Quebec woman Nathalie Blanchard poses on the beach in a Facebook photograph that convinced her insurance company that she was no longer depressed.Can you really determine someone’s mental state by looking at a photograph? Manulife, a Canadian-based financial services company, apparently thinks so. Nathalie Blanchard, a... 29-year-old IBM employee from Quebec, took a long-term sick leave from her job after being diagnosed with major depression....Read More
Source:World of Psychology
Posted:2009-11-21 00:17:30 GMT
Earlier this month, I was honored to attend the 25th Annual Rosalynn Carter Symposium on Mental Health Policy in Atlanta, Georgia. The focus of this symposium every year is to tackle a particular issue in mental health policy, population or care. This year focused, fittingly enough, on health care reform and how mental... health and substance abuse programs need to be an integrated part of that effort: Currently health care in this...Read More
Source:World of Psychology
Posted:2009-11-20 19:05:44 GMT
Back in May, I told you about Mary Forsberg Weiland’s then-upcoming memoir, Fall to Pieces: A Memoir of Drugs, Rock ‘N’ Roll & Mental Illness. The book has since released and there’s been an increase in attention paid to that particular Celebrity Psychings post, which is sort of unfortunate because, well, it doesn’t e...xactly offer any “news.” This morning, however, I was directed to an interview with Weiland posted yesterday at...Read More
Source:Celebrity Psychings
Posted:2009-11-20 18:29:04 GMT
Parenting can be so difficult when you use too much of a good thing and not enough of another. I’m taking a cue from one of my fair readers who commented on the mother-daughter post a few days ago. It’s about being too strict or too lenient, and then finding yourself on the opposite extreme end trying to make up for it. I understand this well. While I do believe I generally...
Source:Family Mental Health
Posted:2009-11-20 16:31:09 GMT
Point 1 What exists? Does yesterday exist now? Does tomorrow exist now? Of course, not. Our thoughts of yesterday may exist now if we are now thinking of yesterday. Our thoughts of tomorrow may exist now if we are now thinking of tomorrow. But now neither yesterday nor tomorrow exists. What about the moment a second ago when you started reading this blog?...
Posted:2009-11-20 15:12:54 GMT
Today I’m really happy to bring to you Ronald Alexander, Ph.D., who is a licensed psychotherapist in Santa Monica, Ca, practicing mindfulness-based psychotherapy, Director of the Open Mind Training Institute, adjunct faculty at Pepperdine University and Pacifica Graduate Institute, and author of the very interesting new book Wise Mind, Open Mind: Finding Purpose & Meaning in Times of Crisis, Loss & Change....
Posted:2009-11-20 14:15:08 GMT
A new report on parental concerns about the safety of their children’s lives online reveals a wide range of opinion, although some common themes do emerge. According to the researchers, of those parents with kids online, nearly two-thirds are concerned (32 percent very concerned) about online sexual predators. Similar...ly, about two-thirds of parents are concerned about loss of privacy (22 percent very concerned) and about one-half (21 percent are very concerned)...Read More
Source:Psych Central News
Posted:2009-11-20 13:45:20 GMT
Researchers have announced a second positive trial of an aerosol spray medication, termed PSD502, used to treat premature ejaculation (PE). PE is defined as a male sexual dysfunction characterized by ejaculation which always or nearly always occurs prior to or within about one minute of vaginal penetration. Premature ...ejaculation has a host of negative personal consequences for both partners ranging from distress to frustration or the avoidance of sexual intimacy. Results of the...Read More
Source:Psych Central News
Posted:2009-11-20 13:30:07 GMT
A new summary analysis discovers an individual can improve two health behaviors concurrently — rebuffing the contention that embarking on a smoking cessation program will ruin a woman’s effort to lose weight. Many women believe nicotine suppresses the appetite and boosts metabolism and would rather take the health ris...ks associated with smoking rather than being overweight. But a new meta-analysis (results of several studies) shows that women who quit smoking while receiving...Read More
Source:Psych Central News
Posted:2009-11-20 13:16:04 GMT
A new study warns that phthalates, a family of chemical substances used primarily to make polyvinyl chloride (PVC) soft and flexible, may be associated with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Phthalates have been used for more than 50 years and are important components of many consumer products, including toys, cleaning materials, plastics, and personal care items....
Source:Psych Central News
Posted:2009-11-20 13:15:26 GMT
Swedish researchers have developed a technique that analyzes inflammatory substances in cerebrospinal fluid — the liquid that surrounds the brain and spinal cord. Using this method they discovered patients with recent-onset schizophrenia have higher levels of inflammatory substances in their brains. Although the cause... of schizophrenia is unknown, this new finding may give support to the theory that infections early in life might increase the risk of developing schizophrenia....Read More
Source:Psych Central News
Posted:2009-11-20 13:14:47 GMT
It’s that time of the year again, when we pull together our top picks for mental health and psychology stories in the news in the past year. There’s no magic to our choices, we’re just looking for stories that you believe had the biggest positive or negative impact in this area....
Source:World of Psychology
Posted:2009-11-20 13:13:04 GMT
I have a lot of issues; please help me. I don’t even know where to start. I’m a 16 year old male living in New York. I am extremely shy and beat myself up over every mistake I’ve made. I literally see a mental picture of myself being punched, slapped, abused, shot, decapitated, multilated, head crushed with a building, etc....
Source:Ask the Therapist
Posted:2009-11-20 11:00:50 GMT
I’m pleased to announce the introduction of two new blogs here in the Psych Central family. The first is from Leigh Pretnar Cousins, MS called Always Learning. Leigh is a private tutor and is studying in educational psychology. Although her blog will focus on the topic of educational psychology and learning, she belie...ves these lessons are of value to all of us throughout life: Every day my work teaches me some lesson...Read More
Source:World of Psychology
Posted:2009-11-19 19:27:02 GMT
I’d like to offer you a meditation (if you read and visualize) or an actual exercise that you can do if it’s sunny outside. Imagine that you’re walking down the sidewalk (or a trail) with the sun right behind you. As you walk, you’ll be able to see your shadow right in front of you....
Posted:2009-11-19 15:10:41 GMT
To get us in the mood for the Thanksgiving Holiday! Cicero said that “gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all the others.” The English preacher John Henry Jowett wrote that “every virtue divorced from thankfulness is maimed and limps along the spiritual road.” And according to Aseop Fables,... “gratitude is the sign of noble souls.” A dear professor of mine just acknowledged a thank-you note I...Read More
Source:World of Psychology
Posted:2009-11-19 14:03:26 GMT
A new study suggests meditation may be an effective modality to mitigate blood pressure, anxiety, depression, and anger among at-risk college students. “The Transcendental Meditation Program, a widely-used standardized program to reduce stress, showed significant decreases in blood pressure and improved mental health i...n young adults at risk for hypertension,” said David Haaga, PhD, co-author of the study and professor of psychology at American University in Washington, D.C....Read More
Source:Psych Central News
Posted:2009-11-19 14:00:47 GMT
Experts are concerned with a finding that suggests chronic pain patients with a history of depression are much more likely to receive prescriptions of opioid medications. Opioid medication include drugs such as Vicodin, OxyContin, Percodan, and Percocet. Researchers discovered chronic pain patients with a history of d...epression are three times more likely to receive a prescription for this class of drug as compared to pain patients who do not suffer from depression. The...Read More
Source:Psych Central News
Posted:2009-11-19 13:59:59 GMT
We all know the joke about the individual who could not walk and chew gum at the same time. Now, the joke becomes reality as new studies warn of dangers associated with talking over a cell phone while walking. Two new studies of pedestrian safety found that using a cell phone while strolling can place one in peril....
Source:Psych Central News
Posted:2009-11-19 13:59:07 GMT
IA new study explores the issues a woman confronts when she is the primary support for the family. According to a University of Missouri scholar, female breadwinners experience a range of emotions and challenges ranging from control, independence, ambition, pressure, worry, guilt and resentment. Dr. Rebecca Meisenbach... believes there are more and more female breadwinners in industrialized societies and they challenge the traditional Western gender norms. In many countries, the male as breadwinner...Read More
Source:Psych Central News
Posted:2009-11-19 13:58:57 GMT
Bipolar disorder gets a lot of bad press, even among those of us who have struggled with it in our lives. I have noticed this particularly online, from exasperated family members and exhausted individuals with bipolar who haven’t yet found effective treatment. I wonder whether it’s just the nature of the beast....
Source:Bipolar Beat
Posted:2009-11-19 12:00:26 GMT
I have a cousin that filed for a divorce, her daughter was raped a week later and she is currently taking chemo for cancer. She had her doctor prescribe xanax for her anixiety attacks. I don’t know if she is overmedicating or mixing drugs so I don’t know how to help. She has floated out of this universe and has no concept of what is going on around her....
Source:Ask the Therapist
Posted:2009-11-19 11:00:48 GMT
The more I have learned about postpartum depression, the more I realized how much misinformation is out there. Television, magazines, and the Internet continue to over dramatize and politicize postpartum mental disorders. Or, they are completely dismissive of new mothers truly concerned about their mental health. Right now, I’ll just take you through a comparison of two very common postpartum mental conditions....
Source:Family Mental Health
Posted:2009-11-19 01:21:35 GMT
In case you missed it, NBC gave its Nightly News “Making a Difference” series a celebrity spin last week and shined the spotlight on five celebrities who are currently heavily engaged in charity work: Alicia Keys, for her work with Keep a Child Alive, the organization that provides life-saving medication, support and ...care to children and families in Africa that have been affected by AIDS. Bon Jovi, for the Jon Bon Jovi Soul...Read More
Source:Celebrity Psychings
Posted:2009-11-18 19:05:25 GMT
Mindfulness has really broken out in a big way, becoming very popular among more and more people. However, there is a danger here that we need to all be aware of. The way of approaching life can bear wonderful fruit, it has been shown to reduce stress and anxiety, prevent against future relapse of depression, change pe...rception of chronic pain, help with eating disorders, cultivate joy, compassion, kindness, satisfaction with life...Read More
Posted:2009-11-18 17:55:39 GMT
Darkness Calls A bullied young man in the Arctic resists suicidal thoughts through comic book battles with a demon, in an epic animated story. Subtitled in English, narrated in the Gitxsan language.
Source:Channel N
Posted:2009-11-18 16:30:27 GMT
In recent weeks, several articles have appeared previewing the work to be published in November’s Psychological Science in the Public Interest. In this article, the authors allege that the majority of psychotherapists fail to use empirically validated treatments. Furthermore they suggest that millions of people are get...ting therapy based on the personal theories of their therapists rather than on the substantial research studies that support specific types of therapy for specific...Read More
Source:Anxiety and OCD Exposed
Posted:2009-11-18 15:40:16 GMT
It is naive to believe that people will respond to stressful events in exactly the same way. Actually, it is stupid. Which is why I am slightly ticked off this morning by an opinion piece written by the Washington Post’s Pulitzer Prize winning columnist Charles Krauthammer. In it, Krauthammer, a psychiatrist who has no...t practiced for decades, slams those of us who believe what he skeptically calls “Secondary Post Traumatic Stress Disorder,” “Vicarious...Read More
Source:Depression on My Mind
Posted:2009-11-18 15:27:09 GMT
Break some rules. No, this is not a call for a rebellion. We tend to be pretty rule bound, stuck in patterns of behaviors. I invite you to break some nominal rules that are really not all that important in the overall scheme of things. Start the day on a different note. Go off the autopilot....
Posted:2009-11-18 13:01:28 GMT
A Norwegian study has found that the risk of dying from depression is analogous to morbidity from smoking. Interestingly, if an individual displays anxiety along with depression, then the risk of dying is less than that of depression alone. Researchers at the University of Bergen, Norway, and the Institute of Psychiat...ry (IoP) at King’s College London discovered the relationship while comparing survey findings of 60,000 people to that of a comprehensive...Read More
Source:Psych Central News
Posted:2009-11-18 11:54:59 GMT
