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New Research Findings May Lead to Better OCD Treatments

7/25/2016

Researchers at Duke University have made a significant advancement in understanding ‪‎OCD‬, as they announced last Friday that they have identified a receptor in the ‪‎brain‬ that may cause the disorder. Though their research was originally conducted in mice, it opens doors for the development of new more targeted and likely more effective medications and treatments ...

"When comparing regular mice to mice that lacked the Sapap3 gene, researchers discovered that the mice without it often had an overactive direct pathway, seemingly explaining why they are so prone to repeating the same actions over and over. When scientists did even more digging, they realize that a specific chemical receptor, called mGluR5, was consistently active in the brains of the mice who lacked Sapap3. This finding suggests that mGluR5 may control the hyperactivity of the brain circuits that coordinate action, thus possibly explaining why so many people with OCD have both obsessive thoughts and obsessive actions."

To read more about the study click here:
http://www.bustle.com/…/173805-what-causes-ocd-scientists-m…
http://thescienceexplorer.com/…/researchers-find-switch-ocd…

For the original abstract click here:
http://www.biologicalpsychiatryjournal.com/…/S0006…/abstract

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Teaching Mental Healthcare Via Simulations

7/25/2016

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In ‪‎medicine‬, many specialties have learners and healthcare professionals run ‪‎simulations‬ to practice their skills and approaches to various patient encounters. While commonly used for ‪‎emergency med‬, ‪‎traumas‬, ‪critical care‬, and ‪‎surgical‬ scenarios, CAMH - Centre for Addiction and Mental Health has opened the first simulation centre in Canada that focuses more on ‪mental health‬ ...

"Healthcare providers from a variety of Toronto Academic Health Sciences Network organizations ranging from nurses, pediatricians, psychologists, adolescent medicine specialists and family doctors participated in the simulations. The participants had opportunities to reflect on how to manage issues in interdisciplinary teams, such as assessment and treatment, as well as how to enhance communication and leadership to achieve better health outcomes for their patients and families."

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Pokemon Go - A Global Craze Proves Helpful For Those With Mental Illness

7/17/2016

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PokemonGo has quickly become a worldwide craze in just a matter of days. Since the app was released however, news has broke about the slew of motor vehicle accidents, injuries including individuals falling off cliffs, and even criminal incidents involving robbing that have resulted out of playing the game.

Despite all the negative media attention, the global phenomenon may also be beneficial, as those with mental health conditions such as ‪‎anxiety‬ and ‪‎depression‬ are finding the game to be exceedingly helpful and possibly even therapeutic. Specifically, in the article below, those with ‪‎social anxiety‬ disorder speak out about how ‪#‎PokemonGo‬ has helped them develop the courage and desire to leave their house and begin interacting with others...

"Dr. Ganz Ferrance, an Edmonton psychologist, said the game could work as a positive catalyst for people who suffer from mental illnesses like anxiety, depression and possibly obsessive compulsive disorder.

"When you have a game like this, you are providing a purpose and a structure for the individual when they go out," he said. "What it does is, in a sense, it kind of distracts them from the anxiety they would normally feel, it breaks up the cycle.

"The person then gets the experience of being able to be successful at what they've been avoiding.""

For the full story, click here: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/how-pokémon-go-can-help-fight-mental-illness-1.3682714

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Poetry Friday - Free Falling

7/14/2016

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In her fifth poem, poet Brenda McDonald beautifully illustrates and describes the experience of #depression, and the associated feelings of falling, loneliness and hopelessness, as well as lightly touching on the stigma surrounding #mentalhealth.

Free Falling
Life is full of highs and lows, happy and sad, give and take, you and me
But what if life takes my breath away and doesn't give it back...?
The mental health struggles become like mountains that continue to rise
For some, suicide may feel like the one and only way to deal with the pain
But what if I feel like I am free falling with absolutely no end in sight?

Farther and farther away from help, support, love and hope
Like a bird swooping precariously downward, having lost its wings to
redirect
Imagine going down a roller coaster without screams of excitement
Or bungee jumping off a tall bridge without a surge of exhilaration
Only feelings of despair prevail, lost to yourself and the world around you
Plunge without knowing if there will be anyone or anything to save you

Wanting to live, but not sure how to stop the advancing train of
hopelessness
Heading right for you, whistle blowing, scaring the crap out of mind and
body

Pretending to be fine, smiling and laughing, when I'm crying huge tears
inside
Thought-sucking Gremlins surround, attack and win without any moral
hesitation
The only person that really knows my truths, sees me once/week for an hour
Still I have untold secrets churning around inside, pleading to be let out
and shared

Not easy to open up about depression and anxiety, too much stigma to risk
much
Strong but weak, healthy but ill, outgoing but lonely, energetic but
lethargic

Who will hold my hand to comfort me, stay by my side, when blinding darkness
pervades?
Wearing a concealed suit of emotional armour, how do I allow love's power to
tear it off me?
Oh how I long to feel genuinely loved, believe that I'm loveable, it's vital
to my survival

Perched on an illusory cloud in the vast sky above, I look down with
trepidation and wonder
What is it like to live with purpose, direction, self-worth and a sense of
belonging?
I see people embracing light, hugging each other, singing with joy, letting
go and living
Our world has room for everyone, so why do I feel like there is no room for
someone like me?

One personal journey but many pathways, some old and some new, uncertainty
rules
Who will guide me down an undiscovered trail when I become paralysed with
fear and worry?

Life is full of smooth and rough, dreams and reality, chocolate and Brussels
sprouts
But what if life takes my spirited vitality away and doesn't give it
back...?
The mental health struggles become like oceans that continue to widen
For some, suicide may feel like the one and only way to deal with the pain
But what if I feel like I am free falling with absolutely no end in sight?

Questions come easily to me but answers not so much
Sitting by the edge, I ponder....

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Think Like A Psychiatrist - Depressed and Suicidal Following Loss of a Baby, But No Evidence of Pregnancy

7/13/2016

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Put your knowledge and skills to the test with the case of Ms. R, a 50 year old woman who was brought to the hospital by police after her sister reported that she was "very depressed" and wanted to take an overdose of medications to end her life because her newborn baby died 1 week before from SIDS.

Ms. R had provided her adult son and sister with a sonogram picture of her baby, as well as an obituary for the child, however both pictures were identified as having been forged and of other children obtained on the internet. In addition, Ms. R had a negative BHCG test, and medical records demonstrate no recent pregnancy but rather a history of hysterectomy 10 years earlier.

With regards to her psychiatric symptoms and history, Ms. R describes many symptoms of ‪‎depression‬ including low mood, anhedonia, guilt, decreased energy, poor sleep and concentration and suicidal ideation. She also reports a history in the past of ‪‎manic‬ episodes, as well as a previous ‪suicide‬ attempt, and a history of physical abuse.

What is your ‪‎diagnosis‬ for this patient? What treatment would you recommend?

"No evidence of pregnancy, but she is suicidal and depressed after 'my baby died'" by Pierce A, Turner A, Gilbo N, Ginory A, Korah T, and Tandon R. (Current Psychiatry)

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A Harm Reduction Program For Alcohol Addiction

7/12/2016

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While most suggest abstinence as the form of treatment for ‪alcoholism‬, in Ottawa, Ontario at the Managed Alcohol Program they focus more on a harm reduction approach that aims to change individuals' drinking behaviours and foster better physical and mental health.

MAP first began in 2001, and is a partnership program between Shepherds of Good Hope and Ottawa Inner City Health. Originally the program consisted of a 12-bed homeless hostel downtown Ottawa, but in 2010 they also opened a larger facility called the Oaks. At these residences residents receive a glass of wine every hour from 7:30am to 9:30pm.

Most of the residents who are engaged in the MAP program have resorted to drinking hand sanitizer, mouth wash, and even hairspray in the past, often putting themselves at great risk. Many more used to be frequent visitors of the local emergency rooms, and others struggled in the cold during harsh winters simply to feed their addiction. The MAP program however, has helped to reduce 911 calls and hospital emergency visits, as well as help stabilize the residents and turn their lives around.

""The thought was that if we could stabilise the craziness of their lives, the day that begins with the search for alcohol and all the complications that occur with that, then maybe we could make inroads with their mental health, addiction to alcohol and their physical illnesses," says Dr Jeff Turnbull, one of those early innovators, and the chief of staff at Ottawa Hospital."

For the full story, click here:
http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-36717557

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Mental Status Examination - Behaviour and Motor Movements

7/5/2016

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Feeling like practicing some of your mental status examination skills? Observing a patient's behaviours including involuntary movements and other motor actions can be a hard habit to get into, but having this skill can prove quite helpful in terms of gaining further insight into their mental state and coming to a possible diagnosis.

In this video, we see examples to help us navigate between different types of movement behaviours including ‪catatonia‬, psychomotor agitation, psychomotor retardation, and relaxed or comfortable motor activity.

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A New Antipsychotic May Help Improve Medication Compliance and Relapse Rates

7/4/2016

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Health Canada announced early last week that they have approved a new ‪‎antipsychotic‬ medication for the treatment of ‪‎schizophrenia‬ in adults.

The medication is called Invega Trinza (aka paliperidone palmitate), a new version of the drug Invega Sustenna, which has already been out on the market for some time. Psychiatrists are hopeful regarding the impact Invega Trinza may have on the care of their patients and specifically their medication compliance and risk of relapse, as it is an injection that need only be administered four times a year, rather than on a monthly schedule in its old form.

"Adherence to medication is often a challenge for Canadians living with schizophrenia, with not taking medication as prescribed as the most common cause of relapse. Studies have shown that within the first five years of treatment, up to 80 per cent of people with schizophrenia had experienced one or more relapses. Each relapse can result in a reduced response to treatment, putting continued symptom control even further out of reach.

"Relapse prevention is a critical part of disease management and recovery-focused care for people living with schizophrenia," says Dr. Philip Tibbo, Director, Nova Scotia Early Psychosis Program in Halifax. "The unique dosing of INVEGA TRINZA can offer patients long-term symptom control. This could help to significantly reduce the risk of relapse over time."
For more information about this new medication, check out the links below:

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New Research Findings May Lead to Better OCD Treatments

Teaching Mental Healthcare Via Simulations

Pokemon Go - A Global Craze Proves Helpful For Those With Mental Illness

Poetry Friday - Free Falling

Think Like A Psychiatrist - Depressed and Suicidal Following Loss of a Baby, But No Evidence of Pregnancy

A Harm Reduction Program For Alcohol Addiction

Mental Status Examination - Behaviour and Motor Movements

A New Antipsychotic May Help Improve Medication Compliance and Relapse Rates

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