MENTAL HEALTH – Page 6

Beware Of Claims That Ecstasy Is A Magic Bullet – MDMA May Help Treat PTSD

12Dec

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

MENTAL HEALTH, VIDEO REELS

Beware Of Claims That Ecstasy Is A Magic Bullet – MDMA May Help Treat PTSD

Recent clinical trials, including one soon to be published in Nature Medicine, have suggested that MDMA combined with psychotherapy may help treat post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD. The news generated considerable optimism and excitement in the media, and some in the scientific community. As a psychiatrist and an expert in neurobiology and treatment of PTSD, I think these developments may be important – but not the major breakthrough that some people are suggesting. This approach is not a new magic bullet. A combat veteran discusses his experience with PTSD. PTSD, a disorder of emotional memories Post-traumatic stress disorder is a result of exposure to extreme traumatic experiences, such as natural disasters, motor vehicle accidents, assault, robbery, rape, combat and torture. Base...

We Found Dangerous And Stigmatizing Stereotypes Prevail While Studying Depression Messages On YouTube Videos

12Dec

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

MENTAL HEALTH, VIDEO REELS

We Found Dangerous And Stigmatizing Stereotypes Prevail While Studying Depression Messages On YouTube Videos

Rates of depression have tripled in the U.S. since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, and most recent estimates suggest these numbers remain elevated compared with pre-pandemic rates of mental health problems. Even before the pandemic, depression was a leading source of disability, affecting over 17 million Americans each year. In a society where mental health education is not uniformly taught in schools, and where most people with depression go untreated, this is a recipe for disaster. Psychologists have proposed ways to reform mental health care such as increasing access to care through telehealth. These actions are important. However, few experts have provided recommendations for how everyday citizens can flatten the depression curve by reducing stigma. To better understand why ...

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

12Dec

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

When Joe Prude called the police on his brother, he was asking for help: Daniel Prude, who suffered from mental health problems, had run almost naked out of his Rochester, New York, house into the snow. When officers arrived, new video footage shows, the March 23 encounter quickly turned violent, and Prude died from asphyxiation under a hood officers had put over his head. Two years prior, in 2018, Shukri Ali Said of Georgia also wound up dead after leaving her house during a mental health crisis on April 23, 2018. Police, called in to help, 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...

Why bipolar disorder is becoming more ‘desirable’ than other mental illnesses

11Dec

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

MENTAL HEALTH

Why bipolar disorder is becoming more ‘desirable’ than other mental illnesses

Bipolar disorder is a severe mental health condition. But in recent years it has become the one mental health diagnosis that patients are willing to accept. Research shows that to some people it has actually become “desirable” when compared with other mood disorders. This could be because of bipolar disorder’s association with creativity. For example, Charles Dickens and Beethoven are thought to have had bipolar disorder. The de-stigmatising effect of considerable media coverage could also be factor. As could its association with successful celebrities such as Stephen Fry, Kanye West and Carrie Fisher. Figures like Fry – who made the revealing BBC television documentary, The Secret Life of the Manic Depressive – have used their positions to bring home the disturbing realities of the cond...

Why teen depression rates are rising faster for girls than boys

12Dec

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

MENTAL HEALTH

Why teen depression rates are rising faster for girls than boys

We’re in the middle of a teen mental health crisis – and girls are at its epicenter. Since 2010, depression, self-harm and suicide rates have increased among teen boys. But rates of major depression among teen girls in the U.S. increased even more – from 12% in 2011 to 20% in 2017. In 2015, three times as many 10- to 14-year-old girls were admitted to the emergency room after deliberately harming themselves than in 2010. Meanwhile, the suicide rate for adolescent girls has doubled since 2007. Rates of depression started to tick up just as smartphones became popular, so digital media could be playing a role. The generation of teens born after 1995 – known as iGen or Gen Z – were the first to spend their entire adolescence in the age of the smartphone. They’re also the first group of teens...

The mental health crisis on campus and how colleges can fix it

11Dec

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

MENTAL HEALTH

The mental health crisis on campus and how colleges can fix it

When college students seek help for a mental health issue on campus – something they are doing more often – the place they usually go is the college counseling center. But while the stigma of seeking mental health support has gone down, it has created a new problem: College counseling centers are now struggling to meet the increased demand. As a researcher who examines problems faced by college students in distress, I see a way to better support students’ mental health. In addition to offering individual counseling, colleges should also focus on what we in the mental health field refer to as population health and prevention. These efforts can range from creating more shared spaces to increase social connections to stave off feelings of isolation, to reducing things on campus that threat...

12Dec

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

MENTAL HEALTH

How to help someone with depression

16.2 million adults have at least one major depressive episode in a given year. Healthline.com in June 2018 reported that persistent depressive disorder often results in deep sadness, hopelessness, low energy and indecision, and it occurs in approximately 1.5 percent of adults annually. And while more women than men suffer from at least mild depression, healthline.com estimates 16.2 million adults have at least one major depressive episode in a given year. Other forms of depression, such as seasonal and postpartum, are prevalent as well, but many people suffer from low moods particularly during the holidays, from Thanksgiving through New Year’s. Often, family members, co-workers and friends have no idea how to help someone in a depressive state. For these people, Dr. K. Luan Phan, cha...

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...

Strategies for handling back-to-school stress

12Dec

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

MENTAL HEALTH

Strategies for handling back-to-school stress

With the start of a new academic year come increased appointments, chaotic schedules and new environments. Millions of high schoolers and college students are already back in classrooms. With the start of a new academic year come increased appointments, chaotic schedules and new environments. Helpful strategies minimize stress and frustration build-up. Real Simple’s tips include: ‒ Get enough sleep. High schoolers need a solid eight to 10 hours, according to the National Sleep Foundation. ‒ Plan ahead. A whiteboard in a prominent place, featuring a week’s worth of appointments, practices, classes, tutoring, etc., is a visual reminder. A study of 197 college freshmen published in 2017 by the National Institutes of Health determined that ”... increased stress level was significantly assoc...

What to know about EMDR therapy for PTSD

12Dec

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

MENTAL HEALTH

What to know about EMDR therapy for PTSD

While there is medication and counseling to assist individuals who suffer from PTSD, Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing therapy is also a treatment option. Post-traumatic stress disorder is so common there is a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs center devoted to understanding it and sharing information with the public. In fact, around 8% of the population will have PTSD at some point in their lives, according to the National Center for PTSD. And while there is medication and counseling to assist individuals who suffer from PTSD, Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing therapy is also a treatment option. The American Psychological Association informs that the therapy focuses directly on the memory, “to change the way that the memory is stored in the brain, thus reducing a...