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Bipolar Disorder Linked To Older Fathers
Children born to older fathers face a greater chance of developing bipolar disorder, according to one of the largest studies linking mental illness with advanced paternal age.
Previous research has connected schizophrenia and autism with older dads, and a Danish study published last year added bipolar disorder to the list. The new study led by researchers at Sweden's Karolinska Institute strengthens the evidence.
The leading theory is that older men's sperm may be more likely to develop mutations. Even so, the odds of a person becoming bipolar are so low that the study's authors said it shouldn't dissuade older men from becoming fathers.
Researchers analyzed Swedish national registry data from more than 80,000 people, including 13,428 with bipolar disorder who were born between 1932 and 1991.
The risks started increasing around age 40 but were strongest among those 55 and older. Children born to these dads were 37 percent more likely to develop bipolar disorder than those born to men in their 20s.
They also faced more than double the risk of developing bipolar disorder before age 20. Scientists call that early onset disease, and while they have long known that bipolar disorder tends to run in families, early onset disease has been thought to be most strongly linked with genetics.
The age of the mothers didn't appear to be much of a factor.
The study, released Monday, appears in September's Archives of General Psychiatry.
While the findings don't explain what might cause some older men to have bipolar children, it "reinforces the notion that there's a strong biological component to this," said Dr. Harold Pincus, vice chair of psychiatry at Columbia University.
Bipolar disorder causes dramatic mood swings, from deep depression to manic highs. It affects more than 5 million Americans.
Lifetime risks for it have been estimated at roughly 1 percent to 4 percent. The study results suggest that having an older father might increase that slightly. The findings aren't definitive, but even if the link proves to be real, Pincus noted that still means most people with older fathers won't ever get bipolar disorder.
Factors involving mothers, including age and health, have long been thought to be most closely linked with birth defects and other abnormalities. But the new study adds to mounting evidence that paternal factors also play an important role, said New York University researcher Susan Harlap.
Sperm are produced throughout a man's lifetime, and scientists believe that as men age there is a greater chance for mutations that could contribute to disorders in their children.
Advanced paternal age also has been linked with birth defects, and some sperm banks have age limits for donors because of that.
While important for scientists, the study results shouldn't discourage older men from fathering children, said Emma Frans, the lead author.
She said the results suggest that similar mechanisms might contribute to risks for bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and autism. Each of these disorders is thought to have many causes including biologic and outside factors. Children born to older fathers face a greater chance of developing bipolar disorder, according to one of the largest studies linking m... more -
Culture of surveillance may contribute to delusional condition
Psychosis in the 21st century looks something like this: You think your every move is being filmed for a reality television show starring you, and that everyone in your life is an actor.
Or you think you are under intense surveillance by an army of spies, whom you refer to as the "www people," as in the World Wide Web, and they wiretap your furniture and appliances.
Or else you refuse to drink water because you fear that another cup drawn from your faucet will, once and for all, deplete the world's water supply.
Those thoughts are from three case studies of what psychiatrists interested in the intersection of mental illness, culture and society are calling, respectively, Truman Show delusion, Internet delusion and climate change delusion; all of them a window, through madness, into the modern world.
If you have delusions of grandeur in this century, you are probably not Napoleon, but you may be Bill Gates.
The Truman Show delusion, or Truman Syndrome, has drawn attention in recent months, in the United States and Britain, as psychiatrists in both countries describe a small but growing number of psychotic patients who describe their lives as mirroring that of the main character in the 1998 film "The Truman Show."
Played by Jim Carrey, Truman Burbank leads a mundane existence in the suburbs, starting from the time he was in the womb, while being filmed for a documentary television show that he cannot escape.
Everyone is in on it, including his wife, and no one will believe Truman when he discovers clues that his life is being chronicled all the time by cameras.
With Internet delusion, patients typically incorporate the Internet into paranoid thoughts, including a fear that the Web is somehow monitoring or controlling their lives, or being used to transmit photographs or other personal information.
The delusions are fueling a chicken-and-egg debate in psychiatry: Are these merely modern examples of classic paranoia fed by the cultural landscape, or is there something about media like reality television and the Internet that can push people over the sanity line?
"Most likely these people would be delusional anyway," said Dr. Joel Gold, a psychiatrist at Bellevue Hospital Center in New York, who said he saw five patients at the hospital from 2002 to 2004 with Truman Show delusion. Gold and his brother, Dr. Ian Gold, the Canada research chair in philosophy and psychiatry at McGill University in Montreal, came up with the term "Truman Show delusion."
"But the more radical view is that this pushes some people over the threshold; the environment tips them over the edge," said Joel Gold, who is a clinical assistant professor of psychiatry at New York University. "And if culture can make people crazy, then we need to look at it."
One way of looking at the delusions and hallucinations of the mentally ill is that they represent extreme cases of what the general population, or the merely neurotic, are worried about. Schizophrenics and other paranoid patients can take common fears - like identity theft because of information transmitted on the Internet, or the loss of privacy because of the prevalence of security cameras to fight crime - and magnify them, psychiatrists say.
"There is the old saying that just because you're paranoid doesn't mean there's not somebody after you," said Dr. Jeffrey Lieberman, chairman of the Department of Psychiatry at Columbia University.
The prevailing view in psychiatry is that a delusion is just a delusion, psychosis is psychosis, and the scenery is incidental. Fear, a sense of persecution and grandiosity are static features of delusional thinking, many psychiatrists say.
During World War II, for example, psychotics might have believed a neighbor was a Nazi. During the Cold War, they might have thought the KGB or CIA was following them. In a post-Sept. 11 world, the persecutor might be Al Qaeda or the Department of Homeland Security.
(article continued) Psychosis in the 21st century looks something like this: You think your every move is being filmed for a reality television show starr... more -
Chris's Reality
This is a story of Chris's reality and his struggle to find peace in his life. Chris was diagnosed with ADHD when he was 4 years old. 3-5% of today's population is affected by ADHD/Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. This is a story of Chris's reality and his struggle to find peace in his life. Chris was diagnosed with ADHD when he was 4 years ... more
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Mental illness retains a social stigma that must be eliminated
Not so long ago, mental illness was believed to be the result of demonic possession or moral degeneracy. Such beliefs are rare today, thanks to advances in medical science.
Yet a new survey reveals that our attitudes toward mental illness, and the mentally ill, remain in need of considerable adjustment.
The survey, conducted by Ipsos-Reid for the Canadian Medical Association's 8th Annual National Report Card on Health Care, found that, in the words of Vancouver physician and outgoing CMA president Brian Day, "mental illness is the final frontier of socially acceptable discrimination."
Indeed, according to the survey's results, mental illness -- and hence the people experiencing it -- remain heavily stigmatized. For example, while 72 per cent of respondents would tell friends or co-workers that a family member was diagnosed with cancer, only 50 per cent would reveal a diagnosis of mental illness.
This suggests that many people still considerable mental illness a source of embarrassment, or at least different from other medical disorders.
Further, despite the fact that most mentally ill people are not dangerous, especially if they're being treated, 27 per cent of respondents said they would feel fearful being around someone who is mentally ill.
Most respondents also would not feel comfortable with a doctor or lawyer who is mentally ill, despite that fact that with proper treatment, most mentally ill people can function normally.
Many respondents weren't even comfortable with people they know who are mentally ill, as 42 per cent were uncertain if they would socialize with a friend diagnosed with mental illness. And fully 46 per cent of those surveyed thought that people use the term mental illness as an excuse for bad behaviour.
This may explain why, despite evidence that psychological disorders cost the economy $51 billion annually and result in the loss of 35 million workdays, only three in 10 respondents said mental illness was hurting the economy.
It would be easy to ascribe these troubling survey results to the public's ignorance about mental illness. Yet while a lack of understanding is likely part of the problem, other survey results suggest that the majority of respondents do see mental illness as a serious medical problem.
For example, 72 per cent of respondents said that funding for mental health should be on par with funding for physical health issues such as cancer and diabetes, and 60 per cent thought that the diagnosis and treatment of mental illness are underfunded.
Further, while fully 89 per cent of respondents believe that mental illness requires treatment by a professional, 40 per cent said that if they felt they were ill, they would try to deal with it themselves.
These results suggest that despite knowledge of the nature of mental illness, stigmatization effectively dissuades people from seeking help even when they believe they need it.
And that means that we need to take a multi-pronged approach to de-stigmatizing mental illness. Providing people with accurate information is essential, but is clearly not enough." Not so long ago, mental illness was believed to be the result of demonic possession or moral degeneracy. Such beliefs are rare today, ... more -
Stress of war may help cause schizophrenia
Pregnant women who live through wars are more likely to give birth to a child who develops schizophrenia, U.S. researchers reported on Thursday in a study linking prenatal stress with the mental illness.
Babies born to women who were in their second month of pregnancy during the height of the 1967 Arab-Israeli "Six-Day" War were significantly more likely to be diagnosed with schizophrenia as adults, they found.
Similar patterns are likely among many stressed women, said Dr. Dolores Malaspina of the New York University School of Medicine, who led the study.
Epigenetic changes affect how a gene works, but not the DNA sequence itself. Schizophrenia, which affects about 1.1 percent of the population globally, is know to have some genetic causes but many cases have no known family links. Pregnant women who live through wars are more likely to give birth to a child who develops schizophrenia, U.S. researchers reported on... more -
Film: "Strive For Happiness" wins 2008 Telly Award!
Strive For Happiness wins
2008 Silver Telly Award!!
Strive For Happiness won a 2008 (1st place) Silver Telly Award in the Television Documentary category.
A brief history of the Telly.
The Telly Awards was founded in 1978 to honor excellence in local, regional and cable TV commercials. Non-broadcast video and TV program categories were soon added. Today, the Telly is one of the most sought-after awards by industry leaders, from large international firms to local production companies and ad agencies. With over 200 categories, more organizations than ever are eligible to participate.
The 28th Annual Telly Awards received over 14,000 entries from all 50 states and 5 continents.
All judges are top advertising and production professionals, and past Telly Winners.
Judges evaluate entries to recognize distinction in creative work. Entries are judged against a high standard of merit. Judges score entries on a performance scale and winning entries are recognized and awarded as Silver or Bronze Winners based on the combined scoring of the judges who evaluate each entry. Empowered to uphold the historical standards of the Telly competition, judges may award top honors to more than one entry or no entries in a particular category. All decisions of judges are final.
Silver Winners are awarded a Silver Telly statuette, the highest honor. Bronze Winners are awarded a Bronze Telly statuette. Designed by the same firm that makes the Oscar and Emmy, the Telly statuette weighs more than 4 1/2 pounds. Strive For Happiness wins 2008 Silver Telly Award!! ... more -
Film: "Strive For Happiness" Filmmaker, Rich Patricia Makes News!
"A film about the lives of those who live with or care for loved ones who suffer from serious forms of mental illness."
About the Filmmaker
Richard M. Patricia is a graduate of Wilkes University with an MS in Science with an emphasis on Classroom Technology, William Paterson University with a B.S. in Communications and Northampton Community College with an Associates degree in Radio/Television. He is certified to teach in five areas of the communications field. He worked for CNBC, Twin County Cable, RCN, Comcast Cable, and a variety of radio stations. For six years, he produced daily segments for RCN's broadcast of the Philadelphia Eagles Training Camp. Rich produced a video entitled "The Lehigh Valley's Best Kept Secret" which was submitted to become a nominee for an Emmy Award. He is currently employed as a Television, Radio & Digital Media Teacher at Warren County Technical School in Washington, NJ. Rich has been involved in wedding and event videography business for over 21 years and exclusively with D-Vision Video for the last fifteen years where his work has won several awards through WEVA (Wedding Event & Videographer's Association) and the NJVA (New Jersey Videographer's Association). His film, "Strive For Happiness" was recently awarded a 2008 Silver Telly Award (1st place award). "A film about the lives of those who live with or care for loved ones who suffer from serious forms of mental illness." ... more -
Healing a life of sickness through film teacher produces documentary about mental ...
Sunday, August 03, 2008 By BILL WICHERT
The Express-Times PHILLIPSBURG
Richard Patricia traveled across the state to ask people hundreds of questions about growing up with a loved one suffering from a mental illness. But telling his own story remains difficult for the Warren County Technical School teacher. Patricia's story is one of sometimes spending more time at Warren Hospital than at home. It is a story of losing one's home in the face of medical expenses. The healing is the part of the story that Patricia wants to share through a documentary he produced. "There are some things you just don't want to talk about," the television, radio and digital media teacher said. "You tend to try to forget about some things that have taken place in life and move to a bright future." Patricia's relative, whom he asked not be identified, has obtained a degree of self-sufficiency and lived alone the past 13 years. In his film, "Strive for Happiness," he tries to show how families overcome the challenges of caring for a relative with a mental illness. The interviews in the film bring out several common struggles, including financial hardships, the feeling of not knowing where to go for help and the need to allow a loved one to become more self-sufficient, Patricia said. "You have to see that person hit bottom to get better but always support the person," Patricia said. The Phillipsburg resident's film should help eliminate the stigma attached to the diseases, said Debra Wentz, CEO of the New Jersey Association of Mental Health Agencies.
"Ignorance breeds fear," she said. "I'm very supportive of anything that's so educational." Patricia said he began to notice signs of his relative's mental illness when he was about 12 years old in the early 1980s. A teenage Patricia was soon playing pingpong at the hospital on a regular basis, while his loved one lay comatose in a bed.
"I found myself in a situation where I had to grow up pretty fast," Patricia narrates in the film. "There wasn't a thing I could do for her. I felt pretty helpless." Patricia kept a journal while growing up and later penned a script for a class at Northampton Community College. About three years ago, sitting amid the Smoky Mountains on a family vacation, he sat down at night and returned to his story. Finishing the film has brought closure to that chapter in his life, he said. One of the film's lasting messages is that there's hope for families dealing with mental illness, Patricia said. "These folks need to be treated like human beings," he said. "The mentally ill are very much self-sufficient and need to be. "But they also need the support and they need the care and they need the love."
Reporter Bill Wichert can be reached at 908-475-8044 or by e-mail at bwichert@express-times.com. Sunday, August 03, 2008 By BILL WICHERT The Express-Times PHILLIPSBURG ... more -
Prisoners
The causes of mental disabilities and destructions of family values are the reasons behind the rate of growth in prison population and expansion of hospital in the United State. At this time roughly 2.5 million people are behind bars not including hospitals and mental institute. Mental health is one of the most urgent health problems of the twenty first century in the world. One simple example is the richest country is the largest jailer in the world for humanity. Thus, it is wake-up call for all state in the union to legislate social justice system of united state for family values and for system of prison camp of humanity. The real question we should ask all law makers, why a person becomes murderer, rapist, thief, robber and drug user?
The longer sentence for all criminals are unquestionably necessary and helps to drop in such crimes, but system should be focused on how many criminals and how to warehousing them to change there mental illness. The fundamental links in our spiritual and martial evolution that changed us from violent to sober human being is the force of love for family. It is time for each state in the union especially for the state of Connecticut to consider special rehabilitation program for family values and special incentive for poor families to keep them together for better society.
The benefit of redirecting non violent, first time drug offenders and other who are small criminals for rehabilitations based on family incentive, and for their kid's futures. All states in the union should consider reducing hard penalties for non violent those who have families. It is time to reduce cost of prison camp of humanity that has been astronomical and estimated 60 billion dollars annual expense of hard working American tax payers. The second most urgent issue is the mental health of future generations. Autism in America and cerebellum function in Middle East, Asia and South Asia. It is all about Genes that are contributing about 60 percent to Childs risk of developing mental problems. One study has shown that the marriage between first cousins doubles the risk of cerebellum functions and other learning defects for brain.
The shared ancestry is increasing the risk of many neurological problems in all parts of the world. Other study has shown that baby food with too much iron can be contributing risk of learning problems it is time to reexamine baby food and family drinking habits for child health. We believe that it is time for change the system of treatment for old problems. It is time to stop chain of tragedies that are making United State of America a prison camp of humanity and one big emergency room of a big hospital. My chain of problem started when one member of human faith religious was held in the prison camp of New Britain General Hospital.
Human faith religious is a public school for humanity .The leisure of learning truth, honesty and freedom. It is the eminent brain for batter society and the library of knowledge. It is the sacred water of life that emerges with the seven colors of human diversity to dissolve racism . Human life is spiritual force of affirmations in which nine sisters are the museum of humanity. It is the religious in which muses is dedicated to the nine affirmation of human faith. The spiritual change from loneness to loveliness is based on love by giving unlimited trust in God (Rab). Human mind is miracle of Supreme Being when we struggle to boil it at luck warm temperature of wisdom to understand fundamental of life by reading (Rabi).
In God (Rab) we trust we have faith in humanity (Rabi). The causes of mental disabilities and destructions of family values are the reasons behind the rate of growth in prison population and... more -
Gunman opens fire on swimmers in Wisconsin; 3 dead
A man wearing camouflage clothing and carrying an assault rifle walked out of the woods and gunned down four young people who had gathered at a river to go swimming, killing three of them and wounding one.
More than 100 law enforcement officers from at least 10 agencies searched Friday for the gunman, a middle-age man who was last seen near the town of Niagara in northern Wisconsin, across the state line from Michigan's Upper Peninsula.
Officers set up roadblocks and evacuated an unknown number of homes.
Nine young adults had gathered near a railroad bridge on the Menominee River when the gunman came out of the woods and opened fire about 5:30 p.m. Thursday, according to Sheriff Jim Kanikula.
Authorities have not determined a motive. The sheriff said there was no communication between the gunman and his victims.
The shooter was only 7 to 10 feet away from one victim when he fired, the sheriff said.
On Friday, two of the bodies remained at scene about three miles west of Niagara because of fear that the shooter was still in the area.
The dead were identified as Tiffany Pohlson, 17; Anthony Spigarelli, 18; and Bryan Mort, 19. A fourth victim, 20-year-old Daniel Louis Gordon, was wounded.
Niagara is about 210 miles north of Milwaukee. A man wearing camouflage clothing and carrying an assault rifle walked out of the woods and gunned down four young people who had gath... more -
Jails are full of mental patients
By Mbena Mwanatongoni
A forensic psychiatrist is making a worrying revelation: About one-third of inmates in Tanzanian jails are mentally ill! The situation worsens because there is no policy to treat these prisoners who badly need psychiatric attention!
Renown Dr. Augustine Godman charges in an exclusive interview:
``A policy to allow psychiatrists get into jails in a bid to treat mentally sick inmates will drastically reduce crimes in the country although it might sound difficult to believe this.``
Dr. Godman suggests a number of solutions to redress the appalling situation.These include an intensive investment in training psychiatrists which he says is currently conspicuously absent, Government acknowledgement of the prominence of those professionals and availability of resources.
The middle-aged psychiatrist has spent most of his time in study in an area that he calls his preserve and which he says is highly stigmatised.
``Many people look down upon any mentally deranged persons, although I cannot dismiss that there are few sympathetic ones,`` he says.
He adds: ``These few sympathetic ones should be cause for putting emphasis on training of professionals in this particular area of study.``
Saying he is the only forensic psychiatrist in Tanzania, he is presently engaged in private practice after leaving public service for what he says stemmed from poor pay and non-recognition.
However, he does not apportion blame, save for the absence of a policy to train specialists in that vital area of study, citing the US which is heavily investing in it despite estimates that only about 20 per cent of its population are affected by mental disorders.
``If a country boasting of many psychiatrists has a fifth of its population suffering from mental illnesses, what about ours with a much higher infection rate but without specialists ?
This is a serious issue that needs to be looked into with all the necessary keenness and attention,`` he proposes.
Adds the consultant psychiatrist-cum-addiction expert: ``Do you know that it is a wrong approach to uproot bhang crops from farms?
Has it ever crossed your mind that these growers never smoke it but only cultivate it to make money?
It is a kind of a cash crop to them and the most appropriate answer is to give them an alternative means of making money.
The same goes for `gongo` illicit brew. The brewers do not drink it. To them it is a money-spinner.``
He concedes, though, that it will take a long time to have things moving in a direction that aims at controlling mental illnesses in the country considering the little importance attached to it.
The ministry of Health and Social Welfare during this financial year will through Mirembe Special Hospital for the sick offer improved treatment and investigation to the mental patients referred there from different hospitals in the country.
Health Minister Professor David Mwakyusa told Parliament when tabling his ministry`s estimates that the hospital will also improve its services to drug addicts and alcoholics through public awareness campaigns as well as capacity facilitation to regional hospitals for early identification of drug victims.
He said Isanga Institute too will improve its services for the mentally sick who have committed criminal offences who upon recovery would be discharged.
He said Regional Social Welfare Officers would be involved to assist in tailoring a procedure that will eventually allow these people to be integrated back into society.
Dr. Godman says the annual prevalence of mental disorders in children and adolescents is not well documented due to the absence of specialists for the stigmatised illness. By Mbena Mwanatongoni ... more -
New 'deep brain stimulation’ technique to cure depression?
Severely depressed patients who do not respond to conventional therapy may be helped by deep brain stimulation (DBS), according to the most-extensive study to date of the experimental procedure, Nature reports today.
In a clinical trial in Toronto, Canada, 12 out of 20 patients who had stimulating electrodes placed in a brain area called the subcallosal cingulated gyrus showed significant improvement in their depression, with seven of them going into full remission.
The benefits lasted at least a year, according to the results published this week in the journal Biological Psychiatry1. Patients in the study had failed to respond to cognitive therapy, antidepressant drugs and electroconvulsant therapy.
Neurologists think that the therapy works by activating or damping down particular brain circuits. At the moment, no-one knows which of the targets within these circuits will eventually prove to be the most optimal.
Advanced Neuromodulation Systems, a company based in Piano, Texas, that makes DBS electrodes, is now sponsoring a double-blind, controlled phase III trial on up to 200 patients at three centres in the United States.
Participants in the study, called BROADEN (Brodmann Area 25 Deep Brain Neuromodulation), will have DBS devices implanted, targeting the same part of the brain as the Canadian study. Half of the devices will be switched on immediately after surgery, while the other half will wait for six months before being stimulated. Neither the patients nor the scientists and clinicians will know who is switched on at any particular time. The study is expected to take several years to complete.
“In the meantime we need to know why some of the patients don’t respond at all,” says Mayberg. “Are we missing the target, or are there different subtypes of the disease?” Her team is now trying to find out how to identify those who will respond to DBS, and those who won’t. “Brain surgery is not like getting your nails done, so it is important to try to find out who will benefit.”
The centres are also investigating the value of DBS in other psychiatric disturbances, such as obsessive compulsive disorder and addiction.
Will this new technique revolutionise how depression is treated? Would you have such drastic treatment if you were experiencing depression? And does this mean that depression is simply a neurological illness, and not a product of situation or experience? Severely depressed patients who do not respond to conventional therapy may be helped by deep brain stimulation (DBS), according to the... more -
British tourist strangles secret baby
A student from London has been charged with choking her third child to death seconds after giving birth to him. Leah Andrews, 20, (pictured above) was on holiday in Crete with two friends from whom she had kept her pregnancy secret. After a night out in Malia, the pair found Ms Andrews in her hotel room with the baby's body. Malia's police chief said her friends found "blood everywhere, and the woman cleaning the floor and tables with a towel with the baby's body in it".
A hotel receptionist described scenes of "utter panic", telling reporters that Andrews' sister "rushed down screaming. She was in a state of shock. She had no idea her sister was even pregnant."
Officers searched the room and found the dead baby with sheets wrapped around his neck and covering his face. Andrews told the police the baby had been stillborn, but coroners refuted the claim, saying, "the baby was alive. There was air in his lungs and his stomach. The child met a violent death."
Andrews was taken to a medical centre yesterday morning after her sister phoned the police, and is now being treated for "a great loss of blood". She was put under police guard at the hospital in nearby Iraklio. The maximum sentence for child murder in Greece is 20 years.
The question remains, should Andrews be imprisoned for this crime, or treated for what is clearly a mental illness? A student from London has been charged with choking her third child to death seconds after giving birth to him. Leah Andrews, 20, (pi... more -
The Power of Higher Powers
In 1979, Thelma Gordon made a request that was considered pretty strange back then: She wanted her church to find a way to welcome and support people who suffered from mental illness.
The priest and the nun that led the congregation didn’t know what to do about the woman, who had schizophrenia herself. But Gordon persisted; she kept at them for years. Connie Rakitan, a member of the same church, remembers that “Thelma pestered the nun, and eventually the nun pestered me to do something about her request.”
In many cases, religious beliefs appear to be associated with lower levels of hopelessness and with less depression. Mental health care professionals are acknowledging it’s time they paid attention to matters of their patients’ faith and spirituality, regardless of their own personal beliefs.
Rakitan has gotten to know countless people and their experiences with mental illness over the past 30 years, and says faith is often the only thing left after the onset of severe mental illness. “They are often estranged from their families. They don’t have jobs anymore. Many can’t drive a car anymore. They’ve lost so much.”
Traditionally, medicine hasn’t accepted or understood nonscientific solutions to problems it considers biological. Not only has the medical community failed to embrace the faith community as a partner in caring for the mentally ill, the feeling has been mutual.
When Chris Summerville was a teenager, he struggled with severe clinical depression that persisted throughout his adult life, often resulting in suicidal ideation. As a Christian, this caused him tremendous guilt. He thought he shouldn’t be experiencing such despair if he prayed hard enough. Summerville became an evangelical pastor at age 17 and continued that vocation for the next 25 years. In his last year as a pastor, he “came out of the closet” about his depression during a sermon.
“It was very awkward for the congregation,” he recalls. “Even though they were very loving, they were shocked that their spiritual leader would have existential despair.” That experience, says Summerville, was one reason he resigned as pastor in 1994.
Medication, says Summerville, accounts for 20 percent of the recovery experience. Eighty percent has to do with “personal medicine”—being at one with nature and creation, as well as spirituality. With personal medicine added to the mix, “consumers tell us they not only cope, but thrive in spite of bipolar [disorder] or schizophrenia.”
Given the past turbulent relations between mental illness and religion, current objections are not surprising. Historically, behaviors caused by epilepsy or schizophrenia led to the belief that the affected individual was not ill but possessed by demons that had to be “cast out.” Some Pentecostal Christians still hold that belief today, and the Church of Scientology has published documents claiming there is no such thing as “mental illness,” and that psychiatry is a fraud.
With so many obstacles, why do people withmental illness continue to ask their caregivers to address matters of faith? “It’s about finding strength for the journey,” says Summerville. “Just because things are hellish today doesn’t mean they will be hellish tomorrow. It’s the concept of hope, the expectation that I can get better and live beyond the devastation, learn how to manage my illness, have strength, and that I’m a person of worth and significance no matter what. I think the recovery model lends itself up for people to open themselves up to a higher power—God—whatever you want to call it. In 1979, Thelma Gordon made a request that was considered pretty strange back then: She wanted her church to find a way to welcome and... more -
Trapped: Mentally Ill Persons in Our Nation’s Prisons
In the 1960s, there was a dramatic push to reduce the number of mental health patients in large public psychiatric hospitals, shifting their care to local communities. However, those communities were ill-prepared to provide treatment for them, and they ended up being left or abandoned on the streets to fend for themselves.
Presently, increasingly large numbers of mentally ill persons have ended up trapped as inmates in our country’s prisons and jails, rather than receiving treatment in mental health facilities.
This article includes a number of dramatic photographs of mentally ill persons who are presently trapped in prison, as well as an absolutely chilling documentary that provides a look at the unbearable experiences that the mentally ill endure inside the prison walls.
You will remember this. In the 1960s, there was a dramatic push to reduce the number of mental health patients in large public psychiatric hospitals, shifting... more -
Paul Gascoigne takes inspiration from his Gladiator daughter
Paul Gascoigne is being inspired back to health by a photo of Gladiator step-daughter Bianca. He has decked his living area out with pictures of his family while he is being treated at The Priory clinic.
And pride of place is given to the one of Bianca, 21, as she stars in TV show Gladiators. Last night a close family pal said: “Bianca gave Paul the photo of herself in her Gladiator gear and he’s pinned it up. Paul Gascoigne is being inspired back to health by a photo of Gladiator step-daughter Bianca. He has decked his living area out with p... more -
Depression strikes more Americans than cancer, AIDS, or coronary heart disease
Depression strikes about 17 million American adults each year--more than cancer, AIDS, or coronary heart disease--according to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). An estimated 15 percent of chronic depression cases end in suicide. Women are twice as likely as men to be affected.
Many people simply don't know what depression is. "A lot of people still believe that depression is a character flaw or caused by bad parenting," says Mary Rappaport, a spokeswoman for the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill. She explains that depression cannot be overcome by willpower, but requires medical attention.
Fortunately, depression is treatable, says Thomas Laughren, M.D., team leader for psychiatric drug products in FDA's division of neuropharmacological drug products.
In the past 13 years, the Food and Drug Administration has approved several new antidepressants, including Wellbutrin (bupropion), Prozac (fluoxetine), Zoloft (sertraline), Paxil (paroxetine), Effexor (venlafaxine), Serzone (nefazodone), and Remeron (mirtazapine).
According to the American Psychiatric Association (APA), 80 to 90 percent of all cases can be treated effectively. However, two-thirds of the people suffering from depression don't get the help they need, according to NIMH. Many fail to identify their symptoms or attribute them to lack of sleep or a poor diet, the APA says, while others are just too fatigued or ashamed to seek help.
Left untreated, depression can result in years of needless pain for both the depressed person and his or her family. And depression costs the United States an estimated $43 billion a year, due in large part to absenteeism from work, lost productivity, and medical costs, according to the National Depressive and Manic Depressive Association.
Diagnosing the Disease
Medical professionals generally base a diagnosis of depressive disorder on the presence of certain symptoms listed in the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual. The DSM (presently in the fourth edition) lists the following symptoms for depression:
* depressed mood
* loss of interest or pleasure in almost all activities
* changes in appetite or weight
* disturbed sleep
* slowed or restless movements
* fatigue, loss of energy
* feelings of worthlessness or excessive guilt
* trouble in thinking, concentrating, or making decisions
* recurrent thoughts of death or suicide.
The diagnosis depends on the number, severity and duration of these symptoms. Depression strikes about 17 million American adults each year--more than cancer, AIDS, or coronary heart disease--according to the Nat... more -
Child sexual abuse: suffering years of unrelenting sorrow
The Supreme Court has struck down a Louisiana law that allowed the execution of people convicted of a raping a child. The decision evoked an unyielding rebuttal from four members of the court, as well as strong condemnation from both presidential candidates.
This article presents photographs and two videos (including an absolutely staggering documentary about the life-long legacy of child sexual abuse in Alaska). The Supreme Court has struck down a Louisiana law that allowed the execution of people convicted of a raping a child. The decision ev... more -
Fighting the Army
Of the thousands of U.S. troops getting discharged from the Army each year, many who are suffering from post traumatic stress disorder and brain injuries aren't getting the vital care they need. The Army claims these soldiers have pre-existing mental illnesses or are guilty of misconduct.
NOW on PBS. Of the thousands of U.S. troops getting discharged from the Army each year, many who are suffering from post traumatic stress disorder... more -
Prosecutor: "sex and debt drove man to kill wife and baby"
"A British man despondent over his sex life and his mounting debt shot his wife and baby daughter to death as they lay in bed together, covered them with a comforter and then bought a one-way ticket home to England, a prosecutor told a jury Friday.
Neil Entwistle, 29, is charged in the fatal shootings of his 27-year-old wife, Rachel, and their 9-month-old daughter, Lillian Rose, in January 2006. His defense attorney said Entwistle was a loving husband and father who was so crazed with grief after discovering their bodies in their Hopkinton home that he flew to England to be consoled by his parents.
"Everything he said and everything he did thereafter, he did because he loved them, he did because he loved them both," Elliot Weinstein said.
The lawyers gave their opening statements Friday in Middlesex District Court after four days of jury selection. Assistant District Attorney Michael Fabbri told jurors that Entwistle had grown increasingly unhappy after the couple moved to the United States from England, where they met in 1999. Entwistle, a computer engineer, had been unable to find a job in the U.S., had fallen into debt and began trolling the Internet for sex, Fabbri said."
Associated Press "A British man despondent over his sex life and his mounting debt shot his wife and baby daughter to death as they lay in bed tog... more
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Mental Illness
