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Archive for January, 2011

 

Article Date: 13 Oct 2010 – 2:00 PDT

Teenagers think mental illness carries much more stigma than it actually does, according to new research from The Australian National University.

A study of over 1,300 12 to 17 year-olds by the Centre for Mental Health Research (CMHR) at ANU found that mental illness does carry a stigma amongst adolescents, but that teenagers overestimate its extent.

The study differentiated between ‘personal depression stigma’, an individual’s beliefs about depression, and ‘perceived depression stigma’, or an individual’s perception of what other people think and feel about depression.

Lead researcher, Dr Alison Calear, said that identifying the levels of personal and perceived depression stigma in Australian adolescents is extremely important.

“Young people do not seek help for depression because of fear of negative attitudes in the wider community, especially from their peers,” said Dr Calear.

“Stigmatising attitudes and beliefs towards depression are not uncommon and can lead to feelings of fear, avoidance, bias, anger or distrust towards individuals with the disorder.

“Greater understanding of the development of stigmatising attitudes and beliefs can help inform new strategies and techniques to reduce stigma in the community and ultimately increase help-seeking behaviour,” she said.

Another key finding in the study was that teenagers considered other people’s depression stigma as significantly higher than their own.

“Most young people do not believe that mental health problems arise from a ‘weakness of character’,” said Dr Calear. “However teenagers are inclined to think that others their age would believe this to be the case.

Read in Full:  http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/204373.php



 

Article Date: 13 Oct 2010 – 0:00 PDT

In life, we’re told, we must take the good with the bad, and how we view these life events determines our well-being and ability to adjust. But according to Prof. Dov Shmotkin of Tel Aviv University’s Department of Psychology, you need more than the right attitude to successfully negotiate the vicissitudes of life.

As recently reported in Aging and Mental Health, Prof. Shmotkin’s research reveals that people’s well-being and their adaptation can be ascertained by their “time trajectory” – their concept of how they have evolved through their remembered past, currently perceived present, and anticipated future. A close study of how patients compartmentalize their life into these periods can help clinical psychologists treat them more effectively, he says.

From trauma to everyday life

Prof. Shmotkin says that the theory emerged from the study of patients who had experienced traumatic events. “We discovered that overcoming trauma was related to how people organized the memory of their trauma on the larger time continuum of their life course,” he explains.

In a study of Holocaust survivors, Prof. Shmotkin separated these survivors into those who considered the “Holocaust as past” and those who conceived of the “Holocaust as present.” Those in the “Holocaust as past” category were able to draw an effective line between the present day and the past trauma, thus allowing themselves to move forward. Those in the “Holocaust as present” category considered their traumatic experience as still existing, which indicated a difficulty in containing the trauma within a specific time limit.

But Prof. Shmotkin quickly saw that these coping mechanisms were not exclusive to those who had experienced trauma. Instead, he theorized, these mechanisms are a part of the normal aging process. When young, he explains, our wishes for self improvement and growth lie in an anticipated future. But as we get older, our longer perspective can help or hinder in confronting the present challenges of aging.

Read in Full:  http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/204322.php



 

By Traci Pedersen
Reviewed by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on October 12, 2010

Scientists know that the key to unlocking neurological disorders begins with a full understanding of how neurons are generated and sustained.

A new discovery in the secret life of neurons has managed to surprise researchers at the Jan and Dan Duncab Neurological Research Institute at Texas Children’s Hospital and Baylor College of Medicine.

Their findings reveal that the life cycle of adult hippocampal baby neurons was not what was previously thought. 

In fact, very soon after birth, within 1 to 4 days of life, newborn cells reach a critical stage in which many of them die by apoptosis, natural cell death. Furthermore, the study showed that those dead cells are removed quite quickly.

The study blazes a new path for future research regarding the process by which neurons are generated.

“Years ago researchers believed we were born with only a certain number of neurons to last us throughout our lifetime, but we soon learned that new ones are also produced in adulthood. Our current research is focused on the life cycle of those neurons,” said Amanda Sierra Saavedra, postdoctoral associate in pediatrics-neurology at NRI/BCM.

Read in Full:  http://psychcentral.com/news/2010/10/13/new-findings-may-help-understanding-neurological-disorders/19413.html



 

By John M Grohol PsyD

Do you still have your favorite blanket, pillow, or plush toy from your childhood?

If you do, don’t fear — you’re amongst good company.

Our partner LiveScience has the story by examining the data that drives our need to keep these reminders from our childhood. We believe these objects hold something of greater value to us than just their outward appearance or physical properties. Scientists call this belief “essentialism.”

Essentialism is why we don’t feel the same about replacing a lost object, whether it be our wedding ring, a toy from our childhood, or our cherished iPhone. The new object loses that emotional attachment the original had.

That’s one of the reasons some of us hang on to those childhood toys or objects — they hold an emotional value to us that is hard to put into words and far exceeds the physical nature of the object itself.

One of my friends enjoys this sort of bonding with every car she has ever owned. Not only does she name it, but she forms a bond that could only be described as an emotional attachment with the car. Another one of my friends has a small pillow she’s had since childhood. Although the pillow itself is hideous to look at, the emotional connection to that pillow has been formed and can’t readily be broken.

Read in Full:  http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2010/10/13/do-you-still-have-a-security-blanket/



 

Washington Wed, 13 Oct, 2010.

Washington, Oct 13 (ANI): Researchers at the University of Utah (U of U) are one step closer to diagnosing autism using MRI, an advance that eventually could help health care providers identify the problem much earlier in children and lead to improved treatment and outcomes for those with the disorder.

In a study, researchers led by neuroradiologist Jeffery S. Anderson, U of U assistant professor of radiology, used MRI to identify areas where the left and right hemispheres of the brains of people with autism do not properly communicate with one another.

Those areas are in “hot spots” associated with functions such as motor skills, attention, facial recognition, and social functioning- behaviors that are abnormal in autism. MRI’s of people without the disorder did not show the same deficits.

“We know the two hemispheres must work together for many brain functions,” says Anderson. “We used MRI to look at the strength of these connections from one side to the other in autism patients.”

Other than increased brain size in young children with autism, there are no major structural differences between the brains of people with autism and those who do not have the disorder that can be used to diagnose autism on a routine brain MRI. It has been long believed that more profound differences could be discovered by studying how regions in the brain communicate with each other.

The study, and other work U of U researchers are doing using diffusion tensor imaging (measures microstructure of white matter that connects brain regions), reveals important information about autism.

The advances highlight MRI as a potential diagnostic tool, so patients could be screened objectively, quickly, and early on when interventions are most successful. The advances also show the power of MRI to help scientists better understand and potentially better treat autism at all ages.

“We still don’t know precisely what’s going on in the brain in autism,” says Janet Lainhart, U of U associate professor of psychiatry and pediatrics and the study’s principal investigator.

“This work adds an important piece of information to the autism puzzle. It adds evidence of functional impairment in brain connectivity in autism and brings us a step closer to a better understanding of this disorder. When you understand it at a biological level, you can envision how the disorder develops, what are the factors that cause it, and how can we change it. “

The study has been published on October 15, 2010 in Cerebral Cortex online. (ANI)

Source:  http://newstrackindia.com/newsdetails/184707



Braille Embosser

The UK government has outlined plans to improve public websites, upgrade equipment and provide better online content for disabled people.

The measures, announced by communications minister Ed Vaizey, are intended to create a “step-change” in e-Accessibility by the time of the Paralympics in 2012.

It will see upgrades to things such as screen readers and Braille embossers. Content such as e-books could be made available for those with poor eyesight.

Website design

“A successful digital economy can only be achieved if everyone can enjoy the same advantages that technology offers, like access to public services, online shopping and banking, interactive games and social media,” said Mr Vaizey.

The e-Accessibility Forum will be made up of a group of over 60 experts from government, industry and the voluntary sector.

One of the their first tasks will be drawing up a regulatory framework to specify measures to ensure disabled users have the same access to digital services as non-disabled consumers.

It will also look at ways to improve the design of government websites.

Source:  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-11524233



 

 

Allan Schwartz, LCSW, Ph.D. Updated: Oct 10th 2010

 

Tony Danza was one of my favorite actors on the comedy television shows, Taxi and Who’s The Boss. Now, he is on television again but the role he is playing has little to do with entertainment. The new show is called, “Teach: Tony Danza.” In it he is a real teacher of English in an urban Philadelphia High School. I can report that, having been a High School teacher for twenty yeas, this is reality television at its best. The reason for this opinion is that, finally, there is a program that accurately demonstrates what the classroom is really like in all of our urban High Schools. Adding to the grit of the program is that Mr. Danza is a new teacher who is closely supervised and struggles daily with very difficult students.

 

To his credit, Mr. Danza takes full responsibility for poor teaching when half of his class scores low on quizzes. Accurately demonstrating what most new teachers experience, he tries to find ways of teaching that will help his students learn and perform well while not being bored. Having grown up in a tough neighborhood when he was young, and having been a difficult and challenging student himself, Mr. Danza understands the poor motivation of many of his students and has an understanding of them that only similar experience can help someone really know what it is like for High School teenagers.

 

Typical of classrooms throughout the United States, Mr. Danza has, in the same classroom, kids who are intellectually gifted, others who are in special education and others who are average of below. One of the gifted kids complains that the class is too slow for him while others complain that they do not understand what they are reading. Peppered throughout the room are those who sit and stare with bored, glazed-over eyes, demonstrating to total lack of interest. In fact, some of them hold a sarcastic smirk, as though to say, “Ha, I dare you to teach me anything.” Some of them yawn and one can be seen tossing her cell phone into her pocket book.

 

This is truly reality. I know. I was there and remember what it felt like to try to “row against the current” when I was teaching.

 

One of the features of education in the United States today, that is a strong under current of the program, is that the success or failure of the students are the responsibility of the teachers. One administrators lectures Mr. Danza that he “cannot call himself a teacher until he has taught something.”

 

In contrast to this American attitude towards teaching and learning, people living in nations like India, China and elsewhere, the burden of responsibility for learning and succeeding in school is placed squarely on the students and their families. In other words, “If my son fails a subject, it is his fault and mine, as well.

 

Read in Full: 

http://www.mentalhelp.net/poc/view_doc.php?type=doc&id=40325&cn=1276



 Anna McNaughton

Anna McNaughton wants to move to a housing association bungalow in Worthing, but council funding disputes have scuppered her plans. Photograph: Martin Godwin for the Guardian

Saba Salman

The Guardian, Wednesday 13 October 2010

Disabled people in care who want to live more independently are being prevented from doing so by funding wrangles between local authorities, reports Saba Salman

Anna McNaughton fell in love with the West Sussex seaside town of Worthing when she moved there two years ago. It’s a stone’s throw from Brighton, around an hour by train from London, and its bars, cafes and restaurants are edged by a tree-lined promenade. Having had a room in a shared house since moving, the 23-year-old wants her own space.

The fact that McNaughton has no recognisable speech and is a profoundly physically disabled wheelchair-user doesn’t stop her feeling passionately about her home town. She likes the pedestrianised streets, has local friends and wants to lay down roots. Earlier this year, she found an accessible housing association bungalow that she could part-rent and part-buy under a scheme allowing those with long-term disabilities to secure a specialist mortgage. She began planning her move.

Worthing Pavilion & Promenade

But McNaughton is not moving anywhere. A bureaucratic wrangle over something called ordinary residence has trapped her in residential care, despite the fact that she not only desires but is capable of living more independently.

Defining someone’s ordinary residence is the mechanism that councils and primary care trusts (PCTs) use to decide who should fund an individual’s care. Ordinary residence guidance – and it is guidance, rather than an obligation – is part of the 1948 National Assistance Act. If a council places someone in residential care outside the local authority area, it remains financially responsible. Should the person subsequently move out of care and into supported accommodation in the community, responsibility shifts to the council in which they are based.

But authorities often balk at funding someone not originally from the area, while the councils that originally placed them in out-of-area residential care argue that they are not responsible for funding if the person moves.

This is what happened to McNaughton. East Sussex county council funds her care at a Leonard Cheshire Disability residential home in Worthing – it funded her previous residential care at Treloars college in Hampshire – but if she moves out of the home and into supported housing, her care becomes the financial responsibility of West Sussex county council. Because the latter has refused to fund her, she is in limbo.

Read in Full:  http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2010/oct/13/disabled-people-trapped-in-care

 

Phone providers are ‘disenfranchising’ disabled people from society – Ofcom

Ofcom survey shows mobile phone companies are failing disabled consumers

Arwa Aburawa

guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 5 October 2010 17.10 BST

Disabled consumers receive such a shockingly inadequate level of service from communication providers that they are being “disenfranchised from society”, according to a survey conducted by Ofcom.

The communications regulator anonymously contacted BT, Orange, O2, TalkTalk, T-Mobile, Virgin Media, 3 and Vodafone, asking for advice on the services available for blind or visually impaired customers. It found that, even after prompting, a quarter of consumers were either not given information or were told that the providers didn’t offer any special services for disabled customers.

Anna Bradley, chair of the Communications Consumer Panel, which advises Ofcom on consumer interests, said: “The results were shocking. Both fixed and mobile providers are required by Ofcom not only to make services available for disabled consumers, but to make sure consumers can find out about those services.

“Ofcom’s mystery shopping has revealed a picture of inadequate, misleading or non-existent information across all providers.”

Read in Full:  http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2010/oct/05/phone-providers-disenfranchising-disabled



 Nottingham City Centre

HUNDREDS of Notts County Council staff will learn today their jobs are at risk as the authority strives to save millions of pounds.

Staff in the children and young people’s services department found out jobs were at risk earlier this year after the authority revealed plans to cut a total of 3,000 posts.

The department has been told it needs to lose 400 staff from 27 different service areas. Today the staff will find out how many jobs will go from each area.

The job cuts will save £22m over four years.

However, £18m of this needs to be ploughed into children’s social care to cope with a 59 per cent rise in the number of cases referred to the service in just one year.

But this means there have to be cuts in other areas such as the youth offending service, health promotion for young people and support for children with special educational needs.

Councillor Philip Owen, cabinet member for children and young people, said: “This is an opportunity for us to reshape our services and reinvest significant resources to where they are needed most. Difficult decisions need to be made to find the necessary savings.

“Children and young people are a priority for the county council so almost 60 per cent of the department’s savings will be reinvested in crucial services over the next four years.”

He added: “We have set out a range of proposals which ensure greater value for money and help protect vulnerable children at risk by allocating more money for children’s social services and foster care.”

After the cuts, the council is set to deliver only services it is legally bound to in some areas.

It plans to save £3.16m on support for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).

The equivalent of 56.6 full time equivalent posts will be cut and the council acknowledges there will be less support for these children in schools.

But it says it already spends more than the national average per pupil with SEND and will be able to offer more help to children with autism and deafness.

Anthony May, director of children and young people’s services, said: “We have relatively few special schools as we believed the best place for children is in mainstream schools.”

He said this meant Notts schools were well placed to deal with children with special needs and so could cope with a lower level of support.

The council is set to scrap health promotion for young people almost entirely.

Read in Full:  http://www.thisisnottingham.co.uk/news/Notts-County-Council-unveils-cost-cutting-children-young-people-s-services/article-2745668-detail/article.html



 

Article Date: 12 Oct 2010 – 1:00 PDT

In a study to determine the durability and long-term effects of transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), psychiatric researchers at Rush University Medical Center have found the non-invasive, non-drug therapy to be an effective, long-term treatment for major depression. Results of the study were published in the October 2010 issue of Brain Stimulation, a journal published by Elsevier.

TMS therapy is a non-invasive technique that delivers highly focused magnetic field pulses to a specific portion of the brain, the left prefrontal cortex, in order to stimulate the areas of the brain linked to depression. These pulses are of a similar intensity to the magnetic field produced during an MRI imaging scan. The repeated short bursts of magnetic energy introduced through the scalp excite neurons locally and in connected areas in the brain.

Read in Full:  http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/204228.php