Wednesday, April 25, 2007 2:51 PM
posted by Michael Mason 35% of Iraq Vets Diagnosed With Mental Problems More disheartening news. One third of Iraq War vets have sought medical treatment, and more than a third of those treated had mental issues. Add to that the hurdles and complications veterans must endure to find adequate treatment, and the situation looks increasingly bleak for wounded servicemembers:
"Of the mere 5% of troops still desperate enough to vault these hurdles and acknowledge potential symptoms of post-traumatic stress (PTSD), 78% are denied further mental health evaluation after being eyeballed by... just about anyone. As Paul Reickhoff, Executive Director of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA) and an Iraq veteran explained, "The form went to me and I passed it up to my commander. Essentially, you're asking a group of people who have been in exactly the same situation, and who have no mental health training or background, to evaluate other people."
Click here to read the rest of the story.
link to this post  Tuesday, April 17, 2007 8:59 AM
posted by Rolf B. Gainer, Ph.D. New Studies Point the Way to a Better Understanding of Scizophrenia Several new studies are helping us to understand that people with schizophrenia have definitive neurologic deficits which contribute to processing problems and create the array of symptoms that are associated with the disease. Gur, et all in a study published in American Journal of Psychiatry (March, 2007) found that cortical areas needed for attention showed diminished activation and that areas associated with "filtering" also showed deficits. Garrity, et al, American Journal of Psychiatry (March 2007) looked at the frontal, cingulate and parahippocampal cortices in individuals with schizophrenia and found that these people have difficulty in settling their brain activity into an "idle" mode. Ferrarelli, et al, American Journal of Psychiatry (March 2007) examined the area of the brain responsible for generating sleep and found that individuals with schizophrenia showed hypoactivity in the thalamic reticular nucleus. Ford, et al, American Journal of Psychiatry (March 2007) used auditory evoked potentials to study the process of preparing for speech. Individuals with schizophrenia had poor inhibition of certain cortical areas. Shergill, et all also in American Journal of Psychiatry (March, 2007) studied the integrity of the myelin pathway connecting the Broca and Wernicke areas which control motor speech and receptive speech. Some of the individuals in the study had an abnormal myelin pathway. Leitman, et al, in the American Journal of Psychiatry (March 2007) found that individuals with schizophrenia had difficulty in using tone of voice to recognize emotion and to determine if a statement was a sentence or a question.These difficulties were associated with connections to the auditory cortex. Studies like these help us to understand that schizophrenia is a complex neurologic syndrome with many potential variants, symptoms and brain based behaviors.
link to this post Tuesday, April 03, 2007 8:53 AM
posted by Rolf B. Gainer, Ph.D. Talk Works! In a study of almost 300 individuals with depression related to Bipolar Disorder, those who received intensive psychotherapy (up to 30 sessions in a 9 month period) improved more than individuals who received "Collaborative Care" which consisted of education about bipolar disorder and training in coping skills. All individuals also participated in a randomized comparison of mood stabilizers.The study was conducted by David Miklowitz, Ph.D. at the University of Colorado and reported in the April issue of the Archives of General Psychiatry. Dr. Miklowitz found that "intensive psychotherapy, when used as an adjunctive treatment to medication can significantly enhance a person's chances for recovery and depression and staying healthy over the long term." In this era of short term therapies and medication only interventions, this study focuses our interest on the value of intensive psychotherapy coupled with medication to produce meaningful and lasting change.
link to this post |
Rolf B. Gainer, Ph.D., Diplomate ABDA, is the Chief Executive Office at Brookhaven Hospital and the Vice President of Rehabilitation Institutes of America. Dr. Gainer has been involved in the design and operation of treatment programs since 1977.
Stephen Harnish, MD is the Medical Director of Brookhaven Hospital. Dr. Harnish is a member of the American Psychiatric Association and is well known in Oklahoma for his informative radio and television appearances.
Aric Thorpe, MHR, is Brookhaven Hospital's Pastoral Liaison Representative. He conducts the quarterly Minister's Lifeline series and provides mental health information to pastors and clergy.
Sarah McGee serves as the Community Education Provider for Brookhaven Hospital. She provides information on mental health and drug and alcohol treatment to healthcare professionals in Oklahoma and surrounding states. |
