Being Able To Detect Mental Illness

By Mike Ramidden

 

Mental illnesses are biological brain disorders that many people suffer from, through no fault of their own. They cannot be wished away or combated through will power. While there are very real stigmas associated with these illnesses, the best way to get by is to diagnose the problem, study mental health treatment options and seek social support.
One group of mental illnesses is centered on serious depression. The World Health Organization reported that Major Depressive Disorder or Bipolar is the leading cause of disability in the United States and Canada.
Many people wonder how to tell the difference between serious mental illness and just having "the blues." The American Psychiatric Association characterizes clinical depression by time endured. If "the blues" don't go away within two weeks, then there may be a more serious underlying problem.
Other symptoms prey upon the body and make the simplest of day-to-day tasks almost impossible. These include decreased energy and motivation, loss of pleasure in hobbies, social withdrawal, thoughts of death or suicide, feelings of helplessness, guilt and worthlessness, irritability, insomnia, loss of appetite and persistent emptiness.
It is believed that most depression is caused by the lack of naturally-occurring monoamines like serotonin, norephinephrine and dopamine. Antidepressants can help stimulate production of monoamines and psychotherapy can further prevent relapses.
Another group of mental illnesses are the personality disorders. These involve ongoing patterns of thoughts and actions and create social impairment for the sufferer. For example, the person with Avoidant Personality Disorder (APD) withdraws from social contact and has an intense fear of inadequacy and being disliked.
There are extreme fears of being rejected or of being in social situations, making it much like a chronic phobia or panic disorder at times. In fact, research suggests that approximately 50% of the people who have agoraphobia (fear of open spaces, public settings) also suffer from APD.
Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is one of those mental illnesses that leads to a pervasive pattern of instability and failed interpersonal relationships. People with mental illness like BPD may exhibit a wide array of strange behaviors, from self-mutilation, to preoccupation with sex, binge eating, drinking, substance abuse, reckless driving, inappropriate explosive anger, an unstable self image and patterns of anxiety or moodiness that last a few hours at a time.
BPD sufferers are thought to be on the borderline between psychosis and neurosis, and behavior therapy is traditionally used, with other cases requiring medical intervention. Recent research suggests that 56% of the people diagnosed with BPD can show big improvement within one year of mental health treatment.
Schizoid Personality Disorder is fairly rare and occurs in 1% of the population, but results in coldness towards others, lack of emotion, indifference to social norms, odd behavior, indifference to praise or criticism and preoccupation with fantasy. The Schizoid has no sexual drive; few close relationships and may feel superior to others or extremely independent.
Some schizoids may give an outward appearance of giving and receiving, but may in fact give or receive very little because they are merely "playing a part." Schizoids are an interesting breed of people with mental illness because they seldom care to resolve it and feel quite comfortable in their own dueling loneliness and superiority. However, long term mental health treatment can be done through therapy, which involves adopting a whole new way of thinking.
The road to recovery starts with admitting that you may have a problem. Once diagnosed, there are a variety of books you can read, medications you can take or mental health association professionals with whom you can discuss your illness. You may not be able to "wish away" mental illnesses, but you can certainly understand more about them, treat the symptoms and work through your innermost fears and unhappiness.

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Do You Have Clutter Clearing Stress? Here's How To Get Rid Of Clutter Fast

   Do you get stressed out at the thought of clearing clutter from your home? Is clutter making you anxious? Are you reluctant to get rid of clutter?
You look around and see nothing but clutter that never seems to go away. You clean but it doesn't seem to make much difference - not for long, anyway. What's wrong? How can you fix it?
Well, I know exactly what you mean, although those of you with large families with have that many more people making your cleaning stress and anxiety worse.
Over the past 5-6 years, my house has become extremely cluttered. I've been busy with my online business which, in itself, causes clutter believe it or not. And here I thought that working electronically would eliminate all that paperwork - Not.
One day, I turned around from my computer and wondered where the heck all that mess came from. It was closing in on me with alarming speed. I can't remember the last time I sat on my couch or ate dinner at the dining room table.
That's when I made a decision to sort and clear the clutter. To my surprise, it wasn't nearly as easy as I had expected. It shouldn't have been a surprise, though, because I do tend to under-estimate how much work and how long it will take to do things.
After spending several days clearing clutter from one of my spare rooms, I got back to work at my computer to give myself a brief reprieve from cleaning. I needed a break from clutter clearing stress.
A day or so later, I realized that my living room was even more cluttered than it had been when I started my cleaning crusade.
Again I got to work clearing the clutter. I shuffled, sorted, threw out some stuff, actually put away a few items where they belonged, and managed to clear off my dining room table.
The next time I went into the spare room I'd cleared earlier, I was shocked to see how cluttered it had become when I wasn't even using it. That's when I made a startling revelation.
I hadn't really cleared the clutter. I'd redistributed it. What had been in the spare room initially had traveled to my living room and back again. In fact, it probably made its way into several other rooms as well during the process. Instead of finding homes for everything I touched, I put it in another room fully intending to "find a home for it later".
You see, when I'm on a clutter clearing campaign, I can't be distracted. I don't even stop to eat or have a drink. I forge ahead until I reach the bottom of the pile. Stopping to find permanent homes for everything is stressful. It means having to take a moment to think about each item, run it through my emotions to see if I really feel anything for the item, decide where it makes sense to store it, and then create the facility to store it, whether it's a canister, a cupboard or a file folder.
Yes. For some strange reason, that exercise of thinking, sense testing and decision-making stresses me out. Funny, huh?
Decision making is stressful. Doing it repeatedly throughout the clutter clearing process makes cleaning even more stressful. So, to alleviate (or should I say avoid) the stress, I move things around.
Apparently, I'm not alone in this methodology. A long time ago, I was watching a TV show about how to clear and get rid of clutter. The host pointed out that people pick up an item a certain number of times before they actually do something with it. I think it was 7 times. This is the basis of my thinking, I guess. Items won't get a permanent home until I've moved them 7 times.
I can tell you right now that my moves far exceed the norm. I've come across things I was sure I'd tossed out or filed. Yet there they are, making their way back into the spare room.
The solution to this form of cleaning madness is to take each item and make a definite plan for it's destination. Rather than putting it down elsewhere, make that final decision once and for all. Don't delay making that decision because to do so will only add to the stress of cleaning.
Are you ready to clear up your clutter?
Here's what you need to do.
Rule number one is partly taken from a great tip a military friend of mine gave me. Anything you haven't used in two years is probably garbage. Toss it or put it in a yard sale.
In preparation, take a box and mark it "yard sale". For each item you've decided to sell, put it in there right away. Don't put it on another table or in a corner of the room to put in the box later. You and I both know that you'll likely change your mind and you'll have an item that still hasn't been taken care of.
I can't begin to count the number of times I've put stuff in the 'yard sale' box, only to soften my determination and bring them back inside. So the follow up rule is to have a yard sale as soon as possible, so you can't change your mind.
For all your other clutter, you need to go through each item and be harsh in your decision. Do you really need it? If so, for what? And when might you use it again. Is it strictly a piece of nostalgia or is it of true value?
Here's an example.
I just finished cleaning out 3 boxes that held my portfolios from all my work as a reporter. I'd collected every article I wrote, including some very poor quality ones. I had duplicates of articles. I had duplicate copies of the actual newspapers "just in case" - in case of what, I don't know.
I had extremely poor quality photos I'd taken during my early years, some black and white darkroom experiments that didn't work. There were also some old photos I'd taken for certain projects I ran while I worked at the Canadian Mental Health Association. These weren't photos I cared to keep, so why was I hanging on to them?
Nostalgia. Just like the multiple copies of newspapers. I wanted the entire issues so I could have the overall experience of having been published. Well, getting published is no longer that important to me. The thrill went long ago.
Ruthless and determined, I went through each box, tossed out an entire recycling box worth of old articles, papers, brochures, letterhead, graphic designs, magazines and newspapers that were no longer important.
I no longer run a freelance business, so all those promotion kits are garbage. What do I need them for? To fill my closets, never to be seen again? No.
You have to be equally ruthless in your clutter clearing efforts. Be very selective of which items you keep and then find a permanent home for them. If you are reluctant to toss a favorite t-shirt or infant outfit, you could cut out the t-shirt image/graphic or logo, or part of the infant outfit, and frame it neatly and hang it on the wall. Then, you can truly enjoy them for eternityh, rather than having them stored out of sight.
Create file folders for all your paperwork and store them in one of those cardboard file drawers or in a cardboard box.
By the way, if you want a great box for files, drop by your local print shop and ask them for any empty paper boxes they might have. Those are the cartons that hold packages of paper. They make great file boxes because they are sturdy, they are the exact size you need, and they have a lid. They're much cheaper (free, in fact) than buying "proper" file boxes from the local stationery shop.
Clean out your drawers and allot one drawer per 'topic'. My stuff generally finds itself in the handiest or emptiest drawer. This has created drawers with mixed content, which makes it that much more difficult to find homes for things.
A friend of mine used to have a 'gopher' drawer - one drawer where she dumped everything. That's where you looked when you had to go-fer something, especially items that are one-of-a-kind and don't justify their own space.
These are just some of the ways you can get rid of clutter, get over clutter clearing stress and make your life clutter free forever.

Sylvia Dickens is an award-winning journalist who has struggled and overcome , depression, panic and anxiety. Formerly with the Canadian Mental Health Association, she's written, "A Guide to Teenage Depression & Suicide" and offers several books to cure panic quickly and without medication, along with other popular topics. You can learn more at http://www.book-titles.ca Her travel magazine offers family vacation getaway ideas for fun and relaxation. She also runs a blog on Natural Anxiety Relief and related topics at http://www.book-titles.ca/blog/

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Social Media and Mental Health Issues

By Rosie Nadal

 

   The Mental Health Camp, which is a conference in Vancouver, Canada, that acknowledges the relationship between social media like and mental health, believes that social media like Facebook and Twitter may be used to help people with psychiatric issues. Dr. Isabelle Mori, one of the organizers, says that they have seen how social media helps decrease the stigma, with the relative anonymity it offers encouraging more and more people to be open and to speak out about their own mental illnesses.
Dr. Mori also shares some of her thoughts regarding other people's takes on social media impairing mental health. Specifically, Dr. Mori points to a ThoughtPick article written by one writer who contends that this promotes certain psychological disorders.
Insomnia. According to the writer, known as "Beirut," social network is one of the causes of insomnia (as she herself has been kept awake on several occasions by Twitter). She acknowledges that overusing won't help with existing insomnia, but she contends that there is a difference between not being able to fall asleep and deciding not to go to sleep. She also points out how people automatically equate social media with it's excessive use.
ADHD. Beirut wrote that the use of social media brings about many distractions that help promote ADHD among people. To this, Dr. Mori points out that ADHD causes are not yet known. In fact, she relates that Texas Tech University study on the connection between TV - which is quite similar to social media - and ADHD could not find that television causes ADHD in young viewers. However, she says that social media does tend to promote fragmented attention among everyone, even people who are not suffering from the clinical condition.
Addiction. Beirut said that these provides a platform for those who are weak and who are not capable of organizing their time and of controlling their use. The writer said that while there are those addicted to drugs, alcohol and nicotine, there are also those who are addicted to social networking. She has a problem with Beirut referring to people with addiction as weak. She argues that addiction is a mental health condition and not a weakness. Although she agrees that having a lot of readily accessible social media sites like MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube is akin to having a casino right next to a gambler's home, she points out that there's still a lot of academic debate as to whether internet addiction really exists. Dr. Mori opines that addiction is mainly a behavioral problem and not something associated with a particular substance, therefore an individual can develop addiction to anything.
Anxiety/Depression. According to Beirut, this encourages a person to spend more time by himself in front of their computers, instead of spending it interacting with other people, and this sort of solitude can in turn cause anxiety and depression. Dr. Mori agrees that isolation is detrimental to one's mental health, especially those who are already experiencing depression, but she questions the writer's contention about social media actually increasing isolation. After all, it is called "social" media, and Dr. Mori points that many people do report finding deep and meaningful connections through the internet, with these connections turning into face-to-face connections.

http://www.psychologyacademy.org

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Mental Health- Chatelaine Article

Mental health

• August 30, 2010

    Mental health — feeling mentally well — is as important as physical health. Good mental health makes it possible to stay in control and cope with stress even during difficult times. Managing stress well lowers heart disease risk. Poor mental health raises the risk of anxiety, depression and other mental illness. Signs of good mental health include: the ability to enjoy life, resilience — being able to bounce back from hard times; balance — successfully juggling many aspects of life; self-actualization — recognizing your strengths and potential; and flexibility — being able to change expectation.

Stay mentally fit
Exercise Physical activity promotes mental wellness. It can reduce tension, fatigue, anger and anxiety, treat mild depression and enhance self-esteem. Endorphins, the brain chemicals released during exercise, are known for relieving pain and stimulating positive feelings. Exercise, meditation and other relaxation techniques can help slash the negative effects of stress.
A healthy diet Fresh foods, proteins, omega-3s and whole grains can help optimize brain function. These foods are also good for physical health.

What is a Nervous Breakdown and How Do You Fix It?

We've all heard the expression, "nervous breakdown", but what does that mean, exactly?
First off, what makes people think they are having a nervous breakdown? Is it the moment they feel they have lost all ability to cope with their lives and all the stresses that come with it?
What are the symptoms they are experiencing at that time? Probably the most prominent is their minds are spinning. They can't get a grip on any one thought because they all blend together as one chaotic mess. It's impossible to think straight, to sort things out. They might also have lost their energy and are unable to get up in the morning and complete their daily tasks. They can't cope with the simplest concept.
In short, they think they are going mad. After all, isn't madness the inability to care for yourself because your mind has gone awry? It's a terrifying concept, to be sure. But does a person really go mad?
We've seen the stereotypical images in movies of people wandering the halls of darkened institutions, staring straight ahead, shuffling their feet, and mumbling repeated phrases to themselves. They don't recognize others or know themselves. You can't communicate with them and they can't communicate with you.
In actuality, total madness that is depicted in movies is very rare and generally is not caused by the person having too much stress. Yet this is the image we might conjure up when we think of someone having a nervous breakdown.
The fact is, "nervous breakdown" is not a medically recognized term. It is a blanket term used to explain more the feeling than the actual condition. A "nervous breakdown" has nothing to do with nerves. It's a breakdown of the adrenal system.
If you think about stress, you will make the connection with anxiety and it's symptoms. You will notice that when under stress, your heart will race, your body will sweat, and your thoughts will speed up. The adrenal glands are designed to cause these changes so that you are prepared to react to danger. When the real danger never appears, however, the built-up apprehension and body changes are not released as they normally would be if a bear came at you and you ran away to safety.
When the body is under consistent stress, the adrenal glands continue to work until they begin to tire out. That's when the body has reached the point of adrenal fatigue.
In doing it's job, the adrenal glands produce 50 or more different hormones that are essential for life. They help our bodies to manage fat, regulate blood sugar and blood pressure, and manage the body's energy sources.
The hormone, cortisol, helps to keep our body systems balanced and protect body cells.
In effect, the adrenal glands help to predict our longevity. The healthier the adrenal glands, the longer we can expect to live healthy lives.
Unfortunately, chronic stress hampers the ability of the adrenal glands to do their jobs. Consequently, we experience increased difficulty concentrating, our energy levels drop significantly, and we become even less able to cope with stress.
Among the symptoms of adrenal fatigue are lowered sex drive, depression, muscle weakness, lightheadedness, increased menopausal or menstrual symptoms, cravings for foods that are high in fat and salt, and persistent tiredness even after a night's sleep.
What can you do about Adrenal Fatigue?
As with anxiety and panic disorders, adrenal fatigue can be eased by:

• Learning to laugh more often and to have fun
• Be sure to get enough rest
• Stay away from negative people
• Eat regularly and nutritiously (no junk food, processed foods, fats, salt)
• Take vitamin and magnesium supplements, including vitamin C & E
• Take Vitamin B complex supplements that are high in Vitamin B6
• Replace table salt with sea salt
• Reduce stress by eliminating the things that are causing it
• Participate in activities that help you to relax. Use music therapy, find your special place of peace and solitude and go there often. Let the stress fade away and the quiet replace it.

The longer and more severe your condition, the longer it will take to recover. It can take anywhere from six months to two years. Keep this in mind. Don't think your efforts are not working or aren't working fast enough. Be persistent with your program and you will recover from anxiety, stress and adrenal fatigue.

Find help on our relevant Anxiety Relief site. Sylvia Dickens is an award-winning journalist who has struggled and overcome depression, panic and anxiety. Formerly with the Canadian Mental Health Association, she's written, "A Guide to Teenage Depression & Suicide" and "How To Build Confidence and Banish Anxiety Forever". Visit Sylvia's Natural Anxiety Relief blog for more helpful articles. Our sister Ebook Web Site carries books on travel, music instruction, dog training, hobbies, fitness, wealth building, business and more.

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Beat Your Anxiety By Breaking the Chain of Low Self Esteem

Low self esteem is not often associated with anxiety attacks, yet researchers have discovered a distinct connection between the two.
Anxiety attacks trigger doubts. Sometimes, it's unclear to you that this is happening because it's usually on a sub-conscious level. If you already have low self-esteem any concerns about taking on a task can trigger an anxiety attack. This is why it's important that you focus on breaking the chain of low self esteem to stop your anxiety attacks.
People who experience anxiety attacks might be worried about their next school assignment, of going shopping, or of attending a social gathering. In severe cases, they are afraid to leave the house. Just getting to a medical appointment is a major trial for some people.
This is the stage where the chain of low self esteem and anxiety is in full swing.
Regardless of the cause for the anxiety attacks, people who suffer from them also experience low self-esteem and lack of confidence.
But exactly what is self-esteem? Self esteem develops and evolves throughout our entire lives, beginning in childhood. How we learn to view ourselves as children, based on how we are treated by our parents, siblings, teachers, coaches and religious leaders will contribute to our level of self-esteem.
Our self-esteem is also defined by our successes and failures, and how we learn to handle them. We develop a view of ourselves, our self image, based on how we feel about our abilities to live effectively in the society around us. In childhood, this is a crucial aspect of our growth.
Whether we develop high or low self-esteem, we can be sure of one thing. Our level of confidence will change from one day to the next as a normal part of life. Almost everyone's feelings and thoughts about themselves fluctuate occasionally in direct relation to the types of experiences in their daily lives. A recent school or medical exam, how their peers treat them, job pressures and personal relationships all can have a temporary impact on how they feel on a given day.
Low self esteem involves more than just the normal ebb and flow of a person's sense of well-being in response to everyday situations.
People who have a good, healthy sense of self will sail through those fluctuations with ease and quickly bounce back. Those with an existing low self esteem, on the other hand, can be dramatically affected by those ups and downs. They can experience depression, loneliness, anxiety attacks and panic that can be short lived or long lasting.
In fact, low self esteem can create anxiety, stress, relationship problems, impaired job performance, contribute to underachievement and can lead to increased vulnerability to drug and alcohol abuse.
As you can see, this chain of low self esteem and anxiety can grow and expand. The resulting negative consequences reinforce the existing negative self-image, leading the person into even lower self-esteem and possibly to self-destructive behavior.
Take Baby Steps One of the first goals for an anxiety sufferer then, must be to aim at breaking the chain of low self esteem in order to experience full, permanent recovery from their anxiety attacks.
While in a state of low self esteem and depression, and dreading yet more anxiety attacks, it can be difficult to "stretch yourself", as some people have suggested. Much of the lack of productivity and fear related to tackling otherwise simple tasks is directly linked to the fear of failure.
Failure would present a devastating blow to an already low self esteem. The natural instinct at that point is to do nothing or experience anxiety attacks at the prospect of taking such action.
The key to overcoming this dilemma is to start small in breaking the chain of low self esteem and anxiety, and building your confidence.
One great way to begin this process is to take a close look at your abilities, skills and interests. If you can't think of any, go back through your school reports if you still have them. Don't worry if you had poor marks. You'll undoubtedly find a few subjects in which you excelled. Everyone can do something extra well..
Go down the list and pick out the areas in which you did well. How do you feel about those subjects? Are they things you would like to do again?
It's important to find something that you've already proven you can do well. Most likely, when you recall your success, you will feel at the very least a slight surge of confidence. It can be anything - art class, economics, metal shop, computer work, leadership, sports, drama or music.
Would you want to get involved in that subject again? How would you proceed? Are there instructional manuals you can study? Is there a local workshop you can attend? What about night courses? Does your area have a club specifically for that interest that you can join?
Some abilities include: drawing, designing, playing an instrument, accounting/bookkeeping, drafting, sense of humor, good memory, good with your hands, mechanically inclined, electrical knowledge, working with wood, interior painting, wallpapering, working with textiles... the list is endless.
If you can find an activity that boosts your low self-esteem, makes you feel productive and talented, and gives you something positive to think about instead of focusing on your anxiety, you are sure to start seeing a tremendous improvement in your condition. You will be on the path to breaking the chain of low self esteem and curing your anxiety attacks for good.

If you found this information helpful, here are some highly effective proven programs to assist you in becoming the person you want to be. http://www.book-titles.ca/mental_self_help.htm . Sylvia Dickens is an award-winning journalist who has struggled and overcome , depression, panic and anxiety. Formerly with the Canadian Mental Health Association, she's written, "A Guide to Teenage Depression & Suicide" and offers several books to cure panic quickly and without medication, along with other popular topics. You can learn more at http://www.book-titles.ca. Her travel magazine offers family vacation getaway ideas for fun and relaxation.

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Our Lives And The Impact Of Medication

Using medication to supposedly cure disease or ameliorate uncomfortable symptoms has become a part of our lives in Western culture. It is a part of the "pill for every ill" mentality that came about in the 1950s subsequent to the development of antibiotics and then tranquilizers. The ability to kill bacteria using antibiotics, thus literally saving thousand lives from the ravages of simple infections, naturally led to the idea that other medications might do the same for other diseases. However, over half a century later the medical profession finds itself in a very awkward and embarrassing position. An editorial in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine by Dr. Jerry Avorn in November 2006 opens with the following paragraph -
"September 30 is becoming a day of infamy for drug safety. On that date in 2004 Merck announced that rofecoxib (Vioxx) doubled the risk of myocardial infarction [heart attack] and stroke and the company withdrew the drug from the market after 5 years of use in more than 20 million patients." If this was an isolated situation, then my concern might be less. The problem is that this is a class of drugs known as NSAIDS, or non-steroidal anti-inflammatories -- perhaps better known to you as aspirin, ibuprofen, Advil®, Tylenol®, etc. Now make no mistake about it, these drugs are effective in relieving pain from acute illness, and indeed they were supposed to be used that way. These long-term side effects that are being discovered are only being brought to light because long-term testing of these drugs does not take place until after they come to market! It takes literally millions of dollars to bring a drug to market these days, and pharmaceutical companies simply do not do long-term testing on all new medications, in the race to have the latest blockbuster drug. So who becomes the guinea pig?
The answer is that you become the guinea pig after the drug is initially approved; and it is only after long periods of time with use by many people that these side effects are coming to light. You may recall, particularly if you are woman, that early in the millennium conjugated estrogens, better known as Premarin®, were found to increase heart disease as opposed to decreasing it -- the latter was a claim the drug companies and doctors had made for over 15 years. There was also a slight increase in the incidence of breast cancer. Women had been the subject of a huge uncontrolled experiment. Since that time hundreds of thousands of women have stopped taking conjugated estrogens and guess what? A recent study in 2006 showed that the incidence of breast cancer had decreased significantly over the last 5 years since women have decreased their intake of conjugated estrogens. Coincidence? Perhaps. More likely that the impact of huge numbers of women decreasing conjugated estrogens may actually be decreasing the incidence of breast cancer.
More concerning is that this is becoming a trend. The latest drug to receive a seal of disapproval is the anti-diabetic medication rosiglitazone. All that glitters is not gold! A large analysis in a 2007 study, again in the New England Journal of Medicine, showed a significant increase in the number heart attacks and death from heart disease in patients taking this medication. It's bad enough that diabetes itself causes increased heart problems; we do not need a drug that is supposed to help control diabetes actually increasing death from heart attack!
Do you want to think twice before taking any drugs on a long-term basis? Absolutely. Many of these drugs were developed for acute pain situations -- not always for long-term use in ongoing osteoarthritis or other chronic illness. All these medications are foreign to our bodies, and they not only target those areas of our bodies that are in pain, say for example in the case of Vioxx, but they also target other areas of the body such as our blood vessels and stomach lining causing them to be affected in adverse ways through increased heart disease, or gastric upset and potential bleeding.
Adverse drug reactions were found to be one of the six leading causes of hospital deaths, reported in the Journal American Medical Association in 1997. Why are we taking drugs that are supposed to help us when they are actually killing us? It's a good question that cannot be answered in this short article.
These adverse effects are not limited to pain killers, hormone replacement therapy, and anti-diabetes drugs, but have also been found to be significant in antidepressants that are prescribed to hundreds of thousands of people every year. A small increase in the suicide rate amongst those taking certain antidepressants, when pointed out by the psychiatric expert Dr. David Healey, resulted in his deferral from his upcoming position with the Canadian Association of Mental Health at the University of Toronto. A few years ago certain drug companies funded multiple clinical trials of their anti-depressants known as SSRIs - but they only reported the results of the favourable trials, and suppressed the unfavourable results! The impact of the pharmaceutical industry on medical science is both enormous and dangerous.
If you have to take medication then stick with the older medications that have been tried and true. You are better off in most cases because they have had the research behind them for many years, but... Lifestyle intervention on the other hand -- taking care of ourselves, eating healthy foods, exercising, relaxation, and just taking time to chill out have no adverse effects. They also have significant impact upon disease -- recent studies in Type II diabetes have shown that compared to diabetic drugs, lifestyle intervention was much more efficacious in keeping diabetes under control.
Take care of yourself - you're worth it. And if you want to read that editorial in the New England Journal of Medicine you can find it at by searching for http://content.nejm.org/cgi/reprint/355/21/2169 on a search engine.
Edward Leyton MD 2007 © Accessing Resources for Empowerment(TM) 2007

There are four basic principles to health:
1. Good nutrition
2. Good exercise
3. Good thinking and emotional states
4. Good self-care
These embrace the mind, body and spirit of good health and well-being. This article and Dr. Leyton's monthly newsletter addresses one or more or more of these principles. These health tips are short and simple. All tips, where applicable, are based on quality research that is being done in the medical field.
You can subscribe to the free newsletter by signing up at http://www.arfe.ca You will see links throughout the newsletter to take you to more detail if you wish...or you can simply read what's there.

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