Mental Health Update

On Friday, we mentioned the BBC production called “What on Earth is Wrong with Gravity.” Below is another video by the same producers called “Psychedelic Science,” which surveys the past and present of psychedelic drugs, and the new era of scientists exploring ways to use these drugs again for therapeutic purposes (i.e., the treatment of schizophrenia and addiction).

Yeah.. i’m a schizophrenia alright at that time until now but compared to the years i’ve been suffering delusions all the time, even when sleeping. I’ve to come back to reality!

That rings a bell? This is for Alprazolam, the active drug in Xanax, but this applies to 99% of all anti-psychotics and anti-depressants. Now, the article doesn’t mention what anti-psychotic drugs were prescribed to the teen, but it’s safe to say that it probably contained Alprazolam, or a similar drug with similar counter-indications.

I've been on a number of medications over the years, ranging from Stelazine, then Mellaril during my first psychosis (early 1994) and Risperidone and Seroquel for my second psychosis (mid-year, 2002). I am currently prescribed Abilify for psychosis symptoms when I need it (and "when I need it" is now determined by me). Currently I am not taking it and am symptom-free.

Let’s take, for example, schizophrenia — a debilitating mental health disorder with a unique symptomatic and epidemiological profile. The current DSM diagnostic criteria for schizophrenia include at least one month of active symptoms (at least one symptom of bizarre delusions or auditory hallucinations or two or more positive or negative symptoms) and six months of social/occupational dysfunction or independent-care impairments.

Sometimes though you have to wonder about the real motivations behind some of the psychiatric research that does go on. Take, for example, this study on the differences between the brains of diagnosed schizophrenics and other people. The immediate idea is obviously to establish just where things have “gone wrong” inside those brains, with a view to gaining insights both upward (through knowledge about function and the sense that dysfunction is involved here) and downward (into possible biological malfunctions, in neurochemistry, genes, etc).

In an article in the November issue of the journal Behavioral and Brain Sciences, Matthew C. Keller, a postdoctoral fellow at the Virginia Institute for Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics, and Geoffrey Miller, assistant professor of psychology at the University of New Mexico, address why diseases such as depression and schizophrenia persist. The answer, they say, is that they reflect the accumulation of harmful mutations.

At school, I applied myself diligently and I take pride in my scholastic achievements. I have always been a knowledge-seeker, looking for groups/workshops/psychotherapy and any bits of help which could give me the skills to heal/cope with my illness. I do take medication and with it I can see such an outstanding difference in my personality and life choices from the stability it offers me.

I am in shock. This is the first news article I have seen in my life that I agree with in it’s entirety. I cannot agree more with everything that is said. Schizophrenia is a term that is so broad, and is actually just a label. It serves no real purpose in clasification. Read the full article for more, and I would love to hear your comments!

One of my cousin is having major depression. The family is afraid that he might be developing Schizophrenia… It’s in our blood already.. very high possibility. Aaa!! I’m so scared.

Was Messerschmidt insane? This question has aroused controversy between the psychologists and the historians. The psychoanalyst Ernst Kris, who wrote two studies of Messerschmidt, the earlier of which, published in 1932, is still the most detailed account of the sculptor’s work, diagnosed his case as a “psychosis with predominant paranoid trends, which fits the general picture of schizophrenia.”

Wordnet defines echolalia as follows: (psychiatry) mechanical and meaningless repetition of the words of another person (as in schizophrenia).

Now that you, the reader (assuming you’ve made it this far in this lengthy post), are an expert in the insanity defense, here are the facts presented in Brom’s case. Bear in mind that the jurors in Brom’s case very likely knew less about the history and controversy of the Rule of M’Naghten’s than they did about the rules of Monopoly.

Look, I’m sure that some people are more prone to “rage” than others–we all have unique personalities, that’s what makes life interesting–I happen to be a laid-back person by nature. Perhaps the study will help us learn new ways to prevent outbursts of rage, but I think it’s more likely that further knowledge of this “disorder” will not lead to a “cure” but will become just one more reason that no bad thing is ever anyone’s fault (except maybe George W. Bush and the evil republicans) in this society.

Back to the subject of Schizophrenia, of which I also have personal experience through a family member. My older brother Darryl suffered from Schizophrenia in 1992 and committed suicide just one short month after his diagnosis and treatment.

In this case, the person involved was a regular customer of ours who appears to suffer from untreated schizophrenia. Most of the time she keeps to herself, but lately she has been approaching other customers and touching them on the knee. We're not sure if she does this to get their attention or to check if they are real or what, but whatever her reasons, it is freaking people out. On one day alone we had five people get up and leave the coffeeshop because she wouldn't/couldn't keep her hands to herself.

We have not met our patients yet. I’m working with Ponzi and our case is schizophrenia, the paranoid type I think. I’m not feeling anxious at all, in fact I’m pretty excited to meet him. We read from his medical records that he has manageable behavior naman.

I think about the definition of Schizophrenia and whether or not it should apply to me, I know that Drue also thinks this.

Sen has a brilliant hidden reference to The Exorcist, the classic horror movie. In Sen’s movie, Meethi urinates on the carpet exactly the same way as the possessed girl does in the classic. More than a coincidence, this action seems to be a comment on exorcism and other forms of belief in the supernatural, which are the results of the human fear of the unknown. Schizophrenia falls into the category of things we have to live with, but which we can’t cure or understand. In many ways, movies add to the popular clichés that exist in society about madness. This is one movie that seeks to be honest and objective about the issue.

Clozapine (brand name Clozaril) is used “second-line” to treat schizophrenia and requires monitoring of blood cell counts. This is an atypical anti-psychotic drug that is used after a patient failed to respond to standard schizophrenia treatment (the standard treatment is called “first-line” treatment).

In the opening scene, Mother Crumb says about her discharge: "I could go home on Thursday, but the schizophrenics* are performing Grease. There's only two of them, but they do all the parts. I couldn't miss it."

Interestingly enough, the symptoms of an atrope-enduced psychotic episode, which are often mistaken for schizophrenic reactions in hospital staff who have not tested for these drugs, have more in common with night terrors and somnambulism (sleep walking) then schizophrenia.

The nuns' attacker, Mark Bechard, had a long history of mental illness. He had been hospitalized nine times for manic depression, schizophrenia and alcoholism. Since the attack, the media have irresponsibly nourished the public's fear of the mentally ill, a fear that has been around for centuries. WLBZ-TV, Bangor, did a story about whether the mentally ill should be allowed to live on their own. In a segment on the Feb. 16 edition of Dateline NBC, anchorman Tom Brokaw asked viewers whether laws that allow the mentally ill to "roam free" are endangering their lives.

The above approach, while not being full-blown 'advocacy', at least attempts to reconcile 'high introvert' to the mainstream. As Schizoid Personality is only sometimes coupled to full-blown schizophrenia with psychotic elements, it seems reasonable to see it as just another base personality type, without need to pathologise it. OK, so somebody who is Schizoid will never be Mr Popular, nor will he necessarily be good in Customer Services, though that need not be a real problem. Admittedly, there will be times in life in which Loneliness sets in, there was the time - in my early 20's - when I realised I was irreconcilably different to everyone around me and I also realised that this would more than likely stunt my career prospects.

This position is founded on three rather convincing arguments. (As with the Sufficiency of Scripture position, here I am seeking to present this position from the perspective of those who embrace it. I am not necessarily advocating for it.) First, the Bible does not address many psychological pathologies, for example, Tourette’s Syndrome, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and anorexia to name a few. What do counselors using only the Bible do when a schizophrenic exhibiting psychotic behavior walks through the door? Often what they do is admit the person to a psychiatric unit for psychological and psychiatric treatment.

I googled the words "cybernetic schizophrenia" and this article (treatise, essay, I don't know what to call it) was in the search results. I actually got the idea for the search after reading through another extremely dense philosophical treatise by Michael Hoffman at egodeath.com.

October 5th, 1992 my older brother Darryl, after a very brief (1 month) battle with what resembled schizophrenia, committed suicide in our mother’s home. He was 24 years old. He would have turned 38 this November 4th. (ps: I’m going to post a picture of him when I get it scanned and celebrate his upcoming birthday by telling you funny, cool things about him!)

I heard in school that people with schizophrenia do a lot of face picking. Not saying that I'm a schizo but what does that mean anyway? To pick your face, to be consider that I might have a subconscious problem. But that's all I can say because I know well enough not to think about things like that too much. You work yourself up on an idea of yourself, it might be true.

A study of Chinese children born before, during, and after a famine in the late 1960s, combined with a prior study of a Dutch famine during WWI, provides evidence that children born to severely malnourished mothers are about 70% more likely to develop schizophrenia.

The elder of the two boys was Hans (1904-1973), a hydraulics engineer and professor at the University of California at Berkely, noted for his research on river sediment and tidal flows. His younger brother, Eduard (1910-1965), planned to study medicine, but was diagnosed with schizophrenia at age 20 and was cared for by his mother until her death in 1948. He spent the remainder of his life in a psychiatric institution.

A paper published last month by the group in the Journal of Virology showed one such compound called Cinanserin can stop the SARS virus from replicating. Interestingly cinanserin, was approved in the United States for clinical use in the 1960s to treat schizophrenia and other psychopathic diseases. Shen one of the researchers said that: ‘cinanserin could not form a SARS treatment on its own, but would need to be used in combination with other drugs’. As it is an old safe and cheap drug, it could be used widely for SARS patients in the developing world.

You are the medication nurse for an inpatient psychiatric unit. Mrs. M. is a 64 year old admitted for schizophrenia medication adjustment. Vital signs are: BP 103/54, HR 48. Medications are Geodon, Lanoxin, and Keppra. Would you?

1. Hold all medications and call the physician
2. Hold the Geodon and call the physician
3. Hold the Lanoxin and call the physician
4. Hold the Keppra and call the physician

One of these scenarios that does make a good story, but is equally indicative of my stupidity involves my having stayed in a relationship with someone for over a year who was in the initial stages of schizophrenia. When I was in college, I tended to have weird relationships with men who were nice and liked me, but were intimidated by my lack of neediness, and probably thought they'd rather be seen with a truly hot girl anyway. (I have my charms, but I'm not a supermodel.) I met a few weirdos who were willing to play ball, and then, my junior year, I started dating a nice, quiet fellow who seemed totally sweet and open and fun. Within that first month, he drew me into this little circle of crazy within which he would suddenly become someone else for a few hours -- a violent and bitter person, using a voice that wasn't his. He'd threaten me, accuse me, even try to kill me (several times, once by pointing the car at an oncoming truck). When he snapped out of it, he remembered nothing. And if I told him about it, he'd try to jump out the nearest window to die. Stupidly convinced that "my love" could save him or whatever, I stayed with him.

Currently in psychology we are leaning about psychological disorders. One disorder that seemed fasinating was schizophrenia. Schizophernia is characterized by a lack of integration amongst normal psychological function. In other words: a person seems to be out of touch with reality.

on top of the social difficulties associated with Autism and Asperger's Syndrome there is a whole host of overlap/associated conditions. ADD/ADHD, dyslexia, dyspraxia, OCD, schizophrenia, epilepsy and Sensory Integration Dysfunction.

I remember those movies from the seventies and eighties where guys like Jack Nicholson were put into a cold dank looking place, white walls, piles of meds and patients walking around in a daze ready to be inspired to revolt and enjoy life all by an energetic and charismatic scitzo. If a place like that does exist, I certainly was not privileged enough to populate it. My time at Homevale was an eye opener to say the absolute least. Though in the long run I feel as though my therapy failed successfully, I did learn a lot about myself and the world. I was diagnosed with schizophrenia which is a chronic, severe, and disabling brain disease, but if any one had asked, I would have explained that I was just lonely. The use of antipsychotic medications to control my self-talk was the automatic response but strangely enough it was the other young crazies that surrounded me that truly “cured” me.

Later the story explains furthur, “Mediafax news agency said Cornici suffered from schizophrenia and the symptoms of her condition caused the priest at the convent and other nuns to believe she was possessed by the devil.”

Have a look at this story about a young woman, diagnosed with schizophrenia, who was tortured and killed by religious nuts at a convent after they felt whe was possessed by the devil. This is yet another reason why I don’t generally subscribe to organised religion.

I initially found the PBS site because I was looking for documentation on the Insulin-Coma Therapy that Nash’s character received in the movie. It disturbed me. How barbaric! Why would anyone think that putting someone into a coma via an overdose of insulin — then bringing them out with intravenous glucose — would help a mentally ill patient? Well, let me say I was surprised. (ICT is not practiced any more in the U.S. because of antipsychotic drugs.)

Many people have heard about this story as it was a best seller as well as a popular movie. I have saw the movie when it was playing in theater and enjoyed it. The book is different, but a very readable yet somewhat disturbing story. It tells quite a saga of John Nash from an extremely obnoxious young genius, to a nearly homeless, schizophrenic nobody, and back to a functional mathematician and person who won a Nobel Prize for his early work. While Nash sounds like a total sod when young, he was brilliant and parts of the math community as well as his (ex & future) wife (one person) stood by and supported him through a long period os schizophrenia.

Review article from PLoS Medicine suggests schizophrenia is less prevalent than previously thought.

DIAGNOSIS: Ivan appears to suffer from Schizoaffective Disorder. Ivan’s symptoms meet nearly all of the criteria for a Mixed Episode, the exception being “excessive involvement in pleasurable activities that have a high potential for painful consequences” (PsychologyNet.org, 2003). His delusions, hallucinations, and disorganized speech meet Criterion A for Schizophrenia.

Is this useful? The scientists think so. For a start, understanding the neurochemical pathways that regulate social attachments may help to deal with defects in people's ability to form relationships. All relationships, whether they are those of parents with their children, spouses with their partners, or workers with their colleagues, rely on an ability to create and maintain social ties. Defects can be disabling, and become apparent as disorders such as autism and schizophrenia - and, indeed, as the serious depression that can result from rejection...

Interestingly, similar techniques are now being applied to traditionally hard-to-treat conditions such as schizophrenia that have been shown to have a positive impact on cognitive performance and brain function.

A study published last month in the American Journal of Psychiatry suggests an association between maternal exposure to toxoplasmosis and increased risk for developing schizophrenia in adult children. The study, which evaluated archived blood samples from pregnant women who participated in a large birth cohort called the Child Health and Development Study (CHDS) from 1959�1967, was conducted by researchers at the New York State Psychiatric Institute and the Department of Epidemiology at the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University,...

Some of the specific factors that the study found to be associated with the risk of autism included: breech presentation at birth, delivery before 35 weeks, a parent who had a diagnosis of schizophrenia-like psychosis before the date that autism was diagnosed in the child, and low birth weight at delivery. The study also found many of these factors were independently associated with autism. For example, there was an association between adverse pregnancy events and autism, regardless of whether one of the parents had a diagnosed psychiatric illness.

Across America, of the nearly 2 million people being held in prisons and jails, experts believe nearly 500,000 are mentally ill. For anyone doing the math, that’s 25%. An astounding number. Additionally, according to the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI), 16 percent of the prison population can be classified as severely mentally ill, meaning that they fit the psychiatric classification for illnesses such as schizophrenia, major depression, and bipolar disorder. These numbers do not include other mental illnesses, like anti-social...

I know, personally, a close relative of the murder victim, who is very much connected to this mess. They should've capped Charles McCoy Jr. from the get-go. He is guilty as hell. He did it. McCoy admitted he was the shooter, yet his attorneys pursued the paranoid schizophrenia angle.

In earlier testimony, the defense contended that McCoy was suffering from untreated paranoid schizophrenia, which caused him to desperately want to get rid of “voices” that called him a “wimp.” The voices apparently claimed he was a wimp for not standing up to mocking directed toward him - mocking which he thought was coming from TV programs and commercials. The defense psychologist also said that McCoy believed others could read his thoughts.

"New research being conducted here and abroad illustrates that marijuana use, particularly during the teen years, can lead to depression, thoughts of suicide and schizophrenia," said White House drug czar John Walters.

Janssen Pharmaceutica has developed a virtual reality machine that teaches empathy for individuals who experience hallucinations./p>

Prognosis: Individuals with schizophrenia often seek help for their difficulties, and are quite responsive to treatment. Cell phone users are remarkable for their lack of insight and resistance to any form of social, medical or legal intervention.

The second isolated amino acid in aspartame’s chemical structure is phenylalanine, fifty per cent of aspartame’s 3-D structure. Too much phenylalanine causes seizures, elevated blood plasma, is dangerous for pregnancy (causing retardation), PMS caused by phenylalanine’s blockage of serotonin, insomnia, severe mood swings, and even schizophrenia.

This is a case involving an armed bank robbery, albeit with an unloaded semiautomatic gun. Defendant Gorsuch has a history of being admitted to mental hospitals with a diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia.

A new emergence of depression in a patient with a history of schizophrenia might be a harbinger of the emergence of a new episode psychosis, generally within a week or two. An appropriate treatment response for a new episode of depression in such a patient, therefore, is increased surveillance (especially with regard to psychotic or disinhibited behaviour), ensuring adherence with antipsychotic medication regimens, interventions to reduce stress, and the bolstering of nonspecific psychosocial supports (Siris, 2005).

Shock therapy, a controversial practice conjuring frightening images of behavior control, still has a place in schizophrenia treatment, a newly updated research review shows.

Although the data confirmed that antipsychotic drugs are still the first choice for schizophrenia treatment, they also showed that electroconvulsive, or shock, therapy clearly works, and combining both treatments can accelerate benefits to some patients, the review finds.

“ The most significant finding is that ECT combined with antipsychotics is more effective than antipsychotics alone in producing rapid clinical improvement in people with schizophrenia,” Tharyan said. Rapid improvement of symptoms is potentially lifesaving, for instance, when a person with schizophrenia is suicidal.

The American Psychiatric Association supports use of ECT only to treat severe, disabling mental disorders. However, the National Institute for Clinical Excellence in the United Kingdom does not recommend general use of ECT for schizophrenia, although it may be indicated for catatonia.

This documentary film will be the testimony of a personal and subjective adventure. It will also show the dangers and risks involved in Shamanism: (1) losing yourself in the light or the darkness of your recently awakened emotions or (2) misinterpreting the feelings or visions. This could lead to schizophrenia in the event these journeys not be guided by competent Shamans or compliant with an unyielding discipline and strict diet.

Eli Lilly & Co. won a court ruling that will prevent generic-drug makers from selling low-cost versions of its $4.4 billion-a-year Zyprexa schizophrenia drug before 2011.