Beyond The Body
  • Home
  • About
  • Contributors
  • Contact

Involuntary Commitment

6/30/2014

2 Comments

 
Picture
A powerful story of a family who desperately want to help their loved one who has schizoaffective‬ disorder depressive type with persecutory delusions ‬, but are unable to because of the strict involuntary commitment laws in Maryland. 

"Because he does not think he is sick, voluntary treatment is not an option. Unless he threatens to harm himself or someone else, or is so sick he cannot keep himself alive, he cannot be deemed dangerous ..."

"Behind the yellow door, a man's mental illness worsens" by Stephanie Mccrummen (Washington Post)


2 Comments

Psych In The News - Week 25

6/28/2014

1 Comment

 
Picture
Catch up on all the news related to psychiatry and mental health from this week!


Read More
1 Comment

Good Reads: Animal Madness

6/27/2014

1 Comment

 
Picture
Recently, author Laurel Braitman, shared with TED followers 5 ways in which animals and humans suffer from similar mental illnesses in her article "More Similar Than We Know: When Animals Go Mad".  Through this and her book Animal Madness: How Anxious Dogs, Compulsive Parrots and Elephants in Recovery Help Us Understand Ourselves (read on to see the synopsis of the novel) Braitman demonstrates how we can better learn about and understand human mental health and illness by exploring the emotional distress of our beloved pets and other animals in the wild.

"Making sense of animal emotional states and behavior, especially when they are doing things that seem abnormal, has always involved a certain amount of projection. The diagnoses that many of these animals receive reflect shifting ideas about human mental health, since people use the concepts, language and diagnostic tools they are comfortable with to puzzle out what may be wrong with the animals around them.

This isn’t to say that the creatures aren’t suffering, but the labels we give to their suffering reflect not only our beliefs about animals’ capacity for emotional expression, but also our own, most popular, ideas about mental illness and recovery. Where, for example, earlier generations saw madness, homesickness and heartbreak in themselves and other animals, veterinarians and physicians now diagnose anxiety, impulse control and obsessive-compulsive disorders in humans, dogs, gorillas, whales and many animals in between" (ideas.TED.com).

Recommended For:
Animal lovers, veterinarians, and anyone interested in human mental health!


Read More
1 Comment

Why Are We Laughing at Rob Ford?

6/26/2014

1 Comment

 
Picture
For many months now, there has been extensive media coverage on Toronto Mayor Rob Ford and his struggles with ‪‎drugs‬ and ‪‎alcohol‬. Most of these news reports and videos have led to countless jokes, memes and laughs being had, but few have looked at the issue from a more serious ‪‎mental health‬ perspective.

In the article, "Why Are We Laughing at Rob Ford?", psychotherapist Dr. Howard Samuels offers a different take on Rob Ford and his substance use, one that encourages us to consider ‪addiction‬ as a true medical condition, and pushes us to think about intervening and urging those we know with drug abuse problems to seek ‪help‬, rather than simply making fun of them and ignoring the ‪‎pain‬ and deeper struggles they may be experiencing.

A second article, " Rob Ford's Addiction: Reducing Stigma Or Doing A 'Disservice' To Rehab?" looks at Rob Ford and his drug use with regards to ‪stigma‬, public ‪‎awareness‬ of addictions, and the impact on others with similar mental health concerns. More specifically, when the mayor "likened his first days in ‪rehab‬ to football camp and called the experience "amazing"" many experts in the field of addictions had differing views as to the message Ford was sending out to the public. Some say he has helped to reduce stigma by getting people talking and has encouraged others to seek help themselves, while others believed he was making too light of the situation and misrepresenting what ‪treatment‬ is really all about.

Take some time today to check out these articles, and consider your own views on the topic!



1 Comment

Drunkorexia

6/25/2014

1 Comment

 
Picture
Have you heard of drunkorexia? If not, drunkorexia = an "eating disorder with a co-morbidity with alcoholism" or more commonly it refers to the combination of alcohol misuse (most often binge drinking) and disordered eating behaviours.

Drunkorexia has been gaining more attention recently by the media and researchers alike as it seems to be a growing trend and fad diet, particularly among young people and most especially among young women. In fact, based on recent studies, it's thought that over 15% of college students engage in 'drunkorexic behaviours' whether it be to prevent weight gain, to get drunk more quickly, or for financial reasons.

As one may expect, drunkorexia is not considered a healthy lifestyle or behaviour by healthcare professionals and in fact "drunkorexia could also have dangerous cognitive, behavioural and physical consequences, as well as putting people at risk for developing more serious eating disorders and addiction problems. "Apart from each other, depriving the brain of adequate nutrition and consuming large amounts of alcohol can be dangerous," she [Victoria Osborne, Assistant Professor of Social Work and Public Health at the University of Missouri] said. "Together, they can cause short- and long-term cognitive problems including difficulty concentrating, studying and making decisions."

You can find out more about drunkorexia by checking out the articles below:
  • "'Drunkorexia: When Alcoholism Meets Eating Disorders'" by Sam Thomas (Huffington Post)
  • "More Students Skipping Meals To Binge Drink As 'Drunkorexia' Disorder Grows In Popularity" by Lucy Sherriff (Huffington Post)
  • "Binge drinking, dieting linked in drunkorexia study" (CBC News)

1 Comment

Think Like A Psychiatrist - Sleepless and Paranoid

6/24/2014

1 Comment

 
Picture
Put your knowledge and skills to the test with the case of a 44 year old male who presents with disorientation, impaired attention and concentration, paranoid delusions, and auditory and visual hallucinations, all of which began 6 months ago when his sleep began to deteriorate.  He has had a history of depression following his brother's death from an unknown neurologic disease 3 years ago, and has been using marijuana daily for a number of years.

Can you determine the cause of his insomnia and symptoms or come up with a treatment plan?

"Sleepless and Paranoid" by
Nick Eilbeck & Marijo Tamburrino (Current Psychiatry)

1 Comment

Sum 41 Frontman Opens Up About His Alcohol Use

6/23/2014

1 Comment

 
Picture
Deryck Whibley, frontman of the Canadian rock band Sum 41, and former husband of Avril Lavigne, recently went public about his battle with alcohol addiction in an interview with CBC and posts on his own website following a month-long hospitalization due to his alcohol use. You can read more about Whibley's story and his road to recovery at the links below ...

"hey everyone, it’s deryck here. sorry i’ve been so m.i.a. lately, but i’ve been very sick in the hospital for a month and was pretty sick for a few weeks leading up to my trip to the hospital. the reason i got so sick is from all the hard boozing i’ve been doing over the years. it finally caught up to me. i was drinking hard every day. until one night. i was sitting at home, poured myself another drink around mid night and was about to watch a movie when all of a sudden i didn’t feel so good. i then collapsed to the ground unconscious. my fiancé got me rushed to the hospital where they put me into the intensive care unit. i was stuck with needles and i.v.’s all over. i was completely sedated the FIRST WEEK. when i finally woke up the next day i had no idea where i was. my mum and step dad were standing over me. i was so freaked out. my liver and kidney’s collapsed on me. needless to say it scared me straight. i finally realized i can’t drink anymore. if i have one drink the doc’s say i will die. i’m not preaching or anything but just always drink responsibly. i didn’t, and look where that got me" (http://www.deryckwhibley.net/).

"Deryck Whibley: 'I had pretty much just damaged everything'" by Geoff Nixon (CBC)

1 Comment

Psych In The News - Week 24

6/21/2014

1 Comment

 
Picture
Catch up on all the news related to psychiatry and mental health from this week!


Read More
1 Comment

The Mental Health Struggles of Professional Footballers

6/20/2014

1 Comment

 
Have you been following the FIFA World Cup?  If so, here's something worth considering as you cheer on your team and watch these high-intensity soccer matches: the mental health struggles of our sports idols, especially those in soccer or football as it's better known as in some parts of the world.

Below is a must watch documentary called "Football's Suicide Secret" in which former player and chairman of the Professional Footballers' Association Clarke Carlisle not only opens up about his own attempt at suicide and experience with depression following an injury during his career, but also powerfully demonstrates and exposes how mental health struggles are not uncommon within the sport.

"Since the tragic suicide of Gary Speed in 2011, football has had to face up to a stigma in the game - mental illness. But is there still a taboo in the sport? Footballer and chairman of the PFA Clarke Carlisle investigates depression and even suicide in British football and speaks to young players, managers and Gary Speed's family to find out why footballers are suffering in silence" (bbc.co.uk).

As Carlisle explains in an article to increase awareness of mental illness in soccer, "when a player retires, his chances of getting clinical depression go up 40 percent. Other common triggers are injury, being transferred, the inability to separate home and work life. Yet I must also point out that there is often no logical trigger because depression is an indiscriminate illness."

As the article goes on to say, "to the outsider, the world of the footballer is one of adoration and vast riches, but for every leading star there are several more journeymen being barracked from the terraces.”

You can read the article about Clarke Carlisle and his quest to end the taboo of mental health in football here:
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1699274-pfa-chairman-clarke-carlisle-in-quest-to-end-taboo-of-mental-health-in-football?utm_campaign=tsiphone&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=teamstream
1 Comment

Dermatillomania - Part 2

6/19/2014

1 Comment

 
For a brief synopsis of dermatillomania or skin picking disorder, including what it is, the basic facts about the disorder, the prevalence, the gender distribution, and common therapies utilized to aid in recovery, check out the great infographic below from skinpick.com!
All You Need to Know about Dermatillomania
1 Comment
<<Previous

    Description

    Supporting and enhancing students' and health professionals' knowledge and understanding of mental health and psychiatry

    Archives

    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014

    Categories

    All
    Aboriginal Mental Health
    Abuse
    Addiction
    ADHD
    Advocacy
    Agitation
    Alcohol
    Alcohol Withdrawal
    All
    Alzheimer's Disease
    Animals
    Antipsychotic
    Anxiety
    App
    Art
    Autism Spectrum
    Awareness
    Barriers To Care
    Bereavement
    BIID
    Bipolar
    Books
    Borderline
    BPSD
    Caregivers
    Catatonia
    CBT
    Child Psychiatry
    Complicated Grief
    Concussion
    CPA
    Cultural Psychiatry
    Delirium
    Dementia
    Depression
    Dermatillomania
    Diagnosis
    Documentary
    DSM 5
    Dual Diagnosis
    Eating Disorders
    ECT
    Education
    Educational Resource
    Epilepsy
    Ethics
    Exercise
    Factitious Disorder
    Film
    Food
    Forensic Psychiatry
    Gambling
    Gaming Addiction
    Gender Dysphoria
    Geriatric Psychiatry
    Global Mental Health
    Harm Reduction
    Heart Attack
    Hoarding Disorder
    Humanities
    Infographic
    Initiatives
    IPad
    Language
    Law
    LGBTQ
    Loneliness
    Malingering
    Mania
    Medication
    Meditation
    Mens Mental Health
    Mental Health
    Mental Health Law
    Mental Status Exam
    Military
    Mind-body Wellness
    Mindfulness
    Mood Disorder
    Music
    Neurodevelopmental
    Neuropsychiatry
    News
    Ocd
    Panic Disorder
    Parksinson's Disease
    Patient Perspective
    PDD
    Personality Disorders
    Phobia
    Physical Health
    Physician Suicide
    Physician Wellness
    Poems
    Pop Culture
    Postpartum
    PPD
    Prevention
    Psych Assessment
    Psychiatry
    Psychoanalysis
    Psychosis
    Psychotherapy
    Ptsd
    Recovery
    Refugee Mental Health
    Relationships
    Reproductive Mental Health
    Research
    Resiliency
    Safety
    Schizoaffective Disorder
    Schizophrenia
    Screening
    Seasonal-affective-disorder
    Selective Mutism
    Self Harm
    Self-harm
    Ses
    Sexual Disorders
    Sleep Disorder
    Social Anxiety
    Social Isolation
    Social Media
    Somatic Symptoms And Disorders
    Sports
    Stigma
    Stress
    Stress Injury
    Student Mental Health
    Substance Use
    Suicide
    Surgery
    Technology
    TED
    Therapy
    Tools
    Transgender Mental Health
    Treatment
    Trichotillomania
    Womens Mental Health
    Youth

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.