Mental Illness
Unemployment & Mental-Health Problems
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Two Washington and Lee University economists leading a group of researchers have found that individuals who have suffered from long-term unemployment in the past year — those unemployed for longer than 25 weeks — are three times more likely than people employed throughout the past year to experience mental-health issues for the first time. Click on the link below to read more..
http://news.blogs.wlu.edu/2011/10/21/wlu-ecoonomists-unemployment/
Mental Illness Expert Shares Her Struggle
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Borderline Personality Disorder expert and founder of dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), Marsha Linehan, reveals her own fight with mental illness: http://nyti.ms/miohap
Health & Childhood Trauma/Neglect
Posted by Kathy Steele on
Insights from the ACE Study
It has become increasingly evident that childhood abuse and neglect are major factors in the development of virtually all types of mental health problems, ranging from post-traumatic stress disorder to depression to anxiety to some psychotic disorders. But what you may not know is that childhood trauma is also a major factor in the development of leading causes of death in adults. The Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study is an ongoing collaboration between the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Kaiser Permanente that analyzes types of childhood trauma and physical and mental health consequences later in life. The participants include over 17,000 adults from the Kaiser Permanente Department of Preventative Care in San Diego. The study looked at ten types of potentially traumatic or highly stressful experiences before the age of 18. These include: (1) recurrent physical abuse; (2) recurrent emotional abuse; (3) contact sexual abuse; (4) an addict in the home; (5) an incarcerated member of the household; (6) a household member who was chronically depressed, mentally ill, institutionalized, or suicidal; (7) domestic violence in the home; (8) one or no parents due to divorce or death; (9) emotional neglect, and (10) physical neglect.
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Mental Health Problems in College Students
Posted by Kathy Steele on
Why and How to Help
A recent survey indicated that mental health has seriously declined in college students. We should ask why, because mental health difficulties can follow people the rest of their lives without proper treatment, leaving a trail of suffering. There is likely not a single reason for this decline, but rather a number of factors that converge in a perfect storm.
Lack of life skills. Young people may simply be unprepared to go away to college and cope with all the social, financial, and emotional pressures that are typically encountered at school. Many have never handled their own finances, or had much dating experience, or exposure to other values and behaviors, nor have they ever lived independently. Some will not have essential skills needed for that level of self sufficiency.
Mental Illness and Violence
Posted by Kathy Steele on
Recognizing Symptoms and Getting Help
The terrible violence in Tucson, Arizona has brought mental illness into the spotlight again. Clearly, the shooter, Jared Loughner, seems seriously mentally ill by any standard, though it is inappropriate to make a specific “diagnosis” on someone you have not formally assessed. Yet we read that he had incoherent thoughts that made sense only to him, his behavior was increasingly bizarre and inappropriate, he had difficulties maintaining a job, he was isolated and alienated from friends and family, and finally, he acted violently with devastating consequences for the victims, his parents, and himself. All but the last are signs of mental disturbance, most likely a type of severe psychosis. That’s right, violence is not a “sign” of mental illness. A person with a mental illness is little more likely to act violently than anyone else. The vast majority of people with mental health diagnoses are never violent, in the same way that the majority of the general population is never violent. Yet this frightening young man was extremely and unusually violent, stirring up myths and questions about mental illness, particularly about psychotic illnesses in which a person is clearly out of touch with reality in essential and basic ways.
