Enlightened Living: Understanding Constancy in Relationship

By Michael J. Formica, MA, Ed.M, NCC, LPC in Enlightened Living:Sigmund Freud had a nephew named Ernst with whom he would play peek-a-boo. Freud would hold a teddy bear at the edge of Ernst's crib and then drop it out of sight. Ever the scientist, Freud noticed that, at a young age, Ernst would immediately lose interest when he could not see the bear. When the bear came back, so did Ernst, so to speak. As Ernst got older Freud noticed that, when the bear was out of view, Ernst would reach over the edge of the crib to find the bear. From this experience Freud developed a theory of cognitive development that would later come to be called ‘object constancy'. Basically, object constancy suggests that, at some point in our early development,...

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Myvesta UK: Spending Sprees Plunge Mental Health Patients Into Chronic Debt

By Myvesta UK Excessive Spending - A Common Symptom and A Terrible Curse Average household debt reached £9,216 (excluding mortgages) in May, according to the charity Credit Action. One in four people with mental health problems is in debt, which means that a staggering 2.5 million people are estimated to be struggling with debts while dealing with illness.People with mental health problems are three times more likely to be debt-ridden than the general population as personal borrowing reaches record levels in the UK.The number is likely to be even higher among those with bipolar disorder as over-spending is often part of the condition, according to experts. They warn that financial troubles result in mental health problems such as anxiety,...

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Healthy Sense of Humor = Mental Health?

From Missouri Western State University:DAWN M. MILLERDEPARTMENT OF PSYCHOLOGYMissouri Western State UniversitySponsored by BRIAN CRONK(cronk@missouriwestern.edu) ABSTRACT Recent studies have determined that having a sense of humor leads to a relationship with a person’s overall mental health. The purpose of this study is to determine if there is a correlation between the two variables. Two questionnaires were distributed to students on the campus of Missouri Western State College and the results were scored. The data were analyzed and a significant correlation was found between sense of humor and mental health. As scores on the Multidimensional Sense of Humor Scale increased (showing a high sense of humor), scores on the mental health survey...

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NYT: Mindfulness Meditation, Based on Buddha’s Teachings, Gains Ground With Therapists

From NYTimes.com:Lotus TherapyBy BENEDICT CAREYPublished: May 27, 2008The patient sat with his eyes closed, submerged in the rhythm of his own breathing, and after a while noticed that he was thinking about his troubled relationship with his father.“I was able to be there, present for the pain,” he said, when the meditation session ended. “To just let it be what it was, without thinking it through.”The therapist nodded.“Acceptance is what it was,” he continued. “Just letting it be. Not trying to change anything.”“That’s it,” the therapist said. “That’s it, and that’s big.”This exercise in focused awareness and mental catch-and-release of emotions has become perhaps the most popular new psychotherapy technique of the past decade. Mindfulness...

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NYT: A Stroke Leads a Brain Scientist to a New Spirituality

From NYTimes.com:A Superhighway to BlissBy LESLIE KAUFMANJILL BOLTE TAYLOR was a neuroscientist working at Harvard’s brain research center when she experienced nirvana.But she did it by having a stroke.On Dec. 10, 1996, Dr. Taylor, then 37, woke up in her apartment near Boston with a piercing pain behind her eye. A blood vessel in her brain had popped. Within minutes, her left lobe — the source of ego, analysis, judgment and context — began to fail her. Oddly, it felt great.The incessant chatter that normally filled her mind disappeared. Her everyday worries — about a brother with schizophrenia and her high-powered job — untethered themselves from her and slid away.Her perceptions changed, too. She could see that the atoms and molecules making up her body blended with the space around her;...

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NARSAD Researchers Showcase New Treatment Options For Severe Depression; Provide New Clues About Treating Clinical Anxiety And Schizophrenia

Medical News Today:New findings from research supported by NARSAD, the world's leading charity dedicated to mental health research, and conducted by scientists at Washington University's School of Medicine (WUSM) now point to new options for treating preschool-aged children with significant clinical depression as well as those severely depressed adults who don't respond to standard treatments, such as antidepressants and psychotherapy.Presented at NARSAD's 5th annual St. Louis Mental Health Research Symposium on May 18th at Washington University, the studies, conducted by four leading St. Louis-based researchers, shed new light on what happens in the brains of children and adults who are affected by clinical depression, anxiety disorders and schizophrenia. Coming at a time when more than 57...

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The Earth Times: Public Service Campaign Takes on Attitudes Trivializing Depression

The Earth Times: Public Service Campaign Takes on Attitudes Trivializing DepressionWASHINGTON, May 21 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- In its latest effort to help Americans understand the seriousness of depression and the importance of seeking treatment, the Depression Is Real Coalition today distributed a groundbreaking series of PSAs titled, "It Is Depression" to media outlets nationwide. Spoken from the perspective of experts on the front lines of depression treatment, the PSAs urge the public to recognize that depression is a biological disease that can be as debilitating as other major illnesses like cancer, diabetes and heart disease.One print advertisement from the campaign poses a provocative question that illustrates popular misconceptions...

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Jezebel.com: Is Blogging Better Than Prozac?

From Jezebel.com:Yesterday on CNN.com, Anna Jane Grossman tackles the very heart and soul of personal blogs. Grossman says some may question why people share their deepest thoughts and feelings with strangers online, but the better question is: Why not? Grossman writes, "Overeating, alcoholism, depression — name the problem and you'll find someone's personal blog on the subject." Grossman spoke to Stacey Kim, whose husband died of pancreatic cancer. "Kim curled up next to her husband and held him as he succumbed to a long battle with pancreatic cancer," Grossman explains. "The next morning, she went online to post about the experience." Stacey's emotional blogging helped her cope. "Right after he died, people kept asking if I was in therapy,"...

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CNN.com: Your blog can be group therapy

By Anna Jane Grossman(LifeWire) -- When a 24-year-old woman who called herself "90DayJane" launched a blog in February announcing she would write about her life and feelings for three months and then commit suicide, 150,000 readers flocked to the site. Some came to offer help, some to delight in the drama. Others speculated it was all a hoax.Few, however, questioned why she would share her deepest thoughts and feelings with strangers online. In the age of cyber-voyeurism, the better question might be: Why wouldn't she?Overeating, alcoholism, depression -- name the problem and you'll find someone's personal blog on the subject. Roughly 12 million Americans have blogs, according to polls by the Pew Internet and American Life Project in 2006, and many seem to use them as a form of group therapy.A...

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Enlightened Living: Self Esteem Doesn't Make Better People Of Us

By Michael J. Formica in Enlightened Living:The American philosopher and psychologist William James first coined the term self-esteem in his seminal work The Principles of Psychology. He suggested that self-esteem can be objectively measured through a simple ratio of goals and aims to attainment. What he was talking about is what we refer to today as an evidence-based measure.Since it was first introduced in 1890, the notion of self-esteem has morphed into something entirely different than was originally intended. Our modern interpretation is no longer an objective and measurable equation of "do good/feel good". It has, in fact, come to mean something quite the opposite. We have lost sight of the "do good" piece and now, apparently much to our detriment, focus solely on the "feel-good" piece.As...

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The Good Life: What Is Positive Psychology, and What Is It Not?

By Christopher Peterson, Ph.D. in The Good Life:Positive psychology is the scientific study of what makeslife most worth living. It is a call for psychological science andpractice to be as concerned with strength as with weakness; asinterested in building the best things in life as in repairing theworst; and as concerned with making the lives of normal peoplefulfilling as with healing pathology.Nowhere does this definition say or imply that psychology shouldignore or dismiss the very real problems that people experience.Nowhere does it say or imply that the rest of psychology needs to bediscarded or replaced. The value of positive psychology is tocomplement and extend the problem-focused psychology that has beendominant for many decades.Click here to read the full article...

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Anger in the Age of Entitlement: Emotional Pollutants II

By Steven Stosny on May 16, 2008 in Anger in the Age of EntitlementHere are more emotional pollutants identified by the people inour survey that are almost guaranteed to cause a negative response inbystanders. 5. PettinessIt's making a big deal out ofnothing or focusing on one small, negative aspect of something with noattempt to see the bigger picture. It's making less important thingsmore important than the most important things. Pettiness is usually afunction of resentment; for the resentful, nothing is too petty toresent.... 6. SarcasmIt comes in many forms. Sometimesit's just poorly-timed humor - saying the wrong thing in the wrongcontext. Sometimes it's innocently insensitive, with no intention tohurt or offend. More often it is hostile and meant to devalue. Thepurpose...

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Anger In The Age of Entitlement: Emotional Pollutants

By Steven Stosny in Anger in the Age of EntitlementYou've got them (all of them) under your skin. Emotional pollution is transmitted covertly by body language, facial expressions, and tone of voice and more overtly by language and behavior. The negative effects of the more subtle forms of emotional pollution are nearly as great as the more dramatic forms. This post will list the top four emotional pollutants. 1. EntitlementEntitlement is the primary emotional pollutant because it plays some part in all the others. Think of how you react when you see people who behave as if they deserve special treatment or consideration. They expect to cut in front of you in line, smoke wherever they want, drive anyway they like, say anything they want, and do anything they like. By making...

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Longmont TimesCall: Faith groups examine role in easing mental illnesses

By Melanie M. Sidwell Longmont Times-Call LONGMONT— The public is invited to a free half-day conference Tuesday inBoulder on the role of faith groups in addressing depression. TheHOPE Coalition of Boulder County, formed in 2003 by community membersto educate and raise awareness about depression and suicide prevention,is hosting the conference in honor of Mental Health Month, spokesmanKeith Matney said.The conference, titled “Depression Over the Life Cycle & theRole of Faith Communities,” will address depression in youth,middle-aged adult and older adult populations, focusing on preventionand intervention strategies for faith groups, a press release said. The event is from 8 a.m. to noon at First Congregational Church, 1128 Pine St. in...

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Medscape: Interview With Thomas R. Insel, Director of the National Institute of Mental Health

from Medscape: On behalf of Medscape, Elizabeth Saenger, PhD, former Editorial Director, Medscape Psychiatry & Mental Health, interviewed Thomas R. Insel, MD, Director of the National Institute of Mental Health, about the current state of psychiatry and mental health in the United States. Dr. Insel explores where we have made the most progress in research and clinical practice and discusses the clinical challenges that must be addressed as the field progresses.Medscape: Dr. Insel, as Director of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), you are in a unique position to give us an overview of psychiatry and mental health in the United States today. Where have we made the most progress in research and clinical practice?Dr. Insel: Progress in clinical practice has been most impressive...

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The Icarus Project | Navigating the Space Between Brilliance and Madness

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UPI: 'Mad pride' gives voice to mentally ill

from UPI:United Press International - May 10, 2008 NEW YORK, May 10, 2008 (UPI via COMTEX) -- U.S. residents suffering from mental illnesses have a new public voice, owing to the growth of so-called mad pride events, mental health professionals say.Yale School of Medicine psychiatry lecturer Charles Barber said the growing mad pride movement represents a new generation's attempt to bring mental illness into the public eye without shame or remorse, The New York Times said Saturday."Until now, the acceptance of mental illness has pretty much stopped at depression," Barber said. "But a newer generation, fueled by the Internet and other sophisticated delivery systems, is saying, 'We deserve to be heard, too.'"Molly Sprengelmeyer, who helped organize a mad pride group in North Carolina, ...

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Mad Pride ...

MAD PRIDE(I'm waiting to join until I see what the t-shirts look like ....

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NYT: They're mad, and proud of it

from the New York Times:By Gabrielle Glaser, New York TimesPublished Thursday, May 15, 2008 4:35 PMIn the YouTube video, Liz Spikol is smiling and animated, the light glinting off her large hoop earrings. Deadpan, she holds up a diaper to illustrate how much control people lose when they undergo electroconvulsive therapy, or ECT, as she did 12 years ago.In other videos and blog postings, Spikol, 39, a writer in Philadelphia who has bipolar disorder, describes a period of psychosis so severe she jumped out of her mother's car and ran away like a scared dog.In lectures across the country, Elyn Saks, a law professor and associate dean at the University of Southern California, recounts the florid visions she has experienced during her lifelong...

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In Practice: Madonna-Whore: Not Complex

By Peter D. Kramer in In Practice :If you want to pass on your genes, you might hold out for a quality mate and raise your offspring with care. On the other hand, you might just enjoy promiscuous sex and let the pups fend for themselves. What determines which strategy you’ll choose? Your mother — or rather, the early life experience she provides. That, and how your genes fold. At least it’s that way for rodents. At the annual meeting of the American Psychiatric Association, Michael Meany, a psychobiologist at McGill, presented the results of years of work on mothering, genes, and behavior in rats. If a rat mother is nurturant (she tends to lick and groom her pups, making her “high LG”), her offspring will be less anxious, better at facing...

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Threat Level: Experts Say MySpace Suicide Indictment Sets "Scary" Legal Precedent

Threat Level from Wired.com:By Kim Zetter May 15, 2008 | 8:39:09 PM In their eagerness to visit justice on a 49-year-old woman involved in the Megan Meier MySpace suicide tragedy, federal prosecutors in Los Angeles are resorting to a novel and dangerous interpretation of a decades-old computer crime law -- potentially making a felon out of anybody who violates the terms of service of any website, experts say."This is a novel and extreme reading of what [the law] prohibits,"says Jennifer Granick, civil liberties director at the Electronic Frontier Foundation. "To say that you're violating a criminal law by registering to speak under a false name is highly problematic. It's probably an unconstitutional reading of the statute."Lori Drew, of O'Fallon,...

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Threat Level: Lori Drew Indicted in MySpace Suicide Case

From Threat Level - Wired Blogs:By Kim Zetter May 15, 2008 | 2:01:41 PM A federal grand jury issued an indictment against a woman in Missouriaccused of creating a fake MySpace page to bully a 13-year-old girl.The girl committed suicide as a result of the bullying.Lori Drew was indicted this morning in Los Angeles on federal chargesfor fraudulently using an account on MySpace. The indictment chargesDrew in four counts -- one count for conspiracy and three counts "foraccessing protected computers without authorization to obtaininformation to inflict emotional distress," according to a pressrelease. The latter charge relates to the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.The indictment(.pdf) alleges that Drew and her co-conspirators violated...

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Evil Deeds: Messiahs of Evil

By Dr. Stephen A. Diamond, Ph.D. in Evil Deeds:My most recent post, The Trauma of Evil, addressed the psychological, philosophical and spiritual trauma devastating disasters like Hurricane Katrina, the cataclysmic Indonesian tsunami, the recent killer cyclone in Burma--and now, the massive earthquake in China, resulting in an estimated 50,000 dead or buried alive under rubble--leave in their tragic wake. Such incomprehensibly catastrophic events can, as I said, be viewed as forms of natural evil or "acts of God," as they are frequently referred to. Are they divine punishment, as some religious leaders contend? The work of Satan? A cyclical part of the eternal cosmic process of creation and destruction? Or just random, meaningless natural...

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Evil Deeds: The Trauma of Evil

By Dr. Stephen A. Diamond, Ph.D. in Evil DeedsWhat are the psychological effects of massive disasters like this week's cyclone in Myanmar (Burma) that may have claimed as many as 100,000 victims? The 2004 Indonesian earthquake and tsunami in which more than 200,000 perished? Hurricane Katrina? The recent mid-west twisters destroying property and killing eleven people? For many of those who barely survive such events, cheating death, the symptoms of acute stress disorder or posttraumatic stress disorder will likely be present, requiring some therapeutic intervention. What are the psychological, theological and philosophical issues victims of such tragedies struggle with? And what about the rest of us who witness such terrible suffering...

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Psychology Today: Dare To Be Yourself

From Psychology Today:A sense of authenticity is one of our deepest psychological needs, and people are more hungry for it than ever. Even so, being true to oneself is not for the faint of heart. By: Karen WrightIt starts innocently enough, perhaps the first time you recognize your own reflection.You're not yet 2 years old, brushing your teeth, standing on your steppy stool by the bathroom sink, when suddenly it dawns on you: That foam-flecked face beaming back from the mirror is you.You. Yourself. Your very own self. It's a revelation—and an affliction. Human infants have no capacity for self-awareness. Then, between 18 and 24 months of age, they become conscious of their own thoughts, feelings, and sensations—thereby embarking on a quest that will consume much of their lives. For manymodern...

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Psychology Today: Toxic Relationships

Are problematic relationships a new type of dysfunction? Somemental health professionals have proposed that they be labeled a typeof disorder. By: Megan Olden In a move that could radically change the definition of mental illness, mental health professionals have proposed that problematic relationships be labeled a type of disorder. The next edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM), the profession's official handbook, may include relational disorders: dysfunction that arises due to interpersonal problems. Michael First, M.D., an associate professor of clinical psychiatry at Columbia University and editor of the most recent edition of the DSM, explains that in these disorders the interaction itself is the illness. "It's traits that combine in a very...

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Wicked Local.com: Patients with psychiatric disorders find hope in Tunefoolery

From WickedLocal.com:By Francis Ma StumbleUpon Newsvine del.icio.us Digg Boston - Since the age of 21, Paul Thompson has used medication and therapy to deal with his schizophrenia. He desperately needed both of them, but they failed to give him what he wanted.“You don’t get a sense of structure,” says Thompson. “That’s sadly lacking in the psychiatric circles. You have so much time on your hands and you tend to dwell on your illness. The entire day revolved around the negativity of my illness.”This cycle continued until Thompson, along with three other like-minded patients, did what any artist would do when confronted with a dire outlook...

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