August 31st, 2008 |
Mental health services will be an important part of the response to Hurricane Gustav, as government agencies like FEMA, NGO's including the Red Cross and area hospitals, and cadres of volunteers from nearly all 50 states prepare to intervene with the more than 3 million people throughout the Gulf states that will likely be affected by the storm.
Red Cross representative Joe Becker told local media that the Red Cross is "focusing very hard on our mental health preparations and deploying large numbers of our mental health professionals to help these people. We want to be there for people who... Read More
August 30th, 2008 |
A team of researchers – three at Florida State University and one at Yale – have completed a persuasive study of Behavior Management Training (BMT) for treating Reactive Attachment Disorder (RAD). The study, published in the journal Child Maltreatment, offers findings are encouraging to proponents of the classic reward and punishment system, and will likely lead to larger control studies.
RAD is a severe childhood disorder in which children display... Read More
August 28th, 2008 |
Both John McCain and Barack Obama have pledged to make mental health treatment, especially for returning veterans, a priority in the new Presidential administration.
Obama has spoken against cuts in services for both Medicare patients and veterans, though he has not been as specific as lobbyists would like.
Speaking to a crowd of veterans in Billings, Montana, where Obama briefly traveled from the Denver Democratic convention, the candidate decried current policy and pointed out that armed services veterans are seven times more... Read More
August 19th, 2008 |
The profession of psychology is experiencing tremendous controversy and internal division over the issue of psychologists aiding interrogators in the United States' “War on Terror”.
Many psychologists object to the practice on ethical grounds, citing the ethical imperative to "do no harm" and protect the interests of individuals under their care, and contrasting these ethical issues with the obvious risks of psychological harm inherent in the intense questioning tactics used by the military and intelligence agencies.
However, according to a report by the New... Read More
August 14th, 2008 |
From the good news / bad news department: Mainstream media sources are reporting that American psychiatrists have essentially stopped practicing psychotherapy – except with private paying clients, and even then only rarely – and are dealing almost exclusively with medication management. Over the last twenty years, the percentage of psychiatrists offering talk therapy has declined from a little less than half to a little more than one quarter, according to the most recent National Ambulatory Care Survey. As a result, the success... Read More
August 5th, 2008 |
My dad is an easy going and open minded man. It is funny for me to contemplate that he has a daughter with my temperament. I can see his face looking down at me as a young girl, perplexed by his daughter’s inability to let anything go, even when it clearly didn’t serve me to do so. As a child I could easily be described as intransigent, perfectionistic and stubborn. Unfortunately, many of these qualities followed me into adulthood. Looking back, I can see how my own tenacity caused me many troubles. I just couldn’t seem to get out of my own way.
I now understand why I was so rigid with... Read More
August 4th, 2008 |
This article describes the effects of chronic maltreatment, such as can occur in an orphanage, on a child's psychological development, brain development, and later relationships. There are clear links between maltreatment and later psychological, emotional, behavioral, and interpersonal disorders. The basis for this linkage is the impact that maltreatment has on brain development. Daniel Siegel,... Read More
