MENTAL HEALTH

10Dec

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

MENTAL HEALTH

Free Apps To Ease Anxiety

Anxiety apps offer both supplemental support for individuals undergoing professional therapy as well as self-help aid While a doctor, psychologist or mental health practitioner is the best resource for major issues, anxiety apps offer both supplemental support for individuals undergoing professional therapy as well as self-help aid for anyone desiring to lessen anxious thoughts, actions and habits. Mental Health America stressed that there are several apps available, but recommends these: ‒ ReachOutBreathe (free; iOS only): Manages anxiety via controlled breathing exercises. ‒ Self-Help for Anxiety Management (free for iOS and Android): Provides users with a symptom tracker, educational articles, relaxation techniques, coping skills and advice for managing anxiety. Plus, Social Cloud i...

Fewer Prescriptions Filled For Anxiety Medications In States With Medicinal Cannabis

9Dec

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

MENTAL HEALTH, VIDEO REELS

Fewer Prescriptions Filled For Anxiety Medications In States With Medicinal Cannabis

With more Americans able to access legalized marijuana, fewer are picking up prescriptions for anti-anxiety medications – new research. In states where both medical and recreational marijuana are legal, fewer patients are filling prescriptions for medications used to treat anxiety. That is the key finding of my recent study, published in the journal JAMA Network Open. I am an applied policy researcher who studies the economics of risky behaviors and substance use within the United States. My collaborators and I wanted to understand how medical and recreational marijuana laws and marijuana dispensary openings have affected the rate at which patients fill prescriptions for anti-anxiety medications among people who have private medical insurance. These include: Benzodiazep...

8Dec

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

MENTAL HEALTH

What The Heck Is Navel-Gazing?

Think therapy is navel-gazing? Think again. Midway through a recent lecture about my psychology research, a bright graduate student voiced a familiar question. “I have heard psychotherapy makes people more self-absorbed,” they said. “So how can you encourage a practice that has such a negative social impact?” I am often struck by these negative stereotypes, despite growing demand for counseling – particularly amid the pandemic. The well-entrenched image seems to be that psychotherapy is an indulgent, narcissistic cocoon where therapists enable patients to “navel-gaze” and blame others for their problems. Full disclosure: I have seen examples of this during my 27 years in practice. But most patients are genuinely trying to improve close relationships, recover a sense of meaning and purpose ...

Michigan Data Shows Work Requirements Don’t Work For Domestic Violence Survivors — They Rarely Get Waivers They Should Receive For Cash Assistance

8Dec

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

MENTAL HEALTH, WORK

Michigan Data Shows Work Requirements Don’t Work For Domestic Violence Survivors — They Rarely Get Waivers They Should Receive For Cash Assistance

Work requirements don’t work for domestic violence survivors – but Michigan data shows they rarely get waivers they should receive for cash assistance. The Research Brief is a short take about interesting academic work. The big idea Very few people who have survived domestic violence are getting Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) waivers from the work requirements and time limits tied to those benefits – even though they’re eligible for them, according to our new research. State governments administer the federal TANF program, commonly known as welfare or cash assistance, in accordance with their own guidelines. Federal law allows states to grant domestic violence waivers to TANF recipients when time limits, work requirements and other policies increase their risk of abuse o...

The Stressful Health Toll Of Gun Violence Plague Black Mothers Trapped In Unsafe Neighborhoods

8Dec

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

MENTAL HEALTH, VIDEO REELS

The Stressful Health Toll Of Gun Violence Plague Black Mothers Trapped In Unsafe Neighborhoods

Black mothers trapped in unsafe neighborhoods signal the stressful health toll of gun violence in the U.S. Black mothers are the canaries in the coal mine when it comes to the mental and physical harms of stress from living with gun violence in America. In the U.S., Black people are likelier than white people to reside in impoverished, racially segregated communities with high levels of gun violence. Research has suggested that living in violent and unsafe environments can result in continuous traumatic stress, a constant form of PTSD. Researchers have also linked experiences of violence and poverty to an increased risk of chronic disease such as cancer and cardiovascular, respiratory and neurodegenerative diseases. We are Black women and public policy and sociology professors who study ...

Trippy Drugs To Therapeutic Aids – Psychedelics Got Their Groove Back

10Dec

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

MENTAL HEALTH

Trippy Drugs To Therapeutic Aids – Psychedelics Got Their Groove Back

From trippy drugs to therapeutic aids – how psychedelics got their groove back. For many years, drugs such as LSD, psilocybin and Dimethyltryptamine (DMT) were viewed only as highly dangerous drugs. However, in recent years they have had a bit of rebrand. Now they’re believed by some to have the power to heal, to reconnect us with nature – even resolve political tensions. Use of these drugs is on the rise. At the start of the pandemic in 2020, the UK Home Office released data showing a 230% rise in confiscations of LSD compared to the previous year. The pandemic itself might be changing drug preferences. Almost half of those using magic mushrooms reported using more during the pandemic according to a recent survey. The changing view of psychedelics can in part be attributed to the renewe...

Mildly Depressed Or Simply Stressed, People Are Tapping ‘Therapy On The Go’ Apps For Mental Health Care

10Dec

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

MENTAL HEALTH

Mildly Depressed Or Simply Stressed, People Are Tapping ‘Therapy On The Go’ Apps For Mental Health Care

It might be surprising to think about browsing for therapists and ordering up mental health care the way you can peruse a menu on Grubhub or summon a car on Lyft. But over the last decade, digital access to therapy has become increasingly common, in some cases replacing the traditional model of in-person weekly sessions between a therapist and client. Apps for mental health and wellness range from mood trackers, meditation tools and journals to therapy apps that match users to a licensed professional. My team’s research focuses on therapy apps that work by matching clients to a licensed professional. As a social work researcher, I am interested in understanding how these apps affect clients and practitioners. My research team has studied the care that app users receive. We have talked t...

To stop police shootings of people with mental health disabilities, I asked them what cops – and everyone – could do to help

9Dec

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

MENTAL HEALTH

To stop police shootings of people with mental health disabilities, I asked them what cops – and everyone – could do to help

After Shukri Ali Said left her house during a mental health crisis on April 23, 2018, her sister called 911 for help. Police found Said standing at an intersection holding a knife. Officers shot her five times in the neck and chest, killing her. That same month, in New York, officers answered a 911 call about a black man waving something that looked like a gun. In fact, it was a pipe. But when Saheed Vassell, a 34-year-old father with mental illness who was well known in his Brooklyn community, pointed it at police, they shot him dead. Vassell and Said are among the hundreds of people with intellectual disabilities or mental illnesses in the United States killed by police every year. According to The Washington Post, 142 of the 752 people shot by police so far in 2019 have had a mental i...

9Dec

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

MENTAL HEALTH

Psychiatrist Claims Demonic Possession a Real Problem

After 25 years of experience in private practice and as a professor at New York Medical College and Columbia University, and evaluating hundreds of possession cases, Dr. Richard Gallagher believes possession is real. He is also the author of Demonic Foes, A Psychiatrist Investigates Demonic Possession in the Modern United States. Atheists laugh at the suggestion of demons being real (see the comments under the above linked article). Others think evidence of demons is nonexistent and the movie The Exorcist is merely entertainment. The overall lack of awareness of this phenomenon might be in part because many who have done enough research to understand the concept aren't willing to go public with it out of a fear of ridicule. It's not surprising to us; a mention of our Spiritual Detox w...