Empirical evidence supports the efficacy of psychodynamic therapy. Effect sizes for psychodynamic
psychotherapy are as large as those reported for other therapies that have been actively promoted as
“empirically supported” and “evidence based.” Additionally, patients who receive psychodynamic
therapy maintain therapeutic gains and appear to continue to improve after treatment ends. Finally, nonpsychodynamic
therapies may be effective in part because the more skilled practitioners utilize techniques
that have long been central to psychodynamic theory and practice. The perception that psychodynamic
approaches lack empirical support does not accord with available scientific evidence and may reflect
selective dissemination of research findings. [...]
Psychodynamic or psychoanalytic [the author uses those terms interchangeably] psychotherapy refers to a range of treatments based on
psychoanalytic concepts and methods that involve less frequent meetings and may be considerably briefer
than psychoanalysis proper. Session frequency is typically once or twice per week and the treatment may
be either time limited or open ended. The essence of psychodynamic therapy is exploring those aspects of
self that are not fully known, especially as they are manifested and potentially influenced in the therapy
relationship. [...]
Tools for Personal Development An Online Journal Readings, writings and research on matters of health and well-being.
SOCIO Homeless in Canada
Selected resources, news and statistics on housing and homelessness in Canada, with national
and provincial housing and homeless initiatives, developments and services in major cities, local Ottawa services and charities,
research and policy organizations, food banks by province, and a customized search engine for Poverty & Homelessness in Canada.
Red Tent Campaign
Pivot Legal Society, the Citywide Housing Coalition and other partners launch their Olympic campaign to attract international attention to the problem of homelessness. Vancouver. (25 January 2010)
Changing Patterns for Street Involved Youth
Groundbreaking study reveals new information about the challenges and dangers facing Toronto's street-involved youth, and presents findings on how to address this growing crisis. By Public Interest, for Yonge Street Mission and World Vision Canada (December 2009).
Predicting Homelessness Homeless Asset and Risk Tool (HART) — Calgary researchers have developed a short list of
questions to help identify people at risk before they lose their homes. (11 December 2009)
Youth Homelessness in Canada : The Road to Solutions.
A document that outlines solutions to youth homelessness, based on three years of research and consultation with stakeholders across Canada. Raising the Roof. (November 2009)
Homelessness: Auditor General Identifies Need for Provincial Focus
BC Auditor General John Doyle's latest report, Homelessness: Clear Focus Needed, assesses government's efforts to provide adequate
leadership in reducing and preventing homelessness in British Columbia. Office of the Auditor General of British Columbia. (5 March 2009)
$134,000 per year Lifestyle
That's what one Calgary study said it costs to support a chronically
homeless person: This week a major report recommends how Edmonton should handle its own crisis.
Richard Warnica, Edmonton Journal (26 January 2009)
No Action: No Progress
Canadian Feminist Alliance for International Action Report on Canada's Progress in Implementing Priority Recommendations made by the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of
Discrimination against Women in 2008. FAFIA (February 2010)
New Poverty Series by Michael Enright
(18 October 2009) [Podcast] — CBC Sunday Edition host Michael Enright launched a new Poverty Series on 18 October 2009, with an outstanding and timely set of interviews. He spoke with Conservative Senator Hugh Segal,
whose take on the issue is both informed and pragmatic; Segal explores the backward thinking and Victorian attitudes that prevent real progress on this front, and offers real solutions.
His approach is truly enlightening. The second interviews, with Ron Hikel and Evelyn Forget, provide important information with respect to MINCOME, a successful guaranteed annual income
experiment conducted in Dauphin, Manitoba, between 1974 and 1978.
(27 December 2009) [Podcast] — Panel Discussion on Inequality, with Ed Broadbeny and Kate Pickett, social epidemiologist. Level of inequality has more devastating consequences than does level of poverty.
A PROPOSAL FOR ODSP RULE CHANGES: 'Stupid Rules' Have Dire Consequences
This ODSP Action Coalition submission to the Ontario Social Assistance Review Advisory Council presents a number of short-term rules changes that would make a significant
difference in the lives of people who rely on ODSP benefits. The list of recommended changes is not exhaustive, but represents a start on reforming a system that offers
insufficient support to people with disabilities. (28 January 2010)
Homeless, rooming house residents at risk for early death: study
Sheryl Ubelacker, Canadian Press (26 October 2009) Study: Mortality among residents of shelters, rooming houses, and hotels in Canada: 11 year follow-up study, Hwang, et al. BMJ 2009;339:b4036, doi: 10.1136/bmj.b4036. (26.10.09)
Source: The Impact of Early Adversity on Children's Development InBrief series, National Scientific Council on the Developing Child, Center on the Developing Child, Harvard University (12.08.09) This edition of the InBrief series outlines basic concepts from the research on the biology of stress, which show that major adversity can weaken developing
brain architecture and permanently set the body's stress response system on high alert. Science also shows that providing stable, responsive environments for children in the earliest
years of life can prevent or reverse these conditions, with lifelong consequences for learning, behavior, and health.
On Thursday, 12 November 2009, CBC Ideas ran an interview with Sue Johnson EdD, an internationally recognized couples therapist. The interview explored the importance of secure
attachment in the formation and maintenance of lasting relationships. Dr. Johnson spoke at length about the science of love, and emphasized the pioneering work on attachment theory by
John Bowlby (1907-1990), a British psychiatrist and psychoanalyst.
Over the course of the hour, she presented an engaging overview of Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy (EFT),
a short term (8-20 sessions), structured approach to couples therapy formulated in the early 80's by Johnson and
Les Greenberg PhD. She presented compelling arguments and inciteful illustrations as she described her approach
and the themes explored in her most recent book, Hold Me Tight: Seven Conversations for a Lifetime of Love.
Hold Me Tight provides a streamlined version of EFT, walking the reader through seven conversations that capture the defining moments in a love relationship, showing how to shape these moments to create a secure and lasting bond.
Case histories and exercises in each conversation bring the lessons of EFT to life1.
Sue Johnson EdD is Professor of Clinical Psychology at The University of Ottawa, Director of the Ottawa Couple and Family Institute Inc. and the International Center for Excellence in Emotionally Focused Therapy.
She is a member of the editorial board of the Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, the Journal of Couple and Relationship Therapy, and the Journal of Family Psychology. She is a Distinguished Research Professor in
the Marital & Family Therapy Program, Alliant University, San Diego.
The following excerpt is drawn from My How Couples Therapy has Changed! Attachment, Love and Science (Sue Johnson EdD, psychotherapy.net, 2008).
Selected podcasts follow, from various sources; regrettably, podcast of the interview from CBC Ideas is not yet available at this writing (13.11.09), though the CD can be purchased at The CBC Shop.
Emphasis in original.
[...] Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy (EFT) [is] a systematic, rigorous, tested set of interventions based on the attachment
view of love and bonding. I recently summarized attachment based approaches in a manner that can be offered to clients and the public in
Hold Me Tight: Seven Conversations for a Lifetime of Love. The great strength of this new
scientific perspective is exactly that it offers a rigorous body of observation and research into what love is all about and how it changes shape and color. More so, it is a tested approach to
intervention with excellent outcome data and clinical relevance. Clients also tell us that this way of seeing and working does indeed go to the heart of the matter. In this article I will summarize
the attachment perspective and how it is supported by different strands of relationship science (these science strands will be in italics to find or avoid, as you wish!) and how it translates into
practice in EFT.
A new scientific and practical theory of love
The multitude of studies on adult attachment that have emerged over the last decade tell us that the essence of love is not a negotiated exchange of resources (so why teach negotiation skills?),
a friendship, Nature's trick to get you to mate and pass on your genes, or a time-limited episode of delusional addiction. Love is a very special kind of emotional bond, the need for which is
wired into our brain by millions of years of evolution. It is a survival imperative. The human brain codes isolation and abandonment as danger and the touch and emotional responsiveness of loved
ones as safety, a safety that promotes optimal flexibility and continual learning. Jaak Panksepp, in his neurobiological studies finds that loss of connection from attachment figures triggers
"primal panic," a special set of fear responses. As Bowlby notes the words anxiety and anger come from the same etymological root and both arise at moments of disconnection, when attachment
figures are non-responsive. This need for emotional connection is not a sentimental notion. The basic image of who we are and what our most basic needs are, namely, that we are social animals
who seek such connection is reflected in health studies. For example, it is now clear that emotional isolation is more dangerous for your health than smoking and that it doubles the likelihood
of heart attack and stroke.
Love is a very special kind of emotional bond, the need for which is wired into our brain by millions of years of evolution. It is a survival imperative.
Attachment theory states that we need a safe haven relationship to turn to when life is too much for us and that offers us a secure base from which to go confidently out into the world.
This is effective dependency. Many psychotherapy clients learn that their problem is that they are too close or undifferentiated from loved ones. The approach discussed here offers a larger
picture. The evidence is that secure close connection is a source of strength and personality integration rather than weakness. Studies show that the securely connected have a more articulated
and positive sense of self. Eighteen months after 9/11, researcher Chris Fraley found that securely connected survivors, who could turn to others for emotional support, were able to deal
with this trauma and grow from it, whereas insecurely attached survivors were experiencing significant mental health problems. Secure connection is shaped by mutual emotional accessibility
and responsiveness. This is the heart of the drama that plays out in the couple therapist's office. The fights that matter in a relationship are only superficially about the kids or money.
Partners and therapists can spend many hours talking about these content issues instead of focusing on how the couple talk and more specifically, on the key attachment questions that drive
a couples negative dance. The key questions are: "Are you there for me?" "Do I matter to you?" "Will you turn towards me and respond to me?" Partners often do not know how to ask these questions
and therapists often miss them or even see them as a sign of immature dependency. [...] [Read in full]
The Next Chapter Podcast: Shiela Rogers interviews Sue Johnson on "Hold Me Tight" 23 May 2009
MyNDTALK & Pacifica Radio - Pamela Brewer PhD - Podcast:
Pamela Brewer interviews Sue Johnson on "Hold Me Tight" February, 2009
Why Should You Care About Pesticides?
The growing consensus among scientists is that small doses of
pesticides and other chemicals can cause lasting damage to human
health, especially during fetal development and early childhood.
Scientists now know enough about the long-term consequences of
ingesting these powerful chemicals to advise that we minimize our
consumption of pesticides. What’s the Difference?
EWG research has found that people who eat the 12 most contaminated
fruits and vegetables consume an average of 10 pesticides a
day. Those who eat the 15 least contaminated conventionally-grown
fruits and vegetables ingest fewer than 2 pesticides daily. The Guide
helps consumers make informed choices to lower their dietary
pesticide load. Will Washing and Peeling Help?
Nearly all the studies used to create these lists assume that people
rinse or peel fresh produce. Rinsing reduces but does not eliminate
pesticides. Peeling helps, but valuable nutrients often go down the
drain with the skin. The best approach: eat a varied diet, rinse all
produce and buy organic when possible. How Was This Guide Developed?
EWG analysts have developed the Guide based on data from nearly
87,000 tests for pesticide residues in produce conducted between
2000 and 2007 and collected by the U.S. Department of Agriculture
and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. You can find a detailed
description of the criteria EWG used to develop these rankings and
the complete list of fruits and vegetables tested at our dedicated
website, www.foodnews.org.
The Globe and Mail is running a special series, both online and in the paper, entitled Breakdown: Canada's Mental Health Crisis.
This series covers a range conditions, including bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, anxiety disorder, obsessive compulsive
disorder, and explores related issues such as stigma, antidepressants and suicide, addiction, the health-care system,
legislation and high-profile public awareness campaigns. The online series encourages reader submissions of questions,
personal stories, pictures and videos.
In The Working Wounded, André Picard writes that the cost of mental illness
to the Canadian economy is "a staggering $51-billion a year, and each day 500,000 people miss work because of psychiatric problems". He also presents
a series of statistics derived from the World Health Organization, the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, the Canadian Public Health Agency, Great-West Life
Centre for Mental Health in the Workplace, and Statistics Canada:
By the numbers
1 Rank of depression among the leading causes of disability in the
world.
8% Percentage of workers taking medication in Canada to
treat depression and other mental-health conditions.
20.6%
Percentage of workers who suffer a bout of mental illness, most in the prime of
their working lives
40% Percentage of short- and long-term
disability claims that involve a mental-health problem.
60%
Percentage drop in family income when a breadwinner is diagnosed with mental
illness.
500,000 Number of workers off sick each day in Canada
with mental-health problems.
$8.5-billion Amount that employers
and insurers spend each year on long-term disability claims related to Mental
illness.
$9.3-billion Annual cost of short-term leave for
mental-health problems.
$51-billion Amount that mental illness
costs the Canadian economy each year. [Read More][Visit Site]
[...] We not only know placebos “work,” we know there is a hierarchy of effectiveness:
Placebo surgery works better than placebo injections
Placebo injections work better than placebo pills
Sham acupuncture treatment works better than a placebo pill
Capsules work better than tablets
Big pills work better than small
The more doses a day, the better
The more expensive, the better
The color of the pill makes a difference
Telling the patient, “This will relieve your pain” works better than saying “This might help.”
Hall's article provides an excellent review of the placebo effect, which clearly plays an important role in treatment.
In Placebos Do Work: Let's Consider Why, Christopher Lane (Shyness: How normal behavior became an illness)
expresses the hope that Hall's article will return attention to the "exciting opportunities and real quandaries (medical and ethical) that the placebo effect poses", in contrast to our largely exclusive focus
on biology and genes. Lane reminds us of an assertion by Philip Newton (3.12.08): In some controversial cases, such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor
(SSRI) anti-depressants, placebo effects are thought to account for a major proportion of the positive effects of a drug. He reviews a controversial paper by Irving Kirsch
and Guy Sapirstein (1998), emphasizes Kirsch's comment that their data show "virtually all of the
variation in drug effect size was due to the placebo characteristics of the studies," indicating that "the placebo component of the response to medication is considerably greater than the pharmacological
effect".
Everyone has been made for some particular work, and the desire for that work has been put in every heart.
— Rumi (1207 – 1273)
MindFreedom International Mental Health Human Rights
MindFreedom International announced today the much-anticipated launch
of its MindFreedom Directory of Mental Health Alternatives, and is issuing an
international call for services that would like to be listed. To try out the
geographically-searchable directory, which already lists a few alternatives, click here.
MindFreedom's new directory is unique in that every provider listed has
agreed to uphold key principles on such issues as the use and discontinuation of
psychiatric drugs, the “biomedical model,” and forced treatment. The principles
were devised by the the MindFreedom International Choice in Mental Health Care
Committee, and endorsed by the MindFreedom International board of directors. Click here to read the MindFreedom Principles for Mental Health Alternatives. The Directory will be international in scope and draw upon MindFreedom’s
allies in many countries. [...] About MindFreedom... The majority of MindFreedom's members are people who have experienced human rights violations in the mental health system, or psychiatric survivors. However, everyone who supports human
rights is invited and encouraged to join and become active leaders. Mental health professionals and workers, advocates and attorneys, family members and the general public are all active
as equal members and leaders in the MindFreedom International family. Our sponsor and affiliate groups are among the key leading organizations to change the mental health system.
MindFreedom is one of the very few totally independent groups in the mental health field with no funding from or control by governments, drug companies, religions, corporations, or the
mental health system. MindFreedom International is a nonprofit under IRS 501(c)(3) that is the only group of its kind accredited by the United Nations as a Non-Governmental Organization
(NGO) with Consultative Roster Status. [...][Read More]
A zen master's life is one continuous mistake.
— Dogen Zenji (1200 - 1253)
Antidepressants & Placebos...
Source: Initial Severity and Antidepressant Benefits: A Meta-Analysis of Data Submitted to the Food and Drug Administration Kirsch I, Deacon BJ, Huedo-Medina TB, Scoboria A, Moore TJ, Johnson BT.
PLoS Med. 2008 February; 5(2): e45.
Published online 2008 February 26.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pmed.0050045. Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Phillipa Hay, PLos Editor's Summary: Everyone feels miserable occasionally. But for some people—those with depression—these sad feelings last for months or years and interfere with daily life.
Depression is a serious medical illness caused by imbalances in the brain chemicals that regulate mood. It affects one in six people at some time during their life, making
them feel hopeless, worthless, unmotivated, even suicidal. Doctors measure the severity of depression using the "Hamilton Rating Scale of Depression" (HRSD), a 17–21 item
questionnaire. The answers to each question are given a score and a total score for the questionnaire of more than 18 indicates severe depression. Mild depression is often
treated with psychotherapy or talk therapy (for example, cognitive–behavioral therapy helps people to change negative ways of thinking and behaving). For more severe
depression, current treatment is usually a combination of psychotherapy and an antidepressant drug, which is hypothesized to normalize the brain chemicals that affect mood.
Antidepressants include "tricyclics," "monoamine oxidases," and "selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors" (SSRIs). SSRIs are the newest antidepressants and include fluoxetine,
venlafaxine, nefazodone, and paroxetine. [...]
The researchers obtained data on all the clinical trials submitted to the FDA for the licensing of fluoxetine, venlafaxine, nefazodone, and paroxetine. They then
used meta-analytic techniques to investigate whether the initial severity of depression affected the HRSD improvement scores for the drug and placebo groups in
these trials. They confirmed first that the overall effect of these new generation of antidepressants was below the recommended criteria for clinical significance.
Then they showed that there was virtually no difference in the improvement scores for drug and placebo in patients with moderate depression and only a small and
clinically insignificant difference among patients with very severe depression. The difference in improvement between the antidepressant and placebo reached clinical
significance, however, in patients with initial HRSD scores of more than 28—that is, in the most severely depressed patients. Additional analyses indicated that the
apparent clinical effectiveness of the antidepressants among these most severely depressed patients reflected a decreased responsiveness to placebo rather than
an increased responsiveness to antidepressants. [...] [Read More][Read Full Study]
Source:"Stupid Rules" Create Dire Consequences ODSP Action Coalition (28.01.10) Links added.
The Coalition had an opportunity to meet with members of the Social Assistance Review Advisory Council (SARAC)
in late January, and to present them with a list of quick changes that could be made to some of the "stupid rules" in ODSP [Ontario Disability Support Program]. This Council was recently appointed by the government to give advice on two things: some "quick fix" changes to counterproductive
rules, and the mandate and scope of a more conprehensive social assistance review to be carried out later this year.
Our Policy and Research Committee had already been working on a list of rule changes that had been suggested at our last conference and by our committees. So we very quickly wrote up
and discussed a series of recommendations that we asked the SARAC to consider. Given the short time frame, (SARAC had to give their input on this to MCSS by the end of January), we
were not able to deal with all the many problems in ODSP, nor to priorize our recommendations. But we are hopeful that at least some of these issues will be taken up by SARAC in their
discussions with government, and then that we see some actual improvements in the rules that ODSP recipients have to deal with.
We will also be pushing for meaningful consultation in the larger revew of OW [Ontario Works] and ODSP, with representation from all over the province, rural and urban, all consituencies impacted
by social assistance. This particulalry means including people in receipt of OW and ODSP. A PROPOSAL FOR ODSP RULE CHANGES: 'Stupid Rules' Have Dire Consequences
Medical and psycho-therapeutic uses of marijuana (Cannabis sativa), selected reports and academic presentations, emerging clinical applications, clinical studies,
cultivation, marijuana vaporizer, selected books and recommended resources. This page includes a 40-minute film from Maripharm, in Rotterdam, Netherlands, explaining the medical
use and effects of Cannabis sativa. Scientists, patients, a family doctor, a pharmacist, an anesthetist and a medicinal Cannabis producer give their views on this
versatile plant and its medicinal importance. And see:Emerging Clinical Applications for Cannabis and Cannabinoids: A Review of the Recent Scientific Literature, 2000 – 2009, NORML.org
Source: "Sunshine Vitamin" Link to Cognitive Problems in Older People EurekaAlert!, Peninsula Medical School News (22.01.09)
[...] The study was based on data on almost 2000 adults aged 65 and over who participated in the Health Survey for England in 2000 and whose
levels of cognitive function were assessed. The study found that as levels of Vitamin D went down, levels of cognitive impairment went up.
Compared to those with optimum levels of Vitamin D, those with the lowest levels were more than twice as likely to be cognitively impaired. [...]
Source: Vitamin D Council (www.vitamindcouncil.org)[Accessed 22.09.09] How much vitamin D should I take?
The Food and Nutrition Board set the current Upper Limit for medically-unsupervised intake by infants and babies (up to the age of 1 years-old) at 1,000 units/day.
This means the government says it is safe to give infants and babies up to 1,000 units a day without getting a blood test. Of course, with correct sun exposure in
the summer this is not necessary, but it will be in winter. Children over 1 years of age, according to the Food and Nutrition Board, may safely take 2,000 units/day — again,
without requiring a blood test.
For adolescents, pregnant women, and other adults, the government's Upper
Limits are a problem. While a 2,000-unit Upper Limit is entirely appropriate for
younger children, such limits in heavier adolescents, adults, and pregnant women
limit effective treatment of vitamin D deficiency. However, these limits no more
impair a physician's ability to treat vitamin D deficiency with higher doses than comparable Upper Limits for
calcium or magnesium impair
their ability to treat calcium or magnesium deficiencies with higher doses, should those deficiencies be diagnosed.
Emphasis added In the absence of sun exposure and in winter, heavier children, adults, and
pregnant women may require doses above 2,000 units daily (depending on
pre-existing blood levels, body weight, degree of skin pigmentation, age, and
latitude of residence) in order to obtain and maintain levels of
50–80 ng/mL. For example, Professor Heaney at Creighton University has
estimated that about 3,000 units/day is required simply to assure that 97% of adult Americans obtain levels greater than 35 ng/mL. Healthy adult men utilize up to 5,000 units of vitamin D per day, if present in the body. Professors Bruce Hollis and Carol Wagner, in South Carolina, have been giving pregnant women
4,000 units/day for years. Professor Vieth, at the University of
Toronto, found that actual vitamin D toxicity, with systemic symptoms,
is exceedingly rare and requires much higher doses than those discussed above.
When exceeding the Upper Limit, periodic serum 25(OH)D and calcium levels will reassure both
physician and patient that such amounts are safe as well as convince all concerned that the government should revise their 10-year-old (yet most current)
recommendations — the sooner the better.
See Also: H1N1 Flu and Vitamin D The Vitamin D Newsletter, Vitamin D Council (May 2009)
And See: The Truth About Vitamin D Toxicity John Jacob Cannell MD, Executive Director, Vitamin D Council (2003.09.05; updated 2009.06.20)
Treating Disease With Vitamin D
We predict the future recommended daily allowance (RDA) for vitamin D, for otherwise healthy people, will be at least 1000 IU/day (in the new official units for
vitamins, this translates to 25 mcg/day). This amount is already the consensus of nutrition experts in the field of osteoporosis and vitamin D. Such recommendations only apply to healthy people.
If you have vitamin D deficiency, or the diseases of vitamin D deficiency,
you need to be under the care of a physician. Monitoring 25(OH)D Levels
We predict that treatment with physiological doses of
vitamin D3 (between 4,000–10,000 IU/day from all sources, including sun, food and supplements) along with periodic monitoring of blood
calcidiol and calcium levels will become routine.
Research indicates it will help several vitamin D deficiency-associated diseases such as: autism,
autoimmune illness,
cancer,
chronic pain,
depression,
diabetes,
heart disease,
hyperparathyroidism,
hypertension,
influenza,
myopathy (neuromuscular disorders), and
osteoporosis.
At this time, we advise even healthy people (those without the diseases of vitamin D deficiency) to seek a knowledgeable physician and have your 25(OH)D level measured. If
your levels are below 50 ng/mL you need enough sun, artificial light, oral vitamin D3 supplements, or some combination of the three, to maintain your 25(OH)D
levels between 50–80 ng/mL year-round. How Much Vitamin D?
If you refuse to see a physician, or can't find a knowledgeable one, purchase the 1000 IU/day
vitamin D3 cholecalciferol pills that are available over-the-counter in North America or a 5,000 IU capsule. Take an average of
5,000 IU a day, year-round, if you have some sun exposure. If you have little, or no, sun exposure you will need to take at least 5,000 IU per day. How much more depends on your
latitude of residence, skin pigmentation, and body weight. Generally speaking, the further you live away from the equator, the darker your skin, and/or the
more you weigh, the more you will have to take to maintain healthy blood levels.
For example, Dr. Cannell lives at latitude 32 degrees, weighs
220 pounds, and has fair skin. In the late fall and winter he takes
5,000 IU per day. In the early fall and spring he takes 2,000 IU per day. In the summer he regularly
sunbathes for a few minutes most days and thus takes no vitamin D on those days in the summer. The only way you can know how much you vitamin D you need to take
is by repeatedly getting your blood tested — known
as a 25(OH)D test — and seeing what you need to do to keep your level around 50 ng/mL. [...] [Read More]
Fungi are closely related to us in phylogenetic terms and, for at least four millenia in Asia, they have been used for medicinal purposes. Mushrooms and the mycelium contain an array of active
contituents, including steroids, lactones, alkaloids, polyssacharides and triterpenes. Some mushrooms have been shown to have antibacterial, antiviral, immunomodulating, adaptogenic, and antitumor
effects. This page presents three amazing videos and a brief introduction to the mycelium, then focuses on a more in-depth examination of the adaptogenic and therapeutic uses of mushrooms,
including immune enhancement and the treatment of a wide range of conditions and illnesses. Selected journals, references, resources, books, sources for supplements and extracts, and additional
videos are also presented.
In a 2006 paper entitled Psilocybin can occasion mystical-type experiences having substantial and sustained personal meaning
and spiritual significance, authors R.R. Griffiths et al. find that volunteers administered psilocybin under supportive
conditions subjectively identify personal meaning and spiritual significance in psilocybin-occasioned mystical experiences
similar in nature to those that occur spontaneously. Now, in a follow-up study published 1 July 2008, the authors report that, "[w]hen administered under
supportive conditions, psilocybin occasioned experiences similar to spontaneously occurring mystical experiences that, at
14-month follow-up, were considered by volunteers to be among the most personally meaningful and spiritually significant
of their lives".
For a list of all the ways technology has failed to improve the quality of life, please press three.
— Alice Kahn (b. 1943) American writer
A new questionnaire and outcomes measurement scale developed by the department of psychiatry at Rhode Island Hospital has proven to be a reliable and valid measure of anxiety. The scale can easily be ...
A new randomized trial shows that on average, three months after receiving a series of 10 massage sessions, patients had half the symptoms of anxiety. This improvement resembles that previously ...
Under a $7.1 million grant from the National Institutes of Health, Rush University Medical Center is developing a novel program, called WISHFIT, to help pre-menopausal women reduce visceral fat ...
Researchers at UC Irvine and the Charles Drew University of Medicine & Science (CDU) will monitor the day-to-day health of low-birth-weight babies and their parents as part of a comprehensive ...
People who are stressed by daily problems or trouble at work seem to be more likely to grind their teeth at night. Researchers writing in BioMed Central's open access journal Head & Face Medicine ...
Many people feel insecure when they drive in tunnels. However, their anxiety can be reduced. "Driving in tunnels is actually twice as safe as driving in the open air, when all factors are taken into ...
This study shows that cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is effective in dealing with patients suffering from lupus and high levels of daily stress as it significantly reduces the incidence of ...
People who have drunk a moderate amount of alcohol before a traumatic event report more flashbacks than those who have had no alcohol, according to new research at UCL (University College London). ...
President Barack Obama's recent physical examination revealed that he is in generally good health and that he is still trying to quit smoking. His doctor's advice: keep up his "smoking cessation ...
A systematic review that is published in the current issue of Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics by Schulte and associates (University of Bremen, Germany) analyzes what is the psychosomatic component ...
Hearing Voices...
Source: The International Network for
Training, Education and Research into Hearing Voices (Last Updated: 07.03.08) [Emphasis in original.]
We have found there are many people who hear voices, yet are not troubled by them or have found their own ways of coping with them
outside of psychiatric care. This is very significant as it shows you can hear voices and remain healthy.
However, there are also significant numbers of voice hearers who are overwhelmed by the negative and disempowering aspects of the experience. Many are
diagnosed as having a serious mental health problem such as schizophrenia – a harmful and stigmatizing concept, in our eyes.
The experience of hearing voices prevents some people from living a fulfilled life in society (especially those in psychiatric and social care) and can lead to having a
very poor quality of life. We seek to enable voice hearers troubled by their experience to change their relationship and attitude to their voices and to take up their lives
again. We also want to ensure that our innovatory approach is better known by professionals, family members and friends.
We have spent the last 20 years trying to better understand why some people can cope with the experience and others can't. We have discovered that those people who are
not able to cope with their voices, on the whole have not been able to cope with the traumatic events that lay at the roots of their voice hearing experience.
Significantly, the search for ways of doing this began with the people who were best able to provide the answers, the voice hearers themselves including psychiatric
patients, and equally importantly, people who heard voices who had never needed to seek the assistance of psychiatric services.
Our network focuses on solutions that improve the life of voice hearers in the knowledge that these methods have been co-developed by voice hearers and professionals.
The most important factor in the success of our approach is the importance placed on the personal engagement of the people involved. This means that everybody is considered
an expert of their own experiences. We see each other first as people, secondly as equal partners and thirdly as all having different but mutually valuable expertise to offer.
This can either be through direct experience of hearing voices or having worked with voice hearers (and/or wanting to).
We now know, because we have met a lot of voice hearers who have recovered from the stress caused by their voices, ...that understanding the meaning of the
voices is of great significance. It is important, therefore, that we promote this information in a more systematic way to ensure that our message is clear and coherent.
One outcome of this is the development of this online community. [Visit Site]
