Archive for 2011
Eating Disorder Recovery
There’s a lucrative cottage industry in the U.S. for the residential treatment of almost anything you can imagine. Everything from “Internet addiction†and drug and alcohol problems, to eating and mood disorders. If you can treat it in an outpatient setting, the thinking goes, why not treat it in a “residential†setting for 30 or more days where you control every aspect of the patient’s life?
The “residential†treatment approach has long been available for eating disorders, since the treatment of these disorders tends to be long and complicated. Andrew Pollack writing for the New York Times notes how these kinds of programs have now become the focus of insurance companies looking to cut back on treatment options.
It’s no surprise, really. With the rollout of mental health parity — requiring that insurance companies can no longer discriminate against people with mental disorders for their treatment options — those companies are looking for other places they can cut costs. Residential treatment for eating disorders appears to be one obvious area.
So is residential treatment a legitimate modality for helping people with eating disorders? Should insurance companies cover the costs of such care?
According to one study (Frisch et al., 2006), the average length of stay in a residential treatment center for an eating disorder is 83 days. That’s nearly 3 months of full-time, round-the-clock treatment and care. The cost for such care? On average, it’s $956 per day. You read that right — nearly $1,000/day is the average cost for such care. That means a single patient at such a treatment center is bringing in, on average, $79,348.
Proponents of residential treatment admit there’s little research to back its use for eating disorders, but are adamant such programs are effective and needed:
Read More …
Reviewed by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on October 14, 2011
Elevated C-reactive protein (CRP) levels in patients with schizophrenia are associated with a higher 10-year risk for cardiovascular disease, new research suggests.
Past studies have shown that schizophrenia is associated with significant coexisting health concerns. This includes an increased risk for the metabolic syndrome — which is also a risk factor for cardiovascular disease (also known as heart disease).
Antoni Sicras-Mainar from Badalona Serveis Assistencials in Spain and colleagues conducted a cross-sectional analysis of administrative claims in 705 individuals who has a diagnosis of schizophrenia.
Read in Full:
Bipolar magazine
Reviewed by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on October 14, 2011
Children who grow up in families where other mental disorders are present — such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or anxiety — appear to be at greater risk for developing bipolar disorder later in life, according to new research.
Researchers still do not know what causes bipolar disorder, although it is argued that family history is presently the strongest predictive factor for being diagnosed with bipolar. If an older relative has bipolar disorder, you are at greater risk for developing it.
In the present longitudinal study, led by John Nurnberger from the Indiana University School of Medicine, examined the lifetime prevalence and early clinical predictors for psychiatric disorders in 141 high-risk children and adolescents from families with a history of bipolar disorder.
Read in Full:
http://psychcentral.com/news/2011/10/14/bipolar-disorder-risk-factors-found-in-families/30342.html
Reviewed by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on October 18, 2011
With apologies or perhaps as depicted by Jason Statham, a new study suggests those who view their car as an extension of themselves have stronger aggressive driving tendencies.
The study looks at how personality, attitude and values contribute to aggressive driving behaviors.
Sadly, aggressive driving causes a third of all accidents that involve personal injuries and two-thirds of all fatal accidents in the United States.
“It explains much of the phenomenon we knew existed,†said Ayalla Ruvio, lead author and an assistant professor of marketing at Temple University.
For instance, “we know men tend to be more aggressive drivers and we know men tend to see their cars as an extension of themselves more than women.â€
Ruvio’s article, published online in the Journal of Psychology & Marketing, takes a consumer behavior perspective of this phenomenon and features two studies conducted in Israel.
One took a holistic look at the influence of personality, attitudes and values gathered from 134 surveys of men and women with an average age of 23.5.
The second study, of 298 people, built from the first and added the factors of risk attraction, impulsivity, driving as a hedonistic activity and perceptions about time pressures.
The studies found:
- *People who perceive their car as a reflection of their self-identity are more likely to behave aggressively on the road and break the law.
- *People with compulsive tendencies are more likely to drive aggressively with disregard for potential consequences.
- *Increased materialism, or the importance of one’s possessions, is linked to increased aggressive driving tendencies.
- *Young people who are in the early stages of forming their self-identity might feel the need to show off their car and driving skills more than others. They may also be overconfident and underestimate the risks involved in reckless driving.
- *Those who admit to aggressive driving also admit to engaging in more incidents of breaking the law.
- *A sense of being under time and pressure leads to more aggressive driving.
- Read in Full:
- http://psychcentral.com/news/2011/10/18/aggressive-drivers-identify-with-their-car/30443.html
Today I have the pleasure of interviewing Douglas Eby,
M.A./Psychology, who is a writer and researcher on the psychology of creative
expression, high ability and personal growth. He is creator of the Talent
Development Resources series of sites (including HighlySensitive.org)
at http://talentdevelop.com. I know many of you are “highly sensitive†and enjoy articles on that topic, so I am excited to pique his highly-sensitive brain today!
Question: If you had to name the top five gifts of being highly sensitive, what would they be?
Douglas:
1. Sensory detail
One of the prominent “virtues†of high sensitivity is the richness of sensory detail that life provides. The subtle shades of texture in clothing, and foods when cooking, the sounds of music or even traffic or people talking, fragrances and colors of nature. All of these may be more intense for highly sensitive people.
Of course, people are not simply “sensitive†or “not sensitive†— like other qualities and traits, it’s a matter of degree.
Years ago, I took a color discrimination test to work as a photographic technician, making color prints. The manager said I’d scored better, with more subtle distinctions between hues in the test charts, than anyone he had evaluated.
That kind of response to color makes visual experience rich and exciting, and can help visual artists and designers be even more excellent.
2. Nuances in meaning
The trait of high sensitivity also includes a strong tendency to be aware of nuances in meaning, and to be more cautious about taking action, and to more carefully consider options and possible outcomes.
3. Emotional awareness
We also tend to be more aware of our inner emotional states, which can make for richer and more profound creative work as writers, musicians, actors or other artists.
A greater response to pain, discomfort, and physical experience can mean sensitive people have the potential, at least, to take better care of their health.
4. Creativity
Psychologist Elaine Aron, author of The Highly Sensitive Person, estimates about twenty percent of people are highly sensitive, and seventy percent of those are introverted, which is a trait that can also encourage creativity.
As examples, there are many actors who say they are shy, and director Kathryn Bigelow, who recently won an Academy Award, has said, “I’m kind of very shy by nature.†The star of her movie The Hurt Locker, Jeremy Renner (who was reportedly shy as a child), has commented that “in social situations she can be painfully shy.â€
Read in Full:
http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2010/03/28/5-gifts-of-being-highly-sensitive/
Reviewed by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on October 19, 2011
New research suggests musical practice and learning to recognize rhythms may help improve literacy: The ability to hear and remember instructions — a necessary part of musical ability — is critical for childhood reading skills.
In a new study, found in the journal Behavioral and Brain Functions, researchers provide a biological basis for how auditory working memory and musical aptitude are intrinsically related to reading ability.
Read in Full:
http://psychcentral.com/news/2011/10/19/musical-skills-tied-to-reading-proficiency/30490.html
We trawl the world’s journals so you don’t have to:
SenseCam: The Future of Everyday Memory Research? (Memory)..
Violent and Antisocial Behavior in Women (Behavioural Sciences and the Law).
Synaesthesia (Journal of Neuropsychology).
Basic Emotion Theory (special section in Emotion Review).
Person Perception 25 years after Bruce and Young (1986) (British Journal of Psychology).
Current Issues in Training in School Psychology (Psychology in the Schools).
Understanding Non-Tenure Track Faculty: New Assumptions and Theories for Conceptualizing Behavior (American Behavioural Scientist).
Failure in psychotherapy (Journal of Clinical Psychology).
Source:
Oct
21
By Jennifer Gibson, PharmD | Editor Shaheen E Lakhan
The smell of coffee can rouse you out of bed; the taste of coffee can warm your soul. And, the caffeine in coffee can lower the risk of depression. In fact, a new study reports that the more coffee one drinks, the lower the risk.
The study, conducted by Harvard University nutritionists and epidemiologists, was recently published in the Archives of Internal Medicine. The researchers followed more than 50,000 women with an average age of 63 years from May 1980 to April 2004 as part of the Nurses’ Health Study. At the beginning of the study, none of the women had a diagnosis of depression. Researchers collected and analyzed self-reported data regarding tea, coffee, soft drink, and chocolate consumption. Over a 10-year period, 2607 of the women developed depression, defined as physician-diagnosed depression or antidepressant use.
The risk of developing depression was 15% lower for women who consumed 2 to 3 cups of coffee per day, compared with women who consumed less than 1 cup a week. For women who consumed 4 or more cups of coffee daily, the risk was 20% lower. This association was only found for caffeinated coffee. No association was found between depression and caffeine from other sources.
This current study does not prove cause and effect, but does suggest that caffeine has a protective effect against depression, according to the researchers. It is well known that coffee boosts mood and improves alertness, but the mechanism underlying the association with depression is not clear.
Read in Full:
Publication: The Day
Trawl the internet and you’ll find a lot of books written by women who have discovered that the seemingly shy, sweet and quirky men they married turned out to have Asperger’s syndrome, and their books tell stories of unrequited love, shattering loneliness and neglect.
But you’ll be hard-pressed to find a voice from the other side.
Thirty-year-old Daryl Blonder of Salem may be that voice.
Blonder is the author of a new self-published memoir, “Problem Child: Confessions of an Aspie,” in which he shares, with relentless honesty, the pain and loneliness of a man who wants nothing more in life than to love and be loved but who could never get beyond his disorder.
And he makes what he acknowledges will be a controversial argument: that men with Asperger’s are simply incapable of ever having a “normal” relationship with a woman.
This, in part, because men with this disorder can’t pick up on social cues and often act inappropriately. The syndrome, considered a “high-functioning” form of autism, is also marked by extreme egocentricity, odd interests (Blonder has had a lifelong fascination with telephone poles) and repetitive or ritualistic behaviors.
“I reach puberty on page 20 out of 200,” he says. “I think that extensive literature has been published on autism in childhood, but there has just not been a lot about adults with autism. Children eventually become adults.”
And it is when he hit puberty that Blonder’s personal struggle began.
“I had a very happy childhood. I came from a very good family. My parents were there all the way,” Blonder says. “Puberty is when the stuff hits the fan. It gets real tough. It’s like a ‘m’aidez’ for people with autism. Stuff kicks in. And we get confused.“
The other reason Blonder wrote the book “is because I think there’s this connotation out there that people with autism can have successful relationships and they can learn social rules, and it’s not that simple. Trying to establish relationships and maintain them and achieve basic emotional needs that we do have, especially with the opposite sex, is an epic quest for us, and it oftentimes is a lifelong venture.“
Indeed, Blonder paints a fairly bleak picture of an Aspie’s prospects of finding love. His book is a chronicle of heartbreaks, as he tries and fails – with one woman after another – to connect. These disasters have led him to “some very dark places,” even to attempts at suicide.
“Autistic adults often go through their entire lives with no friends, no significant other,” he says. “It’s just not that easy, and I want the world to understand how we think. I want to put the reader inside my head. This is how I view relationships. And the social nuances that people just take for granted … They’re just a part of you; they’re not a part of me.“
The most controversial conclusion he has reached: that men with Asperger’s seeking sexual gratification should resign themselves to hiring escorts.
“The defining moment for me in my life, probably the most traumatic event … that really almost took me over the edge was when I liked a girl in high school, and I just didn’t know how to approach her and I sent her anonymous gifts,” he says.
“And it was revealed that she was really afraid of me. That was horribly traumatic. I mean, it forever tainted my ability to feel comfortable around women. … I say stuff, and I’m shifty. It’s just the way my demeanor is; I can’t help it.
“And always after that: intense paranoia. Am I going to freak her out if I do this? Am I going to freak her out if I do that?“
And so the book is quite explicit in detailing Blonder’s visits to clubs where he could find sexual satisfaction without having to be afraid.
“I feel that there will be controversy about some of my life decisions,” he says. “And I really believe how I resign myself with my romantic life has the potential to generate a lot of discussion.“
In his professional life, Blonder has worked for McDonald’s, in movie theatres and – his dream – the movie business itself, as an extra, a caterer and, in “The Bronx Is Burning,” an actor with a line.
He has an IMDb page and hopes to get larger roles in the future.
But he says his interest in the movie business wasn’t so much about “the craft” as “wanting to be in the movies, everything was all about talking to girls.“
But Blonder is quite honest in admitting he has no desire for a traditional relationship with a woman. He still lives with his parents, and would not want to change that.
“I don’t want to get married and start a family. I live in my own world. I feel really weird about bodily functions. I just couldn’t really live with someone, and I like to go on road trips by myself,” he says.
“To be honest would be to say something like ‘I’m committed to being single; I practice safe casual sex as a lifestyle, and I like to be with different women and enjoy them and experience them and share myself with them. But I’m just not interested in anything permanent.”
Blonder says he does not pretend to speak for all Aspies, but only to tell his own story.
“I’m speaking for me. There’s a saying: ‘When you’ve met one person with Asperger’s, you’ve met one person with Asperger’s.’ Because everybody has their own story,” he says. “Due to the controversial decisions I’ve made in my life, I don’t want to position myself as an autism advocate. I want my story to be told as somebody that has lived with it and has it to share.”
… For more information about Blonder’s book, visit www.aspieconfession.com.
An autism-friendly film screening at a Bradford cinema was so successful the special screenings are to take place each month.
A campaign was started by Dimensions, a specialist provider of support for people with autism and learning disabilities earlier this year, to improve cinema access.
The charity teamed up with cinema group Odeon and a special showing of Mr Popper’s Penguins took place at the Odeon, at the Gallagher Leisure Park in Thornbury, in August, where the lights were left on low, the volume turned down, trailers omitted and people were allowed to move around the cinema or make a noise.
Nationally, more than 3,000 people turned out at 40 cinemas to support the sensory-friendly screenings in 57 Odeon cinemas across the UK.
After this success, the next autism- friendly film screening will be the autumn blockbuster Johnny English Reborn (PG) at 11.30am next Tuesday at the Odeon in Thornbury.
Lisa Hopkins, Dimensions Autism Lead, said: “Some great work already takes place locally by cinemas and support groups to show sensory-friendly screenings, but new mainstream cinema releases have never before been accessible to so many people with autism in the UK.”
For information about up-coming films visit: dimensions-uk.org/autismfriendly
Source:
http://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/news/9305406.Autistic_friendly_film_initiative_expanded/