Recovery Michigan

http://goo.gl/LZXzJw

Prof. Yong Huang and team from Southern Medical University in China compared the clinical efficacy of acupuncture/electroacupuncture combined with an antidepressant drug, with that of an antidepressant drug alone, using the Symptom Checklist-90.

Researchers found that administration of Seroxat alone or in combination with acupuncture/electroacupuncture can produce a significant effect in patients with primary unipolar depression. Furthermore, acupuncture/electroacupuncture has a rapid onset of therapeutic effect and produces a noticeable improvement in obsessive-compulsive, depressive and anxiety symptoms.

http://goo.gl/lnNPTd

Mahatma Gandhi said, “First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.”

With Pennsylvania Republican Representative Tim Murphy currently trying to push his Murphy Bill (HR 3717) through Congress, the battle is clearly on.

The so-called Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act, or Murphy Bill HR 3717, is a misguided response to national tragedies; one that would set back proven, positive, recovery-oriented, community-based, peer-initiated mental health innovations by 40 or 50 years.   The bill is in direct conflict with the 2003 President’s New Freedom Commission recommendation to promote recovery and consumer involvement to help transform our broken mental health system.

http://goo.gl/qnm9Xu

Golomb noted that impaired mitochondrial function accounts for numerous features of Gulf War illness, including symptoms that have been viewed as perplexing or paradoxical.

“The classic presentation for mitochondrial illness involves multiple symptoms spanning many domains, similar to what we see in Gulf War illness. These classically include fatigue, cognitive and other brain-related challenges, muscle problems and exercise intolerance, with neurological and gastrointestinal problems also common.”

There are other similarities between patients with mitochondrial dysfunction and those suffering from Gulf War illness: Additional symptoms appear in smaller subsets of patients; varying patterns of symptoms and severity among individuals; different latency periods across symptoms, or times when symptoms first appear; routine blood tests that appear normal.

http://goo.gl/zUwMJE

A type of virtual reality (VR) treatment called Graded Exposure Therapy (GET) can improve PTSD symptoms and may also have a positive impact on these associated disorders, as described in an article inCyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. The article is available free on the Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking.

Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking Article

http://goo.gl/4ye75q

"The promising results of this trial in continuing care for AUDs point to the possible value of a smartphone intervention for treating AUDs and perhaps other chronic illnesses," the authors, David H. Gustafson, Ph.D., of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and colleagues, wrote.

For this study, the research team recruited 349 patients with AUD. The patients were randomly assigned to two different types of treatment groups. 179 entered residential programs for one year. 170 received the same treatment but supplemented with the app known as the Addiction-Comprehensive Health Enhancement Support System (A-CHESS). A-CHESS provides patients with an audio-guided relaxation system. It also alerts the patients whenever they are near a high-risk location, such as a familiar bar.

http://goo.gl/2m0PgN

In a study forthcoming in the Journal of Psychiatric Research, Eric Finzi, a cosmetic dermatologist, and Norman Rosenthal, a professor of psychiatry at Georgetown Medical School, randomly assigned a group of 74 patients with major depression to receive either Botox or saline injections in the forehead muscles whose contraction makes it possible to frown. Six weeks after the injection, 52 percent of the subjects who got Botox showed relief from depression, compared with only 15 percent of those who received the saline placebo.

http://goo.gl/o9A8R7

Between 1999 and 2009, more than 450,000 Americans were killed in a traffic crashes. But in cases where alcohol was involved, death certificates frequently failed to list alcohol as a cause of death.

Overall, they found, death certificates greatly unde-reported the role of alcohol in traffic deaths between 1999 and 2009: Just over 3 percent listed alcohol as a contributing cause. But based on the FARS figures, 21 percent of those deaths were legally drunk.

http://goo.gl/vvWkAz

"One of the key messages for medics and drug users is that even though psychostimulant drugs may initially seem similar, the differences in the way they work can be critical," says Green, who published the findings in the British Journal of Pharmacology. "The good news is that the effects seen in animal studies generally reflect the reported changes in humans, which gives us confidence that the warning signals on the relative risks of different drugs from these studies need to be taken seriously."

by Tim Grabowski

Solo no go.  Group is the coupe.  There is a BIG difference from hearing and seeing a solo artist or a group.  When you perform alone you are at the mercy of your own thoughts and feelings.  Sometimes a stray thought can lead to a missed note.  In life, being alone in your thoughts can lead you to miss thinking.  Sometimes we get a thought that is not true.  This stinking thinking can separate us from the audience who is watching us.  A stray thought can alienate us from friends and family.  People think there is something wrong.  Many times this turns into people turning away.  It causes people to not associate with us.  We feel isolated and alone.    

With a team we can get input from people who notice things are not working right.  Teams give us new ideas.  Ideas from other people can affect our lives in a positive ways.  They inspire us to new levels.  A comment about a good person we should connect with helps us build success.  Affirming we are on the right track helps keep us focused on a path that is good for growth.  Teams help us win.  Choosing to hang around with winning individual makes us winners by association.  There is power in groups.  A couple is stronger that an individual.  Life is better when you have someone to share with.  There have always been men and women.  Without this coupling there would be no future generation.  We long for the time we can hold each other in bed or we can hug and kiss as we pass each other.  Life is much more with a partner.  I have friends on social networks that are trying daily to find a special person in their life.  Relationships are invited.  When they have one, sometimes it does not work.  I hear of people breaking off relationships for things done in the past.  I have done things I am not proud of.  Can we live up to the standards we hold others to?  I look in the mirror and I can see blemishes.  I can still love myself.  Loving others with that same intensity is a hard road.  There are problems with every road.  If the destination is worth the trip the road’s condition does not matter. 

Whether it is school, work, or church, groups fill a human need.  We hang in groups to socialize and band together.  We unite as a group with one spirit.  When we socialize emotions flow.  We laugh with each other.  We hold each other when things are bad.  Groups are essential to being a human.

Success in life happens faster and bigger with a team.  A group can accomplish much more than an individual can.  Groups can steer a person in the right direction.  When you are solo it is all about you.  The right or wrong is all on your shoulders.  In a team the weight of life is spread out over many shoulders.  The load is lighter.  It is nice being a part of a team.  Teams help with the things that hold us back.  Teams make life easier.  I have an Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) team.  They visit and help me mentally and socially.  ACT lets me talk to other people.  The team listens and shares the conversation with people who have a stake in my mental health.  The team includes a therapists, a nurse, and a doctor.  An ACT team is committed to insuring my mental health is good.  ACT monitors my medication.  Conversations suggest people to team up with in my life.  We found a conservator, guardian, and payee who helps me with the other people and the financial stress in life.  My conservator is a wise person.  She is connected and respected by the whole community. 

Right now this help is needed.  I have a disability.  The life skills other people have don’t come easy to me.  There has been a lot of struggle steps in my life.  Now I have a team to lean on.  The hold me up.  Teams are there if I do fall. They are there to comfort me.  When the timing is right a team is there to help me back to my feet.  Then with one foot in front of the other and I am back on life’s path.  There will be bumps in the road.  There will also be a path downward to ease the walk.  And all this is possible because of a team.  What did I do when I was alone?  A team effort makes life’s walk more enjoyable.   In my life teams work.  I would not be in recovery without the team that is there to ease the burden of the load.  They help bear some of the weight of living life.  Teams work.

http://goo.gl/bjMgTr

"We were able to find clear evidence that joining groups, and coming to identify with them, can alleviate depression," says Haslam, a member of CIFAR's Social Interactions, Identity & Well-Being (SIIWB) program.

While past research has looked at the importance of social connections for preventing and treating depression, Dr. Haslam says it has tended to emphasize interpersonal relationships rather than the importance of a sense of group identity. In addition, researchers haven't really understood why group therapy works. "Our work shows that the 'group' aspect of social interaction is critical," he says.