Trauma Therapy from the Client's Perspective
Bonnie Burton is a trauma survivor who writes about therapy from the inside. As a gifted writer, she conveys some essential truths about the process of therapy, and shatters some stereotypes along the way. Her experiences with good therapists and not-so-good therapists are essential reading for client and therapist alike.
Ms. Burton's own experience of therapy convinces her, for example, that trauma survivors don't always make the best trauma therapists. This is especially true if they never completed their own therapy. She has seen them react with fear and dissociation in response to traumatic material or negative emotions expressed in a session.
While we don't learn who her current therapist is, it is clear that they are working together toward healing. She writes with clarity and maturity; and without a chip on her shoulder. It is a privilege to publish an article from a guest author who is such an articulate therapy client. This article will help me be a better therapist.
Resilience
Why do some people develop post-traumatic stress disorder after a trauma and others remain symptom free? We are still trying to understand resilience, one characteristic of good mental health.
Researchers studying survivors of the September 11, 2001 World Trade Center attack have been surprised to find many of them to be free of PTSD symptoms. Resilience was less common among people who were actually in the buildings or in the immediate area, but the researchers report that even for "highly exposed individuals" the frequency of resilience never fell below one third.
Read more about resilience and the World Trade Center research.
Sustained Release Schizophrenia Drug may be available Soon
Drug companies come out with new versions of their medications just before the patent on the existing version expires, but Seroquel's patent does not expire until 2011. Israel's Teva Pharmaceuticals filed an FDA request to produce a generic version of quetiapine last year and they were promptly sued by AstraZenica. Was this a factor in the early request for a sustained-release version? Read more...
FDA issues an advisory on the Use of Triptans and Antidepressants
The U.S.Food and Drug Administration has issued a public health advisory about potential risks of taking certain migraine medications - triptans - together with certain antidepressants. The advisory states, "A life-threatening condition called serotonin syndrome may occur when triptans are used together with a SSRI or a SNRI."
Serotonin syndrome occurs when the body has too much of serotonin, a chemical found in the nervous system. Serotonin syndrome may be more likely to occur when starting or increasing the dose of a triptan, SSRI or SNRI. Symptoms of serotonin syndrome may include:
- restlessness
- hallucinations
- loss of coordination
- fast heart beat
- rapid changes in blood pressure
- increased body temperature
- overactive reflexes
- nausea
- vomiting
- diarrhea
Read more about this advisory from Teri Robert - the About Guide to Migraines
Make Better Decisions
Good decisions are made "with the head and the heart". We actually make better decisions when we use our conscious mind together with our unconscious mind. Researchers in Denmark studied decisions made by people when they were allowed to think about their choices and compared this to decisions made when they were distracted and not allowed to consciously think about their problems. People made better decisions when they had been distracted - when the decision was heavily influenced by their unconscious mind.
We seem to be better able to hold multiple options in our unconscious mind and process them "in the background." Our consious mind can only attend to one or two things at a time.
Follow these steps if you are faced with a major decision in your life.
Source: Source: Dijksterhuis, A. and Nordgren, L. "A Theory of Unconscious Thought". Perspectives on Psychological Science, June 2006.
Depression Treatment can be Expensive
The irony is that those with limited access to treatment are often those with lower incomes. In effect lower income people pay more for their depression treatment. The study also found that:
- People with depression are not being fully diagnosed
- Only a small minority of people with depression are receiving dual therapy (prescription medication and talk therapy)
- The shortage of mental health care professionals is impacting care
- People with depression who live in states with no mental health parity law may have more limited access to treatment
- Self-reported depression among minority groups may be on the rise
Together these findings suggest that changes are needed in health care coverage for Americans. At the very least mental disorders need to be covered at the same level as physical disorders in health insurance plans. The study is also a persuasive argument for universal health coverage. Read more...
A Nicotine-like Drug for Schizophrenia?
Numerous studies have found that people diagnosed with mental illnesses smoke more than people without such a diagnosis. Up to 80% of patients with schizophreia smoke cigarettes. It seems that nicotine actually treats some of their symptoms. Some have gone as far as to suggest that teen smoking may help prevent schzophrenia.
Researchers are studying a potential new drug that works on the same pathway as nicotine. The drug may improve these patients' ability to think clearly, a symptom poorly treated by existing medications. Will it also help them stop smoking?
Legislating Managed Care
Autism - Brain areas Grow too Fast
Mental Health Medications
Mental health medications are used for a variety of problems. Medications are the primary treatment for schizophrenia and bipolar disorder; and they are also important in the treatment of depression and anxiety disorders.