The 2009 Autism Act promised much but putting it into action is a whole different ball game, even though some improvements can be delivered at very little cost, writes Dr Mitzi Waltz

When the Autism Bill became the Autism Act in October 2009, it was hailed as a cause for celebration by many autism advocates and organisations. Sponsoring MP Cheryl Gillan called it “a triumph for people with autism and their families”. As the first disability-specific law in England, it is certainly historic. But can it live up to the expectations attached to it?

The Autism Bill campaign centred on facts that should make unpleasant reading for policymakers and service providers. Not only are few adults on the autism spectrum receiving adequate support and care, most local authorities have no idea how many live in their area. Would-be service users report battling to receive help and routinely encountering staff with little to no knowledge of autism. Most support is still provided by ageing parents, who justifiably worry about what will happen when they are gone:

According to the National Autistic Society’s I Exist report, parents are paying the bills for 61 per cent of adults with autism, with over 40 per cent still living in the parental home. Just 15 per cent are in full-time work; some can access neither work nor benefits. Even getting routine health care is difficult for many, and mental ill health is a frequent and unnecessary outcome.

Despite the hype, the Autism Act sets out to solve only some of these problems. It is primarily a scoping and advisory initiative. Guidance will be issued to the NHS and to local authorities in England and Wales about improving diagnostic and assessment services for adults, and keeping track of local numbers.

Results of a small national population-counting exercise have already been released, showing that 1 in 100 adults are on the autism spectrum. Even if indentifying autistic people is all the Act actually accomplishes, putting the numbers down on paper will be helpful. Without them, it’s hard to light a fire under policymakers’ feet.

As always, the devil is in the details, and these will arrive in the Autism Act guidance before the end of 2010. Consultation on this document has already begun. Though its exact recommendations cannot be predicted, they will certainly include improvements in staff training. Similar calls were sent out to schools some years ago, however, and they still have not been fully answered. Attendance at an ‘autism awareness’ talk has been deemed sufficient by some local authorities, and many still routinely give untrained teaching assistants the difficult job of working most closely with autistic students.

Considering that adverts for direct adult care posts tend to include wording along the lines of “previous experience is desirable but not necessary”, the likelihood that autism expertise will suddenly appear seems remote. Unless the guidance sets clear standards for minimum and desirable training, this requirement may be met on paper rather than in reality. Indeed, some adult care facilities and agencies that already claim a specialism in autism have nothing of the sort.

The expected call for service improvements is also welcome, but will run into a lack of real-world research on what kind of services contribute most to improved quality of life for adults with autism. Supports and techniques for working with children have been researched far more widely, yet even there the evidence base for what works is sorely lacking. As research carried out for the Autism Education Trust by the University of Birmingham’s Autism Centre for Education and Research in 2008 indicates, most placement and provision decisions about children are still based on assumptions and attitudes rather than evidence.

Few adult studies have gone beyond the anecdotal. Most tally questionnaire responses, or provide case studies about working with one or a few individuals. One of the few things that can be stated with certainty is that most people on the autism spectrum improve their ability to cope over time – but as of yet, we have little evidence backing up our guesses about how best to support resilience, build on strengths, encourage independence and provide the right kind of help.

Crucially, the Autism Act does not mandate service delivery, only that planning and leadership related to it should follow the guidance. Impending budget cuts in health and social care will make it difficult for local authorities to pilot new services, much less allow these pilots to take wing permanently. Since coping with change is extraordinarily difficult for people with autism, time-limited provision is more cruel than kind.

However, some improvements can be delivered at little cost. One of the most important changes needed has been discussed extensively during the NHS adult strategy consultation: permanently ending the battle between adult mental health and learning disability over who supports people with autism. Currently, adults with a dual diagnosis of autism and low intellectual ability have access to specialist services via NHS learning disability services, but expertise in autism-related needs within these can be limited. Adults with an IQ over 70 find themselves in an even worse situation, often unable to obtain help anywhere. Their difficulties with social communication make using generic mental health services a problem, and often the challenges they face are not related to mental ill health but arise from autism itself. Adults taking part in the recent NHS consultation advocated strongly for a specialist service, and several of the examples of autism ‘best practice’ cited by the Department of Health in its 2009 guidance for commissioners fit this model.

Methods for adapting common services, including everyday health care provision, cognitive behavioural therapy, befriending programmes and activity-based supports, are available. With a bit of training and a lot more understanding of adults with autism, staff on both sides of this divide can improve their game and make universal services autism-friendly. It is worrying, however, that NHS learning disability services have been earmarked as a likely area for swingeing cuts in the near future, as adult mental health is already severely underfunded. This could wipe out potential gains for adults with autism, unless specialist services fill the gap.

It would be helpful for the guidance to clearly state that service provision in areas like supported housing, advocacy, adult education and employment support for people with learning difficulties, mental health needs and other vulnerabilities should also be open to those with autism. This step would prevent discrimination by existing programmes. The government’s advice note on autism for the Valuing People strategy goes a long way towards this goal, but has been widely ignored – for example, some Supporting People housing schemes welcome clients with autism, while others have exclusionary eligibility criteria. And simply opening the door is not enough to make access a reality. Staff will need training, and programmes will have to accommodate the particular needs of people with autism.

For policymakers and service providers, the Autism Act should be welcomed, and the guidance should be eagerly anticipated. Though there’s still a long way to go, today’s young adults with autism have benefited from great improvements in education and family support. They are becoming more aware of their access rights under the Disability Discrimination Act and Human Rights Act. This new legislation will clarify the obligations on local authorities and the NHS, providing a path forward that should greatly improve the quality of life for people with autism and their families.

Dr Mitzi Waltz is a lecturer in autism studies in the University of Birmingham’s Autism Centre for Education and Research (http://www.education.bham.ac.uk/research/acer/index.shtml) and the parent of a young man with autism.

Source:  http://www.publicservice.co.uk/feature_story.asp?id=13684

 

A mother’s nurture may provide powerful protection against risks her baby faces in the womb, according to a new article published online today in the journal Biological Psychiatry. The research shows that fetuses exposed to high levels of stress hormone – shown to be a harbinger for babies’ poor cognitive development – can escape this fate if their mothers provide them sensitive care during infancy and toddler-hood.

The new study represents the first, direct human evidence that fetuses exposed to elevated levels of the stress hormone cortisol may have trouble paying attention or solving problems later on. But what may be more intriguing is the study’s second finding – that this negative link disappears almost entirely if the mother forges a secure connection with her baby.

“Our results shape the argument that fetal exposure to cortisol – which may in part be controlled by the mother’s stress level – and early caregiving experience combine to influence a child’s neurodevelopment,” said study author Thomas O’Connor, Ph.D., professor of Psychiatry and of Psychology at the University of Rochester Medical Center, and director of the Wynne Center for Family Research. “If future studies confirm these findings, we’ll need to not only engineer ways to reduce stress in pregnancy, but we’ll need to also promote sensitive caregiving by moms and dads.”

A Mother’s Love

For the study, researchers recruited 125 women at an amniocentesis clinic in an urban maternity hospital, taking a sample of their amniotic fluid so that stress hormones in it could be measured. The mothers were at 17 weeks gestation on average; only mothers with normal, healthy pregnancies and subsequent deliveries were followed.

When their children reached 17 months of age, researchers administered a Bayley infant developmental scale test, which relies on puzzles, pretend play, and baby “memory” challenges to gauge youngsters’ cognitive development. They also observed the baby and mother using the Ainsworth “Strange Situation” test, which judges childrearing quality, categorizing mom-baby pairs as either showing secure or insecure attachment to each other (to watch a YouTube video of a sample of this sort of test in action, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTsewNrHUHU)

With cortisol levels, relationship quality results, and cognition scores in hand, researchers analyzed how the first two measures might influence the third. Indeed, for children showing “insecure attachment” to their mothers, a high prenatal cortisol level was linked with shorter attention spans and weaker language and problem-solving skills. But interestingly, for kids who enjoyed secure relationships with their moms, any negative link between high prenatal cortisol exposure and kids’ cognitive development was eliminated.

“This is such refreshing news for mothers,” O’Connor said. “Pregnancy is an emotional experience for many women, and there is already so much for mothers to be careful of and concerned about. It’s a relief to learn that, by being good parents, they might ‘buffer’ their babies against potential setbacks.”

Study Spawns Future Questions

O’Connor goes on to note a couple important nuances of the study. The first is that the amniotic (in-utero) cortisol studied could result from two sources, and it’s hard to pinpoint which. It might, for instance, be passed along the placenta from an anxious mother to her unborn baby – or it could be created and excreted directly by a stressed fetus itself.

“While many large-scale studies have observed that prenatal stress may influence child development, our particular study sheds some light on the ‘how’,” O’Connor said. “Still, much more research is needed to better pinpoint the exact mechanisms behind a mother ‘transferring’ her stress to her unborn baby.”

This study plays into the much larger theory of “fetal programming,” which suggests that events in the womb may prime the developing child for long-term health and developmental outcomes. Past studies, for instance, have found a pregnant mother’s diet can sway a child’s long-term risk for heart disease, diabetes and obesity. Along with diet, prenatal stress has emerged as another large-looming factor in such programming.

“Our results support this emerging theory,” said London-based study co-author, Vivette Glover, Ph.D. “In neurology, the idea emerging is that unborn children sense their mothers’ stress hormone levels, programming them for greater watchfulness. We’re trying to determine whether or not that sensitivity comes with greater anxiety during childhood, and if so, what we can do about it.”

The team’s next study will revisit these same children when they turn 6; at that point, researchers hope to give the group a battery of more definitive tests to see how the interplay between in-utero cortisol levels and sensitive parenting pans out in the long-term. Those tests would include imaging studies of the children’s brains, looking to see if the higher cortisol levels may be linked to anatomical changes.

O’Connor partnered for the study with Pampa Sarker, M.D., an honorary research fellow, Vivette A. Glover, professor of Perinatal Psychobiology and Karin Bergman, Ph.D., all at the Institute of Reproductive and Developmental Biology at Imperial College in London. The study was supported by grants from the March of Dimes and the National Institute of Mental Health, part of the National Institutes of Health.

Source:
Becky Jones
University of Rochester Medical Center
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/180573.php

 

Article Date: 26 Feb 2010 – 0:00 PST

Higher intelligence is associated with liberal political ideology, atheism, and men’s (but not women’s) preference for sexual exclusivity.

More intelligent people are statistically significantly more likely to exhibit social values and religious and political preferences that are novel to the human species in evolutionary history. Specifically, liberalism and atheism, and for men (but not women), preference for sexual exclusivity correlate with higher intelligence, a new study finds.

The study, published in the March 2010 issue of the peer-reviewed scientific journal Social Psychology Quarterly,

“Evolutionarily novel” preferences and values are those that humans are not biologically designed to have and our ancestors probably did not possess. In contrast, those that our ancestors had for millions of years are “evolutionarily familiar.”

“General intelligence, the ability to think and reason, endowed our ancestors with advantages in solving evolutionarily novel problems for which they did not have innate solutions,” says Satoshi Kanazawa, an evolutionary psychologist at the London School of Economics and Political Science. “As a result, more intelligent people are more likely to recognize and understand such novel entities and situations than less intelligent people, and some of these entities and situations are preferences, values, and lifestyles.”

An earlier study by Kanazawa found that more intelligent individuals were more nocturnal, waking up and staying up later than less intelligent individuals. Because our ancestors lacked artificial light, they tended to wake up shortly before dawn and go to sleep shortly after dusk. Being nocturnal is evolutionarily novel.

In the current study, Kanazawa argues that humans are evolutionarily designed to be conservative, caring mostly about their family and friends, and being liberal, caring about an indefinite number of genetically unrelated strangers they never meet or interact with, is evolutionarily novel. So more intelligent children may be more likely to grow up to be liberals.

Data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health) support Kanazawa’s hypothesis. Young adults who subjectively identify themselves as “very liberal” have an average IQ of 106 during adolescence while those who identify themselves as “very conservative” have an average IQ of 95 during adolescence.

Similarly, religion is a byproduct of humans’ tendency to perceive agency and intention as causes of events, to see “the hands of God” at work behind otherwise natural phenomena. “Humans are evolutionarily designed to be paranoid, and they believe in God because they are paranoid,” says Kanazawa. This innate bias toward paranoia served humans well when self-preservation and protection of their families and clans depended on extreme vigilance to all potential dangers. “So, more intelligent children are more likely to grow up to go against their natural evolutionary tendency to believe in God, and they become atheists.”

Young adults who identify themselves as “not at all religious” have an average IQ of 103 during adolescence, while those who identify themselves as “very religious” have an average IQ of 97 during adolescence.

In addition, humans have always been mildly polygynous in evolutionary history. Men in polygynous marriages were not expected to be sexually exclusive to one mate, whereas men in monogamous marriages were. In sharp contrast, whether they are in a monogamous or polygynous marriage, women were always expected to be sexually exclusive to one mate. So being sexually exclusive is evolutionarily novel for men, but not for women. And the theory predicts that more intelligent men are more likely to value sexual exclusivity than less intelligent men, but general intelligence makes no difference for women’s value on sexual exclusivity. Kanazawa’s analysis of Add Health data supports these sex-specific predictions as well.

One intriguing but theoretically predicted finding of the study is that more intelligent people are no more or no less likely to value such evolutionarily familiar entities as marriage, family, children, and friends.

The article “Why Liberals and Atheists Are More Intelligent” will be published in the March 2010 issue of Social Psychology Quarterly, a publication of the American Sociological Association advances a new theory to explain why people form particular preferences and values. The theory suggests that more intelligent people are more likely than less intelligent people to adopt evolutionarily novel preferences and values, but intelligence does not correlate with preferences and values that are old enough to have been shaped by evolution over millions of years.

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/180410.php

Simone Hoermann, Ph.D. Updated: Feb 26th 2010

Just as I finished my last blog post on the DSM 5 personality disorders, I stumbled upon an article from May 2008 on cnn.com about blogging as a form of group therapy.  The article opened with a story about a 24 year old woman, 90dayjane, who started her blog by saying she planned to commit suicide 90 days later. Apparently, the outpouring of response and support she received was so overwhelming that, fortunately, only a few days later she wrote a post stating that her blog was an art project and she did not intend to kill herself.  She allegedly also stated that the experience had changed her outlook on life.

I was intrigued. As a group therapist, I get to observe every day what a poweful experience group therapy can be. It can be so   rewarding to express your feelings and to share about yourself in a group of peers, and to give and receive support.

I have also learned to appreciate just hard it is to open up to others, how difficult it can be to share yourself on a significant emotional level, and what a challenge it is to allow yourself to be vulnerable, maybe a little embarrassed even.  And yet, the benefits of group work can be tremendous.

So, could blogging possibly have a similar effect?  Does sharing your experience online and receiving feedback and comments from others make you feel better?

One thing that might be helpful about blogging is that you stop and reflect on your life. In a way, this can be considered a form of mentalizing. There’s some benefit to this act of self-reflection – put in somewhat technical terms, it can be a way of regulating your emotions.  There’s some relief in thinking about your experience – the ability to reflect on your feelings is a way of stepping back and looking at them, so you’re less entangled in the situation.  This ability to step back and understand also enables us to problem-solve more effectively.

The other benefit of blogging is that people read and respond to your blog. You put yourself out there, and it is nice to know that people take notice of you, acknowledge you, and respond to you. And it’s particularly nice when they support you.  On the other hand, putting yourself out there like that involves an element of exposing yourself.  Not everyone might respond in a friendly manner, and sometimes you might afterwards feel that you revealed too much of yourself. You also might outgrow certain things over time, but the blog entry can be difficult to erase from the web.

There are significant differences between real-world group therapy and blogging, of course. One is the absence or presence of a group therapist.  Plus, what happens in group therapy is bound to confidentialty, and, of course, with a blog it’s the opposite. However, another big difference is that there typically is no face to face interaction in blogging.

John Suler, a clinical psychologist at Rider University, writes about identity management in cyberspace and the endless possibilities of online identities.  There’s a bunch of different options: You can create a whole new identity, you can present yourself as you are in real life, or you can emphasize or change certain things about you in cyberspace. How do your real life and your cyber personality fit together?  How does the potential for anonymity affect dynamics and interactions in online communities? Mark Dombeck wrote an interesting comment related to this topic a while back.

In 2005, Allbusiness published a survey of 600 bloggers by aol.com. Of note, half of the bloggeres surveyed said they blogged as a form of therapy.  One-third of them wrote about self-help and self-esteem issues.  About another third said they turned to blogging in order to relieve anxiety.  Compare that to 5%  of bloggers who said they turn to mental health professionals.

According to Aaron Smith, a 2008 survey from Pew Internet & American Life Project found that 12% of internet users keep a blog.  That’s a pretty large number.  So, if you’re one of those 12%, let us know.  And let us know if it’s good for you.

Source:  http://www.mentalhelp.net/poc/view_doc.php?type=doc&id=35847&cn=91

Video Games May Help Combat Depression in Older Adults

ScienceDaily (Feb. 25, 2010) — Research at the Sam and Rose Stein Institute for Research on Aging at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine suggests a novel route to improving the symptoms of subsyndromal depression (SSD) in seniors through the regular use of “exergames” — entertaining video games that combine game play with exercise. In a pilot study, the researchers found that use of exergames significantly improved mood and mental health-related quality of life in older adults with SSD.

The study, led by Dilip V. Jeste, MD, Distinguished Professor of psychiatry and neurosciences at UCSD School of Medicine, Estelle and Edgar Levi Chair in Aging, and director of the UC San Diego Sam and Rose Stein Institute for Research on Aging, appears in the March issue of the American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry.

SSD is much more common than major depression in seniors, and is associated with substantial suffering, functional disability, and increased use of costly medical services. Physical activity can improve depression; however, fewer than five percent of older adults meet physical activity recommendations.

“Depression predicts nonadherence to physical activity, and that is a key barrier to most exercise programs,” Jeste said. “Older adults with depression may be at particular risk for diminished enjoyment of physical activity, and therefore, more likely to stop exercise programs prematurely.”

In the study, 19 participants with SSD ranging in age from 63 to 94 played an exergame on the Nintendo Wii video game system during 35-minute sessions, three times a week. After some initial instruction, they chose one of the five Nintendo Wii Sports games to play on their own — tennis, bowling, baseball, golf or boxing.

Using the Wii remote — a wireless device with motion-sensing capabilities — the seniors used their arm and body movements to simulate actions engaged in playing the actual sport, such as swinging the Wii remote like a tennis racket. The participants reported high satisfaction and rated the exergames on various attributes including enjoyment, mental effort, and physical limitations.

“The study suggests encouraging results from the use of the exergames,” Jeste said. “More than one-third of the participants had a 50-percent or greater reduction of depressive symptoms. Many had a significant improvement in their mental health-related quality of life and increased cognitive stimulation.”

Jeste said feedback revealed some participants started the study feeling nervous about how they would perform in the exergames and the technical aspects of game play. However, by the end of the study, most participants reported that learning and playing the videogames was satisfying and enjoyable.

“The participants thought the exergames were fun, they felt challenged to do better and saw progress in their game play,” Jeste said. “Having a high level of enjoyment and satisfaction, and a choice among activities, exergames may lead to sustained exercise in older adults.” He cautioned, however, that the findings were based on a small study, and needed to be replicated in larger samples using control groups. He also stressed that exergames carry potential risks of injury, and should be practiced with appropriate care.

Additional authors include Dori Rosenberg, Jennifer Reichstadt, Jacqueline Kerr and Greg Norman, UCSD Department of Family and Preventative Medicine; and Colin A. Depp, Ipsit V. Vahia and Barton W. Palmer, UCSD Department of Psychiatry.

The study was funded in part by grants from the National Institute of Mental Health, the UCSD Sam and Rose Stein Institute for Research on Aging, and the Department of Veterans Affairs.

 

Husbands’ Hostile, Anti-Social Behaviors Increase Wives’ Symptoms Of Depression, MU Researchers Find

In the United States, nearly 10 percent of the population suffers from a depressive disorder, according to the National Institute of Mental Health. While the causes of depression vary, a new study at the University of Missouri reveals that marital hostility is a contributing factor. MU researcher, Christine Proulx, found that husbands’ hostile and anti-social behaviors increased their wives’ symptoms of depression over time.

“In the study, husbands’ marital hostility was significantly related to increases in wives’ symptoms of depression,” said Proulx, assistant professor in the Department of Human Development and Family Studies in the College of Human Environmental Sciences. “The more hostile and anti-social behavior exhibited by husbands, the more depressed their wives were after three years. These findings suggest that husbands’ treatment of their wives significantly impacts their psychological well-being and that hostile behavior has a lasting effect on couples that continues throughout their marriages.”

The researchers found no significant relationship between wives’ hostile behavior and husbands’ depression, unless significant life events, such as a death in the family or a job loss, were present. Additionally, warm, positive behavior from husbands lessened the negative impact of their hostile behavior.

Anti-social behaviors are those that are self-centered, defiant or show a lack of constraint; hostile behaviors are those that are angry, critical or rejecting. To measure hostile and anti-social behaviors, the researchers watched and coded twenty-minute videos of couples interacting in their homes. Symptoms of depression were self-reported by those in the study.

“It’s critical that professionals ask people experiencing depression about their close relationships and recognize that their spouse’s behavior influences how they feel about life and themselves, especially among women,” Proulx said. “It is important to intervene at the couple level and make spouses aware that how they act toward each other has a long-term effect on their emotional and physical well-being.”

The study, “Moderators of the Link between Marital Hostility and Change in Spouses’ Depressive Symptoms,” was recently published in the Journal of Family Psychology.

Source:
Emily Martin
University of Missouri-Columbia

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/180086.php

Belief in Benevolent God Aids Depression Care

 

By Rick Nauert PhD Senior News Editor
Reviewed by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on February 24, 2010

A new study by Rush University Medical Center suggests patients diagnosed with clinical depression have better outcomes to medical treatment if they have belief in a concerned God.

The investigation expands earlier research that found a religious belief can help protect against symptoms of depression.

A total of 136 adults diagnosed with major depression or bipolar depression at inpatient and outpatient psychiatric care facilities in Chicago participated in the study.

The patients were surveyed shortly after admission for treatment and eight weeks later, using the Beck Depression Inventory, the Beck Hopelessness Scale, and the Religious Well-Being Scale – all standard instruments in the social sciences for assessing intensity, severity and depth of disease and feelings of hopelessness and spiritual satisfaction.

Response to medication, defined as a 50 percent reduction in symptoms, can vary in psychiatric patients. Some may not respond at all. But the study found that those with strong beliefs in a personal and concerned God were more likely to experience an improvement.

Specifically, participants who scored in the top third of the Religious Well-Being Scale were 75 percent more likely to get better with medical treatment for clinical depression.

The researchers tested whether the explanation for the improved response was linked instead to the feeling of hope, which is typically a feature of religious belief. But degree of hopefulness, measured by feelings and expectations for the future and degree of motivation, did not predict whether a patient fared better on antidepressants.

“In our study, the positive response to medication had little to do with the feeling of hope that typically accompanies spiritual belief,” said Patricia Murphy, PhD, a chaplain at Rush and an assistant professor of religion, health and human values at Rush University.

“It was tied specifically to the belief that a Supreme Being cared.”

“For people diagnosed with clinical depression, medication certainly plays an important role in reducing symptoms,” Murphy said.

“But when treating persons diagnosed with depression, clinicians need to be aware of the role of religion in their patients’ lives. It is an important resource in planning their care.”

The paper is published in the Journal of Clinical Psychology.

Source: Rush University Medical Center

http://psychcentral.com/news/2010/02/24/belief-in-benevolent-god-aids-depression-care/11678.html

Nearly one-third of people caring for terminally ill loved ones suffer from depression according to research from Yale University. About one in four family caregivers meet the clinical criteria of anxiety. And a recent study found that 41 percent of former caregivers of a spouse with Alzheimer’s disease or another form of dementia experienced mild to severe depression up to three years after their spouse had died.

Caregivers are so vulnerable to depression because they often sacrifice their own needs while tending to their loved one and because of the constant stress involved. Here, then, are 12 tips to help protect you from anxiety and depression and to guide you toward good mental health as you care for a relative.

1. Acknowledge it.

If you haven’t already, say this out loud: “This sucks.” Call a spade a spade. Granted, you don’t want to ruminate on negative thoughts for too long. But suppressing your emotions–forcing that positive cap on each and every thought–can actually do more harm than good. For example, a recent study in the journal Psychological Science reported that people with low self-esteem who told themselves positive statements (“I’m good enough, I’m smart enough, Gosh darn it, people like me!”) actually ended up grumpier and with less self-esteem than before they started. What does this mean? Sometimes the best thing that we can do for our mental health is to be honest. And if you’re a caretaker, that means acknowledging that your situation, well, simply sucks.

2. Educate yourself.

Relieve some of your stress by reading up on your loved one’s condition. I say that because if you’re like me, you’re probably scared. You don’t know what’s coming down the pike. You detest surprises, and ever since your loved one fell ill, your life has been full of these shockers.

There’s no way of eliminating all the surprises, of course, but if you understand the illness(es) of the person you’re nursing, then you can better predict his behavior, and can prepare yourself for what may happen in a month or in a year. You might also consider attending a caregiver training program. A recent study showed significant improvement in the quality of life of caregivers who received training. Finally, two books I recommend are The Caregiver Handbook: Powerful Tools for Caregiving and Caregiving: The Spiritual Journey of Love, Loss, and Renewal.

3. Grab your own oxygen mask.

It always goes back to the ten-second spiel you get right before your plane takes off (or crashes). “In the event of an emergency, an oxygen mask will drop from the compartment above you. Please fasten your own mask before assisting others.” Or, on Southwest airlines, they say, “Now would be a good time to choose your favorite kid.”

Taking caring of your own needs is really as important as grabbing your oxygen mask first because you’ll be running out of breath early in the inning if you hold off on breathing until everyone is well. A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that stressed-out older caretakers tending to a sick spouse had a 63 percent risk of death compared to the non-stressed-out caregivers or to lucky folks who don’t have to fetch anyone a glass of water all day long.

4. Schedule a break.

Give yourself a break every day. That DOES NOT mean that you go about your day and grab whatever free 15 minutes you can get–before the meatloaf is done or the jello is solid–at which time you sit down to read some depressing headlines in the paper, hoping for no interruptions. That DOES mean scheduling one half-hour every day at the same time of day that you can, guilt-free, put out your “Off Duty” sign, and during that break no one is allowed to bother you with requests. By taking the same half-hour every day, you have a better shot at convincing your ill loved one that you really are serious about needing some time to yourself.

5. Label your guilt.

I’m not going to tell you to get rid of your guilt. Get real, I’m Catholic! But I am going to advise you to label your guilt as helpful or unhelpful, because I bet you think you’re supposed to own all of it. The negative intrusive thoughts that tell you that you are a loser for not doing more for your loved one? Bye-bye. The voice that says you could be managing all of this mayhem a tad more effectively? Try to tease out some specific suggestions. They might help you come up with ways to better delegate responsibilities or to clean up messes without using so many cuss words.

6. Get organized.

If caregiving is anything like parenting–and I think it is, except for the fact that kids eventually grow up (a truth that I cling to in moments of desperation)–a small bit of organization can go a long way.

My June Cleaver role became a tad easier when I implemented some simple household rules like: no TV before 5 pm, one treat a day, no snacks after dinner, and so on. I initially resisted this kind of structure–it’s so not my style–but I have found that it really does facilitate managing kids (and I’ll add in sick ones) … because they both want things all the time, and that can become very wearisome. If my kids know they can’t watch SpongeBob SquarePants before 5 pm–and I follow up consistently on that rule (the hard part)–then they will eventually stop asking. The same goes with a sick mother or wife: if she knows dinner is at 6 every evening, and that Wednesday is pizza day, then you’ve just given her one less thing to whine about. Theoretically, of course.

7. Get out of the house.

I know what it’s like to be captive inside your home, to be a prisoner locked in a dark and frightening cell. It will drive you straight to the community room of a psych ward. At least that’s where my isolation period ended up. When my kids were babies, I didn’t do anything but nurse, change diapers, watch Baby Einstein videos, and clean up squash stains on every piece of clothing I owned.

Today I make myself sign up for swim clubs and community programs even if I don’t want to, because I know that the time spent outside of the home with other human beings is as crucial to my mental health as eating the right foods and exercising and getting support.

Taking time to enjoy a pastime isn’t a selfish act. It will help you be a better caregiver because it will elevate your mood — not to mention assisting you with concentration and patience–which will in turn help your loved one.

Want to learn more?
Check out 5 more depression busters for caregivers or read the Psych Central article, Self-Care for Depression Caregivers.

http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2010/02/24/7-depression-busters-for-caregivers/

Study Shows For First Time That Screening Tools Accurately Identify Postpartum Depression

Article Date: 20 Feb 2010 – 1:00 PST

More than half of low-income urban mothers met the criteria for a diagnosis of depression at some point between two weeks and 14 months after giving birth, according to a study led by University of Rochester Medical Center researchers and published online by the journal Pediatrics.

This is the first study to describe the prevalence of depression among low-income urban mothers, who were attending well-child care visits, through the use of a diagnostic interview. It also is the first study of this population group to test the accuracy of three depression screening tools routinely used by physicians.

The screening tools have high accuracy in identifying depression, the researchers concluded, but cutoff scores may need to be altered to identify depression more accurately among low-income urban mothers.

The study involved 198 mothers who were 18 years of age or older and whose children were no older than 14 months. The mothers attended well-child visits at the outpatient pediatric clinic at Golisano Children’s Hospital at the Medical Center.

The researchers found that 56 percent of the mothers, after a diagnostic interview, met the criteria for a diagnosis of a major or minor depressive disorder.

“This is an unexpected, very high proportion to meet diagnostic criteria for depression,” said Linda H. Chaudron, M.D., associate professor of Psychology, Pediatrics and of Obstetrics and Gynecology. “This may be a group at high risk for depression. The message of this study is that pediatricians and other clinicians who work with low-income urban mothers have multiple screening tools that are easy to use and accurate. These tools can help clinicians identify mothers with depression so they can be referred for help.”

Many women experience the so-called “baby blues.” When the feelings persist or worsen it may be clinical depression. The symptoms include insomnia, persistent sadness, lack of interest in nearly all activity, anxiety, change in appetite, persistent feelings of guilt, and thoughts of harming oneself or the baby. Postpartum depression affects up to 14 percent of new mothers in the United States, with higher rates among poor and minority women.

The researchers evaluated three screening tools, the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale, the Beck Depression Inventory II and the Postpartum Depression Screening Scale, using the diagnostic interviews for validation.

The three screening tools have been evaluated in many populations, but one of the reasons the study was done was to test the tools with a group for whom there is not much data – low-income women, especially African-American women, Chaudron said. The researchers also evaluated the validity of the screening tools at various times during the postpartum year.

“The screening tools are valid when used anytime during the postpartum year,” Chaudron said.

Use of traditional cutoff scores may not be as accurate as previously thought. Clinicians should be aware that scores two or three points below traditional cutoff scores may indicate a need for further evaluation, the researchers concluded.

The study was funded by a grant from the National Institute of Mental Health.

In addition to Chaudron, the authors of the article included: Peter G. Szilagyi, M.D., M.P.H., professor of Pediatrics; Wan Tang, Ph.D., research assistant professor of Biostatistics and Computational Biology; Elizabeth Anson, M.S., of the University of Rochester School of Nursing; Nancy L. Talbot, Ph.D., associate professor of Psychiatry; Holly I.M. Wadkins, M.A., of the Department of Psychiatry; Xin Tu, Ph.D., professor of Biostatistics and Psychiatry; and Katherine L. Wisner, M.D., M.S., professor of Psychiatry, Obstetrics and Gynecology and of Epidemiology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.

Source:
Michael Wentzel
University of Rochester Medical Center

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/179739.php

Income Influences Postpartum Depression

 

By Rick Nauert PhD Senior News Editor
Reviewed by John M. Grohol, Psy.D.

A new study discovers more than half of low-income urban mothers meet the criteria for a diagnosis of depression at some point between two weeks and 14 months after giving birth.

University of Rochester Medical Center researchers determined the prevalence of depression via a diagnostic interview performed when the low-income urban mothers were attending well-child care visits.

The study is the first of its kind to test the accuracy of three depression screening tools routinely used by physicians. The screening tools have high accuracy in identifying depression, the researchers concluded, but cutoff scores may need to be altered to identify depression more accurately among low-income urban mothers.

The study, found online in the journal Pediatrics, involved 198 mothers who were 18 years of age or older and whose children were no older than 14 months. The mothers attended well-child visits at the outpatient pediatric clinic at Golisano Children’s Hospital at the Medical Center.

The researchers found that 56 percent of the mothers, after a diagnostic interview, met the criteria for a diagnosis of a major or minor depressive disorder.

“This is an unexpected, very high proportion to meet diagnostic criteria for depression,” said Linda H. Chaudron, M.D., associate professor of Psychology, Pediatrics and of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

“This may be a group at high risk for depression. The message of this study is that pediatricians and other clinicians who work with low-income urban mothers have multiple screening tools that are easy to use and accurate. These tools can help clinicians identify mothers with depression so they can be referred for help.”

Many women experience the so-called “baby blues.” When the feelings persist or worsen it may be clinical depression.

The symptoms include insomnia, persistent sadness, lack of interest in nearly all activity, anxiety, change in appetite, persistent feelings of guilt, and thoughts of harming oneself or the baby. Postpartum depression affects up to 14 percent of new mothers in the United States, with higher rates among poor and minority women.

The researchers evaluated three screening tools, the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale, the Beck Depression Inventory II and the Postpartum Depression Screening Scale, using the diagnostic interviews for validation.

The three screening tools have been evaluated in many populations, but one of the reasons the study was done was to test the tools with a group for whom there is not much data—low-income women, especially African-American women, Chaudron said. The researchers also evaluated the validity of the screening tools at various times during the postpartum year.

“The screening tools are valid when used anytime during the postpartum year,” Chaudron said.

Use of traditional cutoff scores may not be as accurate as previously thought. Clinicians should be aware that scores two or three points below traditional cutoff scores may indicate a need for further evaluation, the researchers concluded.

The study was funded by a grant from the National Institute of Mental Health.

Source: University of Rochester

http://psychcentral.com/news/2010/02/19/income-influences-postpartum-depression/11591.html

Mood Influences Shopping Decisions

 

By Rick Nauert PhD Senior News Editor
Reviewed by John M. Grohol, Psy.D.

Emerging research expands the investigation of how mental status influences consumer spending. In a new study, scientists discover a proud consumer won’t necessarily make the same purchase as a contented one.

“Previous research shows that positive feelings produce a ‘rose-colored glasses effect,’ leading products to appear more desirable,” write authors Vladas Griskevicius (University of Minnesota), Michelle N. Shiota, and Stephen M. Nowlis (both Arizona State University).

“But we find that rose-colored glasses come in different shades.”

Although positive feelings of all sorts have often been lumped together into general categories such as “happiness” or “good mood,” the researchers found that different positive emotions had drastically different effects, including making some products somewhat less appealing.

Since participants in the authors’ studies were not aware that emotions were affecting their preferences, the effects were largely unconscious.

The authors studied how product preferences changed depending on whether a person was feeling pride, contentment, or a neutral emotional state. Some participants read a short story in which they imagined doing well on an exam, which is known to elicit pride.

“We found that pride enhanced desire for public display products,” the authors write.

“Feeling pride led people to want nice watches, shoes, and clothing for going out. However, pride did not enhance desire for home products.”

In contrast, the emotion of contentment led people to want products for their homes.

“When people felt contentment, they were more attracted to products such as beds, dishwashers, and clothing for lounging around the house,” the authors write. They were less enthusiastic about public display products.

“Our findings suggest that shoppers are likely to want to buy different products depending on the specific emotions that they are feeling,” the authors write.

“If a retailer is selling products that allow the consumer to ’show off’ to other people, this retailer may want to induce feelings of pride through store atmospherics or advertising. In contrast, a retailer selling primarily home furnishings might want to try to induce feelings of contentment.”

The research is found in the Journal of Consumer Research.

Source: University of Chicago Press Journals

http://psychcentral.com/news/2010/02/18/mood-influences-shopping-decisions/11552.html

Posted By CHERYL CLOCK/QMI Agency

February 26, 2010

ST. CATHARINES — He could speak three languages fluently by age three, but outside of his own home, he didn’t utter a sound.

In kindergarten, he spoke to just one little friend. Not a word to anyone else. Not to his other classmates. Not to his teacher.

Mom Po-Ling Bork, couldn’t understand: if he’s talking at home, why won’t he talk at school?

One day at recess, little Ayosha Bork somehow acquired a big goose egg of a bump on his forehead. He wouldn’t tell his teacher what happened. When his mother picked him up at school, he remained silent until they climbed into the familiarity of the family van.

By Grade 1, even though he spoke German, Chinese and English fluently at home, at school he was totally mute.

Halfway through that year, came a diagnosis: selective mutism. A fear of being seen or heard speaking in public.

It has nothing to do with defiance or wilful stubbornness. It is more than just being shy. Kids who have selective mutism aren’t delayed in language development — at home they can be chatterboxes.

It affects every child differently. Some will communicate in other ways, using gestures and facial expressions. Some kids whisper. Some will speak to only a couple friends. Others don’t speak at all.

Typically, they really want to talk. But can’t.

It’s an anxiety. A phobia so consuming, they are frozen speechless by fear.

“It’s like you’re watching a car come towards you, and you freeze on the spot,” says Bork.

She along with Debra Harwood, Brock assistant professor in the Faculty of Education, will be hosting a workshop on selective mutism at the Early Childhood Community Development Centre on March 30.

They will offer strategies to maximize a child’s social successes.

Since her son’s diagnosis, Bork has become passionate about educating people about what is still a misunderstood condition, although there are more kids with selective mutism than autism. She wrote her master’s thesis on strategies to help children in the classroom and has presented her research around the world.

Bork, a doctoral candidate at Brock, is working on the development of iSpeak software to help children with selective mutism in the classroom.

Selective mutism often shows up when a child starts school, so kindergarten teachers are on the front lines. However, helping children takes a team effort, which usually includes parents, psychologists, counsellors and sometimes medication.

In the classroom, teachers are encouraged to allow children to use other creative ways to communicate, until they’re ready to speak on their own, says Harwood.

For show and tell, a child could tape themselves talking while at home, then stand behind their prop and play the tape in front of classmates. They could stand somewhere else in the classroom where no one can see them and talk to the group on a walkie talkie. Or they could turn off the lights and have circle time in the dark.

Teachers need to unlearn techniques — like getting down to a child’s level and making eye contact when they talk, says Harwood. That could make a child with selective mutism even more anxious.

Having a safe, comfortable place to talk in the classroom is important, too, says Harwood.

This could mean setting up a privacy screen or even a tent.

Sometimes it’s about building on what works at home.

Little Ayosha loved talking to his mom at home. So, when he was young, Bork would sit next to him in the classroom to give him a familiar face to talk to.

“They get used to hearing their own voice in the classroom,” she says.

At home, Bork invited Ayosha’s friends over for playdates so he could get used to talking to them first in the comfort of his home.

At first, Ayosha wouldn’t speak to even his mother in front of his friend. They had to be alone in the kitchen. He progressed to talking to his friends while burying his face into his mother’s tummy.

“There was something greater than him,” says Bork.

She once took her son’s friend along with them on a trip to Florida. On the ride home, Ayosha sat in the back seat, and talked to his friend in the middle seat, on a walkie talkie.

He desperately wanted to speak and was disappointed each time he failed, says his mom.

Bork was terrified that if her son ever got lost, he wouldn’t be able to ask for help, or that if he was in danger, he wouldn’t yell for help.

Often a child’s silence gets reinforced at school, when their friends start speaking for them, says Harwood.

As they grow older, they become adept at avoiding situations where they have to speak and they can suffer from low self-esteem. The older they are, the harder it becomes to change their behaviour, says Harwood.

These days, Ayosha is 13 and has learned to overcome his fears of speaking at school. He is proud of his accomplishments.

As for Bork, she is determined to educate parents so they can find help early on and prevent unnecessary suffering.

“Sometimes I wonder if this was a calling,” she writes.

“For me to experience this first-hand so that I am able to reach out and help others.”

Source:  http://wellandtribune.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2466888

Seeing red, feeling hot, realising nothing:

Seeing red leads men to view women as more attractive and more desirable despite them not being aware of any change in their perceptions. A delightful study from last year that, as the authors note, has ‘clear practical implications’!

Romantic red: red enhances men’s attraction to women.

J Pers Soc Psychol. 2008 Nov;95(5):1150-64.

Elliot AJ, Niesta D.

In many nonhuman primates, the color red enhances males’ attraction to females. In 5 experiments, the authors demonstrate a parallel effect in humans: Red, relative to other achromatic and chromatic colors, leads men to view women as more attractive and more sexually desirable. Men seem unaware of this red effect, and red does not influence women’s perceptions of the attractiveness of other women, nor men’s perceptions of women’s overall likeability, kindness, or intelligence. The findings have clear practical implications for men and women in the mating game and, perhaps, for fashion consultants, product designers, and marketers. Furthermore, the findings document the value of extending research on signal coloration to humans and of considering color as something of a common language, both within and across species.

pdf of full text of study.
Link to PubMed entry for study.

Source:  http://www.mindhacks.com/blog/2010/02/seeing_red_feeling_.html

Touch me:

The New York Times has an interesting short article on psychology studies that have looked at the emotional influence of brief touches.

The evidence that such messages can lead to clear, almost immediate changes in how people think and behave is accumulating fast. Students who received a supportive touch on the back or arm from a teacher were nearly twice as likely to volunteer in class as those who did not, studies have found. A sympathetic touch from a doctor leaves people with the impression that the visit lasted twice as long, compared with estimates from people who were untouched. Research by Tiffany Field of the Touch Research Institute in Miami has found that a massage from a loved one can not only ease pain but also soothe depression and strengthen a relationship.

In a series of experiments led by Matthew Hertenstein, a psychologist at DePauw University in Indiana, volunteers tried to communicate a list of emotions by touching a blindfolded stranger. The participants were able to communicate eight distinct emotions, from gratitude to disgust to love, some with about 70 percent accuracy.

“We used to think that touch only served to intensify communicated emotions,” Dr. Hertenstein said. Now it turns out to be “a much more differentiated signaling system than we had imagined.”

The piece goes to to discuss research on sports team success and touch but it misses out one of my favourites studies covered back in 2007.

It found that a light touch on the arm increased the chances that a male research assistant would persuade a woman in a nightclub to dance with him, or to swap phone numbers.

UPDATE: Christian just sent me this study finding that a light touch from a doctor encourages patients to take medication properly:

Although the positive effect of touch on compliance has been widely found in the literature, a new evaluation has been carried out in a health setting. Four general practitioners were instructed to slightly touch (or not) their adult patients who suffered from a pharyngitis when they asked them for a verbal promise to take the prescribed antibiotic medication. One week later, patients were solicited at home to evaluate the number of tablets that were taken. Greater medication compliance was found in the touch condition.

Link to NYT piece on the psychology of touch.

Source:  http://www.mindhacks.com/blog/togetherness/index.html

Can You Trust a Facebook Profile?

Do people display their actual or idealised personalities on social networking sites?

There are now over 700 million people around the world with profiles on social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace. In the US 75% of those between 18 and 24 who have access to the internet use social networking sites. And over the past four years, across all adult age-groups, their use has quadrupled.

But do these profiles tell us anything about people’s real-life personalities? Online it is very easy to display an idealised version of the self to others so surely the temptation to exaggerate or even give a completely misleading impression is just too great?

Actual versus idealised personality

To find out psychologists recruited 236 US and German students who use social networking sites and had them complete personality measures (Back et al., 2010).

These measured first their actual personalities on what psychologists call the ‘Big 5’ personality traits (extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism and openness to experience). Secondly it measured their idealised personalities: who they would like to be.

Then independent observers were shown their real social networking profiles and asked to rate participants’ personalities.

The surprising truth

After comparing the actual personalities with the idealised and observed, the researchers found that, on average, people were much more likely to display their real personality on the social networking sites rather than their idealised selves.

Overall people were remarkably honest in representing themselves. People were honest—we don’t read those words often enough.

In line with other findings, this study found that, when looking at a stranger’s profile for the first time, some aspects of personality are more difficult to discern. Neuroticism in others is particularly difficult to gauge, whereas people find extraversion and openness to experience relatively easily to assess, even in strangers.

Lying online?

This study is another blow for that old stereotype that the web is some kind of scary hinterland, an untrustworthy place where anything goes and nothing is what it appears, peopled by adolescent boys pretending to be anything but adolescent boys.

Contrary to the received wisdom, as well as academic theorising that the internet encourages people to project an idealised self, this research suggests that people are remarkably honest in displaying their true personalities online.

Whatever the cause, this fact may help to explain the phenomenal popularity of social networking sites: the truth draws people in.

Source:  http://www.spring.org.uk/2010/02/can-you-trust-a-facebook-profile.php?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+PsychologyBlog+%28PsyBlog%29

 

By Ben Fulton

The Salt Lake Tribune

Ever since its 2000 debut by two Colorado software designers, SketchUp has been known as a cutting-edge 3D modeling computer program for architects. By pushing a cursor around downloadable objects, designers created two-dimensional scenes that could later be rendered three-dimensional with editing tools.

Today those same innovations are being tested at the University of Utah’s department of Family and Consumer Studies to expand the skills of children with autism spectrum disorders, thanks to a partnership with Google and Universal Creative Studios,

U. Department chair Cheryl Wright said she was cautious of initial claims that autistic children took to the software. By the end of a workshop earlier this month, she was sold.

“One boy walked in and said, ‘I don’t want to draw!'” Wright said. “But by the end, he had all these ideas of what he wanted to create.”

On hand for the Utah workshop were Chris Cronin, original Google SketchUp designer, and Steve Michael Gross, Universal Creative designer.

The designers had long heard that the software held autistic children rapt for hours. So they connected with the local autism community in Boulder, Colo., and started hearing about how 3D software might appeal to autistic kids.

The U. is receiving feedback from parents following the Feb. 6 workshop, Wright said, and hopes to conduct research on what Cronin and Gross call “Project Spectrum.”

In addition to Google SketchUp’s creative possibilities, the program might be used to help autistic children more socially adept. For example, children could draw mock-up scenarios of environments that make them uneasy, such as a dentist’s office.

“Parents really like the fact that this is a free service from Google,” Wright said. “There are a lot of people trying to sell things to parents of autistic children, usually at a very high cost.”

Google’s “Project Spectrum” at the University of Utah

Parents with autistic children interested in learning how to use Google SketchUp may view the U’s Family and Consumer Studies online lecture at www.fcs.utah.edu. For notices of future programs and more information, e-mail sandy.stark@fcs.utah.edu.

Stephen Fry is encouraging people with bipolar disorder to take part in a university’s research into how genes can contribute to the illness.

The actor, author and presenter has taken part in Cardiff University’s study, along with TV personality Kerry Katona.

Researchers need to double the number of the 3,000 volunteers who have so far donated DNA samples for analysis.

Fry said volunteers would help “remove stigma, shame and hidden pain”.

Bipolar disorder, also known as manic depression, refers to severe episodes of mood disturbance ranging from depression to elation that affect a person’s ability to function normally.

It is thought to affect one in every 100 adults at some time during their life and men and women appear to be affected equally.

The university said it is now well established that bipolar disorder runs in families and that genes play a role in influencing an individual’s susceptibility to the illness.

As part of the Wellcome Trust case control consortium – a major study looking at the genetics of common, complex diseases – researchers at the university, led by Professor Nick Craddock of the school of medicine, are trying to identify the many genes involved in bipolar disorder.

They are also looking at how environmental factors may contribute.

But Prof Craddok, who advised BBC1’s EastEnders about a storyline where Stacey Slater was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, said more volunteers were needed “urgently”.

“Improving the lives of those with bipolar disorder requires an understanding of the causes and triggers of illness,” he said.

“Research is vital. It is fantastic that we have already seen 3,000 people but we urgently need more volunteers to get to the 6,000 people we know are needed to understand this complex, serious and often fatal illness.”

Fry, who has spoken openly about his struggles with the disorder, urged others to follow him in taking part.

“If you took time to participate in this study, you’ve no idea how much good you will be doing. It would be a wonderful, a kind, a graceful and a noble thing to do,” he said.

“So much good for so little effort. How you will glow. By choosing to assist one of the greatest problems facing human happiness you will have done your bit to help remove stigma, shame and hidden pain as well as hastening the day when we all understand the operations of mind and brain a little better.”

Kerry Katona, whose battle with bipolar disorder has also been publicly documented, has also taken part in the research, which has now reached its half-way mark after recruiting its 3,000th volunteer.

Prof Craddock said they need another 3,000 people to complete the research and said they would like to hear from individuals who have experienced one or more episodes of high mood (called mania or hypomania) at any time during their life.

Volunteers will be visited at home by a researcher who will ask about their experiences and symptoms as well as taking a small blood sample. Any information give would be in strict confidence.

Source:  http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/8530212.stm

Why sleeping is good for you

Anyone who knows me knows that my favorite pastime is napping. In College, I would come back to my dorm room, and like clockwork, would take a nap. My best friend in England, who got quite a kick out of my passion for napping, once tried to persuade me to drink a cup of tea after lunch instead of taking my customary nap. I really tried, but I soon gave in to my nap cravings. Sometimes I feel like I really need to re-charge my brain batteries.

Well, now science is on my side. I just love this new study, which was presented by Matthew Walker, assistant professor at UC Berkeley, at the annual meeting of the American Association of the Advancement of Science (AAAS) conference in San Diego this past Sunday.

Walker and his colleagues Bryce A. Mander and Sangeetha Santhanam split up a batch of 39 healthy young adults into two groups. One group napped, the other did not.

At noon, both groups took a learning task thought to recruit the hippocampus. The hippocampus is a region of the brain known to play an important role in the formation of new memories. Over the past few years, various researchers have found that fact-based memories are temporarily stored in the hippocampus before other regions of the brain can operate on the content, especially the regions of the brain responsible for higher-order reasoning and thinking.  At this point in the experiment, both groups showed similar levels of performance.

Then, at 2pm, the nap group took a 90-minute nap while the no-nap group stayed awake, presumably watching the nap group enjoying their nap. After nap-time both groups then took more learning tests. The nappers did better on the tasks than those who stayed awake, demonstrating their higher capacity to learn.

The researchers interpret these findings as supporting their hypothesis that a major function of sleep is to clear away all the clutter stored in the hippocampus to make room for new information. In the words of Walker:

“It’s as though the e-mail inbox in your hippocampus is full and, until you sleep and clear out those fact e-mails, you’re not going to receive any more mail. It’s just going to bounce until you sleep and move it into another folder.”

Walker also likens the brain to a sponge:

“Sleep is critical for learning. It’s like the brain is a sponge. Sleep wrings certain key regions out so you’re able to soak up new information the next day.”

Short mid-day naps may be good because they get you into a particularly beneficial part of the sleep cycle. EEG studies (that measure the electrical activity of the brain) have shown that this memory-refreshing process occurs during Stage 2 non-REM sleep. We actually spend at least 50% of our sleeping time in this stage, suggesting an adaptive purpose for this stage of sleep:

“I can’t imagine Mother Nature would have us spend 50 percent of the night going from one sleep stage to another for no reason. Sleep is sophisticated. It acts locally to give us what we need,” says Walker.

Now, what about that cup of tea? Was my friend in England right? His advice is usually spot-on, but this time he may have been misguided.  Sara Mednick at the UC San Diego (and author of the book: Take a Nap! Change Your Life) divided her subjects into two groups: one group received 200 mg of caffeine and did not nap and the other group just took a nap. Then both groups underwent a battery of tasks, including measures of typing, and measures of memory recall, tapping into visual, verbal, and motor memory. She found that the day nappers did better on all the tasks than those who popped the caffeiene pill. “Of course, that’s bad news for Starbucks,” says Mednick. Mednick also notes: “Which would you rather be: wired or smart?”

Mednick points out that the time during the day a person should nap varies depending on the person’s age. She says that since teenagers and young adults have a slightly shifted sleep cycle, going to bed late and waking up early, their ideal napping window is in the afternoon, around 4p.m. The ideal napping window for adults, in contrast, is between 1 to 3 p.m., since adults usually sleep between 11 p.m. and midnight and wake up between 6.am. and 8 am.

Walker and his colleagues are also interested in the link between age and the function of sleep. They are now investigating whether the reduction of sleep as we age is associated with the well-replicated decrease in our ability to learn as we age. As noted in the official UC Berkeley University press release, this is fascinating research and could greatly improve our understanding of neurodegenerative conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease.

Sleeping is Good for You

The Walker and colleagues study is one among a number that show that sleep, more generally, can be very beneficial for a wide range of positive outcomes. At UC Berkeley, both Walker’s research group and Allison Harvey‘s group at the Sleep and Psychological Disorder Laboratory have found that getting a good amount of sleep at night is tied to a better immune system, metabolic control, memory, learning, and emotional functioning. Most of us are familiar with the often cited finding that pulling an all-nighter the night before an exam can decrease the ability to remember the information by roughly 40 percent, but it’s really cool to see all these other benefits of sleep.

Read in Full:  http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/beautiful-minds/201002/take-nap-it-may-boost-your-learning-capacity-among-other-good-things