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The following summaries are from The National Psychologist, 14(6), November/December 2005 -- Courtesy of Loralie Lawson
p. 3 “Mental health gets low priority”
The United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) reports mental health resources are have a low priority globally. There is no substantial change in global resources since 2001, and there is a growing gap between allocations in high and low-income countries. WHO estimated that there were 450 million people worldwide affected by mental, neurological, or behavioral problems, and about 873,000 people die by suicide every year.
p. 5 “Reservists’ families get free mental health care” by Richard E. Gill, Assistant Editor
Two Boston area psychologists have created a pilot program they hope will spread across the nation. Kenneth Reich, Ed.D, and Jaine Darwin, PsyD, are in private practice in Cambridge, MA. SOFAR (Strategic Outreach to Families of all Reservists) is one of six pro bono community outreach projects designed to assist some of the million troops that have already been deployed and the 500,000 expected to be deployed in the next year. Dr. Reich estimates that as many as 63 million veterans, family, and extended family members have been affected by the war and may need some kind of mental health treatment. Dr. Darwin said “Our main goal actually is to head off a massive amount of trauma because we think these families are terribly vulnerable. SOFAR now has 70 volunteer mental health professionals. To learn more or to make donations, contact Dr. Reich’s website, www.pcfine.org.
p. 20 “AMA restructures CPT testing codes,” by Paula Hartman-Stein, PhD
The new codes for testing will differentiate when the psychologist, technician or computer is working with the patient. At present, the psychologist who works directly with the patient is short-changed, with one fee set for a single testing code. As of January, 2006, each there will be three codes based on who is performing the service, a fairer way to determine the value of the service.
The following excerpts are from news items found on the wonderful email list of Kenneth Pope. To subscribe contact Dr Pope at kspope@kspope.com.
John Leo. “Caffeine Made Me Do It.” From “Two Steps Ahead of the Thought Police” (1994).
In this very short article, Leo presents high-profile examples to question both some diagnostic categories and ways in which those diagnoses are applied (e.g., by someone 300 miles away who has not even phoned the person being diagnosed).
J. Carl Marci, D. Glick, D. Doughtery, S. Rauch. Neuroimaging and the functional neuroanatomy of psychotherapy. Psychological Medicine* (Vol. 35, #10, October).
This review examines initial attempts to measure directly the effects of psychotherapy on brain function in patients with depression or anxiety disorders.
B. Kuehn. “Pain Studies Illuminate the Placebo Effect”. Journal of American Medical Association* (vol. 294, #14, Oct 12)
A study cited here demonstrates a mechanism through which a patient’s expectation of pain relief can alter their experience of pain and their emotional state. “In many cases, a patient¹s expectation and beliefs may be important clinically and they are important to consider when designing research to examine the effects of all kinds of drugs and treatments,” Wager said [Asst. Professor of Psychology at Columbia – Ed].
Crime in the United States. Available at: http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/ucr.htm
This annual report presents a compendium of data on offenses known, clearances, arrests, and law enforcement employment at national, regional, state, and agency levels. This year’s edition also includes special studies on infant victimization and drug arrests among juveniles.
Advertisements for SSRIs May Be Misleading. L.Barkley, M.D. Public Library of Science (PLoS) Medicine (Dec ’05)
Advertisements in the U.S. for selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are not based on science, according to an essay published in the December issue of the. Since the 1960s, investigators have proposed the “serotonin hypothesis,” which implicates low brain levels of serotonin in depression. However, extensive research to date has failed to confirm this theory.
Johns Hopkins University News Release (11/05). “Mental Illness Exacts ‘Enormous Toll’ for U.S. Businesses, Institutions”
A study led by a Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine psychiatrist (Alan Langlieb) highlights the toll anxiety and depressive disorders exact on workplace performance and profits and points to employer-guaranteed specialized psychiatric care as both cost effective and humane. According to the Hopkins report in the Nov. 10 issue of the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, employees with anxiety and depressive disorders work fewer hours, are more likely to end up on disability, and are less productive than their counterpart employees. The study further shows that anxiety and/or depression complicate other medical conditions and seem to have a ripple effect in the work setting, creating low morale among coworkers and a higher turnover rate.
Press Release from Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
Eight Percent of Adults Experienced Major Depression in Past Year. An estimated 17 million adults ages 18 and older (8.0 percent) reported having experienced at least one major depressive episode during the past year.
The following is from the Div 42 email group, posted by Merla Arnold.
There’s a great piece in the November Monitor that spoke to the neurobiology of attachment (beginning on pg. 72). The article reported what Bernard Beitman, M.D. said namely that, various aspects of therapeutic engagement-such as empathically receiving and validating the client’s feelings and building a sense of trust-can help to achieve optimal firing of the nucleus accumbens, a brain area associated with reward and pleasure. According to Beitman “only 15 percent of therapy success is related to the type of therapy you practice; the therapeutic alliance, environmental factors and even the placebo effect play a far greater role.”
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