Over the years imaging technologies have revealed a lot about what's happening in our brains, including which parts are active in people with conditions like depression, anxiety or PTSD. A new initiative, called NeuroCircuit, has the goal of finding the brain circuits that are responsible for mental health conditions and then developing ways of remotely stimulating those circuits and, the team hopes, potentially treating those conditions. "Many psychiatric disorders, especially disorders of mood, probably involve malfunction within specific brain circuits that regulate emotion and motivation, yet our current pharmaceutical treatments affect circuits all over the brain," said William Newsome, director of the Stanford Neurosciences Institute. "The ultimate goal of NeuroCircuit is more precise treatments, with minimal side effects, for specific psychiatric disorders." Read more: http://medicalxpress.com/news/2014-11-scientists-mental-illness-noninvasive-treatment.html PTSD is an expensive injury to treat. 21% of American soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan suffer from PTSD, with many more cases likely gone unreported. Soldiers with PTSD cost 3.5 times more to treat than soldiers without PTSD, equating to nearly $1 billion dollars annually. But now a new avenue for combating operational stress injuries and PTSD is finishing a major clinical trial; the Stress Resilience Training System, publicized by the US Navy in early 2013 here. It's an app developed for the iPad that works with a small heart monitor to provide soldiers with education and training supplemented by realtime biofeedback data. It purports to give soldiers the tools necessary to respond adaptively to real-world stress, reducing incidences of PTSD, reducing healthcare costs, smoothing transitions to civilian life, and improving lives. Here is a link to the instructional video that introduces soldiers to their new tools in the fight against PTSD. A short narrative video told from the perspective of an adolescent named Terrence in California who after the loss of multiple caretakers struggles to live with PTSD and depression. Terrence discusses how his illnesses affect both his external perception by others and internal perception of himself, as he continues the road of #recovery.
http://vimeo.com/108859615
"The Always-On Stalker" is an incredibly detailed documentation, published in the Coast this past week, of the experience that two young women had seeking police and medical aid for sexual assault and domestic abuse that was transpiring online and in person. The bottom line is that following the end of an abusive relationship for one of the women, both women had private photos of themselves released without their permission. In addition, someone tried to impersonate one young woman by posting a kijiji ad with all of her information, including her address, encouraging a man to break into her house to fulfill a fantasy that the impersonator claimed she had. The impacts of these actions (and more, which are described in the article) were catastrophic resulting in depression and anxiety and triggering PTSD. This article strongly suggests that we need mental health education in all areas of public service—specifically law enforcement, and that recognition and punishment of cyber harassment has a long way to go. Today marks the 13th anniversary of 9/11, a day of tragedies that forever changed many lives and had an immense impact on thousands, particularly those who live and work in New York City as well as those who lost loved ones that terrible day. Since 9/11, many mental health researchers and professionals have been learning more about how such disasters or traumatic events can affect one's mental health. The article "The Changing Mental Health Aftermath of 9/11" , originally written in 2011 (a decade after 9/11), highlights some of what has been discovered including how "'the mental health toll of disasters and terrorism is not limited to post-traumatic stress disorder.' They can also trigger major depressive disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, complicated grief (recognized in the mental health world as being unusually strong and long-lasting), substance abuse and a host of other symptoms that might come and go over time." The article also recognizes how the anniversaries of these events can be a difficult and emotionally challenging time, in addition to exploring how the psychological "first aid" protocol for handling large-scale traumatic events has evolved over time. Definitely worth a read! |
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Supporting and enhancing students' and health professionals' knowledge and understanding of mental health and psychiatry
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