http://vimeo.com/100299651
An interesting narrative encompassing the thoughts of 63 women when they look at themselves in the mirror, drawing viewers in as a thought provoking video on perception, beauty, and overall self image
http://vimeo.com/100299651
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John Sheehan is a 70 year old with a host of accomplishments, both professionally and personally. He has been living with Alzheimer's disease since 2013 and both he and his wife, Sharon, are determined to not let it become his identity. “The important thing to remember is that we are not our diagnosis,” says Mr. Sheehan. “We are full people with real relationships and interesting histories. In this community [Peterborough] we have the second largest population of people over 65 in Canada, so we need to be aware of this illness and learn how to treat people who suffer from dementias with respect and empathy.” To read more about John's experience with early Alzheimer's disease including the early signs that led to his diagnosis, check out: http://www.mykawartha.com/community-story/5250354-dementia-is-a-diagnosis-not-an-identity/ By adjusting the levels of mTORC1, a key signaling protein in the brain, researchers improved motor function and brain abnormalities in experimental animals with a form of Huntington's disease.
Put your knowledge and skills to the test with the case of a 15 year old woman who is 35 weeks pregnant and presents to obstetrics triage with dizziness, tinnitus, headache, and difficult walking. All of her symptoms resolve after three days, except for her gait disturbance which persists. She is seen by neurology and otolaryngology which cannot identify a cause for her ataxia. In further work-up, the patient reports that she was recently abandoned by her boyfriend after he learned about the pregnancy. The patient also has a history of depression and self-harm, but states she feels fine and does not believe she needs psychiatric care. While the patient does not endorse a history of trauma or symptoms suggestive of a mood, anxiety, or psychotic illness, she is observed to display childlike mannerisms and her aunt reports that she has become more dependent recently. She displays indifference to these recent stressors and demonstrates alexithymia. Other noteworthy history include the fact that the patient was sent by her parents from Guatemala to the United States at age 5 in hopes that she would lead a better life than she would have had in Guatemala. The patient's cousin was also diagnosed with a cholesteatoma after he presented with symptoms similar to this patient's initial presentation a number of years back. Can you come up with a diagnosis or treatment plan? "Young, Pregnant, Ataxic-and Jilted'" by Nancy Byatt and Ramanpreet Toor (Current Psychiatry).
The Whitehall study was a landmark research paper into the social determinants of health, finding that risk factors for certain diseases such as smoking, less leisure time, a lower height-weight ratio, and higher blood pressure were stratified among members of the British civil service, with the lower levels of the civil service having shorter life expectancies than the highest echelons. These findings were borne out by Whitehall II, a second study carried out 20 years later. However, it was interesting to see that after normalizing for smoking, leisure time, and so on, the lower grades of the civil service were still at elevated risk for heart attacks. Why? The answer seems to be cortisol... what we typically refer to as a stress hormone. Where once we assumed that higher civil service managers would be under greater stress due to greater responsibilities, health outcomes related to stress seem to have more to do with perceived and real levels of control over one's own life. In simple terms, lacking autonomy, lacking control over one's own life, is related to poor health outcomes and shortened life expectancy. A heartfelt illustration of the struggles in living with depression, as told through the personal story of one individuals ongoing relationship with his mental illness, simply titled "Couples Therapy."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GV-WONhEZec When asked what population is most at risk of suicide the first response is often teenagers or young adults. In reality, however, adults over the age of 65 have the highest rate of suicide in Canada according the CMHA. Evelyn Burns-Weinrib is an 80-year-old woman from Toronto who has experienced depression later in life and survived a suicide attempt 3 years ago. She has made her experience of living with mental illness public in hopes of breaking down many of the barriers and stigma associated with depression and aging that often prevent individuals from seeking professional help. "I think that this is something that should be talked about, not brushed under the carpet. I will talk about it whenever and wherever I can … When you get older, you face a lot of losses - the loss of your job due to forced retirement or it just disappears, the loss of family members and friends. You lose your physical health, have less money to live on, and you become more dependent on others. I've learned that these are all factors that can trigger depression in seniors," says Evelyn. In order to further educate older adults about depression and mental illness in later life she has also made a monetary donation to Baycrest in Toronto, Ontario, to develop a website targeted at seniors living depression. To learn more about Evelyn's story of survival and resiliency check out this media release from Baycrest and this video interview from CityNews Toronto. To access Baycrest's seniors' mental health website visit www.baycrest.org/mentalhealth |
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Supporting and enhancing students' and health professionals' knowledge and understanding of mental health and psychiatry
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