By Rick Nauert PhD Senior News Editor
Reviewed by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on February 18, 2011
For years, health professionals have advocated lifestyle changes in the form of diet, exercise and stress reduction to lower the risk of heart disease, diabetes and other chronic illnesses.
New research shows that lifestyle changes — such as getting more exercise, spending more time in nature or helping others — can be as effective as drugs or counseling for many mental health concerns.
A wide range of mental health conditions, including depression and anxiety, can be treated with certain lifestyle changes as successfully as diseases such as diabetes and obesity, according to Roger Walsh, M.D., PhD., of the University of California, Irvine’s College of Medicine.
Walsh reviewed research on the effects of what he calls “therapeutic lifestyle changes,†or TLCs, including exercise, nutrition and diet, relationships, recreation, relaxation and stress management, religious or spiritual involvement, spending time in nature, and service to others.
Walsh reviewed research on TLCs’ effectiveness and advantages, as well as the psychological costs of spending too much time in front of the TV or computer screen, not getting outdoors enough, and becoming socially isolated.
Read in Full:
http://psychcentral.com/news/2011/02/18/lifestyle-changes-as-treatment-for-mental-health-concerns-depression-anxiety/23670.html
In light of today’s Welfare Reform Bill, which sets the course for the move from Disability Living Allowance (DLA) to Personal Independence Payment (PIP), The National Autistic Society (NAS) has serious concerns that these changes will result in those with hidden disabilities like autism missing out on vital benefits.
Mark Lever, chief executive, NAS says, “We have substantial concerns about the introduction of a face-to-face assessment for the new benefit. Autism is a complex condition and it’s much harder to assess the impact of the disability on daily living than for other disabilities. This has already proved to be hugely problematic with the work capability assessment for Employment Support Allowance (ESA), resulting in costly appeals and unnecessary distress for an already socially isolated and vulnerable group.
Many adults with autism are extremely worried about the possibility of losing benefits they desperately rely on and the proposed reforms to the welfare system are pushing them to a state of near constant anxiety. With 30% of people with disabilities already living below the poverty line, it is understandable that there is such great concern. We therefore urge the Government to ensure that the design of the new assessment specifically covers the needs of people with autism if they are serious about their promise to help those who need it most.”
Source:
http://www.autism.org.uk/en-gb/news-and-events/news-from-the-nas/media-response-concern-over-benefits-for-those-with-hidden-disabilities.aspx
Denyse Kirkby felt like an outsider until she recognised her social problems in her eight-year-old son
Thursday February 17,2011
By Bess Manson
DENYSE KIRKBY, 43, a midwifery lecturer, felt like an outsider all her life until she recognised her social problems in her eight-year-old son
WHEN I was growing up I always felt different to other children. I didn’t like playing noisy games in the playground, preferring to read quietly in a corner. I didn’t understand why I detested physical contact or why any sudden loud sounds upset me so much.
I didn’t understand why as I grew older I never really got jokes or why I was ostracised for saying the wrong thing. I was odd. I always have been.
As a child I took everything literally. I was very gullible and children would ridicule me for being socially inept. If someone swore, I would copy them and get into trouble for shouting the word out.
As I grew up I learned ways to fit in. For short periods of time I could pretend I was the same as other people. I learned to prepare myself for meeting people at work, to stop myself saying the wrong thing. I became a midwife since my obsession with following procedures methodically made me good at it.
I also found I could form relationships with men. Unfortunately I didn’t really understand myself so I didn’t choose the right people and my first two marriages ended in divorce.
My third husband Chris, who is 47 and a postman, has always been understanding and patient. For the first time I didn’t feel anxious about what was expected of me but it didn’t stop me wondering why I am the way I am. The answer only revealed itself after I became a mum to TJ, now eight.
I knew TJ was different when he was just three days old. He was very fretful, he’d be up feeding all night and was always very tense.
At nursery he was different to the other children. He didn’t communicate. Rather than join in games and songs he was obsessed with opening and closing a particular toy, arranging things in order, over and over again. The nursery couldn’t handle TJ so I sent him to the Willows Centre, a school in Portsmouth for children with special education needs.
I had long suspected he could have autism and our community paediatrician sent him for an assessment. This process takes a long time and while going through various tests I couldn’t help but notice similarities in his and my own social behaviour. One night I said to Chris, “perhaps I should find out if I am autisticâ€. Chris wasn’t sure it was necessary for me to know, having lived 40 years the way I was but the more I watched TJ the more I needed to know. Our GP referred me to the National Autistic Society’s diagnostic centre and for the next few months I too was assessed.
In January 2008 I was diagnosed with Asperger syndrome, which is a form of autism. It was a relief. There was a reason why I was different. I wasn’t just being a wimp at school, things were genuinely more difficult for me than for other people. At last I could understand my own behaviour.
TJ was diagnosed with Asperger syndrome in April 2009. Socially he is about three years behind his peers. He is so vulnerable and it worries me because I recall what I went through at school with the bullies and taunts. I didn’t want that for my son. For TJ’s sake I’m grateful I have autism too. It helps me understand what he’s going through. When he struggles to express himself I can help interpret his feelings. I tell TJ autism is not an excuse for not being able to do something, it’s an explanation for why it’s more of a struggle for us.
Read in Full:
http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/229513/How-the-recession-bit-sandwich
Laila Strong with her son Brandon Strong and her husband David Spencer at their home in East New York.
By Ben Chapman
DAILY NEWS WRITER
February 15th 2011, 4:00 AM
An East New York boy diagnosed with autism has gotten dozens of detentions this school year for behaviors caused by his condition, his parents say.
Brandon Strong, 10, who attends fifth grade at Achievement First East New York Middle School, has been held after school and at lunch for fidgeting, talking to himself and failing to look teachers in the eye.
The boy’s parents say his ongoing disciplinary problems at the Richmond St. charter school are out of his control – and the punishments he’s receiving are ruining his life.
“This situation at school is driving my son crazy,” said Laila Strong, 37, a small business owner. “He hates it so much he’s starting to come apart.”
The talkative kid with glasses hasn’t always had such a tough time in class. Brandon was diagnosed with attention deficit disorder when he was 3 years old, after preschool teachers noticed he had trouble sitting still. Two years later he was diagnosed with autism but he worked hard with his family to succeed in mainstream classes.
“We built a life for Brandon that worked,” said Strong, who helped the boy with his homework every afternoon and discussed the upcoming school day with him each morning while he brushed his teeth.
Strong said the routines that kept Brandon balanced in elementary school were disrupted this year when he started at middle school.
That’s when he started getting held for “not tracking,” “talking” and “not following directions” during class, according to school documents.
Two months into the school year, he started having trouble sleeping. He began to throw hysterical fits before school when he begged his mother to not send him to class.
“I kept getting in trouble for things I can’t control,” said Brandon. “It wasn’t fair.”
The Strongs don’t want to move him to another school because they say it would disrupt his life even more. “We want to Brandon to succeed in the school he’s in,” said Laila Strong.
Read in Full:
http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/brooklyn/2011/02/15/2011-02-15_autistic_boys_woes_punished_for_his_condition.html
Advocate makes appeal to corporate audience
Updated:Â 02/18/2011 09:27:50 AM CST
He’s nervous and awkward with people, can’t tell the difference between biting sarcasm and sincere praise, and doesn’t take well to crowded rooms, loud noises or sudden interruptions.
He’s just about the worst multitasker you’ll ever see.
He’s also one of your best employees.
Workers on the autism spectrum don’t always fit in at first, but with training and a little extra consideration, they can be among the most innovative and detail-oriented employees.
That was the message Thursday from 3M, Cargill and Best Buy managers who took the stage at 3M’s “Autism and Employment” forum, which was organized by the St. Paul-based Autism Society of Minnesota.
For employers, here’s the bottom-line: As baby boomers retire in the years ahead, companies will have to scramble to fill openings at all levels, from janitors to engineers. Accommodating otherwise-talented employees who suffer from social deficits will be one way to fill the void — especially in competitive artistic and technological fields that tend to draw on those with forms of autism.
“You get the people who are kind of quirky, kind of different, and they’re very good at one thing,” celebrity author Temple Grandin, who has autism herself, told hundreds of attendees at 3M’s Maplewood headquarters. “Don’t try to de-geek the geek. You can’t make him something he’s not.”
Grandin is a longtime Cargill consultant, prolific writer and expert on animal behavior whose life story has turned her into a kind of spokeswoman for the autistic.
A professor at Colorado State University and possibly the best-known national figure with autism spectrum disorder, she served as a screenplay consultant on last year’s “Temple Grandin,” an HBO biopic starring Claire Danes.
The film, which won seven Emmy Awards, featured an unflinching portrayal of Grandin’s isolated, socially awkward childhood in the 1950s, before much was known about the disorder, as well as her later struggles in the workplace.
Grandin said autism — and a related disorder, Asperger syndrome — describes a wide range of people who grapple with the condition at different levels. The basic common thread is that the “interoffice”-like communications inside the brain have been disconnected, making it hard to process social information. Many suffer from sensory overload, too, and are sensitive to loud noises, the bustle of open-air work environments and fluorescent lighting.
But other parts of the brain are often hyperfocused. Grandin said that when most people are asked to think of a church steeple, they generalize a generic steeple in their minds based on their associations with the word. Not her “photojournalistic” brain. She instantly calls up a detailed image of a specific steeple she’s seen, almost like an Internet surfer searching Google for images.
“When you disconnect some of the social circuits, the geek circuits (flourish),” she said. “Autism is a true continuum. There’s no difference between Asperger’s and ‘geek.’ “
For employers, she said, that may mean having to give an autistic employee explicit instructions such as “Don’t call customers fat.”
“Don’t be subtle,” she told the audience, recalling how hard it was for her to function at her first few jobs. “It’s got to be specific. There’s a scene in the movie where an executive slams down deodorant on a desk and says, ‘You stink, use it.’ … That actually happened.”
The advice, delivered tactlessly, stung. Nevertheless, in terms of improving relations with her co-workers, she soon became grateful for the lesson.
Grandin said that because the autistic learn differently, it may be important for parents to do the thing many of them least want to do: loosen the reins a bit and allow kids to amass their own archive of experiences to learn from, whether it’s ordering by themselves from a restaurant menu or holding down a neighborhood job mowing lawns.
She said it took her a long time to realize that most other people do not think in detailed pictures and cannot see intricate engineering designs in their mind’s eye the way she can. It took her even longer to pick up on basic body language.
“I didn’t know people had these secret little eye signals until I was 50 years old and read about it in a book,” she said.
Grandin noted how important it is for people with varying levels of autism to sell themselves to prospective employers using portfolios or concrete examples of their work. Social cues are often too difficult for the autistic, making job interviews potentially disastrous.
“I’ve never sold a single job with my personality,” she said.
Larry Moody, a board member with the Autism Society, said in an interview that he was successful enough as a chemical engineer to survive waves of staff cuts at various jobs and retire at age 50 with a sizable nest egg.
“I required more management than others, but I produced at a higher level, faster and more accurately,” he said.
Moody is now on the board of a new startup effort, Autism Works, that aims to place autistic professionals in highly skilled industries, much as Eagan-based Lifeworks places disabled workers in lower-skilled employment.
Through Lifeworks, Gabe Bonham, 29, has worked for 3M for seven months, doing everything from data entry to cleaning glassware. Bonham, who has Asperger syndrome, said the job allows him to live in a Maplewood apartment, independent of his parents in Hastings.
Linda Ireland, a partner with the Aveus consulting firm, told the crowd “if we changed hiring and retention practices matched to people with autism, everybody wins.”
Ireland then showed a brief clip from the “Temple Grandin” movie in which Grandin’s high school science teacher tells her mother that the girl is “different, but not less.”
Source:Â http://www.twincities.com/columnists/ci_17418020?source=rss&nclick_check=1
Bipolar disorder involves mood swings that are more exaggerated than typical fluctuations. The “up” periods are known as manic episodes, mania, or hypomania (a less severe form of mania); the “down” periods are called depressive episodes, or depression.
What are typical symptoms of bipolar disorder? For people with bipolar disorder, manic episodes are characterized by aggression, agitation, or irritation; a decreased need for sleep; euphoria; high distractibility; an increased sex drive; inflated self-esteem; racing thoughts; rapid speech; spending sprees; and delusions, hallucinations, or psychosis.
Depressive episodes are marked by difficulty concentrating, remembering, or making decisions; eating disturbances; loss of appetite and weight loss, or overeating and weight gain; fatigue or listlessness; feelings of worthlessness, hopelessness, and/or guilt; loss of self esteem; persistent sadness; sleep disturbances; suicidal thoughts; or withdrawal from people and activities that were once enjoyed.
Mood swings vary in length and frequency. Some people with bipolar disorder suffer mostly with major depression, with only the occasional manic episode; others experience “rapid cycling,” with at least four episodes of depression, mania, or hypomania occurring within one year.
Types of Bipolar Disorder According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders IV (DSM-IV), there are four types of bipolar disorder, differing primarily in symptom severity and the length of time between manic and depressive episodes.
- 1. Bipolar type I is the most severe and potentially dangerous form of bipolar disorder. Bipolar type I is characterized by manic or mixed episodes that last at least seven days or by manic symptoms that are so severe that the person needs emergency hospital care. Manic or mixed episodes are followed by episodes of major depression that last weeks or even years.
- 2. Bipolar type II involves alternating hypomanic (lasting at least four days) and depressive episodes but no full-blown manic or mixed episodes. While “up” periods are marked by milder symptoms, depressive episodes may be severe and debilitating. Generally, people with bipolar type II can function in their normal daily routine while hypomanic. During the depressive phase, the level of functioning varies significantly among individuals.
- 3. Cyclothymia is an even more mild form of mood cycling with highs and lows that continue for at least two years but never reach the severity of major depression or mania. This can make it hard to distinguish from normal variations in mood and personality.
- 4. Bipolar disorder not otherwise specified (BP-NOS) is diagnosed when symptoms don’t meet the criteria for bipolar I or II or cyclothymia. Symptoms may not last long enough, or the person may have too few of them. But the symptoms are clearly out of the person’s normal range of behavior.
Source:Â http://www.johnshopkinshealthalerts.com/alerts/depression_anxiety/bipolar-disorder-symptoms_3853-1.html?ET=johnshopkins:e44564:287009a:&st=email&s=EDH_110215_001
Christy Matta, M.A. Updated: Feb 16th 2011
Family therapy has gained importance over the past 30 years and for many with a diagnosis of a mental illness has become an essential aspect of treatment. Family therapies have been designed for use with relatives of people with specific diagnosis. These treatments recognize both the individuals psychiatric disorder, as well as the context in which is occurs.
Family interventions for people diagnosed with borderline personality disorder (BPD) and their relatives have begun to show some success. In particular, family treatments are emerging that are consistent with Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT). In an article published in Family Process (1999), Hoffman, Fruzetti and Swenson describe DBT Family treatment.
A diagnosis of Borderline Personality disorder is characterized by emotional instability, impulse controlFamily interventions, then, seem logical, with the potential to alter a negative environment problems and severe interpersonal difficulties In addition, research has found that people with BPD were often raised in families with psychopathology and problematic interactions that may play a role in the development of the diagnosis. and improve the functioning of the individual diagnosed with BPD.
Read in Full: http://www.mentalhelp.net/poc/view_doc.php?type=doc&id=42062&cn=8
Article Date: 16 Feb 2011 – 1:00 PST
In the current issue of Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, investigators from the University of Bologna, Copenhagen and Cambridge present data that suggest that the most commonly used scale for assessing depression (the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale) may not be sufficient and another, more comprehensive and accurate, is available.
A comprehensive assessment of the wide spectrum of depressive symptomatology, particularly in its subclinical forms, is lacking in standard rating scales. There is also an emerging need for instruments that can detect small differences in therapeutic studies and have good sensitivity. The purpose of this paper is to review the clinimetric characteristics of Paykel’s Clinical Interview for Depression (CID) and to examine the results of the studies in which the interview has been used.
Read in Full:Â http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/216575.php
16th February, 2011.
Children’s heart surgery at some of the country’s leading hospitals will stop under controversial NHS plans set to be agreed.
At least four of England’s 11 units will close, with surgeons transferred to bigger regional centres.
Sick children will face longer journeys, but the NHS review team believes it will make possible increasingly complex operations around the clock.
Southampton General Hospital operates on 350 children born with serious heart conditions each year.
It is hiring a fourth consultant surgeon in the hope of taking on more work under the reorganisation.
Consultant cardiologist Dr James Gnanapragasam told Sky News bigger units are better for children with rare heart conditions.
“You need at least four surgeons to make sure they are not overburdened with their out-of-hours work in addition to daytime work,” he said.
“Some of these operations are very complicated. It stands to reason that the more you do, you are likely to be better.”
Five-month-old Hannah Slater owes her life to the surgeons at the hospital. Her mum Charlotte says the expert care makes the 60-mile round trip from home worthwhile.
“The quality of care has to come first,” she said.
“It is a relatively short period of time in her life. It’s really tough at the moment, but it’s only six months and hopefully travelling here will give us the opportunity to have a much longer period of time with her.
“We were just incredibly lucky that we have such a world-class facility.”
Currently, London has three children’s heart surgery units. Hospitals in Southampton, Bristol, Oxford, Birmingham, Leicester, Leeds, Liverpool and Newcastle also operate on children.
NHS medical director Professor Sir Bruce Keogh asked the National Specialised Commissioning Group to review surgery to ensure the spread of services was appropriate.
The group will present a series of options at a public meeting, with an agreed plan then put out for consultation.
But some families will have to travel further for surgery.
Eight-year-old David Crocker was due to have a life-saving operation at Oxford’s John Radcliffe Hospital, but surgery there was suspended last year after a higher than normal death rate.
His mum Maria fears her son, who is autistic, will be unsettled by an operation elsewhere.
“To be told that he’s got to have his surgery at a different hospital, where he’s not going to be familiar with those particular grounds, those particular surgeons, that particular ward, then it’s going to terrify him,” she said.
“It’s going to make the whole healing process after surgery a lot longer.”
Source: http://uk.news.yahoo.com/5/20110216/tuk-doors-set-to-close-on-child-heart-op-45dbed5.html
MUMBAI: Bollywood’s dream merchants have traditionally sold young chocolaty romances, complete with pink roses. But in the last 10 years, a lot of unusual love stories have made their way to the silver screen, be it ‘Mr and Mrs Iyer’, or ‘Cheeni Kum’ or ‘Wake Up Sid’.
So this Valentine’s Day, here’s remembering some unconventional relationships on screen like a 60-plus confirmed bachelor being bowled over by a 35-year-old woman or a married woman being drawn towards her co-passenger during a riot.
‘Mr and Mrs. Iyer’ (2002): Aparna Sen is different, so it was obvious that the love track in her movie ‘Mr and Mrs. Iyer’ would not be run-of-the-mill. The director finely wove a love story between a conservative Tamilian Brahmin housewife, Meenakshi Iyer, and a Muslim wildlife photographer, Raja Chowdhury, during a fateful bus journey. The lead pair of Konkona Sen Sharma and Rahul Bose carried their roles so beautifully that it set new rules for on-screen romance.
‘Socha Na Tha’ (2005): Made by first-timer Imtiaz Ali who teamed up with debutant Abhay Deol and newcomer Ayesha Takia, the young romance saga about a confused young guy exuded freshness in every department – the concept was new, the treatment was fresh, the dialogues were not mushy, the acting was not over the top and the story gelled with the lifestyle of restless GenY.
‘Salaam Namaste’ (2005): Yash Raj Films, known for creating larger than life love stories, broke the tradition with a live-in relationship story in ‘Salaam Namaste’. In the film, Melbourne-based Indians, played by Preity Zitna and Saif Ali Khan, decide to have a no-strings-attached relationship. The audiences welcomed director Siddharth Anand’s concept and thronged the hall.
‘Main, Meri Patni Aur Woh’ (2005): In the same year came a simple story about simple people. Directed by Chandan Arora, the medium- budget movie revolved around a short middle-class small town simpleton, played by Rajpal Yadav, whose marriage proposal is accepted by a glamorous and highly educated woman, Rituparna Sengupta, and how his insecurities surfaces as soon as he marries her. It’s narrated so deftly that you are hooked to it from the first to the last scene.
‘Cheeni Kum’ (2007): Hindi movie audiences have seen the salt-and-pepper generation getting infatuated with a young girl in ‘Shaukeen’, but R. Balakrishnan took the concept forward with his directorial debut ‘Cheeni Kum’ by building a fruitful romance between a 60-plus chef and a 35-year-old computer expert. Amitabh Bachchan and Tabu’s flawless performances and crackling chemistry made it a good watch. It was a bold attempt, but it couldn’t stump the box office.
‘Dev D’ (2009): Anurag Kashyap’s reinvented take on Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay’s novel ‘Devdas’ in ‘Dev D’ saw protagonist Dev (Abhay Deol) being presented as arrogant and impulsive. The two women in his life are a departure from the women in previous movies. Paro (Mahie Gill) is so bindaas that she uses foul language and even breaks into a gig on her wedding, while Chandramukhi (Kalki Koechlin), a girl from a well-to-do family, gets into prostitution after getting involved in an MMS scandal. In short, it was a raunchy romance full of steamy scenes and sexual innuendos.
‘Wake Up Sid’ (2009): Nobody would have ever thought of casting Ranbir Kapoor and Konkona Sen Sharma to play a pair, but first time director Ayan Mukerji did it for ‘Wake Up Sid’ and the risk paid off as everyone lapped up the story of a young boy falling in love with a simple looking older girl who is trying to make a future for herself in his city.
‘My Name Is Khan’ (2010): This was a never before seen love story. A man suffering from Asperger’s Syndrome reaches New York and falls in love with a single mother and manages to convince her to marry him. Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol’s mature performances made it believable.
Read in Full: http://expressbuzz.com/entertainment/interviews/unusual-romances/247813.html
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