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August 31, 2011

What are the best ways to dramatically change the way I think about things?

Mark Myers Expert Answer to:What are the best ways to dramatically change the way I think about things?

Teaching Styles for Students


We’ve all heard the theory that some students are visual learners, while others are auditory learners. And still other kids learn best when lessons involve movement.
But should teachers target instruction based on perceptions of students’ strengths? Several psychologists say education could use some “evidence-based” teaching techniques, not unlike the way doctors try to use “evidence-based medicine.”

August 30, 2011

Improve Working Memory for ADHD Children

Working memory is the ability to hold information in mind while performing complex tasks. A young

child is able to execute simple tasks -- sharpen his pencil when asked -- while one in middle school can remember the expectations of multiple teachers. Many kids with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADD/ADHD) have weak working memory because distraction prevents them from taking in the information they have to remember. Parents and teachers can help ADD/ADHD students develop strategies for remembering more, and, equally important, remind them to use the strategies they came up with.

August 29, 2011

Postpartum violence

Postpartum psychosis is an illness that includes delusions (strange thoughts) and sometimes auditory hallucinations (hearing voices). The woman believes these delusions and hallucinations in her psychotic state.

Adolescent Anger and Oppositional Defiant Disorder

If you think that only adults are advised to take therapy sessions for their anger management, then think again.

Have you heard of ODD or Oppositional Defiant Disorder? If not, then let me tell you about it.
A person suffering from ODD experiences persistent anger, angry outbursts, disregard for authority, and the likes. This is experienced not just by adults, but by children as well.

August 28, 2011

Traumatic brain injury linked to schizophrenia

Traumatic brain injury can have serious and long-lasting consequences, such as memory loss, motor coordination problems, and depression. Now a new study suggests that it can also make it more likely to trigger schizophrenia, a mental health disorder characterized by impairments in judgment, thinking and perception.

Tips For Sports Parents

Sports Psychology Guidelines For Sports Parents


Patrick J. Cohn, Ph.D.

Sports parents have a big impact on their young superstars. A healthy and successful sports experience will depend on sports parents' ability to instill confidence and self-esteem in athletes. Read sports psychology expert, Dr. Patrick Cohn's view on how to make sports a successful and fun experience.

August 26, 2011

Tips for When Teens Say No to Homework Help

Living with your teenager is challenging in and of itself; you and your spouse have probably spent countless hours trying to assist them only to find out that they do not want your help.

Teens desire nothing more than independence from their parents. They crave autonomy even though they still want parental feedback and approval. Teens are known for testing parental boundaries and limits. In addition, hormonal changes can wreak havoc on their daily moods. One moment an adolescent can seem perfectly secure and happy and the next they can snap out an innocuous comment. Homework and academic expectations add another layer of stress. If this situation sounds familiar, try any one of the following strategies.

Childhood Vaccines Cleared of Autism, Diabetes Link in New Report U.S. Institute of Medicine finds "very little evidence" of serious harm

From Nature magazine

Vaccines are largely safe, and do not cause autism or diabetes, the US Institute of Medicine (IOM) said in a report issued today. This conclusion followed a review of more than 1,000 published research studies.

"We looked very hard and found very little evidence of serious adverse harms from vaccines," says Ellen Wright Clayton, chairwoman of the reporting committee and director of the Center for Biomedical Ethics and Society at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. "The message I would want parents to have is one of reassurance."

The report, commissioned in 2009 by the US Health Resources and Services Administration, covers the eight vaccines that comprise the majority of claims filed with the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP), which compensates people for adverse health effects from any of 11 vaccines.

Co-Sleeping: Parenting Tips to Help Get Your Children Out of Your Bed and Into Their Own

Parents' joy in their children can sometimes turn to frustration when those children refuse to

sleep in their own beds.

There's even a name for the behavior. Experts call it co-sleeping -- when children prefer to sleep in their parents' bed.

Some parents are too embarrassed to admit their children sleep in their beds with them.
While some find nothing wrong with it, the practice has its critics. They say bed sharing can have a negative impact on a child's growth.

"There really are skills that a child needs to be able to learn from sleeping on their own, to self-sooth, to calm themselves, to clear their head," John Carosso, a child psychologist, told "Good Morning America."

In past coverage of the issue of co-sleeping, "GMA" gathered some experts' tips to help get your children out of your beds and into their own:

Tips to End Co-Sleeping

Have a goldfish or small pet in the room to keep children company.
Have a "mommy" or "daddy" teddy bear to snuggle with.

Spend time with children before bed. This is a good time to read to them. You can even have a "sleep party" with mom and dad in the child's bed before they go to sleep.

At the start, use special gifts from the "sleep fairy," like the tooth fairy. If they sleep in their own bed, they get a little morning present.

More Tips From Around the Web

Be tough. According to Parenting.com, after the decision is made, parents need to quit co-sleeping cold turkey. Take midnight visitors back to bed, even if they fight the journey. If there's crying, tough it out.

When it comes to nightmares, treat their irrational fears like tangible ones, says parenting expert Elizabeth Pantley. "After all, most kids believe that the tooth fairy and Big Bird are real, too," Pantley says on her Web site, Pantley.com.

Click HERE to read Pantley's answers to common co-sleeping questions.

Babycenter.com says it's OK to address the child's fears. If they're afraid of the dark, maybe use a nightlight. Monsters under the bed? Give it a check the first few times. "A spray-bottle filled with extra-strength monster-deterrent (a.k.a. water) can also provide late-night comfort," the website says.

Supernanny.com says parents shouldn't forget to praise their children's success when they do sleep alone.

August 25, 2011

Mark Myers expert Answer to: Are certain people more likely to become addicts and why?

Mark Myers Expert Answer to: Are certain people more likely to become addicts and why?

7 Things our Hands say About Our Health

hey're one of the most important parts of our body when it comes to day-to-day activities; without them we couldn't cut vegetables, grip pliers, or text our friends. They're revealing, too: Not only do scars and age spots recount our personal history but mystics all the way back to prehistory have "read" our futures in their lines and whorls.

But what if your hands could say more about you than that? What if, looking down at your palms and the five digits attached to them, you could discover early signs of dangerous diseases you didn't yet know you had? "It used to be common for doctors to look at the hands for important clues to overall health," says endocrinologist Kenneth Blanchard of Newton, Massachusetts. "We need to get back to that, because hands can tell you a great deal about circulation, hormones, and thyroid function."

Here are seven important clues your hands can reveal about your overall health.

August 24, 2011

From Medscape Medical News > Psychiatry
ADHD Rates Continue to Rise in the United States

August 22, 2011 — Rates of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in US children

continue to trend upward, report health officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Health Statistics.

According to Lara J. Akinbami, MD, and colleagues, the percentage of American children diagnosed as having ADHD increased from 6.9% in 1998-2000 to 9.0% in 2007 to 2009.

From 1998 through 2009, ADHD prevalence was higher among boys than girls. For boys, ADHD prevalence increased from 9.9% in 1998-2000 to 12.3% in 2007-2009 and for girls from 3.6% to 5.5% during the same period.

ADHD prevalence varied by race and ethnicity, but differences between most groups narrowed from 1998 through 2009, the study authors note.

For non-Hispanic white children, ADHD prevalence increased from 8.2% in 1998-2000 to 10.6% in 2007-2009 and from 5.1% to 9.5% for non-Hispanic black children. Mexican children had consistently lower ADHD prevalence than other racial or ethnic groups.

From 1998 through 2009, ADHD prevalence increased to roughly 10% among children with family income less than 100% of the poverty level and to 11% for those with family income between 100% and 199% of the poverty level.

The report also shows regional differences in ADHD prevalence. In the Midwest, ADHD prevalence rose from 7.1% in 1998-2000 to 10.2% in 2007-2009. In the South, rates rose from 8.1% to 10.3% for the 2 periods.

In 1998-2000, ADHD prevalence was higher in the South region than in all other regions. In 2007-2009, ADHD prevalence was similar in the South and Midwest regions; prevalence in these 2 regions was higher than in the Northeast and West regions, the report indicates.

Dr. Akinbami and colleagues note that these prevalence estimates "are based on parental report of the child ever receiving a diagnosis and thus may be affected by the accuracy of parental memory (including recall bias), by differential access to healthcare between groups (diagnostic bias), or by willingness to report an ADHD diagnosis."

They also point out that it was not possible to discern whether rising prevalence of ADHD "indicates a true change in prevalence or increased detection and diagnosis of ADHD."

Nevertheless, the societal costs of ADHD — including those associated with medical, educational, and criminal justice resources — are large, they write.

ADHD is one of the most common mental health disorders of childhood. Hallmark symptoms, including difficulty staying focused and controlling behavior, begin in childhood and often persist into adulthood, leading to functional impairment in academic, family, and social settings. The causes and risk factors are unknown, but genetic factors likely play a role.

National Center for Health Statistics Brief. 2011:70.

August 23, 2011

Mark Myers Expert Answer onHow should you interact with someone who has a crush on your significant other?:

Mark Myers Expert Answer onHow should you interact with someone who has a crush on your significant other?:

Is childhood abuse behind tough-to-treat depression?


(CBS) Why do some depressed people never seem to get better? A provocative new study suggests it may come down to the amount of mistreatment they experienced as kids.

A new study suggests adults who were abused as children are twice as likely to develop lasting bouts of depression as their counterparts who did not experience childhood mistreatment. And scientists say that can seriously impact their treatment and recovery.

For the study - published in the August 14 issue of the American Journal of Psychiatry - researchers reviewed 26 studies on 23,000 people where they saw the increased likelihood of recurrent depression among adults who were abused as kids. The researchers say previous studies show mistreated children and adults have more "biological abnormalities" in the brain, endocrine and immune system, which could alter treatment.

"Childhood maltreatment is associated both with an increased risk of developing recurrent and persistent episodes of depression, and with an increased risk of responding poorly to treatment," study author Dr. Andrea Danese, professor of child and adolescent psychiatry at King's College London, said in a written statement. The researchers found antidepressant medication, psychological treatment, or combinations of the two were less effective in those who suffered childhood abuse.

Danese told Reuters that knowing a formerly abused patient won't respond to treatment may "be valuable for clinicians in determining patients' prognosis."

What treatments would work then? The authors themselves aren't sure. Study co-author Dr. Rudolf Uher, a professor of psychiatry at Kings College told Reuters treatments may focus on the "biological vulnerabilities associated with childhood maltreatment." The hope is future treatments would be given preventively at an earlier age to be more effective long term.

An estimated one in 10 American adults are depressed, but the disease goes beyond feeling down in the dumps. It can adversely affect other conditions such as arthritis, asthma, cancer, diabetes, heart disease, and obesity. The World Health Organization estimates that by 2020, depression will be the second-leading contributor to the world's global disease burden.

Danese said in a written statement, "Identifying those at risk of multiple and long-lasting depressive episodes is crucial from a public health perspective."

August 22, 2011

Depression linked to stroke, vitamin D may help both

By David Liu, Ph.D.

Saturday, Aug 13, 2011 (foodconsumer.org) -- Being chronically depressed may be a sign of higher risk of stroke, according to a study in Stroke: Journal of the American Heart

Association.

The study led by Kathryn Rexrode, M.D.at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, Mass found women who had a history of depression was at 29 percent higher risk of total stroke.

The study also found women who used anti-depressant medications particularly selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors were associated with a 39 percent increased risk of stroke. Anti-depressant drugs included Prozac, Celexa and Zoloft.

But the researchers speculated that it is not the medications that cause a higher risk of stroke. Instead use of the drugs only indicates that depression in the patients was more severe.

The study involved in 80,574 women ages 54 to 79 years in the Nurses' Health Study. Participants had no history of stroke at baseline. During the six-year follow-up, prevalence of depression at baseline was 22 percent in the participants and 1,033 strokes were identified.

Depressed women were often those who were single, smoking, and less physically active, according to the study. They were also more likely to have a higher body mass index, and diseases like heart disease, diabetes and high blood pressure, compared to women without a history depression.

A healthy observer said the study suggests what increases the risk of depression may also increase the risk of stroke and vitamin D can be the missing link between the two.

One study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found men who had intake of 600 IU or more of vitamin D per day were 28 percent less likely to suffer stroke and heart attack, compared with those who had an intake of only 100 IU or less per day. In women, the risk reduction was 16 percent.

The study was conduced by Qi Sun of the Harvard School of public Health in Boston MA.

Another study published in 2008 in the journal Circulation linked low serum vitamin D levels with 60 percent higher risk for heart attack, stroke and heart failure, compared with those who had high levels of vitamin D.

Dr. Thomas Wang of Harvard Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts and colleagues who conducted the study also reported that the association was even stronger among those with high blood pressure.

For the study, Wang et al. followed up 1,739 people at an average age of 59 in the Framingham Heart Study for five years.

Now low serum vitamin D is also associated with high risk of depression.

Nanri A and colleagues from International Medical center of Japan in Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, Japan reported on Aug 19, 2009 in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition that people who had highest levels of vitamin D were 49 percent less likely to feel depressed.

In winter, high levels of vitamin D were found associated with lower risk of depression, particularly severe depression.

Many other studies also suggest that vitamin D can be the cause for depression.

August 21, 2011

Brain's synaptic pruning continues into your 20s

Brain's synaptic pruning continues into your 20s

16:07 17 August 2011 by Wendy Zukerman and Andrew Purcell
Magazine issue 2826. Subscribe and save
For similar stories, visit the Teenagers and The Human Brain Topic Guides
The synaptic pruning that helps sculpt the adolescent brain into its adult form continues to weed out weak neural connections throughout our 20s. The surprise finding could have implications for our understanding of schizophrenia, a psychological disorder which often appears in early adulthood.


As children, we overproduce the connections – synapses – between brain cells. During puberty the body carries out a kind of topiary, snipping away some synapses while allowing others to strengthen. Over a few years, the number of synapses roughly halves, and the adult brain emerges.

Or so we thought. Pasko Rakic at Yale University and colleagues at the University of Zagreb, Croatia, and the VU University Medical Center in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, have now found that the brains of adults in their 20s are still subject to synaptic pruning.

Rakic's team analysed post-mortem tissue from a brain region called the prefrontal cortex (PFC) in 32 people aged between 1 week old and 91 years. Specifically, they calculated the density of dendritic spines – the tiny projections that protrude from the neuron's long dendrites, each of which facilitates communication with other neurons through a synapse.

As expected, Rakic's team found that spine density increased rapidly during infancy, reaching a peak before the 9th birthday. It then began to fall away as pruning began. Intriguingly, though, spine density did not plateau after adolescence, as might have been expected, but continued to fall gradually until the late 20s.

Rakic says the result could be good news for those hoping to gain new skills in their third decade. The period of pruning is associated with a heightened ability to learn – whether that is in picking up language skills or understanding new concepts, he says. "You should not give up learning just because you're in your 20s – it isn't too late," he says.

The finding also has implications for our understanding of some psychiatric disorders. The PFC is thought to be particularly relevant to late-onset disorders such as schizophrenia, says Rakic, but it is unclear whether such disorders are triggered by developmental or degenerative processes. The new finding is likely to give weight to the idea that schizophrenia emerges as a result of late brain development.

"I'm sure that for many people schizophrenia has a strong developmental component," says Sabine Bahn, who researches schizophrenia at the University of Cambridge – although she adds that some cases will likely have a degenerative component.

Elena Bagley at the University of Sydney, Australia, agrees with the conclusion. It is possible that the prefrontal cortex "is susceptible for longer to disorders and disease that result from abnormal pruning", she says. Such pruning may also contribute to memory loss and dementia, she adds.

Journal reference: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1105108108

Is there A Link Between creativity and Addiction?

Is There a Link Between Creativity and Addiction?
Addiction starts with genetics and the environment, but is triggered by stress
By David Biello | July 26, 2011 |



A drink of alcohol, any kind; "rails" of white powder; a pill prescribed by a pediatrician to assist with attention deficit disorder. Whatever the poison, addiction can take a powerful toll. Nor is it limited to drugs—food, sex and even death-defying stunts can exert the same pull.

But it seems to be a particular breed of person who succumbs to addiction, most recently exemplified by the late singer Amy Winehouse. She joins the "27 Club" of rock stars who died, via addictive behavior, too young—Kurt Cobain, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and Jim Morrison. Nor is it limited to the rock-and-roll lifestyle—Thomas de Quincey invented the modern addiction memoir with his Confessions of an English Opium-Eater in 1821. In fact, the list of addicts often overlaps with the giants of culture.

So is there a link between creativity and addiction? To find out, Scientific American spoke with neuroscientist David Linden of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and author of The Compass of Pleasure: How Our Brains Make Fatty Foods, Orgasm, Exercise, Marijuana, Generosity, Vodka, Learning and Gambling Feel So Good.

[An edited transcript of the interview follows.]

Is there a link between creativity and addiction?
No. I think the link is not between creativity and addiction per se. There is a link between addiction and things which are a prerequisite for creativity…. We know that 40 percent of a predisposition to addiction is genetically determined, via studies on heritability in families and twins. There's no single addiction gene. We don't even know all the genes involved in conferring addiction risk. But the ones we do know have to do with the signaling of the neurotransmitter dopamine for pleasure and reward.

You don't become addicted because you feel pleasure strongly. On the contrary, addicts seem to want it more but like it less. They feel pleasures more weakly and are more likely to try more to achieve more. This blunted dopamine hypothesis is supported by brain-imaging studies and biochemistry tests in rats and monkeys. It also holds for addictions to food, sex and gambling.

Genetic variants make for a low-functioning dopamine system, specifically D2 receptors. If you carry those variants, you are more likely to be more risk-taking, novelty-seeking and compulsive. None of which are explicitly creative, but they are things that get to creativity. So novelty-seeking might be a spur to creativity. Risk-taking might lead you to go more out on a limb. If you're compulsive, you might be more motivated to get your art, science idea or novel out into the world. These traits that come from having low dopamine function have an upside. These traits can contribute to people having great success in the world, like business leaders.

Genetics is 40 percent, it's not 100 percent—it's not the whole show. It's possible to carry the variants and not be an addict, and it's possible to not carry the variants and still be an addict.

Is there a link between addiction and other human attributes we might value?
There have been some studies in Scandinavia associating personality traits with the genetics of D2 receptors. If you carry these variants that turn down dopamine, you become more socially desirable. There is something charismatic about risk-takers.

Does curing the addiction eliminate the creativity?
Usually not. When you cure the addiction, you're not changing your genes. People are in recovery for life…. There is always a tremendous risk of relapse. Successful recovering addicts adopt behavioral strategies that allow you to resist or reduce cravings.

If you develop a full-blown addiction to a drug, the indications in rats are that it changes the brain forever. You can get it back a little but never entirely.

Is there a specific time that is more vulnerable?
There is nothing magic about that age [27]. Brain maturation ends at about age 20. In the early 20s, you have your adult brain. In the late 20s, it's the same.

Generally speaking, 27 is an age where you can have achieved a lot and be at a place that is very enabling. The one thing that we really know about relapse and addiction is that it is stress-triggered. Anyone dealing with an addict knows that relapse doesn't happen when things are going great.

Stress is a biological phenomenon. We know the intermediate steps. You argue or you're fighting off an infection and your body releases stress hormones, which bind to receptors in the brain pleasure circuitry that ultimately result in cravings. We know how stress causes craving…. The two biggest factors are genetics and stress.






Brain Scan predicts Pop Hits?

Is there some kind of neural signature that indicates what will ultimately become popular and obsessed over, and what will flop?

Scientists monitor the brains of teens listening to songs and find the breakout hits tend to share certain neural signatures

Internet Addiction impact on Human Brain.

High Wired: Does Addictive Internet Use Restructure the Brain?
Brain scans hint excessive time online is tied to stark physical changes in the brain
By Dave Mosher | June 17, 2011 | 15 read more about the article

Genetic Influence on Impact on Memory.

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Refuse to learn from experience? Thank your genes
By Katherine Harmon | April 19, 2011 | 10

Some people are incurable contrarians or imperturbable logicians. But most of us, whether we like it or not, allow other people’s opinions and advice to color our own experiences and opinions. Have you found that restaurant to really be as good as people say it is?

New findings suggests that a person’s willingness to coolly consider the facts gleaned from their own experience—apart from others’ previous verbal suggestions—might be based in large part on genetics.

It has been known and frequently demonstrated that "people will distort what they experience to be perceived as more consistent with what they thought already," Michael Frank, of the Brown Institute for Brain Science at Brown University, and a collaborator in the new research, said in a prepared statement. Even researchers can fall prey to confirmation bias, thinking they have discovered what they actually had expected to find in the noise of data.

So, why do we often struggle to accept our own impressions if they contradict what we’ve been told to expect? The disconnect occurs in part because these two types of information, the abstract and the experiential, are processed in different parts of the brain. Advice ("go to that Italian restaurant") is filtered, along with other higher-level cognition, in the prefrontal cortex. Experience ("that Italian restaurant is usually mediocre"), on the other hand, is lodged in a more primitive region of the brain, the striatum.

Although perhaps we should be more inclined to stick with what our gut (or tastebuds) has learned from personal experience, most people tend to lean on what their prefrontal cortex—i.e. outside instruction—has to say for more time than they rationally should.

"Maintaining instructions in the prefrontal cortex changes the way that the striatum works," Bradley Doll, a researcher at Brown, said in a prepared statement. "It biases what people learn about the contingencies they are actually experiencing," noted Doll, who coauthored a new paper detailing the results, which published online April 19 in The Journal of Neuroscience.

People’s willingness to let advice color their experience hinges at least in part on the neurotransmitter dopamine, which is associated with pleasure, reward and learning. The researchers pinpointed one gene in particular, COMT, that seems to play a role in a person’s inclination to learn from his or her own experiences. Individuals in the study with different alleles of this gene had differing propensities to be biased by outside advice in interpreting their own experiences.

Frank, Doll and colleague Kent Hutchinson tested more than 70 adults on a computer-based learning program. Subjects had to learn which symbols were most likely to be classified as the "correct" answer. The correlation was based on probability, rather than strict correlation, creating a gray area in which subjects had to weigh their past experiences with each symbol. In some tests, people were given advice about which symbols were correct most often—but this advice sometimes proved to be incorrect.

People with an exceptional ability to spot inaccurate instructions and start making decisions using their own experience tended to have the Val/Val version of the gene, whereas those who needed "greater confidence" that their experience was telling them to jettison earlier advice were more likely to have the Met allele.

Overall, the researchers concluded, "these findings suggest that the striatal learning process is modulated by prior expectations, and that the resulting associative weights cannot be easily ‘undone’ after the prior is rejected." So that might mean you have to order many bowls of substandard pasta before you finally admit to yourself that a much-lauded Italian restaurant isn’t actually all that great.

Of course, it’s certainly easier—and less painful—to learn to avoid a hot plate by being told to do so, and we’ve likely evolved to take this into account, prizing the prefrontal cortex’s retained instructions. "This phenomenon of confirmation bias might actually just be a byproduct of a system that tries to be more efficient with the learning process," Frank said.

But the human mind is rarely satisfied with simple instruction, as instruction—and advice—often turn out to be wrong. And what’s a few burnt fingertips in the grand scheme of independent thought?

August 20, 2011

ADD and Diet.

End Impulsive Overeating, Lose Weight, and Avoid Obesity
A weight-loss guide to help adults with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADD/ADHD) quit impulsive and compulsive overeating. To lose the weight, you will need to change the way your brain thinks about food. No dieting necessary!
by John Fleming, Ph.D.

Marrying Older-Wiser.

There are advantages to marrying later. You are more confident in your choices and less likely

to simply accept life as it comes. Education and being a part of the workforce gives you the ability to be a strong decision maker and create a life from a good solid foundation. You have had the opportunity to get to know who you are and what you want.

According to the joint studies statistics from the U.S. and Great Britain, the average age of first time brides and grooms is getting older. Today's couples are choosing to marry later than couples. The average age range is thirty to forty-two for some first-timers. A big difference from just twenty years ago, when the average age span was somewhere in your twenties.

There are solid reasons for this trend of older brides and grooms.

Advanced education.
Getting a college degree is no longer seen as the end of a man or woman's formal education. Unlike generations past, where post-grad education was something you did after marriage, if at all, both men and women want to obtain post-graduate degrees or specialized certifications before settling down.

Financial security.
People in their early thirties and forties are making quite sure of their own financial future before committing to a legal relationship. They are seeking mates who are as financially solvent as they are and who can bring this type of security to the marriage table.

Finding out who you are and what you really want, one of which is ownership of property.
Paying rent for an apartment is no longer desirable. Owning real estate, a co-op, townhouse, condo or house is almost a necessity.

The travel bug.
Europe, South America and world tours are big on their agenda. Part of a generation which grew up seeing the world on TV, they want to experience different cultures and traditions.

Having children later.
As far as starting a family, with advances in fertility available, couples who do want children can afford to marry later and let their biological clocks tick a bit longer. And afford seems to be the correct word here. An overwhelming majority of those interviewed in Great Britain said they wouldn't have children unless they could afford to have them. Less than twenty years ago, most couples said they "would somehow cope" if they started a family before they were financially ready.

Or deciding not to be parents.
Becoming parents is not a driving force for the older couple, marriage is the primary issue. Many studies have shown that the arrival of the first baby in younger marriages commonly has the effect of pushing the mother and father farther apart, and bringing stress to the marriage. Choosing not to be parents is something that older spouses may not want or need. Satisfaction in job, marital union and personal achievement of goals seem to be prime for the older couple.

Marrying "older" may be good for your health as well as your finances.
Rather than luck and love, the most common reasons older couples give for their marital success are commitment, financial security, good health and a friendly companionship. They define their marriages as a creation that takes work, dedication and commitment (to each other and to the institution of marriage). The happiest couples are friends who share lives and are compatible in interests and values.

The general level of happiness in older marriages increases with the years they are together. Compared to couples who marry in their twenties, those who married significantly later report less work-related stress, less marital conflict and more couple interaction and satisfaction.

A calmer, happier life.
Men and women will not marry someone who has violent outbursts or tendencies. Older spouses are less likely to commit domestic violence because they are more invested in their spouses' well-being, and more integrated into a social network of friends and extended family.

Also noted was the lack of "in-law" problems. With age comes not only wisdom but a certain acceptance of other people and their foibles. You are comfortable in your own skin, confident in your opinions and ideals and not as likely to be "told what to do."

Religion is not an issue.
Older couples have a tolerance for what others believe and this is a happy medium in a marriage. In fact, women and men in their thirties and forties are more likely to opt for a non-sectarian ceremony than younger couples. Religious differences are not an issue that can cause arguments, hurt feelings, or threaten the union. Many couples of different religious backgrounds complement each other's varied beliefs.

All in all, the idea of marriage has changed dramatically but there is still one major priority for any marriage. Being aware of what is best for your own growth and happiness and finding someone with whom you want to share it all can work for all marriages.

© 2011 Kristen Houghton

To read more from Kristen Houghton, peruse her articles at KristenHoughton.com and visit her Keys to Happiness blog. You may email her at kch@kristenhoughton.com. Read the book critics call "sane and savvy advice for all a must-read," ranked in the top-selling 100 books of 2011 by Tower.com "And Then I'll Be Happy! Stop Sabotaging Your Happiness and Put Your Own Life First."

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ADHD and Autism Have Common Genetic Link

Researchers identified more genes in ADHD Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and shows that there is an overlap between some of the genes and those found in other neuropsychiatric conditions such as Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).

Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD) is one of the most common childhood disorders and can continue through adolescence and adulthood. Symptoms include difficulty staying focused and paying attention, difficulty controlling behavior, and hyperactivity. ASD is a complex developmental disability that causes problems with social interaction and communication. Symptoms usually start before age three and can cause delays or problems in many different skills that develop from infancy to adulthood according to NIH.

The study is published in advance online editions of Science Translational Medicine by a research team, which was led by Dr. Russell Schachar, Senior Scientist and Psychiatrist at SickKids and Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto, and Dr. Stephen Scherer, Senior Scientist at SickKids, Director of The Centre for Applied Genomics at SickKids and the McLaughlin Centre at the University of Toronto.

The researchers used microarrays (gene-chip technology) to study the DNA of 248 unrelated patients with ADHD, searching specifically for Copy Number Variants (CNV), which are insertions or deletions affecting the genes.

Of the 173 children, researchers found 3 had spontaneous CNV's that occur when the parents are not affected and mutations are new to the child. Also, rare CNVs that were inherited from the affected parents were found in 19 of 248 patients.

Researchers found some of the genes that had previously been identified in other neuropsychiatric conditions including ASD. To test the overlap, they tested different group for CNV. Of the new group, they found that nine of the 349 children in the study, all of whom had previously been diagnosed with ASD, carried CNVs that are related to ADHD and other disorders.

The finding emphasize that CNVs have a common genetic link in ADHD, ASD and other neuropsychiatric disorders.

"For the first time, we've tested these genetic alterations in ADHD and have a pretty good handle on a couple of decent ADHD candidate genes," says Scherer "This is critical, as it gives us confidence in interpreting our results."

Most individuals with ADHD also have at least one other condition, such as anxiety, mood, conduct or language disorders. Up to 75 per cent of people with ASD also have attention deficits or hyperactivity. "A lot of these associated problems probably arise from the fact that they are sharing genetic risk for different conditions," says Schachar


This method is perhaps one of the most exciting findings in neuropsychiatric genetics and it is really starting to redefine how we think about neuropsychiatric conditions," said Schachar.

Researcher’s emphasis that whiles the new study was able to observe the link more research is needed to determine the cause.

Published by Medicaldaily.com

August 19, 2011

Mark Myers Expert Answer to: When is Worrying a Productive Activity?

Mark Myers Expert Answer to: When is Worrying a Productive Activity?

Tips on keeping Kids safe on Facebook

According to a 2010 Pew Internet Project study, nearly three fourths of American teenagers use social networking sites, with Facebook being the most popular by far. But some parents are still skeptical of the site; 55 percent of parents discourage their kids from making a social media profile, according to a recent study by Common Sense Media, a nonprofit that analyzes digital and traditional media.

But parents can set reasonable guidelines with their teens to keep them safe online, says Caroline Knorr, parenting editor of Common Sense Media. "Our position is that parents shouldn't fear social media," she says. "Kids are embracing these technologies. As a parent, it's part of your responsibility to engage with them." Here are some of her hints to help your child safely use Facebook.

[See how social media sites impact high school students in the classroom.]



1. Be aware: Parents should know whether their child has a Facebook page or not. "They should have a good understanding of what types of things their kids are posting publicly," she says.

2. Help your child manage privacy settings: Knorr recommends that parents sit down with their child as they choose privacy settings on the site. Make sure your child's profile isn't publicly searchable on Google, that settings showing your child's location are turned off, and that photos are private or visible by friends only.

"Parents should learn what those privacy settings mean and discuss why it's important to keep some things private." Facebook often changes its privacy rules, so check in frequently, she says.
[Learn whether it is safe to share photos.]

3. Don't embarrass them: "Parents need to understand that social networking in today's world is how kids experiment with their own identity. It's a normal developmental stage," she says. "I think parents should try to refrain from commenting, because you may set up a dynamic where your kid will block you [on Facebook], and you might not know about it."

4. Speak up: If you do see something on your teen's Facebook page that could damage his or her reputation or put them in danger, talk to them about it—face to face. "We're so used to communicating electronically," she says. "But there are a lot of conversations that are important to have in person."

Depression may increase stroke risk in women

Depression may boost women's risk of stroke, according to a new study.

Among study participants, those who'd had depression were 29 percent more likely to suffer a stroke over a six-year period.

And women who took an anti-depressant medication — especially a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) — had a 39 percent increased risk of stroke, the study said. Examples of these drugs include Prozac, Zoloft and Celexa.

The researchers said they do not think anti-depressants cause the increased stroke risk; rather, the connection exists because those who take these medications may have more severe depression, said study researcher Dr. Kathryn Rexrode, an associate physician at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston.

"This study does not suggest that people should stop their medications to reduce the risk of stroke," Rexrode said.

Depressed women
Researchers followed 80,574 women between the ages of 54 and 79 from 2000 to 2006. None had previously had a stroke.

At the study's start, 22 percent had suffered depression, and 1,033 stroke cases were documented during six years of follow-up.

Compared with women without a history of depression, depressed women were more likely to be single, smokers and less physically active. They were also slightly younger, had a higher body mass index (BMI) and more coexisting conditions such as high blood pressure, heart disease and diabetes.

"Depression can prevent individuals from controlling other medical problems such as diabetes and hypertension, from taking medications regularly or pursuing other healthy lifestyle measures such as exercise," Rexrode said.

The mind and the brain
Depression may also be linked to inflammation in the body, which increases the risk of stroke, as well as other conditions or underlying vascular disease in the brain, said study researcher An Pan, of Harvard School of Public Health.

"Regardless of the mechanism, recognizing that depressed individuals may be at a higher risk of stroke may help the physician focus on not only treating the depression, but treating stroke risk factors such as hypertension, diabetes and elevated cholesterol as well as addressing lifestyle behaviors such as smoking and exercise," Pan said.

The study found an association, not a cause-effect link. The researchers cannot rule out the possibility that other factors not taken into account in the study were responsible for the link, Pan said.

The study is published today (Aug. 11) in the journal Stroke.
updated 8/12/2011 10:37:54 AM ET

August 17, 2011

Addiction isn't just about Willpower.

By Lauran Neergaard
AP Medical Writer
WASHINGTON — Addiction isn't just about willpower. It's a chronic brain disease, says a new definition aimed at helping families and their doctors better understand the challenges of treating it.

"Addiction is about a lot more than people behaving badly," says Dr. Michael M. Miller of the American Society for Addiction Medicine.

That's true whether it involves drugs and alcohol or gambling and compulsive eating, the doctors group said Monday. And like other chronic conditions such as heart disease or diabetes, treating addiction and preventing relapse is a long-term endeavor, the specialists concluded.

Addiction generally is described by its behavioral symptoms — the highs, the cravings, and the things people will do to achieve one and avoid the other. The new definition doesn't disagree with the standard guide for diagnosis based on those symptoms.

But two decades of neuroscience have uncovered how addiction hijacks different parts of the brain, to explain what prompts those behaviors and why they can be so hard to overcome. The society's policy statement, published on its Web site, isn't a new direction as much as part of an effort to translate those findings to primary care doctors and the general public.

"The behavioral problem is a result of brain dysfunction," agrees Dr. Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

She welcomed the statement as a way to help her own agency's work to spur more primary care physicians to screen their patients for signs of addiction. NIDA estimates that 23 million Americans need treatment for substance abuse but only about 2 million get that help. Trying to add compassion to the brain findings, NIDA even has made readings from Eugene O'Neill's "Long Day's Journey into Night" a part of meetings where primary care doctors learn about addiction.

Then there's the frustration of relapses, which doctors and families alike need to know are common for a chronic disease, Volkow says.

"You have family members that say, `OK, you've been to a detox program, how come you're taking drugs?'" she says. "The pathology in the brain persists for years after you've stopped taking the drug."

Just what does happen in the brain? It's a complex interplay of emotional, cognitive and behavioral networks.

Genetics plays a role, meaning some people are more vulnerable to an addiction if they, say, experiment with drugs as a teenager or wind up on potent prescription painkillers after an injury.

Age does, too. The frontal cortex helps put the brakes on unhealthy behaviors, Volkow explains. It's where the brain's reasoning side connects to emotion-related areas. It's among the last neural regions to mature, one reason that it's harder for a teenager to withstand peer pressure to experiment with drugs.

Even if you're not biologically vulnerable to begin with, perhaps you try alcohol or drugs to cope with a stressful or painful environment, Volkow says. Whatever the reason, the brain's reward system can change as a chemical named dopamine conditions it to rituals and routines that are linked to getting something you've found pleasurable, whether it's a pack of cigarettes or a few drinks or even overeating. When someone's truly addicted, that warped system keeps them going back even after the brain gets so used to the high that it's no longer pleasurable.

Make no mistake: Patients still must choose to fight back and treat an addiction, stresses Miller, medical director of the Herrington Recovery Center at Rogers Memorial Hospital in Oconomowoc, Wis.

But understanding some of the brain reactions at the root of the problem will "hopefully reduce some of the shame about some of these issues, hopefully reduce stigma," he says.

And while most of the neuroscience centers on drug and alcohol addiction, the society notes that it's possible to become addicted to gambling, sex or food although there's no good data on how often that happens. It's time for better study to find out, Miller says.

Meanwhile, Volkow says intriguing research is under way to use those brain findings to develop better treatments — not just to temporarily block an addict's high but to strengthen the underlying brain circuitry to fend off relapse.

Topping Miller's wish list: Learning why some people find recovery easier and faster than others, and "what does brain healing look like."

Pre-Bed Booze May Effect Sleep.

People often turn to wine, beer or cocktails to unwind at the end of the day. These drinks might seem to be relaxing and to aid sleep. But research has shown that people who drink alcohol in the evenings actually get less REM sleep and have less restful nights.

Now a study demonstrates that late-night alcohol might decrease the amount of necessary overnight repair work that the body can do.

Subjects in the study drank strong, weak or alcohol-free beverages an hour-and-40-minutes before going to bed. The more booze the volunteers imbibed, the higher their overnight heart rate. These rapid beats were an indication that their bodies were not in the most productive rest mode, say the researchers. The work appears in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research. [Yohei Sagawa et al., "Alcohol Has a Dose-Related Effect on Parasympathetic Nerve Activity During Sleep"]

The findings might help explain why those who frequently drink often suffer from insomnia at night and sleepiness during the day, as well as more long-term health effects.

So if you're looking for better, more healthful sleep, maybe avoid the nighttime nightcap.

—Katherine Harmon

Mark Myers Video on Anger Management For Youth

Myers Counseling Group presents Anger Managment

For Youth video.

Violence Against Woman Impacts

Violence against women often leads to more mental illnesses
By AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION
08/09/2011 10:55

New study shows that women who experience gender-based violence have higher incidence of anxiety and substance use disorders.
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Women who reported experiencing gender-based violence, such as rape, sexual assault, intimate partner violence and stalking, had an associated higher lifetime prevalence of mental health disorders, dysfunction and disability, according to a study in the August 3 issue of JAMA, a theme issue on violence and human rights.

Violence against women is a major public health concern, contributing to high levels of illness and death worldwide, according to background information in the article. "In the United States, 17 percent of women report rape or attempted rape and more than one-fifth of women report intimate partner violence (IPV), stalking, or both. There is mounting evidence that each of these forms of gender-based violence (GBV) is associated with mental disorder among women, although methodological shortcomings of existing studies constrain the inferences that can be drawn," the authors write.

Susan Rees, Ph.D., of the University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and colleagues assessed the association of a composite index of GBV (rape, sexual abuse, IPV, and stalking) with a range of lifetime mental disorders, including indices of severity and co-existing illnesses. The researchers analyzed data from the Australian National Mental Health and Well-being Survey of 2007, which included 4,451 women (65 percent response rate), ages 16 to 85 years. Diagnostic criteria from the World Health Organization's World Mental Health Survey Initiative was used to assess lifetime prevalence of any mental disorder, anxiety, mood disorder, substance use disorder, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

The researchers found that the lifetime prevalence for any mental disorder was 37.8 percent. A total of 1,218 women (27.4 percent) reported experiencing at least 1 of the types of GBV assessed in this study. The lifetime prevalence rates were 14.7 percent for sexual assault, 10 percent for stalking, 8.1 percent for rape, and 7.8 percent for IPV. Women who had been exposed to 1 form of GBV reported a high rate of lifetime mood disorder (weighted, 30.7 percent), lifetime anxiety disorder (38.5 percent), lifetime substance use disorder (23.0 percent), lifetime PTSD (15.2 percent), and any lifetime mental disorder (57.3 percent).

"The association was particularly strong for exposure to 3 to 4 types of GBV (lifetime anxiety disorders: weighted, 77.3 percent; lifetime mood disorder: 52.5 percent; lifetime substance use disorder: 47.1 percent; lifetime PTSD: 56.2 percent; and any lifetime mental disorder: 89.4 percent). Women exposed to a single GBV reported increased rates of suicide attempts (weighted, 6.6 percent), with the highest rate of suicide attempts for those who reported exposure to 3 to 4 types of GBV (34.7 percent)" the authors write.

The researchers also found that gender-based violence was associated with more severe current mental disorder, higher rates of 3 or more lifetime disorders, physical disability, mental disability, impaired quality of life, an increase in disability days, and overall disability.

"Our data underline the observation that mental health disorder in women who have experienced GBV tends to be more severe and associated with comorbidity, characteristics that require expert and comprehensive approaches to treatment. Therefore, there is a need to ensure that expert mental health care is a central component of GBV programs. Similarly, psychiatric services need to be better equipped to assist women with mental health disorders who have experienced GBV," the authors write.

"In general, renewed impetus is needed to develop an evidence base for prevention and clinical interventions that reflect a comprehensive view of GBV and its association with wide-ranging mental and psychosocial disabilities among women."

This article was originally published by the American Medical Association.

PARENT SURVIVAL TIPS




The behaviorally Challenged child

∙ Avoid comparing your children with each other. Each child is unique in his/her own way.

∙ Identify and understand the unique limits and strengths of each child.

∙ Try to see the humor in things.

∙ Dwell on positives not failures.

∙ Try to start the day off with a positive for your child. Make a list of all the things that make you proud of your child...post it in a prominent place

Advice Giving

∙ Avoid soliciting too much advice from people. You can find yourself overloaded with conflicting information.

∙ Know what you are looking for in others when soliciting advice. Are you looking for support (someone to listen to you) or answers to your problems. If you are looking for support, it could be frustrating for you and that other person when you are trying to ventilate and they are giving you solutions.

Consequences

∙ Role model the \behavior you are expecting from your child. If you do not want him/her to swear, that means curbing your own language.

∙ Instead of saying no all the time, try something different. Switch objects, vary messages (too high, hot, not for baby). This strengthens the No message.

∙ Offer choices. When you do this, then this will happen. Rely on natural consequences. Do not feel the need to always be creative in giving consequences.

∙ Avoid power struggles. Children need to accept that there are going to be consequences they will not like or feel is fair.

∙ Set clear limits with consequences. Let your child know the consequences ahead of time.

∙ Impose consequences as soon as possible.

∙ Limit length of time for time outs. Usually one minute for each year of age.

∙ Avoid rigidity.

∙ Don’t apply consequences that you feel more than the child (grounding him/her and having to stay home and monitor them).

Day to Day

∙ Make things easier for yourselves. Hire a cleaning service. Swap baby sitting. Have your groceries delivered. Have a neighborhood youth mow your lawn or shovel your walk.
∙ Expand your resources. This includes finding baby sitters, and/or joining a mother’s, fathers’s, and/or parent group. Explore your options with your church or synagogue.

∙ Family and friends are a necessity, not a luxury.

∙ Take care of yourself. Their nap time is your nap time. You could also spend time working out at the Health Club. Plan your meals well.

∙ Accept the fact that there are changes you need to adjust to. Your house may not be as clean as it used to be. Dishes may not get done as soon as you would like.


Marriage and Parenthood

∙ Look at parenthood/marriage as a cooperative venture. Apply team work (giving each other breaks).

∙ Look for or create your own windows of opportunity to do things. Accept the fact that now that you have children, free time does not come as easy. You may not be able to go out with the boys/girls on a weekly basis, but if you plan ahead, an evening out once in awhile will help.

∙ Make sure your relationship keeps going strong. Call each other during the day. Leave a message to let your spouse know you are thinking of them. Buy a little gift, leave a note in their lunch box or briefcase.

∙ Wake up ½ hour earlier to greet the day together...quietly.

∙ Avoid having one parent do all the disciplining.

Lab studies Show That Light Reduces Fear

By Rick Nauert PhD Senior News Editor
Reviewed by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on August 11, 2011

Lab Studies Show that Light Reduces Fear Using mice as model, University of Virginia researchers discover light plays a role in reducing fear and anxiety.

This finding and application may augment the treatment of a variety of mental disorders including depression, anxiety, panic disorders, phobias and post-traumatic stress disorder.

The research builds on earlier findings by biologists and psychologists showing that light affects mood with the new study demonstrating light can modulate fear.

As mice are nocturnal animals, the researchers discovered intense light enhances fear or anxiety in mice, in much the same way that darkness can intensify fear or anxiety in diurnal humans.

The finding is published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

“We looked at the effect of light on learned fear, because light is a pervasive feature of the environment that has profound effects on behavior and physiology,” said Brian Wiltgen.

“Light plays an important role in modulating heart rate, circadian rhythms, sleep/wake cycles, digestion, hormones, mood and other processes of the body. In our study we wanted to see how it affects learned fear.”

Fear is a natural mechanism for survival and is often an instinct. For example, fears or reactions to loud noise, sudden movements and heights are innate.

In addition, humans and other mammals can learn from their experiences which may include dangerous or bad situations. This “learned fear” can protect us from dangers.

Unfortunately, this fear can become abnormally accentuated, sometimes leading to debilitating phobias. About 40 million people in the United States suffer from dysregulated fear and heightened states of anxiety.

“Studies show that light influences learning, memory and anxiety,” Wiltgen said. “We have now shown that light also can modulate conditioned fear responses.”

“In this work we describe the modulation of learned fear by ambient light,” said Ignacio Provencio, an expert on light and photoreception.

“The dysregulation of fear is an important component of many disorders, including generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, specific phobias and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Understanding how light regulates learned fear may inform therapies aimed at treating some of these fear-based disorders.”

“The implications of this in humans is this: that being diurnal, the absence of light can be a source of fear,” Wiltgen said.

“But increased light can be used to reduce fear and anxiety and to treat depression.

“If we can come to understand the cellular mechanisms that affect this, then eventually abnormal anxiety and fear might be treated with improved pharmaceuticals to mimic or augment light therapy.”

Source: University of Virginia

August 16, 2011

Antidepressants For Older Adults? Be Careful!

A study published in The British Medical Journal this month raises questions about the risks of antidepressant medications for adults 65 and older who have been diagnosed with depression. The major conclusion of the article -- that care should be taken in prescribing and in selecting which antidepressant medication to prescribe for older adults -- is unquestionably correct and is nothing new. However, the specific findings of this study -- that taking antidepressants was associated with increased death rates and other adverse consequences, and that the new antidepressants (SSRIs ) may have greater serious risks than those associated with previous generations of antidepressants -- are provocative, important and uncertain.

The study's two major findings are frightening on their face.

Compared with older primary care patients who had diagnoses of depression in their records but who did not take antidepressants, those who did take antidepressants had higher rates of death, attempted suicide, falls, fractures, upper gastro-intestinal bleeding and heart attacks.

Those who took SSRIs (which are the most commonly prescribed antidepressants) had higher rates of death, stroke, falls, fractures and seizures than those who took tricyclics or other earlier forms of antidepressant.

Because of possible implications for current standards of practice, the importance of this research and of doing prospective future research to resolve questions that this study leaves unanswered cannot be overstated.

In recent years, much research has indicated that older adults who are depressed -- especially those who also have a chronic physical condition -- and who are not treated for depression are at increased risk for disability and premature mortality. Specifically, previous studies have linked depression to greater functional decline, increased risk of falls and greater cardiovascular mortality among older persons who are not taking antidepressants. As a result, there has been a push to screen for depression and to treat it, using both psychotherapy and antidepressants. This study seems to call this standard approach to depression into question.

In addition, it is known that SSRIs have fewer side effects (e.g., dry mouth, constipation and cardiovascular complications) than earlier forms of antidepressants. Are they also safer? The findings of this study suggest that they may not be. Should preferences regarding antidepressants for older adults therefore change?

Carol Coupland and her colleagues, the authors of this new study, are modest in their conclusions and recommendations, saying only, "The potential risks and benefits of different antidepressants ... need careful consideration when these drugs are prescribed for older adults."

Why not issue an alarm about the use of antidepressants, and particularly about the use of SSRIs, by older adults? First, this study examines patient records in ways that identify associations of facts but do not reveal causation. The standard way to establish causation would involve random selection of depressed patients prescribed antidepressants. In the BMJ study, the decision was not made randomly, raising the possibility that an unidentified factor led physicians to prescribe antidepressants, and particularly SSRIs, to their depressed patients who were at greatest risk for adverse outcomes.

Similar studies have demonstrated that antidepressants are associated with reduced risks of suicide and reduced risks of death from conditions such as strokes and cardiac disease.

Second, this study does not adequately distinguish between older adults with major depressive disorder (MDD) and those with other mood problems, and it does not adequately examine those with moderate or severe MDD compared to those with mild disorders. Clinical research regarding the use of antidepressant medications indicates that they are more effective for people with disorders that meet the threshold for a clinical diagnosis, particularly if moderate to severe . It would be useful to repeat this study leaving out people with mild depression or without depression at all, keeping in mind that a diagnosis of depression in a patient's chart is not necessarily accurate.

Third, this study does not clearly distinguish between those who began the study with a serious physical condition and those who did not. It would be useful to follow patients with serious physical illnesses and depression to see whether -- as other studies suggest -- treatment for depression brings down their risk of death and other adverse consequences.

Despite these reservations, the findings of this study are very important both with regard to overall risks of antidepressants for older adults and with regard to the possibility that SSRIs have more adverse consequences than earlier generations of antidepressants.

Are antidepressant medications dangerous for older adults? Would it be preferable to treat depression only with psychotherapy despite evidence that the combination of psychotherapy and medication is generally more effective than either alone? Should earlier-generation antidepressants be used more frequently than SSRIs despite evidence that the SSRIs have fewer side effects? This study does not give definitive answers, but it does reinforce the fact that the use of antidepressants by older adults is not risk-free. Physicians and their patients should clearly exercise caution.

Coupland, Carol et al. "Antidepressant use and risk of adverse outcomes in older people: population based cohort study" in BMJ, August 2, 2011. http://www.bmj.com/content/343/bmj.d4551

Harrison, Pam. "Depression in Older Adults Increases Mortality Risk". Medscape News, February 26, 2010. http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/717663

Fergueson, James. "SSRI Antidepressant Medications: Adverse Effects and Tolerability" Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, February 2001. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14514497http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC181155/

Jorge, Ricardo et al. "Mortality and Post-Stroke Depression: A Placebo-Controlled Trial of Antidepressants" in American Journal of Psychiatry, October 2003. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14514497

Glassman, Alexander et al. "Psychiatric Characteristics Associated with Long-term Mortality Among 361 Patients Having an Acute Coronary Syndrome and Major Depression: Sever-Year Follow-up of SADHART Participants" in Archives of General Psychiatry, September 2009. http://archpsyc.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/abstract/66/9/1022

Fournier, Jay et al. "Antidepressant Drug Effects and Depression Severity: A Patient Level Meta-Analysis" in Journal of the American Medical Association, January, 2010. http://jama.ama-assn.org/content/303/1/47.full

Bartels, Stephen et al. Evidence-Based Practices in Geriatric Mental Health in Psychiatric Services, November 2002. http://www.ps.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/full/53/11/1419
Close encounters with horses are helping young people gain confidence and a sense of achievement, writes Anne Crawford.

MARK McIntosh smiles to himself as he watches the slight youth with the serious expression calmly lead a young horse around the yard.

Mr McIntosh has been running a program called Equine Facilitated Learning (EFL) and his student David O'Meara, who has Asperger's syndrome, is proving to him that it works.

The method, which uses groundwork rather than riding, helps participants with confidence, self-esteem and communication. It has been used in the US and throughout Europe for many years and is catching on here, taught at several centres throughout Victoria.
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Instructor Mark McIntosh and Ronnie Layton with Shimmer.

Instructor Mark McIntosh and Ronnie Layton with Shimmer. Photo: Anne Crawford

Mr McIntosh and his wife Dianne have run the program at their South Gippsland property for several months with private clients and a group from Yooralla. For Dianne, EFL is a natural fit: she's an integration aide working with children with disabilities and learning difficulties at a local school, and a rider since the age of four.

For her husband, who's also ridden from a young age, it's a new lease on life. "I was a paramedic for 35 years and a bit of a hard old bastard — you had to be to survive — but watching this just blows me away," he says.

Mr McIntosh takes the Yooralla group on Thursday mornings, coaching them one at a time in the walled round-yard as the others watch from a viewing platform. It's baby steps, he says. Progress can be incremental and is very individual.

For some time, 21-year-old Craig Webster, for example, was reluctant to do anything.

"At first, all I could get him to do was touch his little finger on the horse's nose," says Mr McIntosh. Now, he'll lead a pony in some sessions; on other days he'll stand stroking a strand of mane Mr McIntosh has cut for him.

Ronnie Layton, 29, on the other hand, was keen from the outset. His father's family owned horses and he says he'd like to work with them one day. He radiates confidence as he guides a big chestnut horse around the yard.

"Calm him down. Call him in," instructs Mr McIntosh. Ronnie holds up an arm in front of the animal, then beckons it in. The horse stops instantly, turns, and heads towards him. "You're a champion," says Mr McIntosh. "I'm a natural," says Ronnie.

Leonie MaCallister, too, looks comfortable as she urges a bay pony around the circumference of the yard. But it wasn't always so, says Tracy Roylance, a disability support worker from Yooralla.

"When Leonie started, she was quite frightened. She wasn't really using her voice. Mark encouraged her to talk to the horse and she could see its ears pricking up when she did. Now she's getting results — she's using a nice clear voice and you can see how pleased she looks."

Ms Roylance has watched the group of five grow in confidence over the weeks. "They're getting a lot out of it," she says. "They really feel good about themselves and it spills over into their everyday lives as well."

Participants learn the value of trust and clear communication by watching themselves mirrored in the horse's actions, says Mr McIntosh. Horses pick up on anger, aggression and anxiety, and respond instantly. They are sensitive herd animals that look for a leader to follow who makes them feel safe — no matter who it is, he says. Body language, gestures, breathing and voice are important.

"I think it's quite magical, the bond between the horses and these people. I don't want to sound too airy-fairy about it but there's something about the way the horses read them. The horses are asked to do simple tasks and they just do it," he says. "Once the participants understand how to ask for and receive co-operation from a 500-kilogram horse, their confidence and self-esteem goes sky-high."

EFL is being used increasingly with people with autism, bipolar disorder and anger management issues, along with children with attention deficit disorder, bullies, and victims of bullying, trauma and abuse.

It's good for concentration, Mr McIntosh says, citing the example of a five-year-old autistic boy, who has visited twice.

"He was a handful at first, wandering off, with a short attention span," he says. "In the first week I didn't get much out of him but the next week Dianne encouraged him to lead a pony over a pole on the ground. He yelled out 'jump' when it got near, then did it again. That's a big step forward. He concentrated, he followed a task and he vocalised a command."

Mr McIntosh was particularly pleased when David persuaded their big chestnut to lie down — quite an achievement as a horse is at its most vulnerable then. "They have to really trust you. These aren't trick ponies.

"David just said 'oh yeah' afterwards, but it was huge for me, and bigger for his mother."

Heather O'Meara, watching outside the ring, was in tears. She told Mr McIntosh later that her son talked about it for weeks.

The couple run the EFL courses as part of their down-to-earth property, the Horse Workshop, in Bass, where they teach riding and train horses. They studied the technique early this year under Franklin Levinson, a veteran American "horse whisperer", who conducts clinics around the world.

The theories of horse behaviour and gentle handling behind it aren't new, says Mr McIntosh. They date back centuries. Horse therapies have been around for a long time, too, and other high-profile handlers have imparted similar versions. Mr McIntosh says contemporary clinical research has shown that proximity to horses changes human brain chemistry in a positive way.

"I don't know how EFL works exactly. I just know that it does."

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/national/education/yard-work-has-students-riding-high-20110807-1ihfg.html#ixzz1VC6rGqGb

August 12, 2011

Mark Myers Expert Answer to"How Do I Stop From Hating Someone Else?"

  Mark Myers Expert Answer to"How Do I Stop From Hating Someone Else? " more

Coke addicts prefer money in hand to snowy future

When a research team asked cocaine addicts to choose, hypothetically, between money now or cocaine of greater value later, "preference was almost exclusively for the money now," said Warren K., Bickel, professor in the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute, director of the Advanced Recovery Research Center, and professor of psychology in the College of Science at Virginia Tech. This result is significantly different from previous studies where a subject chooses between some money now or more 
money later.  more

August 11, 2011

ADHD Adults: Feeling Antisocial?

Maintaining Friendships is hard work for most adults with   attention deficit hyperactivity disorder(ADD/ADHD) It means making commitments and following through, neither of which are big strengths of ours. If we wind up canceling or, worse, forgetting about a coffee date or movie night altogether, we feel guilty, frustrated, and worse than if we hadn’t agreed to meet   more

Many Addictsneed to Hit Rock Bottom

Ron Kanwischer remembers the minute he knew he needed to stop smoking.  It was 1986, after Kanwischer had been a smoker for years, and his 3-year-old daughter began coughing while riding in the car that day with her father after he lit up.    more

August 10, 2011