I keep a folder for interesting articles and tidbits that my readers might find fun to read and instructive. It has been growing fat!
Usually, I post a selection of these every couple of weeks or so, but have neglected to do so for quite some time. Though today’s post will not even begin to clear out the folder, at least it’s a good start!
Today’s topics cover a broad range of topics, as shown by the subject list:
- Therapy by Telephone
- Battle of the genes determine mental illnesses?
- Seven habits that could transform your life
- Is there a way to get rid of unwanted memories?
- Why we overeat when we’re stressed
[Read the entire article...]
Tagged as:
Genetics,
Memory,
Overeating,
Research,
Stress,
Therapy
The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) has released a new report, Grading the States, assessing the nation’s public mental health care system for adults.
The average grade in 2009 for the United States was a D. This grade has not budged from the D the US received from NAMI in 2006. Fourteen states improved their grades in 2009. Twelve states fell backwards.
This national grade, an average of the state grades, reflects our country’s utter neglect of its most vulnerable citizens. The lack of improvement over time brings into sharp relief our complete failure to take charge of an ineffective system and begin to transform it.
Michael J. Fitzpatrick, NAMI’s executive director, said:
Mental health care in America is in crisis. Even states that have worked hard to build life-saving, recovery-oriented systems of care stand to see their progress wiped out.
Ironically, state budget cuts occur during a time of economic crisis when mental heath services are needed even more urgently than before. It is a vicious cycle that can lead to ruin. States need to move forward, not retreat.
Too many people living with mental illness end up hospitalized, on the street, in jail or dead. We need governors and legislators willing to make investments in change.
This post provides details of the NAMI report, makes recommendations, and analyzes the implications of this dire situation for mental health in America.
[Read the entire article...]
Tagged as:
Mental Health,
NAMI,
National Alliance on Mental Health
Every blog has posts that seem to be overlooked by readers, some deservedly, and some not.
The posts in this list are those that I feel are important for various reasons. They run the gamut from groundbreaking new research, to reasons why we don’t see therapists, to effectively managing your medications.
According to site statistics, these posts have received very little attention from readers, and I am not sure why! Because of their subject matter or their keywords, they haven’t received much search engine traffic, either.
Rather than let these posts recede into oblivion, I’m asking you to take a second look and maybe give them a little love!
[Read the entire article...]
Tagged as:
2008,
Writing
Mental wholeness is the last term in the tag line for this blog, Living with Health, Wellness and Wholeness.
Wholeness is a concept that has many meanings in our culture. It is spoken of by New Age gurus, preached from the pulpit, and bandied about by pop psychologists. Yet none of these can give you a straightforward answer as to what wholeness really is.
Mental wholeness is murkier still. It is referred to by many, again without definition. This may be because the meaning of the term is difficult to articulate, the person doesn’t really know what it means, or that they just like the mysterious way it sounds!
This post explores the meanings of wholeness and provides my definition of mental wholeness as used in this blog. It is the third in a series that defines mental health, mental wellness, and mental wholeness, three pillars of all the posts written here.
[Read the entire article...]
Tagged as:
Mental Health,
Mental Wellness,
Mental Wholeness
Mental wellness is part of the tag line for this blog, “Living with Health, Wellness and Wholeness.”
Wellness is a relatively new paradigm in health care, and the subject of mental wellness is newer still. The study of characteristics that make up mental health is called Positive Psychology, which was introduced only in 1998. Mental wellness in counseling and therapy is even more recent, being introduced in 2001.
Mental wellness is more than a pop psychology term; it is a part of the future of medicine, which is moving daily toward a concept of holistic treatment. Both presidential candidates envision more holistic health care, and medical practices across the nation are taking up the idea of treating the whole person, rather than just handing out prescriptions.
This post defines mental wellness as it is understood by its originators, and as it is used in this blog. It is the second post in the series defining the terms mental health, mental wellness, and mental wholeness as it relates to this blog’s tag line, “Living with Health, Wellness and Wholeness.”
[Read the entire article...]
Tagged as:
Mental Health,
Mental Wellness,
Mental Wholeness
Living with Health, Wellness and Wholeness is the tag line for this blog.
But what exactly do the terms mental health, wellness and wholeness mean? When you think about it, it’s hard to pin down exact definitions for them.
And the definitions are continually changing for every individual, because mental health, mental wellness, and mental wholeness are processes, in movement, and not static. In a way, we make our own definitions of what they mean for each of us.
To me, these are more than interesting terms or concepts. They are the very underpinnings of this blog, the ultimate goal for every post written.
This is the first of a three-part series presenting the widely-recognized definitions of the terms mental health, mental wellness, and mental wholeness, along with my own definitions and how I use the terms in this blog. Today’s post, on mental health, will be followed by post on mental wellness and mental wholeness in the days to come.
[Read the entire article...]
Tagged as:
Agoraphobia,
Mental Health,
Mental Wellness,
Mental Wholeness
One of our nation’s greatest shames is the number of homeless people adrift in the streets and parks of our cities.
And of the estimated 744,000 people who are homeless on any given night, 40 to 45 percent of them have a serious mental illness. Most of these mentally ill people go untreated, and unable to work, live a hand-to-mouth existence out on the streets.
Senator Pete Domenici says,
No vision haunts America’s conscience more than the sight of the street people… The irrationality and anguish that grip so many of these individuals leap out during any encounter, whether in Washington or Albuquerque.”
This post, in response to Blog Action Day’s call to write about poverty on October 15th, gives an overview of the crisis of the homeless mentally ill. This post covers the following topics:
- How many homeless Americans are there?
- How many of the homeless are mentally ill?
- Why are there so many mentally ill homeless people?
- Most mentally ill homeless people are not being treated
- What’s to be done?
[Read the entire article...]
Tagged as:
Anxiety Disorder,
Homeless,
Mental Illness
Over and over I see the same things in the comments on the blogs and forums I visit.
People say that they want to reduce or eliminate their dependence on psychiatric drugs. Yet they are not doing anything to do so.
They complain that they are being enslaved by their reliance on the drugs to keep symptoms under control. But they do not take advantage of the single most effective, proven help that could liberate them.
Americans have been trained for over a century to rely on drugs to cure their ills, from the first marketing of aspirin in 1899 to the latest wonder-drug touted on tv. Have a headache? Take an Advil and it will go away. Depressed? You need Prozac. Bipolar disorder? Abilify for you.
Madison Avenue has helped the pharmaceutical companies imply instant and permanent relief from your problems just by popping a pill. And we have swallowed this advertising hype whole! It has made us the most drug-taking nation in the world today.
Pills have become a silver bullet for Americans seeking relief from their woes. They expect drugs to solve their problems quickly and easily, without any extra effort on their part.
No wonder there are so many bitter and disappointed people who feel enslaved by their psychiatric drugs!
[Read the entire article...]
Tagged as:
Agoraphobia,
Anxiety Disorder,
Medications,
Panic Disorder,
Therapy
Worry is a wonderful thing.
It prepares us for anything that fate and the uncertainty of this world may throw us. It helps us keep tabs on the past and the future, and keeps the present in control. Worry is the mark of a thoughtful person, one who is engaged with the world.
Scoffers might call this “The 22 Habits of Highly Ineffective People,” but you and I know better. People who don’t worry are at best suspect, and in reality, irresponsible. Like Aesop’s fable of the Grasshopper and the Ant, they are fiddling away the time, willfully ignorant of the impending doom of winter’s withering blasts!
As a service to those whose worrying habits are not up to snuff, I have put together this little list of all the characteristics of world-class worriers. I’m worried that I forgot or missed a few, but I waited until the deadline and didn’t have any more time.
Following are 22 tips to make you a world-class worrier, too!
[Read the entire article...]
Tagged as:
Anxiety Disorder,
Worry
I don’t make it a practice of reposting articles, but I’m doing it this time.
There is a post from July 3, 2008 entitled “8 Tips to Survive Gatherings on the Fourth” that is relevant to gatherings on Labor Day, or Thanksgiving, or Christmas, or any day that you have to go to a gathering or a party. I have updated it and present it here, hoping it will help someone.
It will be especially helpful for people with Social Phobia, Panic Disorder, and those that suffer from panic attacks.
I have to go to a wedding party soon, and you can bet that I will be using those tips myself!
[Read the entire article...]
Tagged as:
Agoraphobia,
Anxiety Disorder,
Panic Attacks,
Panic Disorder,
Parties,
SAD - Social Phobia
