Beyond The Body
  • Home
  • About
  • Contributors
  • Contact

Exploring Why Psychosis Occurs More in Urban Populations

8/2/2016

0 Comments

 
Picture
In addition to a positive family history, certain drug use including marijuana use particularly in adolescence, and prenatal infections, living in an urban area has also been identified as a possible risk factor for ‪schizophrenia ‬and ‪‎psychosis‬. Though many studies have identified this association, it is still unclear why. As such, there has been great controversy over whether "cities cause madness’ or whether those affected by ‘madness’ just tend to end up in cities".

In the article below, we learn of some of the hypotheses surrounding the association between urban living and psychosis, including the impact of genetics, social drift, and the negative psychological impact of living in a big city. 

"The link between psychosis and city living was first noticed by American psychiatrists in the early 1900s who found that asylum patients were more likely to come from built-up areas. This association was sporadically rediscovered throughout the following century until researchers verified the association from the 1990s onwards with systematic and statistically controlled studies that tested people in the community as well as in clinics.
​

One particularly extensive study using health records for almost the entire population of Denmark found that the risk of being diagnosed with schizophrenia increased in a small but proportional way as people spent more time spent living in urban environments. Many studies have since replicated this finding, with neighborhood levels of social deprivation seeming to amplify the association and levels of social integration seeming to reduce it." 

For the full story click here:
http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2016/07/the-enigma-of-urban-psychosis/491141/


0 Comments

A New Antipsychotic May Help Improve Medication Compliance and Relapse Rates

7/4/2016

0 Comments

 
Picture
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:

  • http://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/health-canada-approves-first-treatment-for-schizophrenia-dosed-four-times-a-year-584505301.html
  • http://windsorstar.com/news/local-news/new-schizophrenia-medication-taken-four-times-a-year

0 Comments

Psych In The News - Week 92

2/28/2016

1 Comment

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


Read More
1 Comment

Psych In The News - Week 88

1/10/2016

0 Comments

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


Read More
0 Comments

Poetry Friday - Paranoid

11/6/2015

0 Comments

 
Picture
In this poem, an individual describes the dark and confusing feelings that accompany ‪‎paranoia‬, an experience common to those diagnosed with ‪#psychosis‬ or ‪‎schizophrenia‬.

"I have heard you
voices screaming shadows' at me
insidious: the indelible mark
                                                   left as an imprint upon me

deluded and still falling..."
Read the full poem here:
http://allpoetry.com/poem/10094089-Paranoid-by-myriad-dark

0 Comments

Think Like A Psychiatrist - Homeless, Malnourished and Disorganized

10/8/2015

1 Comment

 
Picture
Put your knowledge and skills to the test with the case of Mr. N, a 48 year old gentleman, who has a longstanding psychiatric history involving multiple admissions to hospital for bipolar disorder, and ‪‎schizophrenia‬. He has been tried on numerous medications, however he is often non-compliant with treatment, which results in delusions and disorganized thoughts. He has been ‪‎homeless‬ for much of his life, has cellulitis of both legs and chronic venous stasis, and has obsessive-compulsive and paranoid personality traits.

Most recently, Mr. N was arrested for possession of ‪#cocaine‬, and was placed in jail where his mental status deteriorated further. He was declared incompetent to stand trial and was transferred to a psychiatric facility. He denies any suicidal or homicidal ideation, and fails to show signs of perceptual disturbances, however he does have poor insight and judgment.

What work-up do you think Mr. N requires to investigate his deteriorating mental status? What's on your differential and how would you manage this case?

"Malnourished and psychotic, and found incompetent to stand trial" by Patel R.R, Hornstra R, Munro S, and Dellenbaugh T (Current Psychiatry).

1 Comment

Psych In The News - Week 73

8/16/2015

0 Comments

 
Picture
Catch up with the news related to mental health and psychiatry from last week!


Read More
0 Comments

A Harvard Lawyer With Schizophrenia

7/15/2015

0 Comments

 
Picture
This story of an intelligent lawyer from Harvard Law School whose life changed dramatically after experiencing his psychotic break a few years after graduation is a powerful reminder in more ways than one. Firstly, it reminds us to be wary of our natural tendency to presume that those affected by or at risk for a mental illness such as schizophrenia‬ are always of low socioeconomic status. It also is a powerful reminder that we shouldn't define a person based on their mental health or psychiatric condition, and that it's important to consider a patient's whole story rather than being quick to judge based on a diagnosis or a stereotypical label.

"Listening to him talk about his life is like dive-bombing into a dream. Everything at first sounds normal. But things quickly fall into disorder. The chronology hiccups. Incongruous thoughts collide.

“Charleston,” he says, “I owned property there, in the city proper. The cotton fields were past the city limits. The cotton fields: They were past the city limits. I picked cotton once in my life. But the cotton fields were past the city limits. I lived within the city. We had property there. We inherited the property. Shortly thereafter, I drove to San Diego, California. I was in love with a girl.”

But these pronouncements always arc back to a single idea. It anchors Postell in the turbulent waters of his schizophrenia."

http://www.thestar.com/news/world/2015/07/14/one-mans-strange-sad-journey-from-harvard-law-to-homeless.html


0 Comments

Psych In The News - Week 66 

6/14/2015

0 Comments

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


Read More
0 Comments

The Cultural Differences in Hallucinations

6/9/2015

0 Comments

 
Picture
Schizophrenia affects individuals around the world. Though it is not something unique to developed nations like our own, researchers are starting to discover that the experience of schizophrenia symptoms can vary widely between different countries. In the brief study summary "Hallucinated voices’ attitudes vary with culture", we learn that the context of auditory hallucinations, such as whether they are positive or negative, can vary greatly between the East and West, and this may perhaps be due to difference in cultural beliefs about the mind and mental health.


"In the United States, schizophrenia’s symptoms include hallucinations of disembodied voices that hurl insults and make violent commands, says an international team led by Stanford University anthropologist Tanya Luhrmann. But in India and Ghana, schizophrenia patients often report positive relationships with hallucinated voices that they recognize as those of family members or God."


0 Comments
<<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.