the next chapter after the illness.  Although I am not consumed with depression and suicidal pain currently, I now must mesh with people and mental illness stigma.  For me, hospitalization was a sort of incarcerated life; that of daily rituals of set meal times and social activities, lights out at 11:30 pm, and scheduled visits from family (friends were long gone).   Then finally discharge, after serving my “time”, which meant adjusting to home life all over again.

Depression tears your life into pieces of paper.  At different stages I had to piece them back together again.  It’s a very difficult life we live with mental illness, and all of us should be congratulated with what we have accomplished.  But to answer the question:  Does it get better?  Yes, it does, but (my opinion only) it’s not without sweat on the brow and a constant daily struggle.

Trauma Earlier In Life May Affect Response To Stress Years Later

ScienceDaily (Nov. 21, 2007) — Researchers have known for years that psychological trauma that results in post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or depression can change how a person responds to stress. Now, Cornell researchers report that rapes, sudden deaths of loved ones, life-threatening accidents and other such traumas may result in long-term changes even if the survivor doesn’t develop a clinical disorder.

“The findings suggest that there may be persistent differences in the stress response in some trauma-exposed people, even if they do not exhibit PTSD or depression or both, and even if their trauma was years in the past,” said Barbara Ganzel, a lecturer in human development in Cornell’s College of Human Ecology.

Ganzel led a team of Cornell researchers, whose study is published in the Journal of Traumatic Stress on the biology of trauma. They assessed a group of women before and after they took their medical admissions tests (MCATs), a stressful experience for most people. Measuring levels of a stress hormone in saliva (cortisol), they found that women who had experienced trauma earlier in life (but who did not have PTSD or major depression) had lower levels cortisol leading up to and after the MCAT exam.

In addition, they found that the women who had experienced trauma kept a negative mood after the test, compared with other women, whose moods lifted significantly after the exams.

Ganzel suspects that the stress response system in these women have compensated or changed over time. The trauma-exposed women showed lower rather than higher levels of cortisol, Ganzel theorized, because “stress initially boosts cortisol output but after the stressor is over, cortisol falls below normal. These data suggest that, in some people, it may fall below normal and stay there, or that it develops a chronic tendency to dip lower than normal under stress.”

The other co-authors are John Eckenrode, Pilyoung Kim, Elaine Wethington, all in human development at Cornell; Eric Horowitz ‘07; and Elise Temple, formerly of Cornell and now at Dartmouth College.

The research was supported by the College of Human Ecology, the Family Life Development Center and the Laboratory for Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience at Cornell, as well as by the National Institute of Mental Health.

Adapted from materials provided by Cornell University.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/11/071120111530.htm

Graphic:  www.revolutionhealth.com

 

Unemployment and Poverty Remain Dramatically High Among Workers With Disabilities

ScienceDaily (Nov. 21, 2007) — There is a dramatic employment and poverty gap between working-age people with disabilities and those without disabilities, according to a new Cornell report.

The Third Annual Disability Status Report, the only report of its kind in the nation, reveals that almost 38 percent of people with disabilities are employed, compared with almost 80 percent of people without disabilities. There are 22.3 million people with disabilities of working age (21-64), which is 13 percent of the total working-age population.

The researchers also found that Americans with disabilities are more than twice as likely to live in poverty — 25.4 percent of working-age Americans with disabilities live in poverty compared with 9.5 percent of those without disabilities. People with disabilities constitute 28 percent of the working-age American population living in poverty.

The Disability Status Report was presented Nov. 7 on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., by Cornell researchers in collaboration with the American Association of People with Disabilities.

“The employment gap for people with disabilities is long-standing,” said Andrew Houtenville, director of Cornell’s Rehabilitation Research and Training Center on Disability Demographics and Statistics (StatsRRTC). “They are not participating in the recovery from the 2001 recession.”

The StatsRRTC, funded by the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research, is part of the Employment and Disability Institute in Cornell’s ILR School and the Department of Policy Analysis and Management in Cornell’s College of Human Ecology.

The reports, issued annually in the fall by Cornell, “fill a pressing need for timely and relevant statistics about people with disabilities,” added Houtenville. “We hope they will become an annual event that policy-makers, advocates, the media and people with disabilities across the United States will anticipate and depend on.”

The report, which contains a range of statistics about people with disabilities, including statistics by state, is available at http://www.DisabilityStatistics.org.

Adapted from materials provided by Cornell University.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/11/071120111550.htm

2 Year Gold Pin

   I received my 2 year anniversary pin at work last week, and for some reason things appear different somehow with me and my job.  I can’t believe I made it this far.

My two years working in a call centre Customer Service department has been a topsy turvy struggle, especially after returning to the workforce after nine years of illness.  The customers are very demanding to deal with at times and frankly they test my patience.  I wrote my “Brown Bagging It” series on the hunt for a job; and in hindsight, that was the uncomplicated part.  One of the chief obstacles was stigma in the workplace; for I lived in major anxiety of anyone finding out my secret living with a mental illness, yet at times I wished they were aware of my struggle each day.

Throughout the course of the two years, there were road blocks; a department reshuffle requiring training (a major challenge and upset due to a new computer system), adjusting to two new managers (one was fired), and now another reshuffle.  I do have problems coping at times, but it is now that I begin to feel differently as far as the mental illness issue is concerned.

I sense as if at the two year mark, that I’ve made my mark and shown the company that I am someone trustworthy, dependable and can handle what is thrown my way.  I will not holler from the rooftops that I have major depression, however, if word does leak out I feel now I will not fall to pieces.  And really, why should this illness be such a secret?  I did nothing wrong.  I know though, I would never disclose that I see a psychiatrist; my years spent in hospitals/institutions, ECT treatments, or tucked away in seclusion on suicide watch.  The general public will never grasp this; there will always be mental illness stigma. 

Low B12 Tied To Faster Mental Decline With Age

November 26, 2007 - NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Low levels of vitamin B12 could speed mental decline in older people, a new study suggests.

Among a group of men and women aged 65 and older, those whose levels of two B12 activity markers indicated higher blood levels of the vitamin had a slower drop-off in cognitive function over 10 years than their peers, researchers found.

Folic acid and vitamin B12 supplements can reduce levels of homocysteine, a protein that has been tied to Alzheimer’s disease, suggesting that supplementing with these B vitamins could ward off dementia, the researchers explain in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. However, folic acid can mask B12 deficiency, and some studies have linked low levels of B12 and high folic acid consumption with faster mental decline.

To better understand the relationship among homocysteine, folic acid, B12 and cognitive function, Dr. Robert Clarke of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom and colleagues followed 1,648 men and women 65 and older whose mental function was tested at least three times over a 10-year period.

The researchers checked levels of the biologically active portion of vitamin B12, holotranscobalamin, as well as methylmalonic acid, a marker for B12 function. Testing for B12 itself has a “poor predictive value,” they note.

There was no association between homocysteine or folate levels and cognitive function, the researchers found. However, lower holotranscobalamin levels and higher methylmalonic acid levels — both of which are markers for low levels of vitamin B12 — were each independently linked to faster mental decline. Higher folate levels along with low B12 levels did not accelerate mental decline.

The findings suggest that doubling a person’s vitamin B12 levels by taking oral supplements could slow cognitive decline by one third, according to Clarke and his team.

Based on the findings, low levels of vitamin B12 appear to precede mental decline, the researchers conclude. “Correction of vitamin B12 deficiency may be appropriate among those with relevant symptoms,” they write.

Current trials comparing vitamin B12 to placebo for heart disease prevention may provide a definitive answer to whether the vitamin can indeed preserve mental function in aging people, they add.

SOURCE: American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, November 2007.

© Reuters 2007  All rights reserved

http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSPAR67027420071126

Deliberate Self-Harm Can Signal Suicide Risk

Wednesday, November 21, 2007 - NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - The characteristics of young patients who commit acts of deliberate self-harm vary widely, but the risk of suicide is

very high in this population, UK investigators report.

“Deliberate self-harm and suicide are both major problems in young people,” Drs. Keith Hawton and Louise Harriss, of the University of Oxford, point out.

“Rates of deliberate self-harm, the term used for the intentional self-poisoning or self-injury in many European countries because of the mixed motivation that is often involved, are highest in young persons,” the researchers write in Journal of Clinical Psychiatry.

The researchers collected information on consecutive deliberate self-harm patients between the ages of 15 and 24 years who were seen at a general hospital over a 20-year period (1978 to 1997). National mortality registers were used to identify deaths recorded up to the end of 2000.

A total of 5,459 subjects were included in the study: 3,432 females and 2,027 males. Overdoses accounted for the majority of deliberate self-harm episodes (90.5 percent). Most of the overdoses - 44 percent — involved acetaminophen (Tylenol). Increases in acetaminophen overdoses (from 33.3 percent to 53.4 percent) and antidepressant overdoses (9.3 percent to 11.9 percent) were observed over the course of the study.

Overdoses of minor tranquilizers and sedatives decreased (18.8 percent to 7.7 percent) decreased during the study. Of the 708 self-injuries, cutting (88.5 percent) accounted for the majority of them. Overall, 36.1 percent of subjects drank alcohol immediately before the deliberate self-harm incident.

The most common problems faced by patients at the time of deliberate self-harm included family difficulties (50.9 percent), problems in a relationship with a partner (45.7 percent), employment problems or problems with studies (41.9 percent), and difficulties with friends (22.5 percent). A prior history of deliberate self-harm was observed in 26.3 percent of patients.

A total of 4,843 subjects were followed-up until the year 2000. Of these, 141 patients (2.9 percent) had died — 90 males (5.0 percent) and 51 females (1.7 percent). The overall risk of death was 4.1 times greater than expected in the general population.

Of the 141 deaths, 81 (57.4 percent) were categorized as probable suicides, a rate 10- times greater than expected. Risk factors for suicide included male sex, previous deliberate self-harm, psychiatric history (for females), and a high suicide intent. There was also an excess number of deaths from respiratory disorders, circulatory disorders, and accidents that did not involve poisoning.

“Assessment of young deliberate self-harm patients must include close attention to interpersonal problems, previous self-harm, previous and current psychiatric problems, alcohol and drug misuse, history of violence and criminality, and suicidal intent,” the investigators conclude.

Treatment programs for young patients who commit acts of deliberate self-harm should focus on improving interpersonal difficulties using strategies such as problem-solving therapy and treating substance abuse and psychiatric disorders, they recommend.

SOURCE: Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, October 2007

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_57882.html

PTSD - Will I Always Be A Victim?

I’ve wanted to write this article for some time now, however, hesitated always, but now I’m feeling strong and the time is right. 

In previous posts, I described my disastrous therapies which pretty much ruined my life; throwing me into a depressive nightmare.  A five-year therapy run ended in 1999, however, I still continued in the throes of mental illness, living in and out of hospitals and institutions and experiencing the redundant effects of ECT.  The childhood sexual abuse issue that consumed me throughout therapy, was put to rest after ending it and discussed only occasionally since then.  Lately though, I have been asking myself, “WILL I ALWAYS BE A VICTIM”?

Short of going into a lengthy, detailed article of my specific abuse; I was sexually abused at aged six by a neighbor for just about two years.  My father was a travelling salesman and my mother enjoyed bingo a couple of nights per week, leaving my brother and me with our next door neighbor, we called “Uncle Fred”.  The worst part of these childhood recollections are not of the abuse, although nightmarish and painful, rather that of the way my parents handled the situation.

The nights of sexual terror became more recurrent and I could cling on to this “secret” no longer; ultimately breaking down and “telling”.  My parents confronted him, which of course he denied any wrong doing.  Confusion and distrust entered my head, when ordered to apologize for causing trouble.

So, on a sweltering, hot afternoon, I walked next door to “UF” house.  Standing there unaccompanied frightened, bewildered, yet furious, I behaved like the noble little girl - rapped lightly on the back door. “UF” came to the door and watched as I stood there respectfully stating “I’m sorry for the trouble that I caused”.  His response was “that’s ok we all make mistakes”.  Those words make me vomit to this day.  They also make me well up with tears.

I recognize in my heart I am not the victim, but occasionally I just feel like the victim and I don’t want this bastard or my parents to win in this.  My mother never likes to have a discussion about this (question why), and proceeds to change the subject if I ever venture into ‘troubled waters’.  Typically she says rather “the past is the past”.  Though that is correct, however, someone who has not experienced abuse, PTSD – in the form of parental physical or mental abuse, childhood sexual/physical abuse, rape, is in my opinion, hardly a judge of the intensity and degree of severity that can impair functioning in a person’s existence.  

If only we might roll back time.  Meet head-on the people who shattered the parts and pieces of our lives, and as a fantasy; see how they would like the tables turned.  How would their life be dissimilar, would they be in therapy, would they perhaps lost relationships, or lost careers, landed in the hospitals, and would they be a strong as us.  I judge not.  Would they then ask themselves why they were so gutless, self-centered, so insecure, and so mean-spirited, negligent….I could go on.

My life changed greatly due to abuse.  Sexual abuse has wrecked havoc during my entire teen -adult life.  I have made amends with my mother (father is deceased), but the memories still remain, and like salt in a wound, they still sting.

Writing this though, has been cathartic.  I WILL NOT BE A VICTIM.  This is just not worth it.  I had to pull myself up by the bootstraps to get where I am now – working full-time again and not living in and out of hospitals; not under a veil of blackness – and I am not going to let go of this.  Forget it.  It still makes me ‘gulp’ though, I become vulnerable and sometimes at a moment’s notice I flip towards feeling like a victim.  Wow this is a toughie.

I would like to introduce you to Victorya’s blog; she has some fantastic writings into the world of PTSD and her experiences.  She writes eloquently her feelings on abuse.

  

Obese Teens May Be At Risk Of Depression Later

By Amy Norton

Thursday, November 22, 2007 - NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Obese teenage girls may be more likely than their thinner peers to develop depression or anxiety disorders as adults, a study suggests.

Researchers found that among nearly 800 children and teenagers followed for 20 years, girls who were obese as teens had a roughly four-times higher risk of clinical depression or anxiety disorders in adulthood.

There was no such link seen among boys, however, the researchers report in the journal Psychosomatic Medicine.

Adult obesity is known to raise the risk of a number of health problems, such as type 2 diabetes and heart disease. For children, though, the most immediate consequences of obesity are often emotional and social — such as being ostracized by their peers.

It’s not clear from this study why obese teenage girls had a higher risk of mental health problems later in life, lead researcher Dr. Sarah E. Anderson told Reuters Health.

But based on other research, social stigmatization and teasing may play a role in some cases, said Anderson, of the Ohio State University College of Public Health in Columbus.

It also makes sense that girls would be more vulnerable than boys, she and her colleagues note in their report. Girls and women face more social pressure to be thin, and at any weight, girls tend to have a poorer body image than their male counterparts do.

Still, Anderson said, more research is needed to understand the reasons for the link between teen obesity and subsequent depression and anxiety in girls. She added that it’s also important to remember that many obese girls in the study did not develop either disorder.

The findings are based on 776 boys and girls who were between the ages of 9 and 18 when they entered the study in 1983. Over the next 20 years, they were assessed three times for major depression and anxiety.

In general, the risk of these disorders was higher among girls who were obese between the ages of 12 and 18 — even when other factors, such as family income, parents’ education and parents’ history of emotional problems, were taken into account.

“Our findings add to a growing body of research suggesting that, particularly for women, obesity may impact upon psychological health and well-being,” Anderson said.

She suggested that teenagers who are concerned about their weight, or about any depression or anxiety symptoms, talk to their parents or another trusted adult.

SOURCE: Psychosomatic Medicine, October 2007.

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_57924.html