SMOKING Increases Anxiety, Suicide Attempts

Everyone knows smoking is bad for them, but nicotine use among people who have bipolar disorder also raises the risk of suicide attempts, substance abuse, anxiety, and a worsening course of the disorder, new research has found.
Michael J. Ostacher, MD, and colleagues evaluated 399 outpatients who have BP disorder and found about 39% of them [...]

NO STIGMA - What Would Your Life Be Like?

What would your life be like or your family’s life be like if there was no stigma attached to mental illness?
Do you believe your life would alter dramatically?  What changes do you imagine you would observe the most?  What would you desire to say to anyone, anywhere (fantasy world here)?
For me, I would be able [...]

Many Parents Want Distance Between Own Kids and Those With Mental Illness

Date: March 21, 2007
Science Daily — New research suggests that Americans are more likely to socially reject children with mental illness than they are those with physical illnesses such as asthma.
“Many respondents did not want their children to become friends with other kids identified as having mental illnesses or have them come over to spend [...]

Waving Good-Bye to Therapy - AGAIN

So, three times lucky.  I was able to conquer my upsets, ‘flying off the handle’ anger, sleepless nights and feeling just plain crappolla in only three sessions.  Geez, last time it took five years.  I still, of course, need to deal with the ever lying problem of perfectionism, self-confidence and self-esteem.  That will still take [...]

IS THERE A PSYCHIATRIST IN THE HOUSE????

I have been living within the mental health system since early 1994, and diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder  in 1995. Psychiatrists are key to dealing with mental illness, for without their monitoring of medications and in-patient/out-patient counseling, the illness can lead to an unmanageable life.
Living with mental illness at the best of times is difficult, however, untreated [...]

Self-Confidence - Will I Ever Get It Back?

o    Confidence is trust or faith that a person or thing is capable
.o    Self-confidence is having confidence in oneself.
o    Overconfidence is having unmerited confidence- believing something or someone is capable when they are not.
Usually when someone is referred to as ‘confident’ they are referring to self-confidence.
Self-confidence is faith in one’s own abilities. People with high [...]

The Psychotherapy Mess (Re-Write)- A Few Things More I’d Like To Say

I concur that a number of people have been ‘saved’ by psychotherapy, and that is wonderful, however, when is the finale time for therapy.  For me was 5 years a little absurd?  Five years of non-stop, re-living the long-ago hurts and dreadful memories.  My therapist should have taken the ‘bull by the horns’, so to [...]

Many U.S. Immigrants Can’t Read Prescription Labels

New York City study finds most instructions aren’t translated
By Robert Preidt 
FRIDAY, April 27, 2007 (HealthDay News) — Few New York City pharmacies translate prescription drug labels from English into other languages, posing a serious risk to patients who don’t speak English, researchers say.
“Imagine, as an English speaker, picking up a prescription with a label in Chinese [...]

Psych Meds: Dancing With My Pink & Whites

I’ve discovered the correct med combo for my BP II.  That in itself is in comparison to winning the lottery.  I at long last won the med lottery with my pink (Lithium) and white (Lamictal) combo.  It only took eight years, but I really am “Dancing with my Pink and Whites”.
Actually, I have the main [...]

Students With Symptoms of Mental Illness Often Don’t Seek Help

Source: University of Michigan
Date: June 24, 2007
Science Daily — Studies show that the incidence of mental illness on college campuses is rising, and a new survey of 2,785 college students indicates that more than half of students with significant symptoms of anxiety or depression do not seek help.
This is despite the fact that resources are [...]

Fewer Kids on SSRI Antidepressants

Wednesday, July 4, 2007
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Within 2 years after the October 2003 FDA public health advisory about the risk of suicide in children taking a type of antidepressant called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), significant reductions in rates of diagnosis and antidepressant treatment of childhood depression occurred, researchers report.
“Antidepressant use was [...]

Psychoquackery?

 I wrote an article recently “The Psychotherapy Mess”, entailing my ‘mess’ with the whole psychotherapy process.  Thinking it was just perhaps me negatively affected by this form of therapy, I discovered this amazing article written in Newsweek.
 I am back in therapy, just for the short term, to help me deal with work issues.  For me, [...]

Incarceration

                               
Bolted down.  Incarcerated.
 
Eyes open slowly and encircle a dingy room.  Everything is bolted; windows, a desk, chairs, and including this bed. 
Is it daybreak?  A rap on the door abruptly startles me, followed by a female voice stating, “breakfast and meds”.
 
I prefer not recalling what happened last evening, dialing the Distress Center, talking at [...]

Medicaid Recipients Have Trouble Finding Mental Health Care

Substance abuse programs, too, are concentrated in community, not hospital, settings
HealthDay, By Krisha McCoy
MONDAY, July 2 (HealthDay News) — Medicaid beneficiaries with substance abuse and mental disorders are less likely to use community services, even though most of the medical help for these disorders is community-based, a new study finds.
The study, which is published in [...]

Triggering Triggers

Triggers can pop up just about anywhere.  Just when you think that you have tackled an issue, whether it is dealing with a traumatic experience or re-living memories in a condition called (PTSD), post-traumatic stress disorder; triggers are there.
For me, I have been through therapy, and experienced the tough therapy road dealing with PTSD.  A [...]

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - Triggers

An extremely painful or stressful event can trigger symptoms
– Diana Kohnle
(HealthDay News) — Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a psychological condition in which a person may re-live an extremely painful or traumatic experience. People of any age may have flashbacks, painful memories, or nightmares about the event that frightened them.
These episodes may occur months or [...]

High Health Costs Hit U.S. Women Harder

High Health Costs Hit U.S. Women Harder
They require more care but have lower incomes, research shows
By Robert Preidt, Thursday, April 19, 2007
THURSDAY, April 19 (HealthDay News) — American women are more likely than men to go without needed health care, because they can’t afford it, a new report finds.
The report was released Thursday by the [...]

Gabapentin May Treat Fibromyalgia Pain

CINCINNATI, June 11 (UPI) — U.S. scientists say the anticonvulsant medication Gabapentin might be effective in treating pain and other symptoms arising from fibromyalgia.
The results stem from a randomized, double-blind study of 150 women and men with the condition, sponsored by the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases.
Dr. Lesley Arnold, director of [...]

Lucky Charm

THANKFUL AND UNLUCKY LUCKY     
Most of us living with mental illness; it’s not uncommon to feel bitter and regret.  Why did this happen to me?  Why did the illness pick me?   I, too, am the cynic at times.
I was inspired by a beautiful post on this site Jamila Lighthouse, and this made me think – [...]

SUICIDE: THE TABOO WORD

Suicide: definition…is an act of willfully ending one’s life.
Males die much more often than females by suicide, while females attempt suicide more often.
U.S. Caucasians commit suicide more often than African Americans do.
People commit suicide more often during spring and summer.
Suicidal ideation produces the perilous side of mental illness, acting as both a friend and seducer. Even [...]

STIGMA - And Mental Illness

What is stigma?
When someone appears to be different than us, we may view him or her in a negative stereotyped manner. People who have identities that society values negatively are said to be stigmatized.
Stigma is a reality for people with a mental illness, and they report that how others judge them is one of their [...]

STIGMA - IN THE WORKPLACE

STIGMA ~~
Considering so many people have such difficulty opening up to people close to them, it’s no wonder that there are real fears about being stigmatized in the workplace. The cost of mental illness in the workplace is enormous: 30 to 40 per cent of disability claims are for mental illness, and the losses amount [...]

What Exactly Is A ‘NERVOUS BREAKDOWN?"

What is a nervous breakdown? What causes people to have them?
Mayo Clinic psychiatrist Daniel Hall-Flavin, M.D., answers:
The term “nervous breakdown” is used by the public to characterize a wide range of mental illnesses. Nervous breakdown is not a medical term and doesn’t indicate a specific mental illness. Generally, the term describes a person who is [...]

What does “CLINICAL DEPRESSION” mean?

What does the term “clinical depression” mean?
Mayo Clinic psychiatrist Daniel Hall-Flavin, M.D., answers:
Depressive disorders range in seriousness from mild, temporary episodes of sadness to severe, persistent depression. Doctors use the term “clinical depression” to describe the more severe, persistent form of depression. Signs and symptoms may include:
·         Loss of interest in daily activities
·         Persistent [...]