Wednesday, October 31, 2007 9:46 AM
posted by Rolf B. Gainer, Ph.D.

Staying Healthy over the Holiday Season

It's hard to believe that the holiday season is upon us. In three weeks we will celebrate Thanksgiving which begins, for some of us, a time of high stress. Staying mentally and physically healthy during the holidays requires paying attention to ourselves, learning our "warning signs" and using strategies to better manage stress.We can enjoy the holidays, our family and friends and ultimately, ourselves when we are feeling good.

Here are a few pointers:

• Know your limits for stress. It is important to pace yourself and use strategies to help you manage stress before it builds up and becomes a problem.

• Avoid schedules that don't allow time to "decompress" and relax.Look at each day and identify a brief period which is your personal time to do something which helps you unwind. That may be involve reading a good book, taking a walk, enjoying a hobby, playing with your pet, exercising or following a spiritual pursuit.

• Avoid overexposure to situations which are your "triggers" for stress. Learn what situations cause problems for you and identify what you can do to prevent the triggers from engaging you in patterns of thinking and behaving which are part of your stress cycle.

• If you are remaining abstinent from substance use or other activities which cause problems for you it is important to avoid situations in which you could relapse. "Partying" is dangerous. Use your support groups, sponsors, sober friends, church and helpful family members to assist you remain on the path of sobriety. Remember, there is no holiday from sobriety.

• Learn to laugh and enjoy your family, friends, people around you  and yourself as "we" are a very important part of any holiday celebration. The strength and bond of positive family relationships and friendships are powerful medicines.

• Remember that there are people in the world who can use your help. Try to reach out to someone and give of yourself. This could include volunteering, helping an elderly or sick neighbor or just putting your arm around someone who is having a rough time. Everything you give will come back tenfold.

• Focus on your health from the dimensions of mind, body and spirit. Determine what each part of you needs to remain healthy and on a daily basis pursue those activities.

• Set realistic goals for yourself and on a daily basis check your progress. Are you doing what you planned to do to attain your goals? What would it take to get "back on track"? Don't let a slight deviation from your desired course throw your plans into a tailspin.

• Use the resources which are available to you. If you are in therapy, maintain your scheduled appointments. If you are keeping a journal, maintain your daily entries. If you are dieting, determine how you can maintain your diet and still enjoy the holidays. Use the tools you have.

• Avoid the Holiday Letdown reaction. Those days after Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's don't have to be hangovers, depression or just feeling bad. Learn what causes the overload responsible for the Holiday Letdown and address that problem in advance.

9:04 AM
posted by Rolf B. Gainer, Ph.D.

Veterans and Suicide

The results of a study involving 800,000 depressed veterans who were in the VA health care system from 1999 to 2004 challenges the assumption that individuals with PTSD or other service disorders are more likely to kill themselves. The study also found that younger men are at a higher risk for suicide than previously thought. It is generally known that suicide rates are higher for veterans than among the general population. With the number of soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, including many individuals with behavioral health problems, like PTSD as well as individuals with significant disabilities related to war injuries, the need to creating more resources to identify and treat those individuals at risk for suicide becomes very important.

Dr. Kara Zivin, the lead author of the study, contends that the assumption that the risk for suicide is greater for a certain type or group of patients is misleading. Dr. Zivin reported that improving the assessment of suicidal risk in depressed individuals is the more relevant approach. As to the relationship of suicide to PTSD, the study indicates that those with PTSD may be at a lower risk due to contacts they have with mental health resources. The other risk factors of substance abuse and recent psychiatric hospitalizations were considered important indicators for suicide risk.

It is interesting that this study, which was recently published in the American Journal of Public Health, comes at a time when much attention is being focused on the needs of veterans and the state of affairs at military hospitals and in the VA system. This weekend, in Washington, brain injury professionals are meeting to address the needs of the returning veterans and to put forth a blueprint for the needs of these individuals. We cannot be swayed by the recently released study which may minimize suicide risk even though it stresses the need for improved assessment services. We have a group of returning veterans, many of whom, have mental health and rehabilitation needs which are yet to be identified and addressed. The long term needs of these individuals can only be considered if we start by identifying the injuries and conditions which result from their wartime experiences.


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Tuesday, October 30, 2007 1:23 PM
posted by Aric Thorpe, MHR

Sweets, Smokes & Alcohol

A recent study published in the November issue of Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research by Yanina Pepino, Ph.D., and Julie A. Mennella, Ph.D., of Monell Chemical Senses Center, reveals an interesting relationship between smoking, family history of alcoholism, and a taste for sweets among women. According to the study, women with a family history of alcoholism have an increased desire for sweets. Conversely, women who are smokers seem to have a decreased preference for sweets; this may be a result of decreased sensitivity of taste buds due to smoking. Additionally, it is not at all unlikely for women who drink alcohol to smoke as well; there is a strong association between alcohol and smoking.

The study shows potential for practical application in identifying risk for alcoholism. However, "Longitudinal studies . . . are needed to determine whether sweet taste thresholds and preferences could serve as a marker for those more vulnerable to develop addictions," according to the researchers. The following is an excerpt of an article from Medpage Today that reviews the study:

They evaluated 49 women to try to reconcile the long-recognized effect that smoking has on sweet taste with the evidence linking a family history of alcoholism -- irrespective of smoking status -- to increased food cravings and preferences, particularly sweets.

Smokers had decreased sensitivity for sweet taste, whereas women with a family history of alcoholism had heightened sweet preferences, M. Yanina Pepino, Ph.D., and Julie A. Mennella, Ph.D., of the Monell Chemical Senses Center, reported in the November issue of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research.

The rationale for their research is that smoking-related diseases tend to be worse in women--more advanced, more resistant to treatment, and more fatal. So the researchers were interested in exploring the link between tobacco and taste.

Tobacco and alcohol have a strong comorbid association, the authors noted. However, little is known about the combined effects of the two substances on sweet taste.

The investigators wanted to find out which factor seems to predominate in its influence of women's sweet taste -- tobacco or a positive family history. They concluded that it's the family history.

Click here to read the entire article from Medpage Today
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1:07 PM
posted by Sarah McGee

Doctors Group Calls for Universal Autism Screening

There are new guidelines being issued by the Academy of Pediatrics to focus on early intervention for children whom have autism. The new guidelines dictate that all infants be screened twice by the age of two. The guidelines will be published in the journal Pediatrics and available on the web at http://www.aap.org. The new plan urges pediatricians and parents to watch for signs of autism, signs such as failure to make eye contact, no verbal babbling, or motor-smiling late in the developmental process.

Personally, as a new mother, I find this to be great information on signs to look for in screening my child for autism. The monitoring can start at home with the participation of the child’s guardian. As Dr. Scott Myers, a pediatrician specializing in neurodevelopment, mentioned, “…if you recognize it earlier, you get them into treatment earlier. Kids who start (treatment) earlier do better in the long run.”

The following is an excerpt of an article from Medpage Today that reviews the study:

The need for early diagnosis and intervention in children with the disorders was highlighted in two reports issued at the American Academy of Pediatrics meeting here and published simultaneously in the November issue of Pediatrics.
The reports focused on identification and evaluation of children with the disorders and on subsequent clinical management.

"In addition to recommending early recognition so that we can intervene early and hopefully prevent outcomes, these reports provide the guidance for longitudinal medical care, because these are chronic conditions and there are a lot of issues facing the physician in the office when providing care for these children," said co-author Scott M. Myers, M.D., of the Geisinger Medical Center in Danville, Pa.

The report on identification and evaluation of autism spectrum disorders noted that media attention has raised parental awareness about autism spectrum disorders. As a result, parents may come in to the pediatrician's or primary care practitioner's office with concerns earlier in the child's development than they might have in the past. That, the report said, presents clinicians with both opportunities and challenges.

Click here to read the entire article from Medpage Today
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Monday, October 29, 2007 1:26 PM
posted by Rolf B. Gainer, Ph.D.

Sit Coms and Schizophrenia

In 2004, David Roberts, then a second year clinical psychology student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, had a summer job teaching social skills training to a group of individuals with schizophrenia who resided at the state hospital. Roberts was frustrated that his group was unresponsive to the social skills training curriculum that he was using. He found a group of patients watching the show "Friends" and laughing at the humor. Roberts observed that the patients he thought were unresponsive were laughing at same things which made him laugh. He tried an episode of "Monk" with his patient group and again noted that they all laughed at the humor conveyed by the actor, Tony Shalhoub, who portrays a person with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). Similarly "Curb Your Enthusiasm" brought equal laughter. Roberts thinks of Larry David as the perfect proxy for a schizophrenic person. His character misreads social cues, mistakes the intent of other people, jumps to conclusions and reads things out of context: many of the problems experienced by individuals with schizophrenia which causes them problems in their daily interactions.

Roberts and his UNC adviser, Dr. David Penn, formalized these findings into a teachable technique which they called Social Cognition and Interaction Training (SCIT). The television skits helped patients to decipher difficult social situations. Unable to use the actual television shows in training, Roberts and Penn developed a series of video clips to produce what they called "cringe worthy situations". Therapists in Germany, Portugal and China are now watching TV with their patients and seeing the positive results of the unusual training material.

We all laugh at the situational humor of sit coms. The awkward situations, embarrassing relationships and misread cues which make up much of the skits must serve to address a common human need we all share, to look at ourselves and learn through laughter.

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Friday, October 26, 2007 2:50 PM
posted by Aric Thorpe, MHR

Up in Smoke

Many supporters of marijuana as a pain relieving agent may find that their hopes of clinical backing for the idea are up in smoke. According to a recent study published in the November issue of Anesthesiology, Marijuana users seeking pain relief will find higher doses actually intensify pain. According to Mark S. Wallace, M.D., and colleagues of the University of California, participants that received a 2% dose of THC received no relief from pain, 4% dose weaker pain response, and at 8% pain actually increased significantly.

This study comes at a time when preclinical and limited clinical studies have actually indicated a degree of validity for those that claim using marijuana relieves their pain. The following is an excerpt of an article from Medpage Today that reviews the study:

Dr. Wallace and colleagues enrolled 15 healthy adult volunteers for a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover study. Each participant provided a blood sample to confirm absence of plasma THC before starting the trial.

The protocol stipulated that each volunteer would participate in four dose-randomized sessions at least one week apart. During each session, participants smoked a placebo or low (2% THC), medium (4% THC), or high (8% THC) dose marijuana cigarettes. Participants who could not tolerate the highest dose were excluded from analysis.

Blood was drawn at each session before drug administration to assess plasma THC and it metabolites. Another specimen was obtained five minutes after drug administration to quantify cannabis exposure. Additionally, participants had neurosensory and neurocognitive evaluations and subjectively rated their "highness."

Click here to read the entire article from Medpage Today

Click here to read about treatment options for drug addiction
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8:29 AM
posted by Sarah McGee

Sleep Problems Strongly Linked to Psychiatric Disorders

A recent study conducted by Harvard Medical School and the University of California at Berkley has linked sleep deprivation with psychiatric disorders. Due to lack of sleep the brain can become abnormally emotional, which undermines a range of functions. The researchers conducted a study on 35 volunteer-participants whom lacked sleep up to 35 hours. Through the use of an MRI, the researchers discovered that the amygdala (part of the brain linked to emotional reactions) showed 60% higher reactions to images that stimulated happy or sad emotions than individuals whom had adequate amounts of sleep. The following is an excerpt of an article from Medical News Today that reviews the study:

The size of the increase really surprised us," commented researcher Matthew Walker. "It is almost as though, without sleep, the brain reverts back to a more primitive pattern of activity, becoming unable to put emotional experiences into context and produce controlled, appropriate responses." He believes there may well be a link between sleep deprivation/disorders and psychiatric disorders. He added that previous studies had indicated that most patients with psychiatric disorders also suffer from some kind of sleep disorder.

Click here to read the entire article from Medical News Today

Click here to read more about psychiatric disorders
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Wednesday, October 24, 2007 4:00 PM
posted by Aric Thorpe, MHR

Mind-body connection: GERD and psychological distress

An immense amount of research exists to support the mind-body connection. One such study has recently emerged and was presented at a meeting of the American College of Gastoenterology. According to William Chey, M.D., and colleagues at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, patients that have GERD, also known as treatment-resistant gastroespophageal reflux disease, may not be responding to acid-suppressive therapy with PPI's due to psychological distress.

According to the study, approximately 40% of patients with GERD have psychological distress as well. The study focused on 101 patients who endured esophagogastroduodenoscopy as well as health related surveys. The following is an excerpt of an article from Medpage Today that reviews the study in-depth:

To determine the prevalence of comorbid psychological distress and assess its impact on response to PPI therapy, Dr. Chey and colleagues studied 101 patients who underwent esophagogastroduodenoscopy for evaluation of persistent heartburn. Testing revealed that 67 patients had nonerosive reflux disease and 34 had erosive esophagitis.

At enrollment each patient completed health-related surveys designed to assess GERD symptoms and severity, quality of life, and psychological status. Patients with a score greater than 63 on the Brief Symptom Inventory were defined as having psychological distress.

"A BSI of 63 actually defines significant psychological distress," said Dr. Chey. "We set the bar pretty high. These patients were significantly distressed."

All patients received treatment with open-label rabeprazole (Aciphex) 20 mg/d. After eight weeks of PPI therapy, the health-related surveys were administered again.

Overall, 39% of the patients had comorbid psychological distress. The prevalence of concomitant psychological symptomatology did not differ between patients with nonerosive or erosive disease, said Dr. Chey. Although some of the patients were on antidepressants, most had not been diagnosed with psychological disorders.

Click here to read the entire article from Medpage Today

Click here for information on anxiety and stress related disorders

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Friday, October 19, 2007 3:49 PM
posted by Aric Thorpe, MHR

Negative personal relationships increase the threat for cardiovascular problems

Could negative personal relationships increase the threat for cardiovascular problems? According to a recent sizable study published in the October 8th issue of the Achieves of Internal Medicine, they can. Roberto De Vogli, Ph.D., M.P.H., and colleagues of the University College London, report that people who experience high levels of conflict in close relationships over lengthy periods of time are 34% more likely to experience a heart attack or angina then those with lower levels of relational conflict.

The study complements previous studies that have found that positive social interactions decrease risks of heart related problems. The study examined responses from 9,011 (2,897 women) respondents who were British civil servants ages 35 to 55 with no history of heart related problems. The following is an excerpt of an article from Medpage Today that reviews the study:

So the researchers analyzed a prospective cohort of British civil servants working in London offices ages 35 to 55 from 1985 through 1988 in the Whitehall II study. The analysis included 9,011 respondents (2,897 women) who completed a questionnaire on close personal relationships in phase 1 (1985-1988) or phase 2 (1989-1990) of the study and had no history of coronary events.

Among the 8,499 participants with complete data, 589 experienced an incident fatal myocardial infarction, nonfatal MI, or angina as determined from clinical records over an average follow-up of 12.2 years.
The researchers found a dose-response association after controlling for age, sex, marital status, employment grade, obesity, hypertension, diabetes, cholesterol level, social support, and source of emotional and practical support. About a third of participants in each tertile were married or co-habiting.

Participants who ranked in the top third of the cohort for a high level of adverse exchanges and conflict in their closest relationship were 1.34 times more likely to experience a coronary event than were those in the lowest tertile (95% confidence interval 1.10 to 1.63).

Click here to read the rest of the article from Medpage Today

Click here for information on Brookhaven’s outpatient marriage and family counseling programs
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Wednesday, October 17, 2007 4:15 PM
posted by Aric Thorpe, MHR

New uses for Topiramate and Quetiapine?

In 2003, a study was conducted that suggested that topiramate, commonly known as topomax, is useful in reducing the cravings associated with alcoholism. The same group is now conducting a larger study that replicates the previous study, which is randomized, multi-locale, and placebo-controlled. The new study revealed similar findings regarding topiramate. Topiramate was found to reduce participant drinks per day, number of heavy drinking days, and increased days of patient abstinence in comparison to placebo taking patients.

Similarly, in a 12-week study of the antipsychotic drug quetiapine, wherein 61 patients with Type A (33) and Type B (28) alcoholism were analyzed, patients with Type B alcoholism experienced reduced drinks per day, reduced heavy drinking days, and increased days of abstinence. One possibility is that quetiapine is reducing symptoms commonly associated with Type B alcoholism, such as antisocial behavior, and thus reducing the need for alcohol as a coping agent.

The following is an excerpt of an article from Journal Watch that discusses the promising findings:

In 2003, researchers conducting a randomized controlled trial established the efficacy of topiramate for alcohol dependence. Now, the same group has conducted a longer and larger (14 vs. 8 weeks; n=371 vs. 150), multisite, randomized, placebo-controlled, manufacturer-funded trial of topiramate. Topiramate (dose, 300 mg/day, titrated over 6 weeks [titration lasted 8 weeks in the previous study]), was superior to placebo in reducing the percentage of heavy drinking days, reducing drinks per drinking day, and increasing abstinent days. Still, effect sizes were smaller and topiramate was less well tolerated than in the initial study, with paresthesia, anorexia, and poor concentration commonly reported. Only 63% of topiramate recipients versus 78% of placebo recipients completed the trial.

Click here to read the entire article from Journal Watch

Click here for information on the treatment of alcoholism
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Tuesday, October 16, 2007 4:28 PM
posted by Aric Thorpe, MHR

The casual link between stress and disease

There is compelling data suggesting a casual link between stress and conditions like cardiovascular disease, HIV/AIDS, and depression. Although this link has not been proven, researchers such as Sheldon Cohen, Ph. D., of Carnegie-Mellon University, are examining the reality. In a review centered on a paper delegated by the Institute of Medicine, Dr. Cohen wrote, “other areas in which evidence for the role of stress is beginning to emerge include upper respiratory tract infections, asthma, herpes viral infections, autoimmune diseases, and wound healing.” In general, a connection between stress and both mental and physical diseases has been observed. The difficulty in taking a closer look at this phenomenon is based in ethical concerns. It would not be ethical to subject human volunteers to testing that would induce stress that could potentially bring on disease. To date, researchers have been limited to studies based on responses to real-life stress. The following is an excerpt of an article from MedPageToday that discusses studies based on reactions to real-life stress:

Yet real-life evidence from studies looking at associations between stressful life events and disease reveal intriguing clues, the authors wrote.
For example, in some studies of major depressive disorder, 50% to 80% of patients reported a stressful event such as the death of a spouse in the months prior to the diagnosis.

"Although most investigations have focused on life events as triggers of depression onset, increased stress also predicts the clinical course of major depression, including features such as longer duration, symptom exacerbation, and relapse," they wrote. "Evidence also suggests that events that occur concurrently with treatment reduce positive response."

Similarly, work with animal models and observation of healthy adults and cardiac disease patients point to an association between stress and myocardial ischemia, and activation of both inflammatory and coagulatory mechanisms, they wrote.
In addition, prospective studies have found strong associations between psychological stress and cardiovascular disease morbidity and mortality.
The evidence for a link between stress and HIV/AIDs comes from studies detecting a link between stress from cumulative negative life events and HIV progression, they noted.

"For example, among HIV-positive men, each additional moderately severe event increased the risk of progressing to AIDS by 50% and of developing an AIDS-related clinical condition by 2.5-fold," the authors wrote. "Moreover, stress has been found to influence the course of virally initiated illnesses to which persons with HIV are especially susceptible. These studies are supported by experimental research with animals wherein exposure to social stressors results in decreased survival."

Click here to continue reading the article from MedPageToday

Click here for information on treatment of stress related disorders
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Monday, October 15, 2007 9:05 AM
posted by Aric Thorpe, MHR

Seven percent of full-time US workers report depression

According to a recent government report, 7% of the full-time US workforce reports having had bouts of depression. Out of all of the full-time US workers reporting depression, personal-care workers, which includes people that work with children, elderly, and disabled, have the highest rate of depression at 11%. Workers in the food industry, specifically food workers that prepared or serve food, were a close second with 10.3% reporting bouts of depression. Social workers and health-care workers were in a tie for third with reports of depression at 9.6%. The study tracked information about full-time US workers from 21 different occupational categories from 2004 to 2006. According to the report, workplace depression causes anywhere from $30 billion to $44 billion in production losses.

Although 7% of full-time US workers reported depression, the rate was 12.7% among the unemployed. It would appear that simply working on a full-time basis aids in the prevention of depression. The following is an excerpt from an article by the Washington Post that reviews the findings:

People who tend to the elderly, care for children and serve food and drinks have the highest rates of depression among U.S. workers.

Overall, 7 percent of full-time workers battled depression in the past year, according to a government report available yesterday.

Women were more likely than men to have had a major bout of depression, and younger workers had higher rates of depression than their older colleagues.

Almost 11 percent of personal-care workers -- whose jobs include child care and helping the elderly and severely disabled with their daily needs -- reported depression lasting two weeks or longer.

During such episodes there is loss of interest and pleasure, and at least four other symptoms surface, including problems with sleep, eating, energy, concentration and self-image.

Workers who prepare and serve food -- cooks, bartenders, waiters and waitresses -- had the second-highest rate of depression among full-time employees, 10.3 percent.

Click here to read the entire article from the Washington Post

Click here to read about signs and symptoms of depression
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Wednesday, October 10, 2007 5:09 PM
posted by Aric Thorpe, MHR

Can depression affect my health?

According to a recent study published in the September 8th issue of The Lancet by Somnath Chatterji, M.D., and colleagues of the WHO, depression was associated with the lowest health care scores world-wide. The study focused on an international group of patients ages 18 and older numbering 245,404. According to the findings, patients with depression had an average health score of 72.9. Patients with asthma angina, arthritis, or diabetes and no depression had mean heath scores of 80.3, 79.6, 79.3, and 78.9 in that order. Patients found to have the lowest scores were those that had some form of chronic illness coupled with depression.

This study highlights just how serious a health issue depression can be. Psychiatric conditions are sometimes seen as only affecting a person’s mind; as a result do psychiatric concerns sometimes take the back seat to physical ailments?

The following is an excerpt from MedpageToday that discusses the study:

In the World Health Survey of 245,404 patients ages 18 and older, from 60 countries in all regions of the world. respondents with depression had the lowest health score among all five chronic disease conditions, 72.9 (P<0.0001).

On the basis of interviews and self-reports, respondents with asthma, angina, arthritis, or diabetes alone had mean health scores of 80.3, 79.6, 79.3, and 78.9, respectively, significantly different from having no disease, but not from one another, Somnath Chatterji, M.D., of the WHO here, and colleagues, reported in the Sept. 8 issue of The Lancet.

Patients with depression plus even one chronic disease had the worst scores on a health survey, they added. Respondents with neither chronic disease nor depression had the highest health score of 90.6.

Depression prevalence was determined on the basis of ICD-10 criteria, while the prevalence for four chronic physical diseases-angina, arthritis, asthma, and diabetes-was estimated from a Diagnostic Item Probability Study. Overall, the rate of a depressive episode in the previous year was 3.2% (95% CI 3.0-3.5).

For angina, this figure was 4.5% (4.3-4.8); for arthritis 4.1% (3.8-4.3); for asthma 3.3% (2.9-3.6); and for diabetes 2.0% (1.8-2.2).

The depression risks for these chronic diseases were higher than that expected in the general population, the researchers said.

Click here to read the entire article from MedPageToday

Click here for information on depression
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4:44 PM
posted by Aric Thorpe, MHR

Opioid resistance in fibromyalgia patients explained

A recent study has shed new light on opioid resistance in fibromyalgia patients. According to Richard E. Harris, Ph D., of the University of Michigan, and colleagues, opioid resistance in fibromyalgia can be explained by lessened receptor activity in areas of the brain that respond to pain. The study, published in the September 12th Journal of Neuroscience, also found a correlation between reduced receptor function in fibromyalgia patients and depression. The study focused on 17 right-handed women with a mean age of 44.8 suffering from fibromyalgia and 17 sex and age matched controls. The following is an excerpt of an article from medpage today that reviews this fascinating study:

Because these receptors are the target of opiate drugs," they wrote, "a profound reduction in the concentration or function of these receptors is consistent with a poor response of fibromyalgia patients to this class of analgesics, observed anecdotally in clinical settings."

The researchers used PET with a selective µ-opioid receptor radiotracer to assess receptor availability differences between fibromyalgia patients and healthy pain-free individuals.

Their study included 17 right-handed women with fibromyalgia (mean age 44.8, mean diagnosis duration 8.4 years) and 17 age- and sex-matched healthy controls who were part of an ongoing study of acupuncture treatment. The analysis was done on PET scans and other data collected at baseline.

No participants were taking opioids or had a history of their use. Of the 17 fibromyalgia patients, 10 were taking antidepressant medication, either serotonin reuptake inhibitors or dual serotonin/norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors.

The women reported "sensory" and "affective" characteristics of their pain on the Short Form of the McGill Pain Questionnaire immediately prior to undergoing the PET scan.

Depressive symptoms were self-reported on the Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression Scale, which is used to detect major or clinical depression.

Click here to view the entire article from MedPageToday
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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.

Copyright © Brookhaven Hospital 2006