Let’s just say I’m a slow starter. I mean, I think I ate solid foods on time and all that – but when it came to riding a bike, four, five, and six passed me by before there was any success on a two-wheeler. The lovely sound of ‘teen’ at the end of my age […]
Linda Logan married her high school sweetheart. She is a mother of 3 children, a Ph.D. in geography, a former co-teacher at M.I.T. And she suffers from bipolar disorder–badly. It has ravaged her life. But she has come back to talk about it in a fresh and inspiring way–and to ask the question: In all […]
ECT, TMS, antidepressants, Ketamine–ever thought you’d heard of just about every way there is to treat depression? Well here’s one I bet you haven’t heard of: Sleep deprivation. That’s right: doctors have found that depriving patients of sleep can ease their symptomatology–and can do so faster than antidepressants. Ann Wirz-Justice, Ph.D, of the Chronobiology and […]
Why write about ECT today? Isn’t it yesterday’s news? Actually, in the words of health writer Melissa Dahl (msnbc.com, 8.6.2008), “the practice has been making a quiet comeback.” “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Next” did nothing to help make ECT fashionable. In fact, according to the 2003 Sixth Edition of The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, it […]
I like to think that stigma surrounding mental illness has gone the way of the patents on the big blockbuster medications–it’s just expired and other views, less expensive on the psyche, have moved in to fill its place. Celebrities and the otherwise famous ‘come out,’ shattering the illusion of the mentally ill as hapless, disenfranchised, […]
Everybody loves a bargain, and, in honor of World Mental Health Day October 10, What’sMyM3, a highly rated mental health app, is cutting its price by a third to the bargain basement cost of $0.99. If you check out the app on the iPhone you’ll find the description currently includes this little ad-let: “October is Mental […]
October 8, 2012 by candidaabrahamson
Wednesday, October 10th, is the 20th World Mental Health Day, part of Mental Illness Awareness Week, October 7-13th. What, pray tell, does World Mental Health Day actually mean? you may be asking. Lucky for you the World Health Organization has come along as the answer to your prayers. They write pithily on their site: “World Mental Health […]
We know one thing for sure that’s typical for the atypical (or second generation) antipsychotics. They’ve caught on like a house on fire. The atypicals are the top-selling class of drugs today, with revenues in 2010 of about $14.6 billion and $18.2 billion in 2011. They have even surpassed the blockbuster statins that treat high cholesterol (think Lipitor) and […]
Next week is Mental Illness Awareness Week. Established by Congress in 1990 thanks to efforts by the tireless National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), it occurs every year during the first week of October to raise awareness about mental illness. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, an estimated 26.2% of adult Americans (that’s […]
Let’s say you wanted to find a biological indication of your bipolar disorder, or your husband’s, or your child’s. You’d have good reason for looking for one. Biological markers could ,in theory, clarify the diagnosis (no more, ‘she’s just a drug abuser,’ or ‘maybe he’s just got an irregular depression’), might actually find out what phase […]
The American Psychiatric Association is asking for your help in creating mental health parity in the U.S. The background of their call to action reads as follows: “As we approach the fourth anniversary of the enactment of the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA) on October 3, 2008, we are asking for your […]
The UK-based Mind: For Better Mental Health is a mental health charity whose mission is to be there “to make sure anyone with a mental health problem has somewhere to turn for advice and support.” They have an information and advice section, helpline numbers to call, ideas of what to do if you’re in crisis, information on […]
May 8, 2013 by rfinkel
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