Mental Health News

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For many years those suffering from manic depression had only one option for treatment in the drug, lithium carbonate.  Doctors used this drug for almost 50 years in the treatment of bipolar depression in patients.  Although it’s an effective treatment, it doesn’t work for anyone.  So, many patients were left with no treatment at all to help them through the ups and downs of their manic depression, also known as bipolar disorder.

This condition runs its sufferer ragged and leaves them in the dumps.  The average person with manic depression can experience cycles of extreme highs or happiness and extreme lows or sadness, fatigue and depression.  A person with manic depression may spend their high periods partying, living in excess, living dangerously or making dangerous decisions for the excitement all in the extreme.  While this same person in a down period can feel so run down and depressed that they spend days in bed or it takes all of their energy and motivation to get ready for a new day of work.

Now, those with manic depression have other drug choices and alternatives when lithium carbonate doesn’t work or causes complications.  Doctors have begun prescribing anti-depressant and anti-psychotic drugs which work by altering the levels of dopamine and serotonin in the brain which are involved in helping maintain a person’s mood and are involved in other essential activities in the body.  These drugs can successfully keep manic depression sufferers on an even keel.  However, they can’t help those patients who don’t seek a doctor’s help and medical advice. 

There is hope for the future, especially that of children who live in tough situations because of the ican program.  This recently launched mental health program is designed to prevent mental health problems in young children who are eligible for Medicaid and Title 19. 

These ican programs involve having children work with counselors to build skills for life and work on improving social skills or learn tools for dealing with disrupted relationships.  Many of the children and adults being helped by these programs are facing health problems, aggression, types of depression, anxiety and disrupted relationships and poor social skills.

The mental health program is run by Horizons mental health facilities based out of Cedar Rapids, Iowa.  The long term goals of the agency include seeking grants to enable the non-profit organization to offer services of this type to private paying clients. 

Many of the clients for ican programs are referred to the mental health facilities through the juvenile court system, project concern and the schools.  The programs run through Horizon are really intended to help people and children especially develop the skills they need to deal with the major problems facing them. 

For instance, if someone comes into ican complaining of anxiety related issues, the counselors will work with them in classes designed to help them build the skills they need to handle their anxiety. 

In addition, the mental health facilities that run ican services also works with other local organizations to really help people develop better lives and deal with mental health problems.

Research has shown that certain foods can improve your mood and lessen the effects of mild anxiety and depression.  This holiday season, why not try some of the following foods to improve your mood and fight depression. 

Milk
Your brain uses an amino acid called tryptophan to make serotonin.  I’m sure most of you have heard that tryptophan in that Thanksgiving Roast Turkey is part of what makes you so sleepy, but it’s also present in milk.  Well, the serotonin that the brain makes from this stuff is also a mild sedative and can help calm you down and make your mood lighter.

Chocolate
No wonder guys bring chocolate to gals on dates.  It’s such a good thing; they hope we’ll associate good stuff with them!  Chocolate contains a lot of mood lifting chemicals to fight depression.  Plus, chocolate increases the levels of endorphins in the brain, which are literally the happy hormones and a painkiller.

Whole Grains
If you are feeling anxious and grouchy most of the time, try switching to whole grain pasta and breads in your diet.  These complex carbohydrates boost serotonin levels, which will increase your sense of calm. Plus, complex carbs can help keep your body fueled longer between meals, helping prevent a mood shattering drop in blood sugar.

Broccoli
Your mom made you eat this as a kid, but Broccoli is quite useful in helping fight depression.  It’s also pretty good with cheese sauce.  This veggie contains lots of stress relieving B vitamins, which help keep your nervous system in good mental health.

Coffee
It’s a drug for sure, but the caffeine in coffee can work to make you more alert as well as activating your brain’s pleasure centers.  On the down side it can also work to increase nervousness and anxiety.  If you are just feeling a little depressed, try one small, regular strength cup of coffee each day with milk and chocolate to see if your mood improves.

For more mood lifting foods check out the Ririan Project. http://ririanproject.com/2007/08/29/kick-start-your-day-with-these-11-mood-lifting-foods/

The Japanese have recently made mental health news with their recently released study that links PMS with depression.   Millions of women experience anxiety and depression around the world and have made the link themselves between their periods and their mental health issues.

It has been found by a study in the magazine, BioPsychoSocial Medicine that PMS is tied to a decrease in the autonomic nervous system activity that occurs in the late luteal phase right before a woman’s period.  This decrease in activity may be a cause of or just another symptom of the PMS that plagues so many women.

Of course this decrease in nervous system activity is also extremely likely to result in some symptoms like anxiety and depression.

This study does also bring some good mental health news.  It provides physicians with a relatively non-invasive method to distinguish women with PMS from those with a non-hormonal disorder.

Many women find PMS to be nothing more than a mild monthly annoyance, however there are millions of women who find that their symptoms are major disruptions in their lives.  There is still no definite conclusion as to the underlying cause of PMS and its severity in some women.

Though mental health news has learned that taking oral contraceptives or SSRIs can reduce the severity of PMS symptoms to some degree.   If you are having major PMS symptoms such as the following each month you should seek medical attention for advice on treatment.

Common PMS Symptoms
Source: Women to Women http://www.womentowomen.com/menstruation/pmssymptoms.aspx

irritability
depression
anxiety
angry outbursts
confusion or fuzzy thinking
tearfulness
fatigue
insomnia
changes in libido
overeating
cravings, especially for salty or sweet foods
alcohol intolerance
acne
hives
abdominal and pelvic cramps
bloating
weight gain
headaches
menstrual migraines
breast swelling and pain
edema
asthma
sinus problems
sore throat
worsening of chronic conditions like arthritis and ulcers
difficulty with coordination
being more prone to accidents
dizziness
decreased balance
heart pounding
nausea
fainting
urinary problems

As we come up on the holiday season many experts are warning people about the possibility of depression and anxiety resulting from a variety of areas.  The holidays hit at the same time every year, but not everyone feels the same about the holidays.

There is quite a lot of build-up to the holiday season, especially New Year’s Eve, when most Americans feel that this is the night they have to party.  Not everyone has someone to party with on New Year’s Eve, or they may not even feel like partying.  This can lead to sadness or a feeling that something is wrong with you.

Director of Pastoral Care and Social Services at Lima, Ohio Memorial Health Systems, Dottie Kaiser recommends that people without plans for the big yearly party just enjoy the time by yourself.  There is a lot of external pressure to have someone to be with for the holidays or someplace to go.  However, you can easily have a nice comfortable evening with yourself.  Snuggle up with a good book and some hot cocoa.  Watch the alcoholic consumption because mixing beer with a bad mood can lead to major depression over the holidays.

Another part of the holiday season usually involves setting unrealistic or vague New Year Resolutions which can also lead to anxiety and depression because of the let down in not fulfilling your resolutions.  Experts recommend setting achievable, specific and realistic goals for the New Year so you don’t get depressed trying to achieve the impossible.

Those who survived Katrina or left only to come back to the ruins of New Orleans are still suffering and it shows in their mental health.  Many of the survivors of Katrina are showing signs of depression. 

A study released in November found that almost half of the pre-hurricane residents of New Orleans and one-fourth of those living in other affected areas had evidence of an anxiety or mood disorder about five to seven months after the Hurricane hit. 

The hurricane created a disaster area in the United States that is as large as Great Britain and killed more than 1,000 people.  Two years later, the city is still a shadow of it’s former self and many residents are still living in tents.  The strain of continuing to live in difficult conditions is likely one of the causes of depression in the survivors.

A telephone survey was conducted between Jan. 10 and March 31, 2006 with a little over 1,000 people who provided the information for the study.  It was found that a vast majority of those in the New Orleans metro area about 91.9% reported experiencing at least one of the 10 categories of hurricane related stressors.   The stressors such as death of a loved one down to robbery resulted in signs of depression and other anxiety/mood disorders occurring.

One of the major preventable causes of the mental health decline in New Orleans and surrounding area residents is concluded by the study to be the slow government response to Hurricane Katrina in evacuating, providing aid and more.

It seems that the government has been slacking off in mental health policy of late.  Washington D.C.’s mental health agency has failed to recover millions in denied Medicaid claims over the course of several years.  A recent audit has uncovered the gross ineptitude of the mental health agency’s financial system. 

The audit also found that of the approximately 1.4 million Medicaid claims that were submitted by the Department of Mental Health between 2002 and 2006, 500,000 of those claims were rejected.  However, by certain mental health laws the department is allowed to process and resubmit those claims so that they have a better chance of being approved, within a time frame of two years.  Yet, the audit found that the government has practically no system or process for doing so set up!

The Director of the Mental Health Department, Stephen Baron has issued a written response to the report that claimed the $30 million dollar figure quoted by the audit as unclaimed funds is over inflated by $5 million dollars.  Baron also admitted that his agency did lack the mental health policy to resubmit the claims prior to September 2006, but they have since then corrected the problem and resubmitted a total amount of $12.9 million in Medicaid claims for approval.  These resubmitted claims have resulted in reimbursement of $8 million.

The audit also found that the Department of Mental Health also failed to prevent it’s vendors from overspending their work orders and thus going over budget to the tune of $16.1 million dollars in the fiscal year of 2006.

Those in and considering entering the mental health nursing sector may well wish to consider this article before going into work.  The health care commission in Britain has completed its first ever national audit focusing on violence in older people’s mental health services.  The results are due to be published layer this month.

However, early results from the audit included in the commissions State of Healthcare report indicate that there is a high risk of being assaulted as a mental health worker in this industry.

The study was carried out for the watchdog by the Royal College of Psychiatrists and draws on data from 215 mental health units in England and Wales.  This data comes from both the National Health Services and Independent sector of health care treatment.  The early results showed that 64% of those in mental health nursing for older people have reported being physically assaulted.  That’s in the last twelve months!

The report also indicates that a full 43% of nurses have no access to personal safety alarms, so they can push a button requesting aid in case a patient becomes abusive.  45% of interview rooms also lacked accessible alarms.  In addition, line of sight was impeded in a whopping 69% of patient environments.  Line of sight is very important for the safety of patients who may need help from a nurse and for the safety of those mental health nursing workers engaging on a one-to-one basis with irate patients.

Those are some very angry elderly people.  The report also found that 30% of nurses questioned stated that facilities were insufficiently staffed and 50% of mental health workers felt that the gender mix was wrong when working with patients.

A recent study is indicating that if you were a small baby you could have a higher risk of mental health issues such as anxiety and depression.  Researchers as the University of Alberta and Colleagues in Britain studies the records of 4,600 Britons born in the year 1946 and who took part in a 40-year study.

The researchers looked at the birth weights of all these people and at whether or not the participants experienced mental health issues.  They didn’t try to look for causes of the problems, only noted the connections. 

Ian Colman, one of the researchers stated that people who only had mild to moderate symptoms of depression and anxiety tended to be smaller babies than those who were in better mental health.  He also said that this appears to be a ‘dose-response relationship’ in that the smaller you were as a baby, the more likely you are to have mood disorders. 

Researchers also noted that those who had more mental health issues throughout their lives also tended to reach developmental milestones later on, such as sitting upright and walking. 

Of course being born small doesn’t guarantee you’ll have problems.  It’s only an indicator if you were born small because of stress in the womb.  Researchers believe this is so because when a mother is very stressed blood flow to the womb is constricted and the fetus gets fewer nutrients and this can lead to lower birth weight.  Researchers also theorized that some of the stress hormones produced by the mother are being passed through the placenta to the fetus when she is stressed causing the baby to be stressed. 

Studies have also shown that a lower birth weight indicates a higher risk of diabetes and heart disease in later life.  So it’s not just mental health issues you should be concerned about.

This study shows that pregnant women should be well taken care off and care should be taken not to stress them.

Math anxiety can be considered a minor mental health disorder.  All it takes is one bad experience with math and a person can develop an anxiety around math for the rest of his life.  Most of us get plenty of bad experiences with math in school, so we end up feeling nervous about handling the checkbook, doing taxes and dealing in numbers as adults.  This is a real phobia.  It actually has its own diagnosis code from the American Psychological Association, which is 315.1.

Math Anxiety can cripple you financially.  From a hesitance to balance your check book to avoidance in balancing your bills, this mental health disorder can be a real problem. 

However, you can slowly work your way back into feeling comfortable with working math.  Here are a few tips.

1. Use Shortcuts-Don’t be afraid to use a calculator for your daily math needs.  There is no reason to feel bad about using this tool.  You went through school to learn all the basics already.  No need to keep testing yourself on them.

2. Immerse yourself in Finances-If this mental health disorder has you feeling like you can’t handle planning for your financial future, then try learning a little bit about the sector.  Get yourself a subscription to Money Magazine or leave the television on CNBC for a few minutes each day and you’ll be surprised at how much you start to soak up about money and the math that goes with it.

3. Don’t forget the kids-Keep your kids from getting your math phobia too.  Sit down with them and help them with their math homework.  Be encouraging, without pushing them.  You can even ask your child’s math teacher what you can do to help your child learn math, without becoming overly worried or anxious about it.