Recovery Michigan

“The four subtypes of depression that we discovered vary in terms of their clinical symptoms but, more importantly, they differ in their responses to treatment,” Liston said. “We can now predict with high accuracy whether or not a patient will respond to transcranial magnetic stimulation therapy, which is significant because it takes five weeks to know if this type of treatment works.”

Researchers from Weill Cornell Medicine and seven other institutions derived the biomarkers by assigning statistical weights to abnormal connections in the brain, then predicting the probability that they belonged to one subtype versus another. The study found that distinct patterns of abnormal functional connectivity in the brain differentiated the four biotypes and were linked with specific symptoms. For example, reduced connectivity in the part of the brain that regulates fear-related behavior and reappraisal of negative emotional stimuli was most severe in biotypes one and four, which exhibited increased anxiety.

Liston will seek to replicate and confirm the results of this research and discover if it is broadly applicable to studying the biology of depression and other forms of mental illness.

A study in the Lancet Psychiatry suggests up to one in 11 cases of psychosis may involve antibodies attacking parts of the brain.

Blood samples were taken from 228 people in a UK-wide trial.

The finding is controversial, but opens up a new way of treating patients.

Sarah Galloway, 25, from Gateshead, is now recovering after her immune system turned on her.

She was in the final year of her chemistry degree when things started to go wrong.

"I deteriorated in a matter of days," she says.

"I hallucinated that my body has morphed spiders' legs or rabbit ears, I've seen them there, I've felt them there.

"I get strange ideas in my head that someone is trying to kill me or I have to kill someone, and then a lot of it has resulted in self-harm."

Sarah was rapidly sectioned by doctors, given a diagnosis of bipolar disorder and treated with anti-psychotic medication.

However, a chance blood test turned up something unusual in her immune system.

Antibodies should protect the body, but instead Sarah's were attacking the surface of her brain's cells and disrupting their function.

That transformed Sarah's treatment, and she was given drugs to suppress her immune system.

She even had troublesome antibodies filtered out of her blood.

Millwood Hospital is part of America’s largest psychiatric hospital chain, Universal Health Services, or UHS. Its more than 200 psychiatric facilities across the country admitted nearly 450,000 patients last year. The result was almost $7.5 billion in revenues from inpatient care last year and profit margins of around 30%. More than a third of the company’s overall revenue — from both medical hospitals and psychiatric facilities — comes from taxpayers through Medicare and Medicaid.

A yearlong BuzzFeed News investigation — based on interviews with 175 current and former UHS staff, including 18 executives who ran UHS hospitals; more than 120 additional interviews with patients, government investigators, and other experts; and a cache of internal documents — raises grave questions about the extent to which those profits were achieved at the expense of patients.

Current and former employees from at least 10 UHS hospitals in nine states said they were under pressure to fill beds by almost any method — which sometimes meant exaggerating people’s symptoms or twisting their words to make them seem suicidal — and to hold them until their insurance payments ran out.

A state-funded 2011 report on one Chicago hospital found “woefully inadequate” staffing levels, a “repeated and willful failure by UHS officials to ensure that their staff were properly trained,” and a pattern of admitting more patients than it had room for “in an effort to maximize financial profit.” Investigators also flagged broader concerns, citing “troubling reports suggesting a pattern of quality of care issues, harm to patients, or major healthcare fraud charges involving UHS-operating facilities in a dozen other states.”

UHS is under federal investigation into whether the company committed Medicare fraud.

What percentage of medical students do you think are depressed or suicidal? 5%? 10%? Go higher. Much higher. This week JAMA published a meta analysis and literature review out of Harvard revealing an overall prevalence of depression of 27% in medical students and a jaw dropping 11% prevalence of suicidality. Bad news kept coming with only about half of students who tested positive for depression seeking treatment. 

Take a second and think about that. Imagine half of medical trainees testing positive for any other disease and opting to foresake any treatment. Is it any wonder that mental health disorders are undertreated and diagnosed in the general population when our own students don't feel they seek out effective care?

The study by Rotenstein et al looked largely at self reporting data from trainees across the world. The technical term for self reports of mental health is 'weaksauce' with publications showing men, vets, professionals and pretty much everyone ever. 

And the numbers on graduate trainees who are struggling with mental health issues are even worse. Over 50% of UC Berkeley STEM graduate students were depressed according to a 2015 study.

Originating from China, Tai Chi is a gentle form of exercise that incorporates slow movements, breathing, and meditation.

Previous studies have documented the numerous health benefits of Tai Chi, which include improved muscle strength, increased energy, reduced inflammation, and better heart health.

Research has also associated Tai Chi with better mental health, such as reduced anxiety and depression.

According to Niles and team, few studies have investigated whether Tai Chi might help individuals with PTSD, although research has demonstrated the benefits of other mind-body practices - such as yoga - for the disorder.

With this in mind, the researchers enrolled 17 veterans - 11 males and 6 females - with symptoms of PTSD to take part in an introductory Tai Chi program, which involved four once-weekly sessions over 4 weeks.

Each session involved a warm-up - including a self-massage and a review of Tai Chi principles - Tai Chi movement, and breathing and relaxation. During the 4-week period, subjects were also encouraged to practice Tai Chi at home for at least 30 minutes daily.

After the final Tai Chi session, each veteran completed a questionnaire that asked them how satisfied they were with the Tai Chi program, whether they would like to take part in future Tai Chi programs, and whether they felt it helped manage their issues.

Positive findings should spur additional research

The vast majority of veterans - 93.8 percent - said they were mostly or very satisfied with the introductory Tai Chi program and would rate the program as "excellent" or "good."

Importantly, 68.8 percent of the veterans said that the Tai Chi program "helped them deal more effectively with their problems," and all subjects said they would take part in Tai Chi again if offered.

The analysis of the questionnaire data showed that, when compared with people without back pain, those who did experience back pain were more than twice as likely to experience one of five mental health conditions - anxiety, depression, psychosis, stress, and sleep deprivation.

People with chronic back pain were also three times more likely to experience a depressive episode and 2.6 times more likely to experience psychosis.

Interestingly, the results were relatively similar across all 43 LMICs, regardless of their standing on the socioeconomic ladder.

"Our data shows that both back pain and chronic back pain are associated with an increased likelihood of depression, psychosis, anxiety, stress, and sleep disturbances.

This suggests that back pain has important mental health implications which may make recovery from back pain more challenging. The exact reasons for this are yet to be established."

Dr. Stubbs

Because the study used such a large group of people across a section of populations, the findings can be considered highly reliable. As back pain is so prevalent in LMICs (and the world at large), any connection to mental health needs to be thoroughly understood.

The same digital screens that have helped nurture a generation of insomniacs can also help restore regular sleep, researchers reported on Wednesday. In a new study, more than half of chronic insomniacs who used an automated online therapy program reported improvement within weeks and were sleeping normally a year later.

The new report, published in the journal JAMA Psychiatry, is the most comprehensive to date suggesting that many garden-variety insomniacs could benefit from the gold standard treatment — cognitive behavior therapy — without ever having to talk to a therapist. At least one in 10 adults has diagnosable insomnia, which is defined as broken, irregular, inadequate slumber at least three nights a week for three months running or longer.

“I’ve been an insomniac all my life, I’ve tried about everything,” said Dale Love Callon, 70, known as Dacie, a math tutor living in Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif., who recently used the software. “I don’t have it 100 percent conquered, but I’m sleeping much better now.”

Previous studies have found that online sleep therapy can be effective, but most have been smaller, or focused on a particular sleep-related problem, like depression. The new trial tested the digital therapy in a broad, diverse group of longtime insomniacs whose main complaint was lack of sleep. Most had used medication or supplements over the years, and some still did.

In the study, led by researchers at the University of Virginia, doctors recruited 303 people ages 21 to 65 over the internet. Half were randomly assigned to receive education and advice on insomnia — a digital “placebo,” of sorts, though an active one, in that such advice often helps people sleep better. The other half got a six-week focused online therapy product, called SHUTi.

Some of the researchers, as well as the university, have a stake in this product, which costs $135 for 16 weeks of access. None of those connected to the company analyzed the data or had access to it, or participated in the data analysis, said Lee Ritterband, the lead author and a developer of the online therapy.

SHUTi is not the only digital insomnia therapy product on the market. Sleepio, which costs $300 for a year’s access, and is offered by a London-based company, also incorporates cognitive therapy. And it was also found in a randomized study to have good results.

In a report on the study that used positron emission tomography (PET) and MRI, published in JAMA Neurology on Nov. 28, the researchers highlighted the value of PET imaging to monitor a marker of injury and repair in the brains of NFL players and athletes in other contact sports.

The new research builds on a rising tide of anecdotal evidence and a few scientific studies suggesting that people with repeated concussive head injuries incurred while playing football, hockey or boxing are at higher-than-normal risk of developing the neurodegenerative disease called chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). CTE is associated with memory deficits, confusion, poor decision-making and later onset of dementia.

“The exciting part of our new findings is that we now believe we have a useful tool to monitor the brains of NFL players and athletes in other contact sports,” says Jennifer Coughlin, M.D., assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins. “We can measure TSPO, a PET biomarker of brain injury, in these younger players, and we can now begin to follow it over time to see if the brain is repairing itself or not.”

BHDDA is pleased to present five original video clips designed to increase awareness of how to access to community mental health coverage for deaf, deaf-blind and hard of hearing individuals. There is an emphasis on cultural and linguistically appropriate services for this underserved population and encouragement from peers for seeking help with depression, anxiety, trauma and other behavioral health issues. The video clips are produced in American Sign Langauge with captioning and voiceover. Additional information may be obtained from Charlyss Ray.

Warning labels in Canada and Europe said the pill used to treat depression could unleash destructive behaviors, but no one told Americans until thousands of them said it was too late.

A year after her father took hostages and committed suicide by cop, Lucy kept freezing in the supermarket aisle.