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A new medical study links family teasing over weight and having unavailable parents to binge eating in kids. Kids who have parents who are not available physically or emotionally, and those who endure family teasing about their weight, have a higher risk of developing a binge eating disorder. The University of Illinois study also determined that race, income, and the weight of the parents did not have any impact on the eating patterns of the child. Illinois Transdisciplinary Obesity Prevention Program scholar and human development and family studies doctoral researcher Jaclyn Saltzman explained “This study found that childhood binge eating is really associated with parents’ weight-related beliefs, but not their actual weight, and their emotional availability but not necessarily the income availability.”
Early recognition and treatment for childhood binge eating could prevent many problems in adulthood. Unavailable parents and/or family teasing over weight can leave psychological scars that can compound the eating disorder. According to Saltzman “Intervening early to address binge eating may not only help prevent an eating disorder from emerging but also prevent lifetime habits of unhealthy weight-related behaviors. Loss of control is something that researchers have used to describe binge eating in young children. The idea is that the size of the binge — the amount of food they eat — is less important than the feelings of being out of control or the stress about that eating behavior, especially in young kids, because they don’t have all that much control over the food that they have access to. Binge eating is feeling like you are not in control when you are eating. You are eating past the point of fullness and to the point of discomfort. You are experiencing a lot of emotional distress because of it.”
Saltzman continued by explaining “We want to emphasize to parents that weight isn’t the ‘be all end all,’ and that focusing on weight too much can be damaging. Instead, focusing on giving kids the tools they need to manage their emotions, particularly emotions around eating and weight, can help strengthen children’s coping skills so they are less likely to need binge eating.”
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Children who live in rural areas where psychiatric care is difficult or impossible to access can now take advantage of better rural mental health services through tele-psychiatry. This therapy is video based and it can play a vital role for children who fall into a treatment gap. University of Missouri-Columbia researchers determined that most individuals who choose to utilize tele-psychiatry typically come from under served, rural, or remote areas where traditional services are not available on a wide scale. The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry reports that only 20% of kids who have behavioral issues ever receive any type of mental health treatment. That is only 1 in 5. The other 80% fall through the cracks in the current mental health care system. Some obstacles to care can include financial hardship and a lack of suitable transportation.
According to University of Missouri School of Medicine assistant research professor of telemedicine and lead study author Mirna Becevic, Ph.D. the study underscores the need for tele-psychiatry services in order to reach children and adolescents who may need mental health treatment but who live in rural areas. Becevic explained “One of the biggest health care issues we as a nation face is a physician shortage in pediatric and adolescent behavioral health. Not surprisingly, the majority of Missouri physicians are located in urban areas along Interstate 70. Although there are child and adolescent psychiatrists in other areas of the state, many rural counties have none.”
Becevic went on to state “Our findings indicate that there is limited access to child and adolescent psychiatric services in our state. More important, our study illustrates how remote populations have severe barriers to access. The mental health shortage, especially in rural areas, is not a new discovery. However, this study highlights the severity of the need for mental health services in our state, especially for children and adolescents.”
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A new study shows that nature is good for mental health, and that visiting parks and other nature areas could reduce anxiety and depression. A research study performed by University of Queensland and ARC Centre of Excellence for Environmental Decisions researchers found that people who spent at least 30 minutes a week in nature are also far less likely to suffer from poor mental health when compared to people who do not get back to nature for at least this small amount of time each week. This has led researchers to suggest that a minimum level of exposure to nature may be needed to improve mental health. The recent study was published and can be found in the journal Nature Scientific Reports.
Dr. Danielle Shanahan discussed the findings from the study on nature, mental health, and anxiety and depression. According to Dr. Shanahan there are many health benefits to visiting parks, and these include a lower risk of stress, heart disease, depression, and anxiety. “If everyone visited their local parks for half an hour each week there would be seven percent fewer cases of depression and nine percent fewer cases of high blood pressure. Given that the societal costs of depression alone in Australia are estimated at $A12.6 billion a year, savings to public health budgets across all health outcomes could be immense. Kids who grow up experiencing natural environments may benefit developmentally and have a heightened environmental awareness as adults than those who don’t.” This is just one more reason to get outside and enjoy the beauty of nature.
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Researchers at Iowa State University have found that self stigma is an obstacle to help for mental illness , even when the help was offered online in an anonymous setting. The study shows that people who have a greater sense of self stigma are significantly less likely to reach out to obtain information about treatment for mental disorders and mental illness. According to lead study author Daniel Lannin “Self stigma is a powerful obstacle to overcome.” The study looked at how participants responded when they had a chance to learn more about counseling services at the university and get further information about mental health help and treatment. According to Lannin “It’s not just the fear of seeing a counselor or therapist. It’s actually when people are sitting at home or on their phone. That stigma prevents them from even learning more information about depression or about counseling.”
370 participants took part in the study on self stigma and mental illness, and less than 10% of the participants either clicked a link to get more information or wanted to learn more about counseling. All of the study participants were college students. The study results were recently published and can be found in the Journal of Counseling Psychology. Lannin explained that “A lot of people with higher levels of stigma won’t even entertain the possibility of a stigma intervention because they see the intervention as going to therapy to be more open to therapy. It’s like telling someone who doesn’t like vegetables to eat some broccoli to get over it.” One possible solution is self affirmation interventions.
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A recent study on veterans has applications that could easily transfer to civilians with mental disorders like depression and PTSD as well. The study showed that enhanced primary care which included telephone therapy options, care managers with specialized training, and other primary care interventions could improve the outcome for veterans who were suffering from PTSD or depression. Researchers involved with the study were associated with RAND Corporation, the Department of Defense Deployment Health Clinical Center, and RTI International. The researchers determined that those who went to a primary care clinic with PTSD and depression experienced fewer symptoms over the next year and had better mental health. The study results were recently published in the JAMA Internal Medicine journal in the online edition.
Dr. Charles Engel was the lead author of the study on mental disorders and enhanced primary care. According to Dr. Engel “Although the improvements were modest, the reach of the program can be large and has the potential to bring more people under a high-quality treatment umbrella sooner. These findings suggest that the military health system might use this strategy to extend the reach of mental health care and reduce time to first treatment for PTSD and depression.” Dr. Engel went on to explain “Our findings are consistent with what has been observed in nonmilitary health care settings. This approach results in better outcomes and improves access to high-quality care. This is particularly important for a population that has a demonstrated need for mental health services. The results support the idea that high-quality mental health care can be provided in primary care settings. While many military members are reluctant to seek out mental health specialists, they are more willing to receive primary medical care. So this is a good way to encourage more people to receive mental health care, while also improving the quality of mental health services for military members.”
