Recovery Michigan

Antidepressive drugs reduce the mortality rate of schizophrenic patients, while treatment with bensodiazepines greatly increases it, especially as regards suicide. Giving several antipsychotics simultaneously, however, seems to have no effect at all. This according to a new study examining different drug combinations administered to patients with schizophrenia.

"We weren't aware that the beneficial effects of antidepressives were so powerful," says Jari Tiihonen, professor of clinical psychiatry at Karolinska Institutets Department of Clinical Neuroscience.

Antipsychotic medications are increasingly prescribed in the US, but they can cause serious side effects including rapid weight gain, especially in children. In the first study of its kind, researchers at Zucker Hillside Hospital and the Feinstein Institute for Medical Research identified a gene that increases weight gain in those treated with commonly-used antipsychotic drugs. These findings were published in the May issue of Archives of General Psychiatry.

The mental health system in the United States is in need of major reform. The piece that follows is a is a vision for congressional legislation.  Once passed and signed into law, it will serve as a beacon of hope for nations around the world.

Mental Health Freedom and Recovery Act

Protection of Constitutional Rights

I wish that everyone knew about WRAP (Wellness Recovery Action Plan).  It has been helpful to so many people.  The research has proved that it helps people to feel better and move on with their lives.  The problem is, far too few people know about.  I do the best I can to network it, and I now have lots and lots of people helping me.  But it is not enough.  Kids should know about WRAP, or how to take care of themselves from childhood.  Adults need to learn how to do the same thing.  It is my wish that when someone starts to feel badly, they look at the resources they have and figure out how to help themselves feel better.  If they reach out to an agency, or even a doctor for help, the help begins by working the person, step-by-step through the non-invasive, self-determined and empowering WRAP process.  The first questions should be about what the person knows help them to feel better.

Researchers at the University of Liverpool have found that children who have experienced severe trauma are three times as likely to develop schizophrenia in later life.

The findings shed new light on the debate about the importance of genetic and environmental triggers of psychotic disorders. For many years research in mental health has focused on the biological factors behind conditions such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and psychotic depression, but there is now increasing evidence to suggest these conditions cannot be fully understood without first looking at the life experiences of individual patients.

For people in recovery from substance abuse or from mental illness, sometimes from both, self-care is of vital importance. We talk about it but rarely get specific about just what that means. Recovering people often make excuses for a lack of self-care. Good self-care does not have to be expensive. I wrote in a previous post about ways to find help and counseling if you have little income and no health insurance. But let’s be honest here. I see people who have money for their addiction, money for their hobbies or entertainment but say they have no money for self-care. Make self-care a priority. It is extremely important for your recovery.

There is a connection between phthalates found in cosmetics and plastics and the risk of developing diabetes among seniors. Even at a modest increase in circulating phthalate levels, the risk of diabetes is doubled. This conclusion is drawn by researchers at Uppsala University in a study published in the journal Diabetes Care.

A study by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) reveals that individuals aged 18 and older who had any mental illness, major depressive episodes or serious mental illness in the past year, are more likely to develop diabetes, high blood pressure, asthma, cardiovascular disease, or have a stroke, than those not experiencing mental illness.

African-Americans and Hispanics with major depressive disorder are less likely to get antidepressants than Caucasian patients, and Medicare and Medicaid patients are less likely to get the newest generation of antidepressants.

Researchers from the University of Michigan School of Public Health examined data from 1993 to 2007 to try to understand the antidepressant prescribing patterns of physicians. They looked at two things: who received antidepressants, and what type of antidepressant was prescribed.

They found that race, payment source, physician ownership status and geographical region influenced whether physicians decided to prescribe antidepressants in the first place. Age and payment source influenced which types of antidepressants patients received.

New research published in the April issue of The Journal of Nuclear Medicine reveals that systemic inflammation causes an increase in depressive symptoms and metabolic changes in the parts of the brain responsible for mood and motivation. With this finding, researchers can begin to test potential treatments for depression for patients that experience symptoms that are related to inflammation in the body or within the brain.