Beyond Blue: The Last Lecture: 5 Evergreen Lessons

Therese Borchard writes in Beyond Blue: It seems like the closer one is to death, the more genuine one becomes. The more courageous one is to speak your truth, and nothing but the truth. This was certainly the case with Randy Pausch, diagnosed with incurable pancreatic cancer in September of 2006, who died today at his home in Virginia. A few months back, a friend sent me the video of his last lecture at Carnegie Mellon and I viewed it with the other millions of people in cyberspace. But unlike all the other lists of "10 things you need to know to be happy" I get in my inbox, his lessons stuck. I keep coming back to them, especially when I'm with my kids, pulling out my hair and begging the universe to send me a silent moment. THEN I will...

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Beyond Blue: Larry Parker and Rain

Therese Borchard writes in Beyond Blue:  "The other day I invited you to write your own "This I Believe" essay like the ones read over NPR. Beyond Blue reader Larry Parker/Doxieman122 (who is a candidate for the Member of the Month) blew me away with his. I hope you submitted it to NPR, by the way, Larry! You can find others by checking out the "This I Believe" discussion thread at Group Beyond Blue at Beliefnet's Community. Thanks for such a great read!" Dear Father in heaven, I'm not a praying man, but if you're up there and you can hear me [as he cries] show me the way... show me the way. - George Bailey, "It's a Wonderful Life" There is a reason, I think, that rain is used as a metaphor for our tears and sadness. It's a Biblical metaphor on numerous occasions - "the rain falls...

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ABC News: 'They're Like Us,' Elephant Researchers Say

From Kenya to Tennessee, Elephants With PTSD Symptoms Are Finding Some Peace By KIMBERLY LAUNIER There is something startling about an elephant's eyes. Their fiery amber color seems to blaze against the surrounding skin's burlap creases. An ancient face, lined with history, but it is the eyes that convey the generational knowledge of the species. They offer a glimpse into what researchers now say is a surprising level of consciousness. It is one of many reasons why the place elephants hold in our imaginations is both epic, and wondrous. Watch the story Friday on "20/20" at 10 p.m. ET "There are things about elephants that seem so similar to us. Their family life, their emotional life, the fact that they grieve. They stand out from other animals," said Gay Bradshaw, director of...

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NPR: The Sights and Sounds of Schizophrenia

Aug. 29, 2002 -- The textbook description of schizophrenia is a listing of symptoms: delusions, hallucinations, disorganized speech and behavior. But what does schizophrenia really feel like? NPR's Joanne Silberner reports on a virtual reality experience that simulates common symptoms of the mental illness. Read the rest of the report:   Listen to the sto...

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Boston Herald.com: ‘Sopranos’ star tackles issue of mental illnes

By Tenley Woodman Photo by Ted Fitzgerald Paging Dr. Melfi.Former “Sopranos” bad guy Joe Pantoliano wants to whack the stigma from mental illness.The actor was at McLean Hospital in Belmont last week interviewing doctors and patients for a documentary about clinical depression in America and the roadblocks to recovery. Pantoliano, who was diagnosed with depression three years ago, founded the nonprofit organization No Kidding, Me Too! to help counter the negative image surrounding mental health issues. The documentary is part of that effort. “Why is it I’m discriminated against when I take the anti-depressants, but not when I take the Lipitor? The culture is OK with me taking an erectile dysfunction remedy, but not with the (anti-depressants),”...

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Mirror.co.uk: Brain clue to mental illness

The brains of men and women are wired differently and could explain why they suffer different mental illnesses, say scientists. They measured 45 areas and found the frontal lobe, for decisions and problem-solving, was bigger in women. Men were bigger in areas used for space perception, social and sexual behaviour. Women are more likely to suffer depression from a lack of serotonin, while boys are more likely to have autism due to a hormone in the brain, New Scientist mag sa...

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London Times Online: Mental illness in the limelight at Bonkersfest

Celebrity confessions, candid blogs and even a festival are pushing mental illness into the limelight For the most part, Liz Spikol’s videos on YouTube come across as light-hearted and quirky. In one, she pinches her chin to demonstrate her weight gain; in another, she muses on what it meant for her relationship when she lost her libido. Yet Spikol, 40, executive editor and columnist of Philadelphia Weekly, is talking about what it’s like to live with bipolar disorder, a condition she has suffered from since her twenties. Spikol is part of a growing movement of people who suffer from serious mental illness and are willing to talk honestly and publicly about their condition. She is articulate and successful, and this is part of the point....

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The Ottawa Citizen: Mental illness a crisis with no end in sight

Donna Jacobs The Ottawa Citizen A Canadian authority on mental health in the workplace tells people it's time to put down their BlackBerries -- and their cellphones, too. And leave them down for a few days. "Turn your back on the e-mail system for a particular part of the day," Bill Wilkerson advises. "Leave it to tomorrow. Next time you want to e-mail somebody, think twice. Consider going to their office." BlackBerries, he says, are ruining business protocols by being "an incredibly cryptic and sometimes insulting short form of communicating." They bypass human contact with its crucial body language, they isolate people and, he says simply, "isolation predicts depression." People are increasingly isolated, he says, even in crowded rooms, in big buildings full of people. Under the...

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The Korea Times: More Office Workers Suffer Mental Illness

By Bae Ji-sook Staff Reporter With the business world becoming ever more complex and competitive, more people are suffering from various mental illnesses due to work-related stress, government data showed Wednesday. While women tended to suffer more human relation-related problems at work, men were seen to be more vulnerable to the stress of work itself. The number of those diagnosed with depression or other mental illnesses has steadily risen. It jumped to 354,221 in 2007 up from 163,213 in 2000, according to the National Health Insurance Corp. Competition among peers ㅡ thriving for promotion or having to achieve various work-related targets ㅡ drove office workers to severe stress. Researchers classed this as ``Acute Stress.'' ``The key...

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Science Friday: Treating Depression

Depression's not just in your head. The condition is characterized by periods of weeks at a time of a persistent sad, anxious, or "empty" mood, feelings of hopelessness, pessimism, guilt, worthlessness, and helplessness. Depressed people may find that they no longer get pleasure from or are interested in hobbies and activities that they once enjoyed. Over 20 million people in the United States are said to suffer from depression. In this segment, we'll talk about what the condition is and what can be done about it. Conventional therapies for depression involve medications and talk therapy, often used in combination. But is that approach the only way out of depression? In his new book, "Unstuck," psychiatrist James Gordon says depression is not a disease, and that most people don't need drugs...

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The Last Psychiatrist: He's Not Yelling At You Because He's Angry

From The Last Psychiatrist: I. What happened is this: the junior lawyer messed up. Two years ago, he was supposed to do X, but instead did Y, because back then that's what he thought he was supposed to do. In retrospect, it was poor judgment, but that's the way it went down. Two years later all hell breaks loose, as they say, and Tom gets a call at his house at 8pm from one of the partners who is having a seizure. "Do you remember blah blah blah? You did X? How could you do X? Do you realize what you've done?" Thing is, in those intervening two years about a thousand other similar X/Y scenarios have passed through his desk, he neither remembers blah blah blah, nor even at what point in his career he stopped doing X and started doing Y. Do you remember saying "aminal" instead of "animal?"...

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The Writer’s Almanac: “Someone I Cared For” by Cid Corman

Someone I cared for Someone I cared forput it to me: Whodo you think you are?I went down the listof all the manypossibilitiescarefully — did ittwice — but couldn't finda plausible one.That was when I knew for the first time whoin fact I wasn't."Someone I cared for" by Cid Corman, from And The Word. © Coffee House Press, 19...

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Neurisprudence: Judges and Neuroscience

By Jyotpal Singh in NeurisprudenceJudges are now being educated about neuroscience. The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in conjunction with the National Conference of Lawyers and Scientists (NCLS) has recently begun holding seminars on Neuroscience and Law aimed at educating judges and increasing the linkages between the scientific and legal communities.This is a very important step forward for both law and science because judges play such a critical role in the legal system. Judges make crucial decisions which affect not only the immediate case but also the later cases that will be bound by the decision under the principle of stare decisis. Informed, reasoned decisions can only be made about scientific topics in the courtroom when judges have good information and...

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The Writer's Almanac: "The Rider" by Naomi Shihab Nye

The Riderby Naomi Shihab NyeA boy told me if he roller-skated fast enough his loneliness couldn't catch up to him, the best reason I ever heard for trying to be a champion. What I wonder tonight pedaling hard down King William Street is if it translates to bicycles. A victory! To leave your loneliness panting behind you on some street corner while you float free into a cloud of sudden azaleas, pink petals that have never felt loneliness, no matter how slowly they fell. "The Rider" by Naomi Shihab Nye, from Fuel. © BOA Editions, 19...

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NYT: The Urge To End It All

By SCOTT ANDERSON Is suicide the deadly result of a deep psychological condition — or a fleeting impulse brought on by opportuni...

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