What is Munchausen Syndrome?

Munchausen syndrome is a serious mental disorder in which someone pretends to be sick or deliberately causes illness or injury in order to fulfill deep emotional needs. People with Munchausen syndrome may make up symptoms, push for risky operations, or try to rig laboratory test results in their effort to win sympathy and concern. Today, [...]

Love this photo

Love this photo

Number of Smoke-Free Households on the Increase

 
CDC report found the proportion went from 43% in 1993 to 72% in 2003
 By Robert Preidt 
THURSDAY, May 24, 2007 (HealthDay News) — The proportion of American households that forbid smoking increased from 43 percent in 1992-93 to 72 percent in 2003, a new government report shows.
However, rates of smoke-free households varied widely among states. In both [...]

ALZHEIMER and DEMENTIA: Brain Structure Changes

Alzheimer’s And Dementia: Brain Structure Changes Years Before Memory Loss Begins

Science Daily — People who develop dementia or Alzheimer’s disease experience brain structure changes years before any signs of memory loss begin, according to a study published in the April 17, 2007, issue of Neurology®, the scientific journal of the American Academy of Neurology. Researchers [...]

CATS & DOGS CHILLING OUT WITH PROZAC

LOS ANGELES, Jan. 10 (UPI) — A growing number of U.S. pets and zoo animals are overcoming anxieties and mellowing their behavior with the use of human anti-depressants, a report said.
The Los Angeles Times said over the last decade, Prozac, Buspar and Amitriptyline have been introduced into the veterinary world to treat cats for indoor [...]

Psychopharmacology

Psychopharmacology is the study of drug-induced changes in mood, thinking, and behavior. These drugs may originate from natural sources such as plants and animals, or from artificial sources such as chemical syntheses in the laboratory. These drugs interact with particular target sites or receptors found in the nervous system to induce widespread changes in physiological [...]

Bipolar: Suicidal Behavior Varies Among Different Phases

January 1, 2007, HELSINKI, Finland ~~ There are marked differences in suicidal behavior during the different phases of bipolar disorder, new research has found.
Researchers from Finland screened more than 1,600 psychiatric inpatients and outpatients for bipolar disorder and examined how suicidal ideas and risk varied among the different phases: depression, mixed, manic, and hypomanic.
The study [...]

Brain’s ‘Default Mode’ Awry In Schizophrenia

Source:Yale University
Date:March 14, 2007

Science Daily — The “default mode,” or baseline condition when the brain is idling, is not properly coordinated in patients with schizophrenia and this aberrant activity may be caused by poor connectivity between brain networks, a Yale School of Medicine researcher reports.
Co-author Godfrey Pearlson, M.D., professor of psychiatry, said he and his [...]

UNDERSTANDING TEEN SUICIDE

Author: Eric Sabo
Medically Reviewed On: December 13, 2005
What causes someone to go from thinking about suicide to attempting it?
Dr. David Shaffer, the director of child and adolescent psychology at Columbia University and a leading expert on suicidal behavior, says that the causes may be complex, but the patterns are usually straightforward. In recognizing the early [...]

Weather Can Make The Swings of Bipolar Disorder More Severe

Recent studies have shown that the mood swings associated with bipolar disorder may be tied to the changing of the seasons. In these studies, people with bipolar disorder were more likely to experience manic episodes, periods of extreme euphoria, during the warmer months of spring and summer than in the winter and fall.
http://sciencedaily.healthology.com/mental-health/article998.htm

Depression & Brain Cells

Depression can impair memory, but early treatment with antidepressants may stop the decline. New research at McMaster University in Hamilton, Canada found that people with a history of depression didn’t perform as well on word recall as those without psychiatric problems. Previous research has also shown that depressed people have smaller brain regions such [...]

Lithium Cuts Suicide Risk in Recurrent Depression

Yahoo! News
Reuters
Fri Apr 13 1:29 PM ET
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - In people suffering from recurrent major depressive disorder, treatment with lithium reduces the risk that they’ll commit or attempt suicide, according to a new study.
Lithium is commonly used to treat bipolar disorder, or manic depression. Because the drug has shown significant anti-suicide effects in [...]

Radical Medicine, Radical Treatment

Treatment for mental illness took a turn in the mid 1940’s with ECT (electroconvulsive therapy) and insulin shock therapy and the use of frontal lobotomy. In modern times, insulin shock therapy and lobotomies are viewed as being almost as barbaric as the Bedlam “treatments”. The effect of a lobotomy on an overly excitable patient often [...]

Chronic Headaches Leave Women Prone to Depression

Women’s Health MSN
Researcher says mental state can influence course of pain management
– Krisha McCoy
MONDAY, Jan. 8 (HealthDay News) — Women who suffer from chronic headaches are at greater risk of depression.
That’s the conclusion of a study published in the Jan. 9 issue of Neurology.
It’s estimated that 18 million American women are affected by headache.
The new [...]

Little Evidence Omega-3 Fights Depression

February 14, 2007 8:40:40 PM PST Yahoo! News
Article Source: Yahoo! Health (HealthDay News)
WEDNESDAY, Feb. 14 (HealthDay News) — There’s no evidence that omega-3 fatty acids on their own fight depression and only limited evidence that they’re effective against depression when used in combination with antidepressant drugs, according to new research.
Previous studies had suggested an association [...]

MENTAL ILLNESS: Just The Facts, Ma’am…

Mental illness: is it an intellectual disability or brain damage?
NO. It is an illness just like any other: heart disease, diabetes, asthma.
Is it incurable and lifelong?
NO. With effective, on-going treatment, an individual may lead an everyday life
Are people born with a mental illness?
The causes are unclear. A predisposition to some mental illnesses, such as schizophrenia, [...]

Ooh…Shouldn’t have said that Kate…

The January 19th issue of LIFE weekend magazine included a short interview profile of Kate Walsh, the actress on the television show Grey’s Anatomy. For “weekend attire,” she stated as her preference: “Men’s flannel pajamas all day. I can look like a mental patient.”
Once again, mental illness stigma

Easter Lilly Happy Easter

Easter Lilly
Happy Easter

PSYCHOTHERAPY - Is this the route to go?

Definition
Psychotherapy can be defined as a means of treating psychological or emotional problems such as neurosis or personality disorder through verbal and nonverbal communication. It is the treatment of psychological distress through talking with a specially trained therapist and learning new ways to cope rather than merely using medication to alleviate the distress. It [...]

OCD - Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

What is it?
Imagine being so worried about cleanliness that simply popping out to the shop means having to wash your hands again and again before leaving your house. And immediately after you leave, having to go back to wash them again because you touched the door handle and may have picked up some microscopic germ.
Or [...]