Catch up with the news related to mental health and psychiatry from last week!
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Spoken word poet Rachel Rensby shares two poems in the video below, "Depression" and "Teach Me", in which she describes her haunting and difficult experiences with depression. What makes Rensby's art stand out however, is that hope and strength shine through, providing inspiration for all to move forward and overcome their battles. "I was 14 and my wrists were bleeding. Every step felt like I was shackled to the bed post. I thought I was just different, awkward, uncomfortable in the skin that never felt like my own. I felt frail, paper thin, like I would rub away at the mere tough of limestone. I was 16 when the pain of getting out of bed, each and every day was pushing intolerable. See, a few years back, they wanted to diagnose me with a term, I never wanted to hear. Tried to make me pop pills I never wanted to take, so I pushed it away, built my walls high, ignored it..."  A recent study from Ottawa Public Health investigates adolescents' use of social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram and the impact on their mental health.
While the study doesn't show a causation between social media and poor adolescent mental health, it does however demonstrate an association between the two as researchers found that "teens who are on social media for more than two hours a day, a full one-quarter of students in the study, report poor self-rated mental health, psychological distress, suicidal ideation or unmet need for mental health support." In light of these findings, do you think parents should be limiting their youth's "screen time" or monitoring their social media use more closely? Find out more here: http://news.nationalpost.com/news/canada/study-links-teens-that-spend-at-least-two-hours-per-day-on-social-media-to-suicidal-thoughts-poor-mental-health  In the final part of our series on Star Wars and psychopathology, we explore a few of our favourite supporting characters including Jar Jar Binks, Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn, and the Jawas (quirky scavengers from Tatooine).
Disorders described in this piece include, "ADHD, anxiety, kleptomania, and paedophilia". As mentioned previously, you can access this article through either Dalhousie University's library system or your own school's library here: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26104772  Each day new apps are being released, some help to keep us entertained, others help keep us informed or aid in our education, and a growing number are aimed at keeping us fit, not just physically, but mentally as well.
Recently an app called Moodnotes was released, adding to the ever-growing collection of available mental health apps out on the market. In terms of its basic function, Moodnotes is designed to help people keep track of their moods. Though seemingly simple and aesthetically pleasing, the app is not just about swiping an on-screen face to the right level of happiness. Rather, the app was designed with cognitive behavioural therapy principles in mind, ultimately guiding users to "identify patterns in their moods ... understand those feelings, and use suggested CBT tactics to identify and avoid "thinking traps" that may lead them into a slump." On top of that, Moodnotes is designed for everyone, not just those who may be struggling with depression. As well, the creators emphasize that Moodnotes is by no means another "happiness" app ... ""There are a lot of happiness apps out there, and we have specifically steered away from that. It’s important to recognize that positive and negative emotions are part of our lives: we didn’t want people to think that the goal is to be happy all the time,” she said. “That would be quite unnatural! It’s important that we recognize and celebrate that you have negative emotions as well as positive ones, even if we are providing some help in breaking the cycle that you might be in if you’re mulling over something too much, or thinking negatively.”" Would you use an app like this? Find out more here:  First it was giving flu shots, now the role of pharmacists continues to expand to seniors' mental health. Arising out of a partnership between the Government of Canada, Canadian Coalition for Seniors’ Mental Health and Shoppers Drug Mart, a new initiative has been developed aimed at helping seniors and their loved ones recognize depression.
"“Depression isn’t easy for seniors to talk about, but your local Shoppers Drug Mart pharmacist can help,” said Mike Motz, president of Shoppers Drug Mart, in a news release. “Thanks to new education and information available in our stores, our pharmacists can help seniors to detect symptoms of mental illness and access treatment." Find out more here: http://www.nanaimobulletin.com/news/319529631.html?mobile=true Young poet Vienna Jeffery shares her evocative and brilliant poem "Depression", beautifully illustrating how depression is "not a choice, but a disease". "Depression is all the evils your mother warned you about trapped inside your own body. It is realizing the world was never as beautiful as they made it out to be ..."  Put your knowledge and skills to the test with this case of Miss A, a 13 year old girl who is admitted to a pediatric unit after an episode of syncope and LOC that was preceded by prodromal symptoms. During an initial assessment, the patient reports significant preoccupation with weight gain and tells you that she has been restricting her calories and engaging in purging behaviours including vomiting, laxative use, and excessive exercise. She had stopped eating and drinking 3 days prior to her presentation to hospital. While demonstrating multiple depressive symptoms, her MSE most notably shows considerable psychomotor retardation, a blunted affect, poverty of speech, and delayed responses.
Miss A has no personal history of mental illness, but does endorse passive suicidal ideation and self-injurious behaviour recently. There is also family history of both bipolar disorder and anorexia nervosa. How would you work this patient up? Can you come up with a diagnosis or treatment plan? "A depressed adolescent who won’t eat and reacts slowly" by Shephali Sharma and Julie Alonso-Katzowitz (Current Psychiatry)  If you enjoyed the first part of the series on Star Wars and what it can teach us about mental illness, then we definitely suggest checking out part 2! This time we assess the villainous characters or those on the “Dark Side” including Darth Vader, Jabba the Hutt, and Chancellor Palpatine.
Disorders described in this piece include, "borderline and narcissistic personality traits, psychopathy, PTSD, partner violence risk, developmental stages, and of course Oedipal conflicts." As mentioned previously, you can access this article through either Dalhousie University's library system or your own school's library: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25943902  An anonymous writer shares their immensely valuable first hand experience of what it's like for patients with psychosis undergoing a psychiatric assessment in a recent article for the BMJ.
Through this unique perspective, we can learn how to better manage these emergent psychiatric crises and assessments, as well as provide better support to these patients through developing greater understanding, appreciation, and empathy. In this article, the author provides us with tips and advice on assessing and handling patients with mental health issues in the ED, including how to be mindful of time, noise, delivery of our questions, and especially of our nonverbal behaviours. "You find my thinking jumbled and confused, the quantity and register of my speech is fluctuating wildly. But I’m also hyper-attentive to language, as anyone would be in a high stakes situation (was that “talk to” or “torture”?). In an idle moment a nurse at the foot of my bed has concluded an anecdote with a hearty “I could have killed him,” and perhaps she thought that was boring or inaudible, but I heard it. And I thought you wanted me to hear it, that it was in the script. (Just as I’m sure you wanted me to hear the sounds of pain just the other side of that curtain.) Because for now, you and I differ about what we think this building, this institution, is for. In such a state, someone like me may seem beyond reassurance. But you can help—there are ways you can avoid reinforcing my fears ..." |
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Supporting and enhancing students' and health professionals' knowledge and understanding of mental health and psychiatry
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