Mental Health

Relaxing on my bed in suburban Detroit, I was absorbed in yet another escapist novel from the library when my mother suddenly barged into my room. Her face was filled with a familiar madness as she grabbed my arm and dragged me toward the full-length mirror in the master bedroom. She had shears in one hand as she screamed hysterically and began hacking away at my waist-long hair. It was the 1970s, I was 13 years old, and like most teenage girls of that time, I had faithfully grown my hair long to look like celebrity idols of the day. I sobbed as clumps of my shiny black hair fell to the floor. She had shears in one hand as she screamed hysterically and began hacking away at my waist-long hair. Mom grabbed a patch of the hair that people had called "black silk" and shrieked, "Frame this for memory." Decades later, curled up on my sofa in Los Angeles, I was reminded of that horrific day as I watched Andie MacDowell portray Paula, a mother with undiagnosed bipolar diso...

Monday, December 27, 2021 View Larger + PHOTO: file The recently released Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) 2021 Employer Health Benefits Survey reveals that the average family premiums rose 4% this year to top $22,000. And that's not the only takeaway from the annual review of workplace health benefits. Other key findings from 2021 include: Higher Employee Contributions: Workers on average are contributing $5,969 towards the cost of family coverage, with employers paying the rest. And the average single deductible for workers who have one increased slightly to $1,669 this year. Expanded Mental Health Benefits: Among companies with at least 50 workers that offer health benefits, 39% report making changes to their mental health and substance abuse benefits since the beginning of COVID-19, such as allowing employees to access services through telemedicine. GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST Rise of Telemedicine: 65% of emplo...

[unable to retrieve full-text content] Gabapentin and pregabalin in bipolar disorder, anxiety states, and insomnia: Systematic review, meta-analysis, and rationale    MD Linx

A cicada infected with the fungus Massospora cicadina (left) and the drug Adderall (right), which is used to treat ADHD, both contain the stimulant amphetamine. Credit: Matt Kasson In 2017, my PhD student and I discovered that 13- and 17-year-old cicadas infected with the fungus Massospora cicadina had trace amounts of the amphetamine cathinone inside their fungus-filled abdomens. Little did I know that four years later, during a global pandemic, I would be prescribed the same class of stimulants to address my long-untreated mental disorder. I first experienced severe depressive episodes punctuated by long bouts of hypomania (higher activity or energy levels than usual) when I was an undergraduate studying forestry and forest ecosystem science from 1998 to 2001. I was hospitalized and withdrew from my second university for a year and a half (often considered a big red flag on a CV). These symptoms were misdiagnosed as bipolar disorder. The underlying hype...

Insurance Circular Letter No. 12 (2021) December 29, 2021 TO: All Insurers Authorized to Write Accident and Health Insurance in New York State, Article 43 Corporations, Health Maintenance Organizations, Student Health Plans Certified Pursuant to Insurance Law § 1124, Municipal Cooperative Health Benefit Plans, Prepaid Health Services Plans, and Health Care Providers RE: Provider Directory and Health Insurance Identification Card Requirements under the No Surprises Act and State Law STATUTORY AND REGULATORY REFERENCES:  N.Y. Insurance Law §§ 3217-a(a)(17) and 4324(a)(17); Public Health Law § 4408(1)(r); No Surprises Act (Pub. L. No. 116-260, 134 Stat. 1182, Division BB § 109); 42 U.S.C. §§ 300gg-111(e), 300gg-115(a) and (b), and 300gg-139; 11 NYCRR 52 (Insurance Regulation 62) I. Purpose The purpose of this circular letter is to pr...

Anyone who inhaled in the 1960s can recall the effects of cannabis—euphoria, paranoia, changes in perception, an inability to concentrate and short-term memory failures. A laboratory-controlled study by Yale scientists published in the journal Neuropsychopharmacology last summer has found that delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the active ingredient of cannabis, transiently induced a range of schizophrenia-like effects in healthy people. And in the past year, three large epidemiological studies have supported the long-suggested link between cannabis use and a risk of schizophrenia. "No one really knew how cannabis worked until about 10 years ago," said D. Cyril D'Souza, M.D., associate professor of psychiatry and lead author of the study. "The discovery of cannabinoid receptors and several other advances in the basic pharmacology of the cannabinoid receptor system have renewed interest in that association between cannabis and psychosis." Because animal models ...

What treatment strategies are available to improve the quality of life for older adults who are aging with schizophrenia? Older adults with schizophrenia include individuals with both early- and late-onset illness. A distinction based on age is not a separate diagnosis in the ICD or the DSM-5; however, the International Late-Onset Schizophrenia Group has proposed subdividing the diagnosis of schizophrenia into distinct age groups. 1 A listing of the 3 distinct age groups is found in Table 1 . We focus here on treatment strategies to improve the quality of life for both older adults who are aging with schizophrenia, and those who are first diagnosed with schizophrenia after age 40 years. Early-Onset Schizophrenia Although patients diagnosed with early-onset schizophrenia (EOS) have an increased risk of premature mortality when compared with the general population, more individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia are living longer. This increased longevity is due to improvements in treatme...

Depression support groups come in different forms. There are online forums, which are unstructured. There are also online and in-person groups that have a moderator to guide the conversation. Support groups provide an emotionally safe environment for expressing feelings, exchanging ideas, and gaining helpful information. Many of them are free to use. According to a 2017 study , some high-quality evidence suggests that internet support groups are effective in decreasing symptoms of depression. People who use them report that they: reduce isolation improve daily functioning increase the likelihood of seeking professional help Depression is common and affects about 4.7% of individuals aged 18 and older in the United States. This article looks at depression support groups and what they can offer, including online, in-person, and specialty groups. It also discusses other forms of help. Below are a few online support groups for depression and some of their benefits. Anxiety and Depression A...

Although depression is a common condition, it can be a confusing disorder to understand, as it has multiple types, all with unique symptoms and ranges of severity. In this article, read about the different types of depression, their causes, symptoms, and prevention and treatment methods. Malte Mueller/Getty Images What Is Depression? Depression is a mood disorder that causes symptoms affecting feelings, thoughts, and daily functioning. It can have severe and lasting effects. Depression is one of the most common mental health conditions in the United States. It can affect anybody, no matter their race, age, gender, income, or education. It can occur with other mental health and physical illnesses as well.   Causes Research has shown that there is not one single cause of depression. It can result from a combination of psychological, genetic, biological, and environmental factors. It often begins in adulthood, but it is seen in childr...

For Lethbridge, Alta., resident Jason Wegner, you can trace it all back to the summer of 2017. He had been exhibiting some signs of hypomania in the year prior: risky behaviour, unusual shifts in mood and rapid changes in his behaviour.  Wegner's family has some history of mental illness, including an uncle with bipolar disorder. So when Wegner experimented for the second time with psychedelic drugs in 2017, specifically magic mushrooms and LSD, it changed everything. That summer, Wegner travelled to Africa as a leader on a service trip with the WE Charity to help build a school. He found himself in a full-blown manic episode for 16 days. 'Complete chaos' For Wegner, having a manic episode meant he was thinking 100 thoughts every day, all the time. "It's complete chaos," he said. "You can't control your emotions. You're happy one moment, crying the next." Wegner was ...