Time reports on the use of antidepressants as well as anti-anxiety drugs by our troops overseas. This brings up a question: Are these drugs a cure for something or a Band-Aid? The article is about how substances have been used to medicate soldiers in the past, in wars as diverse as the American Revolutionary and […]
This article appeared in the December 30, 2009 and January 6, 2010 editions of The Hudson Valley News DEVELOPMENTALLY DISABLED TO SUFFER FROM PROGRAM CUTS by William Van Ornum We are in a recession. There simply isn’t enough money to keep New York State running as it has in the past. Governor Paterson can’t be […]
Sandy Sheller, coordinator of the Salvation Army of Greater Philadelphia, tells of a client who wouldn’t go for treatment at a drug-treatment center. Her case worker simply labeled her as resistant and noncompliant, and closed the case. When Sheller worked with this client, she asked in s caring manner why it was that the client […]
There is an increasing awareness of the vulnerability of football players and other athletes to the serious possibility of concussions that have gone unrecognized. This means there is an interaction between the mental health and neurological domains. There is increasing evidence of brain damage caused by concussion in professional athletes within the NFL. This month, […]
Winter, early winter, is especially dark. People become particularly isolated in Central Wisconsin during these months. Those who cope well, like my 87-year-old aunt, keep productively busy with a range of activities from walks, tending animals, baking, sewing, quilting, visiting, sending photos and messages to members of the family in far-flung places. Altruism abounds. My […]
Sleep is essential according to the American Psychological Association. This professional group notes that “millions of people don’t get enough, resulting in such problems as daytime sleepiness, poor decision-making, interference with learning, and accidents.” One study, using Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), suggested that CBT can do a better job of reducing anxiety than sleeping pills. […]
Many therapies focus on identifying and resolving feelings and conflicts. Empathy–truly understanding another’s life situation–is a common characteristic of all successful therapists. Beginning in the 1970s, Albert Ellis and Aaron Beck developed Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) which emphasizes identifying dysfunctional thoughts, changing them to transform negative feelings such as depression and anxiety into positive mental […]
The National Institute of Mental Health offers a rich Web site for consumers, researchers, and program administrators. Not only is there detailed and highly credible information about major mental-health conditions, the procedures for obtaining research and program grants are detailed. A section of the Web site, “Science News,” provides interesting feature stories about conditions and […]
We are all aware of the psychosurgeries near the turn of the 20th century and how many of these had drastic side effects. There is a new version of psychosurgery, reserved for patients who have profound OCD, whose illness causes incredible suffering and loss of personal freedom. They are patients that have tried all of […]
The author is a writer and student of Jungian psychology, who hopes one day to take up temporary residence in Zurich , and to become immersed and absorbed into the rich Jungian tradition, one still alive on the continent. Visit to the Psychoanalyst by Leah Jimenez Who are you? I am Death? Death? Yes, Death. […]
For half-a-century, Dr. Eugene Kennedy’s books have brought complex mental-health issues to the general public. His classic On Becoming A Counselor (now coauthored with his wife, Dr. Sara Charles) has sold 250,000 copies, has been continuously revised to reflect new findings, and is in print after nearly 35 years at this writing. This book teaches […]
One advantage of a blog is the expression of creative ideas, or at least new ideas, in a rapid way. So I will take advantage of this and hope there is at least a little creativity to be found in what follows. Personally written messages are becoming extinct. It is so much easier to dash […]
There are some political topics and issues that one party or another seems to own. These concerns are part of the history and ideology of a particular political party and they present themselves, sometimes in slightly or radically different forms, as the years go by and the elections occur every two to four years. From […]
There is a nation-wide organization offering support and help to those with psychological problems and their families. In these days of funding changes, there is a section devoted to the legislative environment for those who want to become public advocates. The National Association of Mental Health website is a valuable resource for everyone: National Association […]
Many are accustomed to viewing therapy as a process that occurs in chunks of 30, 45, or 60 minutes. Yes, much healing occurs this way. Others remind us that therapy can occur in short intervals: the school psychologist briefly talking to a student, the psychologist stopping by at someone’s bedside in a hospital, the quick […]
The tragic violence at Fort Hood first kept a nation in suspense, then brought the nation to high levels of powerful emotions, and now has our country looking back to find answers. Why did this happen? What were telltale signs that might have been missed? Can we learn something from this mass shooting to prevent […]
When I was learning fly casting a number of years ago, I turned to a number of experts to teach me. Throughout small successes in getting the heavy and whiplike line to carry the tiny artificial fly toward the fish were many, many failures through which the line wrapped around me or became entangled in […]
In all disciplines, it is good to study history. This is especially important in the mental-health field. In our efforts to be up to date, we overlook very helpful achievements from the past; and these can be helpful in creating new advances. The term Intelligence Quotient (IQ) has carried extra baggage since it was devised […]
In today’s New York Times, Gordon Marino raises tantalizing and taboo questions in his essay “Kierkegaard on the Couch”: Kierkegaard on the Couch Many of us mental health professionals are quick to see any despair that is made up of themes related to spiritual sadness as indicators of depression, small or major. Freud of course […]
As Evander Lomke mentions on this blog and in the accompanying video, AMHF gave the first Stefan de Schill Award to Astor Services for Children last week. The generosity of the Gould Foundation meant that this presentation could occur in the financial district of New York City. Interestingly, the New York Stock Exchange stood solidly […]
I am recently back from attending the annual American Psychological Association, the major organization of practicing and research psychologists in North America. With 150,000 members, the venerable APA convened for the 117th time in Toronto. Over 10,000 members, representing major universities and clinical programs, attended, as well as many psychologists who are in private practice. […]
Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is a cross to bear for all who are within its range, including spouses, other immediate family, friends, and perhaps the sufferer of this condition most of all. Before 1980, this was not a recognized psychiatric term. But it was added in the Third Edition of The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual […]
One of the goals of the American Mental Health Foundation is to encourage exploration between religion and mental health, particularly in finding religious practices that enhance mental health. We always hope to do so in a nondenominational way. Hagios comes from the Greek word meaning “sacred” or “holy.” Hagiophobia therefore means fear of God, saints, […]
By Dr. William Van Ornum When I was a psychology graduate student at Loyola University of Chicago, my introduction to autism involved observing and learning about a nine-year-old girl who constantly banged her head against hard objects, to the point of bleeding and perhaps even concussion. The saddest part was seeing that nothing seemed to […]
Summer is a great time to catch up on all of those novels, mysteries, and thrillers that have piled up over the year. Sometimes it can be a time to reacquaint oneself with favorite authors from the past, read long ago while in school, knowing that a rereading can bring out many more themes. One […]
Mention OCD and you bring up strong feelings in any person or family member that suffers from it. Strange and frightening thoughts that intrude and don’t go away, meaningless gestures and actions that someone is compelled to perform, over and over, fully aware that these behaviors are at best silly and at their worst thieves […]
Both AMHF and the World Health Organization (WHO) recognize the crippling effect of mental illness. In their report “The Global Burden of Disease,” C. J. L. Murray and A. D. Lopez emphasize that 8 of the 10 leading causes of disability in the developed countries are mental illness. These include: (1) Major Depressive Disorders (2) […]
The American Mental Health Foundation takes no official position on the SAT. We do, however, recognize the tremendous anxiety it engenders. As in many areas related to mental health, knowing something about the history gives us greater awareness of how current practices developed. You will see how this bit of history offers a lesson to […]
Each year, hew children with disabilities enter the school system; and each year students who are already enrolled in school become newly diagnosed with a disability. The Individual Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) lists different types of problems experienced by children aged three to twenty-one, and offers services for these children that are paid for by […]
Researchers estimate that between one and three percent of adults in the United States have a gambling problem. We at AMHF believe there is a need to give more attention to this. How many marriages or families are ruined due to addictive or compulsive gambling? Our society certainly mixes messages to teens: everything from rub-off […]
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