mental health
purepedantry | June 25, 2008There was a very sad article in the NYTimes about the regular practice in some long-term care facilities of treating demented patients with anti-psychotic medications like Risperdal, Seroquel and Zyprexa:
The use of antipsychotic drugs to tamp down the agitation, combative behavior and outbursts of dementia patients has soared, especially in the elderly. Sales of newer antipsychotics like Risperdal, Seroquel and Zyprexa totaled $13.1 billion in 2007, up from $4 billion in 2000, according to IMS Health, a health care information company.
Part of this increase can be traced to prescriptions in…
grrlscientist | June 20, 2008tags: Anthropologists on Mars, autism, mental health, documentary, streaming video
This streaming video is a short documentary that explores notions of happiness within the autistic spectrum. [4:56].
grrlscientist | June 4, 2008tags: researchblogging.org, psychology, trauma, emotions, 9-11, psychological health
To talk or not to talk, apparently that is the question, especially after a collective catastrophe, such as 9-11 or the Virginia Tech University shootings. A paper that will be published in the June issue of Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology reveals that -- contrary to current opinion -- verbally expressing one's emotions is not necessary to cope successfully with a community tragedy, and in fact, doing so might actually be harmful.
Expressing one's emotions in the aftermath of a community…
purepedantry | May 30, 2008I had the privilege of seeing Hamlet last night at Shakespeare in the Park. I say the privilege because the production was as usual excellent. For those of you who don't know, it is a New York tradition for the Public Theater to host plays by Shakespeare -- usually two -- over the summer free to the public. The production attract competent and relatively famous actors. This year, they decided to do Hamlet which they apparently haven't done for more than 30 years when Sam Waterston played the lead. Sam Waterston is back as Polonius. Michael Stuhlbarg plays the lead, and Lauren Ambrose…
purepedantry | March 20, 2008Mind Hacks discusses an editorial in the American Journal of Psychiatry that argues that the DSM-IV -- the diagnostic manual that psychiatrists use to diagnose mental disorders -- should include internet addiction. Vaughan is quite legitimately skeptical:
Rather curiously, the editorial mentions the figure that 86% of people with 'internet addiction' have another mental illness. What this suggests is that heavy use of the internet is not the major problem that brings people into treatment.
In fact, 'internet addiction', however it is defined, is associated with depression and anxiety but no-…
grrlscientist | February 28, 2008tags: researchblogging.org, bipolar disorder, clinical depression, mental illness, mood disorder, functional genomics, blood test, biomarkers
Image: Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
According to the United States Department of Health and Human Services, serious mental illnesses affect approximately 44 million Americans. Serious mental illnesses include mood disorders; depression and bipolar disorder. Unfortunately, correctly diagnosing mental illnesses, such as bipolar disorder, appears to be a sort of voodoo science that depends upon the skill of the mental health professional…
grrlscientist | February 11, 2008I am so frustrated. Today is, in effect, another day wasted at the hospital, trying to get my meds. Except today, they informed me that they want a bazillion pieces of paper from me so they know how to "stabilize my fee scale." Of course, this required me to wait for hours in many many lines, just to learn this tiny piece of information. I really really wanted to ask them why they aren't interested in all the paperwork for those lawsuits for my many emergency room bills .. apparently, they don't want those, they only want to know how much money I am bringing in each week, and they don't care…
omnibrain | February 1, 2008Here's a wonderful spoof of .. well... I'm not really sure what. Perhaps an old Documentary focusing on the diseases of the mind? In any case it's terribly entertaining.
omnibrain | January 18, 2008Just a short note via Sports Illustrated:
Georgia football legend Herschel Walker is expected to reveal in an upcoming book that he has multiple personalities -- a revelation that surprises the man who coached the 1982 Heisman Trophy winner.
...
"Breaking Free" will chronicle Walker's life with multiple personality disorder, according to Shida Carr, the book's publicist at Simon & Schuster.
Carr said the book will be published in August, but gave no other details and declined to provide excerpts.
I wonder whether this developed after football? I'm curious to see the book when it comes…
omnibrain | January 18, 2008Don't play any of the embedded videos if you've ever had a seizure.
Now that we're done with the warning...
We've all heard of the Pokemon incident in Japan where nearly 700 school aged children were admitted to the hospital with "convulsions, vomiting, irritated eyes and other symptoms" common to epilepsy. This lead to a number of government investigations and media companies searching their offerings to determine whether any of their shows had similar scenes that might induce photosensitive epilepsy. According to a CNN report of the incidents:
Dr. Yukio Fukuyama, a juvenile epilepsy…
sb admin | January 6, 2008 It's a new year, bringing new changes. I've decided to quit Omni Brain and move on to less important things, like creating baffling and somewhat offensive art and writing more books that I won't want anyone to read. It's been fun to be here, though. I'm grateful to Steve for being a terrific co-blogger, thankful to ScienceBlogs for hosting, and am glad we've all shared lots of laughs.
There's been plenty of silliness and also some seriousness. On pondering what to write in a farewell post, it seems appropriate to share a piece of writing I never really knew what to do with. It exposes the…
sb admin | December 28, 2007Brain Candy, a film by Toronto's sketch comedy troupe Kids in the Hall, is a satirical take on drug development. A scientist creates an antidepressant (Gleemonex) that evokes the happiest memory of the consumer, recreating that joy in the present. Gleemonex becomes a big success, until it all goes horribly wrong... a very funny film.
Here's a holiday-related clip in which the first test subject takes the drug. We see the capsule enter her system after she swallows it, then the drug reaches her brain and takes effect. Her happiest memory is a Christmas visit from her son and his family. "…
sb admin | December 20, 2007Fortune has announced the year's 101 Dumbest Moments in Business, including Prozac for dogs.
"Thank God. We've been so worried since Lucky dyed his hair jet black and started listening to the Smiths."
"Eli Lilly wins FDA approval to put Prozac into chewable, beef-flavored pills to treat separation anxiety in dogs."
It's not just dogs - cats are treated with SSRI antidepressants, along with psychotherapy. If treatment fails to calm behaviour, the next step is neutering. Imagine that veterinary approach integrating with current practices for humans. Patients who have trouble with adhering to…
sb admin | December 18, 2007The Onion shares news of a drug designed to alleviate distrust of drug manufacturers.
"Out of a test group of 180, 172 study participants reported a dramatic rise in their passion for pharmaceutical companies," said Pfizer director of clinical research Suzanne Frost. "And 167 asked their doctors about a variety of prescription medications they had seen on TV."
Frost said a small percentage of test subjects showed an interest in becoming lobbyists for one of the top five pharmaceutical companies, and several browsed eBay for drug-company apparel.
PharmAmorin, available in 100-, 200-, and 400-…
omnibrain | December 16, 2007I always joke around that I would make the worst therapist since my 'therapy' would consist of something like this:
Surprisingly (well maybe not that surprisingly since the internet appeared) this method seems to be practiced somewhere seriously. The Kadir-Buxton Method involves:
making a fist of both hands, and striking both ears of the patient at exactly the same time and pressure with the soft part of the inner hand which is where the thumb joins the hand.
So let me get this straight... I hit someone hard in the head and it cures things like: Manic depression, eating disorders,…
grrlscientist | December 8, 2007You may not remember this, but one year ago today, I was discharged from the nuthouse after being hospitalized for a little longer than four months. What a long journey it's been since that day, one year ago. I was intensely lonely and barely functional for oh so many months, and the doctors were constantly worried and wished to send me back to the hospital (they even made housecalls), but I managed to maintain my freedom and to survive. I still experience many rough days and many setbacks, and I am still working on getting my feet under me and "regaining functionality" even today. But…
purepedantry | December 6, 2007I was distressed to wake up this morning to coverage of another shooting, this time in a mall in Omaha. A teenager named Robert Hawkins went into the mall and shot 12 people, killing 8 thus far, and then shot himself. The scene resembled the Virginia Tech shooting in several regards, particularly because there is some indication that the shooter in both cases was mentally ill.
The BBC had this coverage:
Robert Hawkins, who killed eight people then himself on a gun rampage through a Nebraska mall, had "lots of emotional problems", says the woman who took him in after he left home.
Debora…
omnibrain | November 27, 2007Whenever I meet someone new and I tell them I'm studying psychology I inevitably get asked the ever annoying question "Are you analyzing me right now?" which of course always leads to the same response from me, "I'm as qualified to analyze or give therapy as an engineering student." Which is not at all.
I'm thinking of changing that response to "English majors are more qualified to do that than any psychology student." After all, the humanities and other social sciences seem to be paying much more attention to the classic analysis of old, namely psychoanalysis than any self-respecting…
sb admin | November 23, 2007This Friday is a holiday (in America, at least) and what's better on a holiday than a rerun? Yay for reruns. So, I've written about the Amygdaloids before, but here's an introduction video in case you didn't see it (or want to enjoy it again). Also, this band of rockin' cognitive scientists has a CD available now.
The Amygdaloids: Live concert at Union Hall
Preview their new CD here (buy it here) alongside descriptions of each brain-based song.
"Past lovers often leave strong and enduring memories. 'A Trace' tells a story about this. Memory researchers in the know will figure out that the…
sb admin | November 19, 2007I couldn't wait for Multimedia Friday to post this video, it's just too funny.
I Am the Very Model of a Psychopharmacologist is set to Gilbert and Sullivan's classic song with animation. Created by Stephen M Stahl, MD, PhD, of the Neurosciences Education Institute, Adjunct Professor of Psychiatry at the University of California San Diego, author of Essential Psychopharmacology. Credentials for neuropsychopharmacological hilarity.