Blog Archives - Beyond The Body

Beyond The Body

A Powerful Obituary Highlights Failures of Mental Healthcare

7/31/2015

A resident of Bangor, Maine, Coleen Singer passed away from a heroin overdose at the young age of 32. Though she died in December, her obituary was only more recently published in July, and it is one that has raised quite a bit of online stir and attention...

Written by her ex-husband, Coleen's obituary is unusual, moving, and controversial as it not only highlights this young woman's battle with addiction and borderline personality disorder, but it also is extremely politically charged and puts a spotlight on the underlying gaps and failures of the current mental healthcare system.

“Her ex-husband wrote the obituary, noting, she was a victim of herself, of LePage’s politics, of our society’s continuing ignorance and indifference to mental illness, and of our society’s asinine approach to drug addiction.”

He said that Singer likely would have qualified for MaineCare, subsidized health insurance, if the state had expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act."

You can read the complete obituary here:
http://bangordailynews.com/…/obituari…/coleen-sheran-singer/
http://www.pressherald.com/2015/07/30/maine-womans-obituary-highlights-loved-ones-efforts-to-raise-awareness-of-heroin-addiction/

Psychopathology in Star Wars - Part 1

7/29/2015

Are you a fan of Star Wars? If so, did you know that two psychiatrists have written a series of papers based on their examination of mental illnesses using the infamous characters from the movie series?

As the article "How 'Star Wars' Can Help You Understand Serious Psychotic Disorders" explains, the purpose of their work is to "allow students and/or patients to have a visual representation of a disorder that’s often just talked about in theory or by symptoms", giving us a chance to not only have some fun learning about psychiatric disorders but to learn a few things too!

In Part 1 of this series, we explore the psychopathology among some of our most beloved characters (aka "the good guys" or the "light side of the Force") including Yoda, Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Princess Leia, C-3PO, and of course Chewbacca. Disorders touched on include "histrionic, obsessive-compulsive, and dependent personality traits, perinatal psychiatric disorders, prodromal schizophrenia, pseudo-dementia, frontal lobe lesions, pathological gambling, and even malingering." (You can read the full article by accessing it through the Dalhousie or your own institution's library system: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25933645).

The Pressure of Perfection on Campus

7/28/2015

In light of the numerous tragic suicides across college campuses in the last few years, including those at renowned ivy league schools, research and investigations continue in hopes of bringing to light why depression and suicidal ideation are increasing among our young adults, and what we can do to help support these students.

In this article, "Suicide on Campus and the Pressure of Perfection", readers meet a student from the University of Pennsylvania who describes her mental health challenges while attending the elite school. In addition, we also discover what Penn's Task Force on campus mental health‬ (developed following student Madison Holleran's death) have discovered may be contributing to rising rates of mental exhaustion and stress‬, including social media, helicopter parents, and the culture of hyperachievement.

"It’s called the Duck Syndrome. A duck appears to glide calmly across the water, while beneath the surface it frantically, relentlessly paddles.

“Nobody wants to be the one who is struggling while everyone else is doing great,” said Kahaari Kenyatta, a Penn senior who once worked as an orientation counselor. “Despite whatever’s going on — if you’re stressed, a bit depressed, if you’re overwhelmed — you want to put up this positive front.”

Citing a “perception that one has to be perfect in every academic, cocurricular and social endeavor,” the task force report described how students feel enormous pressure that “can manifest as demoralization, alienation or conditions like ‪#‎anxiety‬ or depression.”

William Alexander, director of Penn’s counseling and psychological services, has watched a shift in how some young adults cope with challenges. “A small setback used to mean disappointment, or having that feeling of needing to try harder next time,” he said. Now? “For some students, a mistake has incredible meaning.”"

Poetry Friday - You Don't See It

7/24/2015

In Nicole Nicholson's poem "You Don't See It", she describes what it's like to have a mild form of Autism Spectrum Disorder, better known as Asperger‬'s. Through her words, Nicole is not only able to help others understand what life is like in her shoes, particularly in regards to some of the challenges and difficulties she's faced with in living with an ASD‬, like social interactions, but more than that she encourages us to accept, appreciate, and find the beauty in one anothers' "differences" and individuality.

"You try to unzip me, and see my eyes fleeing away from you
like startled ponies.
Do you really know me?
If you did, you would know that
if I look at you too long, I might burst.

But you don’t know. And how can I tell you?
I consult the dictionary of human behavior every day.
I had to load it into my brain and make it learn
that you open doors with hello and
that you close them with goodbye."

You can also find more of Nicole's poetry here: http://ravenswingpoetry.com/

The Lazarus Project: Mental Health Outreach in Miami

7/23/2015

Dubbed "The Lazarus Project", advocates from Camillus Health Concern and the Miami Coalition for the Homeless have come together to form a mental health outreach initiative aimed at providing medication and treatment to those who live on the streets of Miami, Florida and are living with psychiatric disorders like schizophrenia.

The idea for the project stemmed from the observation that many of these homeless patients who were admitted to a psychiatric ward, often involuntarily, were placed on appropriate medications, but once released from the hospital, there was a lack of continuity in terms of treatment and mental health support, and these patients would fail to take their pills and end up falling back into the dark depths of their mental illness.

You can learn more about the initiative, including learning about those for whom the project has made a difference, as well as the ongoing difficulties and challenges of the project by checking out the article below:

"Every morning, the two Miami homeless-outreach workers tour downtown in a white Ford Econoline along with a psychiatric nurse practitioner from Camillus Health. They go out in search of a small group of men and women who are among the most isolated and desperate of Miami’s homeless population, in order to earn their trust, diagnose their condition and then hand them their medication and watch them take it.

The program is entirely voluntary. But without the drugs — which take weeks of daily use before quelling symptoms of mental illness — they will likely continue to bounce between the streets, psychiatric wards, hospital beds and jail cells. By tracking them down every day to give them their pills, Trueba’s crew has shown they can draw some of Miami’s most vulnerable from out of the shadows and back into the light."

Good Reads: Drawing Autism

7/22/2015

Behaviour analyst Jill Mullin has been working with children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder for well over a decade. Stemming from her own childhood love and interest in art, as well as from her work with children, Mullin saw how powerful simply drawing and painting were, especially for the 1 in 8 who are affected by an ASD‬. Through their artwork, these children become free to communicate their experiences and are able to express their innermost emotions and workings of the mind more clearly than words would have allowed.

In the visual book Drawing Autism, Mullin has put together a collection of stunning, emotional, and visually stimulating art created by children with ASD from around the world. The result is an insightful, breathtaking, and beautiful book that not only allows us to celebrate these individuals and their creativity, but it provides us with the opportunity to see the world from a different perspective and truly appreciate their emotional depth and intellect that too often gets overlooked.

You can check out some of the art contained in the book, as well as get information on how to purchase it at the links below here:

Drawing Autism: Inside the Minds of Artists on the Spectrum

Drawing Autism

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1617751987/braipick-20

"Using artwork created by individuals diagnosed with ASD, Drawing Autism celebrates their artistry and self-expression while also serving as an accessible point of entry into understanding how ASD manifests in individuals. Autism is known as a “spectrum disorder” because no two diagnoses are exactly the same; however, there are characteristic traits of ASD. Through their art, the contributors exhibit unique perspectives on how they see the world and their places in it. The book’s seven chapters—Interaction, Individual and Societal; Repetition, Repetition, Repetition; Getting from Here to There; Bird’s Eye View; Another World; It’s All History; Art for Art’s Sake—speak directly to the core characteristics of ASD."

Music Moment - A Better Son/Daughter

7/21/2015

If you've watched the original Orange Is the New Black trailer, then Rilo Kiley's song "A Better Son/Daughter" may sound familiar to you ...

Thought to be about bipolar disorder, the song lyrics depict the unpredictable nature of the illness, and highlighting the swings from depression to a state of mania. The song ultimately describes the individual's search for strength to continue moving forward while in the midst of battling against an extreme low.

"Sometimes in the morning I am petrified and can't move
Awake but cannot open my eyes
And the weight is crushing down on my lungs
I know I can't breathe
And hope someone will save me this time
And your mother's still calling you insane and high
Swearing it's different this time"

Psych In The News - Week 71

7/19/2015

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

Poetry Friday - Couples Therapy

7/17/2015

Poet Patrick Roche brilliantly articulates what it's like to suffer from depression‬ in his creative spoken word poem "Couples Therapy". Watch the video below to hear his honest and powerful depiction of depression as a jealous and abusive lover.

"Every Thursday I go to couples therapy with my depression
he whispers in my ear to stay in bed for another day, presses his palm to my chest, afraid I'm going to escape the covers.
After i scrape myself out of the shower,
I still smell like him.
Like midnight panic attacks,
Like first name basis with the CVS pharmacist,
Like "i'm not hungry, i already had a rice crispies treat today"..."

The Semicolon Project

7/16/2015

You may or may not have noticed images of semicolon body art and tattoos popping up on social media. While it may be a seemingly simple symbol, for those who sport the semicolon they do so with pride because for them it holds a much deeper meaning...

Founder of Project Semicolon Inc., Amy Bleuel, began the initiative to honour her father who died by suicide‬, as well as to tell her own story of mental health challenges and her will to carry on. As the project's website explains, "A semicolon is used when an author could've chosen to end their sentence, but chose not to. The author is you and the sentence is your life." Bleuel hopes that whether drawn on or tattooed for life, the semicolon not only serves as a sign of hope and an affirmation that we have the power to move forward, but helps encourage discussion around mental health and creates a sense of community and positivity for those affected by mental illness and their loved ones.

"Project Semicolon (The Semicolon Project) is a faith-based non-profit movement dedicated to presenting hope and love to those who are struggling with depression‬, suicide, addiction‬ and self-injury. Project Semicolon exists to encourage, love and inspire."

Find out more about the project here:
http://www.projectsemicolon.com/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/…/project-semicolon-tattoos_n…