U.S. House of Representatives passes Wellstone Mental Health Parity Act
Good news, kinda, this morning on the mental health insurance parity front. The United States House of Representatives has passed, by a vote of 268-148, their version of a mental health parity bill (H.R. 1424: the Paul Wellstone Mental Health and Addiction Equity Act), which, to borrow a quote from the New York Times story, requires "most group health plans to provide more generous coverage for treatment of mental illnesses, comparable to what they provide for physical illnesses". Th
Source: www.mentalhelp.net
The Tragic Suicide of 1st Sgt. Jeff McKinney
The Army Times has an excellent article on the tragic suicide of 1st Sgt. Jeff McKinney, a man with so much to live for (a wife and child he clearly loved (watch the video of McKinney with his family), and the earnest respect of the men he led) who put his rifle barrel under his chin and pulled the trigger in front of the men he led. What pushed him over the edge like that? Substantial psychological trauma at least – something like an Acute Stress Disorder (the precursor to Post-traumati
Source: www.mentalhelp.net
Rate of Strokes Skyrockets Among Middle Aged Women
According to researcher Dr. Amytis Towfighi, who presented results of a study at the recent International Stroke Conference, the number of middle-aged American women experiencing strokes has surged dramatically. Two percent of women between the ages of 35 and 54 had a stroke during 1999 to 2004, compared to .5% of women in the same age group during 1998-1994. Strokes, a disruption in the blood supply to the brain, are one of the most common causes of brain damage. Strokes are caused by blockages
Source: www.mentalhelp.net
Mood Change Doesn’t Happen Quickly
I fell into a small depressive mood the other day. Though I'm not generally prone to depression (being more of an anxiety sort of guy), this sort of thing does happen from time to time. Usually, I'm able to simply shrug them off within a day. However, this one decided to stick around for a while. It sat on me for about two days, staining my perceptions and giving a negative cast to life. I found myself ruminating; running self-critical thoughts over and over like a tape loop. I bec
Source: www.mentalhelp.net
Documentary Tonight Spotlights Family Caregiving Issues
A new documentary on PBS tonight (9 pm EST) spotlights the issues that arise when someone must care for aging parents who are ill or disabled. From dealing with medical and legal concerns, to deciding upon living arrangements and clarifying who is going to provide personal daily care, an increasing number of Americans are forced to ask and address a tough question: "How do you successfully parent your own parents? According to the Family Caregiver Alliance, 5.8 - 7 million people (family,
Source: www.mentalhelp.net
Irish women progress to final at world cup (RTÉ News)
In Saturday morning’s non-Olympic programme at the Rowing World Cup in Poznan, Sinéad Jennings and Orlagh Duddy performed best of the six Irish lightweight single scullers in action, with both of them progressing to the afternoon’s lightweight women’s single ‘A’ final.
Source: www.rte.ie
Man charged over lay-by body (BBC News)
A man is charged with murdering a Swedish woman whose body was found in a burning suitcase.
Source: news.bbc.co.uk
In Treatment: Understanding how patients ‘lie’ to themselves and others is at the heart of dynamic psychotherapy
New York Times blogger Virginia Heffernan made a brilliant observation the other day in "The Medium" concerning the psychotherapy HBO television show "In Treatment" (You can watch it online if you don't have HBO). Specifically, she observes that there is a whole lot of lying going on in the show and that sensitively noticing that lying and how it unfolds seems to be central to the movement of the plot. Watching reality television, where there is also a whole lot of lyin
Source: www.mentalhelp.net
Retail Therapy, Sadness and Spending: The Study Behind the Story
Cynthia E. Cryder , a graduate student over at Carnegie Mellon University and a bunch of other psychological researchers have an article in press in Psychological Science (the journal of the American Psychological Society) called Misery is not Miserly: Sad and Self-Focused Individuals Spend More which explores the relationship between sad mood, self-focused attention and willingness to spend money. This little (dense, scientific) journal article which hasn't even been published yet has gene
Source: www.mentalhelp.net
The Proper Name for Eliot Spitzer’s brand of hypocrisy is Reaction Formation
A friend forwarded a joke making the rounds concerning the Eliot Spitzer sex scandal: How do you know Eliot Spitzer is a Democrat? Because the prostitute he slept with was a woman! The humor in this joke works because of the contrast between the Spitzer affair and multiple recent Republican and right-wing religious figure sex scandals which have involved men seeking sex with other men (or boys). Senator Larry Craig and Representative Mark Foley, and politically influential evangelical pa
Source: www.mentalhelp.net
fat cunt
