Mental Health News

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Could it be true that music really does soothe the savage beast? Well, yes, if the savage beast comes in the form of schizophrenia. British scientists have found that music therapy may help to ease the depression, anxiety and emotional withdrawal symptoms of schizophrenia in patients that who otherwise don’t respond well to drug treatments.  At least those seem to be the the preliminary findings of a small study being done by researchers at Imperial College London.   With nearly 1% of the population suffering from schizophrenia or a related disorder, these findings are remarkable.  In a nutshell, the study results showed that music therapy enhanced the effectiveness of inpatient treatments, especially those who didn’t respond well to drug treatments before.   It may be too early to get very excited about the testing done.  The sample was small and very controlled.  However, positive results are positive results and too often when it comes to mental health, it seems that no one is even trying to look.  I hope to hear they have started the next phase of their study with a larger trial to validate their findings.  When I do, I’ll report it here.

A recent poll conducted in Scotland shows that “83% of respondents face a dilemma about whether to be honest about their condition.”

This number is much, much worse than I would have expected, and I wonder what it would be in the US. Far higher, I suspect.

The tragedy is, while we’re so busy hiding our mental illness in order to protect ourselves, people are actually dying from mental illness, every day, all over the world, because of stigma.

No, I don’t always tell everyone I meet that I’m bipolar, or that I’ve been hospitalized twice. Frankly, everyone I meet not only doesn’t care, but doesn’t need to know. But I don’t hide it. If there’s a reason to tell, I tell. I’m telling now, because there’s a reason. Let’s stop worrying about stigma. If we ignore it, will it go away? Maybe. It’s worth a try.