Rehab Articles
Mental health courts are starting to appear in many areas in the USA, and in other parts of North America as well, but what are these courts and what do they have to do with mental disorders? Many people who get caught up in the legal system have serious mental health issues, and these issues are not addressed in the jails and prisons. Mental health courts offer sentencing flexibility which ensures that the individual received needed mental health treatment instead of simply being incarcerated. Evidence has shown that without treatment mental illness typically becomes more severe. Incarceration is not the answer because in most settings the best possible treatment for mental health issues are not offered. Mental health courts were started to try and address the needs of mentally ill individuals who enter the criminal justice system.
Mental health courts offer diversion from the usual criminal justice system and sentencing options when an individual defendant has one or more mental disorders and the court feels that jail or prison would not be in the best interests of justice. A lack of mental health treatment opportunities for many people can lead to criminal acts being committed, and the individual involved needs help with mental illness. Mental health courts can be very effective at providing treatment options and integrating the mentally ill person back into the community rather than simply locking them up and failing to provide treatment for their mental disorders. These special courts are not available in all areas but many larger cities have implemented them in order to reduce the number of people incarcerated and provide mental health treatment to those who need it.
Rehab Articles
The holidays are supposed to be a time of joy, with celebrations and fun parties to commemorate this time of year. For some with mental illness nothing could be further from the truth and the holidays may be an agonizing time that offers little joy or happiness. These individuals want to be happy and share in the festivities but they are not able for a variety of reasons. The Christmas season can be a time of loneliness and depression for individuals who have one or more mental disorders, and this can make their condition worse instead of bring joy and peace. A common misconception is that these individuals should simply snap out of it but this is not actually possible. Mental illness is as real as physical illness and disease. You wouldn’t tell someone with pneumonia to simply suck it up and get better and the same goes for any mental disorder.
If you or someone you love suffers from mental illness there are some things you can do to make the holidays better this year. Don’t skip any treatment sessions if you are already in treatment. If you are not receiving treatment for mental health problems then now is the time to get started on it. There is treatment available which can help you take your life back. If a loved one struggles with a mental disorder offer support. Go with them to therapy, and let them know that you are there is they need anything at all. Don’t wait until symptoms worsen or the mental illness spirals out of control.
Rehab Articles
The link between mental illness and violence have led to individuals who have a mental illness being singled out or viewed with fear instead of compassion. Numerous studies and statistics show that people who are mentally ill are much more likely to commit suicide than they are to direct violence at someone else. In the USA alone in the year 2013 16,000 homicides were committed, and only 5% or around 800 of these homicides were committed by someone with a mental illness. In the same year 41,000 people commuted suicide in America, and around 90% of these individuals had at least one form of mental illness. These numbers show that someone who is mentally ill is more likely to harm themselves than they are to be violent with others.
The key to stopping violence and lowering the suicide rate is effective treatment for mental illness. Often individuals who have mental problems fall through the cracks. Treatment may be difficult to obtain, and mental illness can affect the thinking and decision making that the individual engages in. Many are calling for better mental health services and earlier intervention, and some are advocating for a return of policies from the past when the mentally ill were locked up indefinitely. Politicians rarely point out the suicide rate for mentally ill people while at the same time they are quick to blame mental illness when a mass shooting occurs and the perpetrator suffered from a mental condition. Until treatment for mental health is available to everyone who needs it there will be incidents of violence but these are much smaller than the number of people who take their own lives because they are mentally ill.
Rehab Articles
Neuroscientists recently performed a brain imaging study at the Oxford University, England, and the study results showed that a lack of motivation can impact brain function. The team of scientific researchers determined that the brain function in individuals who had a lack of motivation was significantly different from the brain function of individuals who were motivated. Neurology and cognitive neuroscience professor Dr. Masud Husain explained that “We know that in some cases people can become pathologically apathetic, for example after a stroke or with Alzheimer’s disease. Many such patients can be physically capable. Yet they can become so demotivated they won’t be bothered to care for themselves, even though they’re not depressed. By studying healthy people, we wanted to find out whether any differences in their brains might shed light on apathy.”
The imaging study on brain function and lack of motivation involved 40 volunteers, all who were healthy. The volunteers were given a questionnaire on motivation and then played a game that involved reward and effort while their brain function was scanned. Those with a lack of motivation were less likely to choose small rewards that required big effort, and more likely to choose large rewards that required little effort on their part. The imaging showed that the premotor cortex in people with a lack of motivation was more active, and this surprised the researchers. Dr. Husain said “We expected to see less activity because they were less likely to accept effortful choices but we found the opposite. We thought that this might be because their brain structure is less efficient, so it’s more of an effort for apathetic people to turn decisions into actions. Using our brain scanning techniques, we found that connections in the front part of the brains of apathetic people are less effective. The brain uses around a fifth of the energy you’re burning each day. If it takes more energy to plan an action, it becomes more costly for apathetic people to make actions. Their brains have to make more effort.”
Rehab Articles
Seasonal depression, also called seasonal affective disorder or SAD, is a problem that many people deal with as the seasons change and we have fewer daylight hours. There are a number of therapy options available for his condition, an two of these are light therapy and talk therapy. Sadness, depression, and excessive fatigue are common and many people experience these symptoms in the winter months when the days are shorter. A new study shows that when it comes to treating seasonal depression talk therapy may provide more effective results than light therapy. Cognitive Behavioral therapy or CBT may be more effective according to researchers from the University of Vermont. The researchers found that light therapy can be helpful when the depression and other SAD symptoms are acute, but a CBT treatment method tailored specifically for SAD patients provided long term and future improvements as well.
The University of Vermont study is the very first one to examine how effective light therapy is over time and whether CBT is more effective over a longer period. Kelly Rohan, a psychology professor, explained “Light therapy is a palliative treatment, like blood pressure medication, that requires you to keep using the treatment for it to be effective. Adhering to the light therapy prescription upon waking for 30 minutes to an hour every day for up to five months in dark states can be burdensome.” Rohan also discussed CBT therapy and stated “The degree of improvement was substantial. Both treatments showed large, clinically significant improvements in depressive symptoms over six weeks in the winter.”
Rehab Articles
Neonatal abstinence syndrome is becoming a big problem in North America. The babies born with an opioid addiction can suffer horribly, and require lengthy hospital stays and extensive medical treatment after they are born. Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center reserchers have discovered that computer based modeling used to simulate how the drug moves through the body of the infant from administration through complete elimination could lower the hospitalization time and the treatment required. The admission of newborns who suffer from neonatal abstinence syndrome has increased significantly in the last decade or so. Researchers say that it is critical that NAS is discovered and diagnosed before the newborn is discharged and taken home. If this happens then the baby must struggle through the withdrawal without any medical treatment and support.
The study on neonatal abstinence syndrome and opioid addiction provides hope for more effective treatment methods. Symptoms of NAS may not appear in the first 48 hours and many insurance companies only allow a 48 hour stay after childbirth. Lead study author and Perinatal Institute at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital researcher Eric Hall, Ph.D., discussed the study. “The incidence of neonatal abstinence syndrome after an infant’s in utero exposure to opioids has risen dramatically in recent years. Future protocol refinements may include personalized treatments, including strategies based on bedside pharmacogenetic analyses or individual opioid exposure profiles, which take into account individual genetic responses to drugs.” According to Cincinnati Children’s Hospital pediatrician Scott Wexelblatt, M.D., “Prior to this program, one of four women using opioids went undetected. Today we are detecting nearly all.”
