mental health
sb admin | November 16, 2007
Anti-drug ad parody that's also an anti-drug ad itself. This is Your Brain on Heroin: Any Questions?.
sb admin | November 12, 2007There's a revolutionary mental health claim in a hot new article - Therapeutic Efficacy of Cash in the Treatment of Anxiety and Depressive Disorders: Two Case Studies (e-pub ahead of print).
The first case report involves a man who was laid off and lost his pension; after treatment with various SSRIs and sedatives with numerous side effects, the patient came into the office free of depressive symptoms. He claimed to have won the lottery, which fMRI brain scans [shown here] confirmed with evidence of a complete remission. In the second case, a single mother of four found her anxiety and…
sb admin | October 26, 2007In time for Halloween:
Trailer for Central State: Asylum for the Insane. A filmmaker prowls a closed mental institution to "...uncover the mysteries left behind when the facilities closed in 1994." There's lots of shaky handheld camerawork in poorly lit tunnels, and shakier rumours of ghosts, but no exploration into the disappearance of former patients. Homelessness and prisons, that's scary, not the supposed ghosts that a supposed psychic says are "like a tornado" in the building.
What's actually "menacing and still threatening" is not an old hospital but the stigma attached to mental…
omnibrain | October 5, 2007Have you ever wanted a pre-frontal lobotomy?! I know I have!
Just think, by severing connections to your pre-frontal cortex (or just destroying the whole darn thing instead) you can have drastic personality changes! You could even skip that and go straight to mental retardation! Of course we're not sure here at Omni Brain what technique they're using up there in Canada for the lobotomies there are just so many great ones!
You could drill holes in people's heads and then inject alcohol, you could drill a hole in the head and just remove whatever brain matter happens to be sitting around…
grrlscientist | October 3, 2007tags: researchblogging.org, treatment-emergent suicidal ideation, suicide, citalopram, celexa, SSRI, black box warning
Despite what the news might have you believe, it is quite rare for a depressed person to exhibit increased suicidal thinking after they have begun treatment with an SSRI, such as citalopram (celexa). According to the statistics, so-called "treatment-emergent suicidal ideation" occurs only in approximately 4% of all people taking citalopram, whereas this same phenomenon also occurs in 2% of all placebo-treated cases. However, in those unusual cases where suicidal ideation does…
omnibrain | September 25, 2007
From the official website:
Hypochondriacs have long had to satisfy their needs for self-diagnosis with medical reference materials written for the masses, but this revolutionary book is dedicated entirely to the hypochondriac's unique perspective on health. The world's worst maladies, conveniently organized by symptom (real or imagined), will ignite even the mildest hypochondriac's fantasy life. We're all going to die of something--why not choose an ailment that's rare and hard to pronounce?
Features:
* Profiles of over 300 deadly diseases
* Organized by symptom for ease of self-…
grrlscientist | September 24, 2007tags: encephalon, brain, behavior, cognition, neurobiology, blog carnival
The last frontier: The brain.
Orphaned Image. Contact me so I can provide credit and linkage.
Several months ago, I was invited to host Encephalon, probably because I send so many submissions to this blog carnival and possibly also because I am fairly good at sending traffic to the contributors of those blog carnivals that I host. Unfortunately, I have not had wifi for the past two days, so I hope that you appreciate my modest efforts on behalf of this blog carnival. So, without further ado, I present to you the 32nd…
grrlscientist | September 20, 2007A couple days ago, I mentioned that I, along with several other blog writers, had been invited to participate in a conference call-interview with several experts who were going to discuss the topic of bipolar disorder with us so we could write about it on our blogs. Well, thanks to a friend here in NYC, who lent me his cell phone so I could make that call without using more of my severely limited daytime minutes, I did get to participate in this discussion. Even though I was not sure what to expect, I found it to be fascinating. I have not yet received the recording of the phone call, but I…
grrlscientist | September 19, 2007tags: researchblogging.org, mental health, depression, major depressive disorder, MDD, exercise, James A. Blumenthal
Image: Lucozade Sport.
"A lot of people know from their own experience that when they exercise, they feel better," observed James A. Blumenthal, a professor of psychology at Duke University and lead author of a newly published study that examined the relationship between exercise and depression. But does this anecdote hold up when examined in a scientific study? And how much better does exercise make one feel? According to this study, exercise is as effective at reducing the…
sporte | September 18, 2007At least this is what I imagine it's like to live with someone who has bipolar disorder. Tonight - Sept. 19th, between 7-8 pm EDT, there will a "blogger's conference with the experts," discussing this very thing.
The transcript will be posted and you can learn more about the event here.
grrlscientist | September 18, 2007tags: online mental health fair, bipolar disorder, manic-depressive illness, manic depression, Revolution Health
It has come to my attention that Revolution Health is currently running an Online Mental Health Fair, with a special focus on reaching college students and their parents. College is a particularly challenging time for students struggling with depression or bipolar disorder because students' mood disorders are complicated by being away from home and family for the first time. Thus, Revolution Health's goal is both to raise awareness on college campuses and to help raise money for…
grrlscientist | September 17, 2007tags: researchblogging.org, bipolar disorder, manic-depressive illness, unipolar depressive disorder, clinical depression, seasonal affective disorder, SAD, circadian clock, light therapy
"Starry Night" (1889) is an oil painting by Dutch post-impressionist artist Vincent van Gogh. It was added to the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York City in 1941. [wallpaper size].
According to a "NewsFocus" article that appeared in last Friday's Science, there is a move afoot to use light therapy and sleep deprivation to help the body's circadian clock reset and maintain…
grrlscientist | September 12, 2007tags: Bipolar disorder, manic-depressive illness, mental health, blog awards
Wow, my blog was given another award! This time, Living the Scientific Life was recognized by Psych Central as being one of the top ten blogs to go to to read about bipolar disorder, also known as manic-depressive illness. The top ten list for bipolar disorder was compiled with input from readers, one of their associate editors, Sandra, and by John Grohol, PsyD. According to John, "[This award] reflects the excellence in regular writing of entries related to this mental health concern that we feel is consistent and…
sb admin | September 12, 2007 Check out this memorial cookbook compiled by survivors of suicide. It's a lovely resource to share in times of distress: memories, poetry and support along with recipes for comforting food.
"Each victim of suicide gives his act a personal stamp which expresses his temperament the special conditions in which he is involved, and which, cannot be explained by the social and general causes of the phenomenon." --Emile Durkheim
Click here if you are in crisis right now. Please.
omnibrain | September 11, 2007A group funded by the Royal College of art has created an ice cream dispenser named Dr. Whippy. The good doctor will dispense a prescription for ice cream if you sound sufficiently miserable. It is based on a voice-stress analysis of various answers to questions it asks. Check it out, the more miserable you are the more ice cream it dispenses:
I would have given everyone the same amount of ice cream but inserted different amounts of Prozac. But hey - thats just me!
-via boingboing-
grrlscientist | September 10, 2007tags: suicide, world suicide prevention day, mental health, depression, bipolar disorder
Suicide is a major public health issue and accounts for nearly 3% of all deaths worldwide -- around the world, one million people will die by suicide this year. But suicide is a taboo subject that many people, regardless of age, sex, socioeconomic status or religious and cultural affiliations, are ashamed of, and rarely speak about. This veil of secrecy leads to needless deaths worldwide. So as a result, today was designated as World Suicide Prevention Day, which is designed to raise public awareness of…
grrlscientist | September 6, 2007tags: researchblogging.org, mental health, suicide, depression, bipolar disorder, SSRIs, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, antidepressants, FDA black-box warning
Prozac.
Image: Tom Varco
After a 2003 report linking selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, or SSRIs, with increased suicide rates among children and teen agers was published, the use of this class of antidepressants in these age groups has decreased dramatically. This led to a change in labeling in 2003 that warned that use of the medications could increase suicidal thoughts and behavior among youths. Sadly, this 'black…
grrlscientist | September 2, 2007tags: researchblogging.org, bipolar disorder, manic-depressive illness, mental health, research
Those of you who suffer from bipolar disorder, as I do, will be pleased to learn that some novel treatments are being developed for this illness, thanks to research combined with careful observations.
Bipolar disorder is also known as manic-depressive illness. It is a mood disorder where a person who suffers from it experiences tremendous emotional shifts, from crushing depressions to intense mania and back again. These mood swings often are independent from what is happening in the person's life…
sb admin | August 10, 2007Video of a Second Life virtual reality simulation of psychosis in schizophrenia, created by UC Davis Professor of Psychiatry Peter Yellowlees.
Also, create a psychotic VR therapeutic scenario with NeuroVR (from Positive Technology Journal).
omnibrain | July 23, 2007This weeks article is again from the Book Review section of the NYTimes on April 28, 1890. Admittedly, I'm not very familiar with the history of Physiognomy so I am learning about it a little bit today as I post this. It is essentially Phrenology of the face, even more ridiculous and can be used for racist conclusions more readily. From Wikipedia:Physiognomy (Gk. physis, nature and gnomon, judge, interpreter) is a theory based upon the idea that the study and judgement of a person's outer appearance, primarily the face, may give insights into their character or personality. The term…