Putting the body back into the mind of schizophrenia

A study using a procedure called the rubber hand illusion has found striking new evidence that people experiencing schizophrenia have a weakened sense of body ownership and has produced the first case of a spontaneous, out-of-body experience in the laboratory.

These findings suggest that movement therapy, which trains people to be focused and centered on their own bodies, including some forms of yoga and dance, could be helpful for many of the 2.2 million people in the United States who suffer from this mental disorder.

The study, which appears in the Oct. 31 issue of the scientific journal Public Library of Science One, measured the strength of body ownership of 24 schizophrenia patients and 21

matched control subjects by testing their susceptibility to the “rubber hand illusion” or RHI. This tactile illusion, which was discovered in 1998, is induced by simultaneously stroking a visible rubber hand and the subject’s hidden hand.

To read more on this story, click here.

A High-Profile Executive Job as Defense Against Mental Ills

PASADENA, Calif. — The feeling of danger was so close and overwhelming that there was no time to find its source, no choice but to get out of the apartment, fast.

Keris Myrick headed for her car, checked the time — just past midnight, last March — and texted her therapist.

“You’re going to the Langham? The hotel?” the doctor responded. “No — you need to be in the hospital. I need you consulting with a doctor.”
“What do you think I’m doing right now?”
“Oh. Right,” he said. “Well, O.K., then we need to check in regularly.”

“And that’s what we did,” said Ms. Myrick, 50, the chief executive of a nonprofit organization, who has a diagnosis of schizoaffective disorder, a close cousin of schizophrenia, and obsessive-compulsive disorder. “I needed to hide out, to be away for a while. I wanted to pamper myself — room service, great food, fluffy pillows, all that — and I was lucky to have a therapist who understood what was going on and went with it."

To read more click here.

Canadians with mental illnesses denied U.S. entry

More than a dozen Canadians have told the Psychiatric Patient Advocate Office in Toronto within the past year that they were blocked from entering the United States after their records of mental illness were shared with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

To read more on this story go to http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2011/09/08/f-border-mental-health-privacy.html

Time to Talk-- End the Discrimination

A group in the UK has decided to break the barrier that is keeping Mental Health a shameful secret . It is Time to Talk! Their website contains a multitude of conversation starters and information regarding Mental Illness in mainstream consciousness.This website is lighthearted and also contains the video below:

Check out their Twitter feed to see what conversations surround the Time to Talk. Also check out #BeFrank to see who is being open about Mental Illness.

BBC: Dementia and Exercise

 

How exercise is helping people living with dementia

By Dominic Hughes Health correspondent, BBC News

13 April 2011 Last updated at 05:09 ET

Exercise - gentle walking, a moderate gym session or even dancing and a sing-song - can help people cope with the devastating impact of dementia, researchers believe.

Quite why, the scientists do not yet fully understand.
But unravelling the mysteries of dementia is the key to finding more effective treatments for a condition becoming increasingly common as the population ages.
And while drugs can slow its advance, there are concerns about the over prescription of anti-psychotics for dementia patients.
At the Redholme care home in Liverpool, it is Wednesday morning and the first gym session of the day is about to begin.

For more, please go to: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-12920308

L.A. TIMES: Pain Process is Similar for Emotional and Physical Stress

By Melissa Healy, Los Angeles Times

April 4, 2011

Across cultures and language divides, people talk about the sting of social rejection as if it were a physical pain. We feel "burned" by a partner's infidelity, "wounded" by a friend's harsh words, "crushed" when a loved one fails us, "heartache" when spurned by a lover.

There's a reason for that linguistic conflation, says a growing community of pain researchers: In our brains too, physical and social pain share much the same neural circuitry. In many ways, in fact, your brain may scarcely make a distinction between a verbal and physical insult.

So the well-worn parental reassurance that "sticks and stones will break your bones, but names will never hurt you" is false, these scientists say. And they have the pictures to prove it.


Read More: http://www.latimes.com/health/la-he-mood-pain-20110404,0,6296917.story

Great Resource: Depression Hurts

Our friend Vicki from VIHA directed us to a wonderfully laid-out and helpful website regarding Depression. The pages guide the user through a multitude of steps towards recovery including:
-Understanding Depression
-Symptom Checker
-Journey to Improvement
-Talking to your Doctor and
-Information for Family and Friends


Please follow the link to Depression Hurts to check it out!

Great Resource for Dementia: Helpguide.org

A great resource has been found relating to the signs, symptoms, cause and treatment of dementia, other mental illnesses, and health concerns. The source is Helpguide.org. Please follow the link and explore this great website!

Montreal Gazette: University of Alberta scientist pinpoints anxiety trigger

EDMONTON - Groundbreaking research by a University of Alberta neuroscientist holds the promise of new treatment for anxiety disorders, Canada’s most common mental health problem.
The research published last week in The Journal of Neuroscience pinpoints a previously undiscovered mechanism in the brain that controls anxiety. That mechanism affects neurons in the pea-sized part of the brain that assesses risk and reward, making those neurons more or less excitable and therefore more or less likely to send out anxious messages.
Read more: http://www.montrealgazette.com/health/University+Alberta+scientist+pinpoints+anxiety+trigger/3999473/story.html#ixzz1AHSMQEUb