mental health

Psychological Treatments: A Call for Mental-Health Science

by

From Nature back in July, 2014, this is a call for more interdisciplinary sharing between neuroscientists and counselors/psychologists. There is often, in my experience, very little cross-pollination of ideas between the objective science and the interpersonal/intersubjective space of treatment. Reference:Nature 511, 287–289 (17 July 2014)doi:10.1038/511287a Psychological treatments: A call for mental-health science  Emily A. Holmes, … Read more

The Implications of the National Institute of Mental Health Research Domain Criteria for Researchers and Clinicians

by

The Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) signaled a major and controversial shift in the National Institutes of Mental Health (NIMH) research model and funding policy. It was designed to carry out “Strategy 1.4” of the NIMH Strategic Plan: “Develop, for research purposes, new ways of classifying mental disorders based on dimensions of observable behaviour and neurobiological … Read more

Your Sense of Humor Can Improve Your Health, Get You Pregnant, and Even Save Your Life

by

I’m good with all of that except the pregnant part – that’s not funny. This short article comes from The Atlantic and basically serves as a primer on the health benefits of humor and laughter – including a list of the studies Julie Beck used to write this article. I am a firm believer in … Read more

Priscilla Long – What Killed My Sister? [On Schizophrenia]

by

This is an interesting article on schizophrenia from The American Scholar. The author seems to throw all of the prevailing theories against the wall the see what sticks, to find some way to make sense of how her sister died. One of the pieces missing, however, is the fact that an extremely large percentage of … Read more

Lifestyle Medicine for Depression

by

This is wonderful to see, finally – even if it is less than honest about the existing evidence for lifestyle interventions to affect depression levels. Drugs for depression are not treating the depression, they are creating an effect of feeling better through making people, for lack of a better word, stoned. I have seen, firsthand, … Read more

Family Problems Experienced in Childhood and Adolescence Affect Brain Development

by

  Family problems are now recognized as a contributing factor for mental illness – and there is brain imaging research to support what many therapists have known for decades. Using brain imaging technology to scan teenagers aged 17-19, the researchers in this study found that those who experienced mild to moderate family difficulties between birth … Read more