The Mental Health Social Worker

A behavioral therapy designed to treat children diagnosed with social phobia  helped them overcome more of their symptoms than the antidepressant fluoxetine (Prozac), according to an NIMH-funded study published in the December 2007 issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

Social phobia, also called social anxiety disorder, is characterized by an extremely distressing fear of social situations, of being watched or judged by others, and of being embarrassed. People with social phobia also may have physical symptoms like a racing heart, excessive sweating or blushing, trembling, nausea and other symptoms. Social phobia is more extreme than common shyness and can interfere with a person’s ability to function. Children with the disorder avoid everyday activities and situations such as playing with other kids, reading in class, and speaking to adults. (more…)

The majority of Hurricane Katrina survivors who developed mental disorders after the disaster are not receiving the mental health services they need, and many who were receiving mental health care prior to the hurricane were not able to continue with treatment, according to an NIMH-funded study published online ahead of print December 17, 2007, in the American Journal of Psychiatry.

Philip Wang, M.D., Dr.P.H., formerly of Harvard University, and now director of the NIMH Division of Services and Intervention Research, and colleagues conducted telephone surveys in early 2006 with 1,043 adults who had been affected by the hurricane in Alabama, Mississippi and the New Orleans metropolitan area. Respondents were asked if they had a diagnosed mental disorder, such as depression or anxiety, prior to the hurricane for which they received professional treatment. Those who did not have a pre-existing disorder were asked if they had developed and been treated for a mental disorder since the hurricane struck. Treatment included medication and/or psychotherapy from mental health professionals, general medical providers, religious or spiritual advisors, or complementary and alternative medicine professionals. (more…)

Humans tend to be overly optimistic about the future, sometimes underestimating risks and making unrealistic plans, notes NIMH grantee Elizabeth Phelps, Ph.D., New York University. Yet “a moderate optimistic illusion” appears to be essential for maintaining motivation and good mental health.

Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), Phelps and her colleagues have now shown that such “optimism bias” may be rooted in the same brain circuitry as depression, which is marked by a tendency to be overly pessimistic.

The same circuitry was also in play when this normal bias toward positive thinking was temporarily turned off by depriving the brain of the mood-regulating chemical messenger serotonin, in another recent fMRI study by NIMH intramural research psychiatrist Wayne Drevets, M.D., and colleagues. (more…)

Two studies help explain why teens exposed to fetal alcohol are at high risk for heavy drinking and perpetuating a family cycle of alcohol addiction

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WASHINGTON, DC—Young people whose mothers drank when pregnant may be more likely to abuse alcohol because, in the womb, their developing senses came to prefer its taste and smell. Researchers with the State University of New York Developmental Ethanol Research Center have found that because the developing nervous system adapts to whatever mothers eat and drink, young rats exposed to alcohol (ethanol) in the womb drank significantly more alcohol than non-exposed rats.These findings, covered in two related studies, appear in the December issue of Behavioral Neuroscience, published by the American Psychological Association (APA). The studies contribute a critical biological piece to the complex puzzle of why teens with a family history of drinking may themselves drink more. Lead author Steven Youngentob, PhD, observes that a biologically instilled preference for alcohol’s taste and smell can make young people much more likely to abuse alcohol, especially in light of social pressures, risk-taking tendencies and alcohol’s addicting qualities. (more…)

Calls on APA To Develop Further Policies, Education To Protect Integrity of Research, Practice and Applications

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WASHINGTON, DC—Corporate funding – particularly from pharmaceutical companies – has the potential to create both individual and institutional conflicts of interest and could pose a threat to the integrity of psychological research and practice, according to a special task force of the American Psychological Association.APA’s Presidential Task Force on External Funding reviewed research, media reports and other sources to conclude that strong policies, education and continuing education are necessary to protect the integrity of the science and practice of psychology. The eight-member task force has recommended that APA set clear limits on its dealings with pharmaceutical companies and other corporate entities in specific ways, including disclosing relationships between these companies and any research published in APA journals. (more…)

First-ever report ranks states based on depression status; calls for mental health monitoring system to inform state policies impacting access to care

Contact:  Heather Cobb, Mental Health America, (703) 797-2588

Alexandria, VA (November 28, 2007) - Mental Health America today released its report, “Ranking America’s Mental Health: An Analysis of Depression Across the States,” a first-of-its-kind study examining state and national data for statistical associations between access-to-care factors and actual health outcomes, namely a state’s mental health status and suicide rate.  Included in the study is a ranking of the 50 states and the District of Columbia based on rates of depression and suicide.  South Dakota is found to lead the nation with the best depression status while Utah ranked last.  For the complete rankings, visit www.mentalhealthamerica.net/go/state-ranking.  

“It is important to note that regardless of where each state ranks on our mental health scale, there is much room for improvement,” said Dr. David Shern, PhD, president and CEO of Mental Health America.  “While a number of factors including biology and environment impact an individual’s mental health, this study shows that states can significantly improve their populations’ mental health status by adopting policies that expand access to mental health treatments.” (more…)

Only a few legislative days are left in the current session of Congress, and ACA and other mental health advocacy organizations are working to push mental health and addictive disorder parity legislation over the goal line. A very strong parity bill -H.R. 1424, the “Paul Wellstone Mental Health and Addiction Equity Act” - has been approved by the House committees to which it was referred. A somewhat weaker Senate bill, S. 558, was passed by that chamber in September. (more…)

Study finds rats with amygdalas damaged at birth showed abnormal adult behavior related to fear plus greater cocaine sensitivity

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WASHINGTON, DC—Why do mental illness and drug addiction often go together? New research reveals that this type of dual diagnosis may stem from a common cause: developmental changes in the amygdala, a walnut-shaped part of the brain linked to fear, anxiety and other emotions. A full report on why these “comorbid” disorders may develop appears in the December Behavioral Neuroscience, published by the American Psychological Association (APA).Dual diagnosis is common yet difficult to treat. Addiction of all types – to nicotine, alcohol and drugs – is often found in people with a wide variety of mental illnesses, including anxiety disorders, unipolar and bipolar depression, schizophrenia, and borderline and other personality disorders. (more…)

Leading Authorities Address Cutting-edge Treatments of Major Mental Illnesses

Arlington, Va. - Gabbard’s Treatments of Psychiatric Disorders, 4th Edition, will debut as part of the core offerings at www.PsychiatryOnline.com in January 2008. More than 160 authorities share insights gained from firsthand experience in a state-of-the-art text that covers all major treatments in psychiatry linked to specific disorders. (more…)

AJP Study Underscores the Value of Mood-Stabilizer Medications in Risk/Benefit Equation Arlington, Va. (Dec. 1, 2007) - Women with bipolar disorder who stop taking their medication - such as lithium, antipsychotics and anticonvulsants prescribed as mood stabilizers - before or shortly after becoming pregnant appear to be much more likely to suffer a recurrence of the disorder, according to a study reported in the December issue of The American Journal of Psychiatry (AJP), the official journal of the American Psychiatric Association (APA).

In the prospective study of 89 pregnant women with bipolar disorder, Adele C. Viguera, M.D., and colleagues at Harvard Medical School and Emory University found that 85 percent of the 62 women they studied who stopped their mood stabilizer medication-up to six months prior to becoming pregnant or in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy-experienced a recurrence of the disorder. In comparison, only 37 percent of the 27 women who continued taking their medication through at least week 12 of pregnancy experienced a recurrence. In addition, Viguera and her colleagues report in “Recurrence Risk in Women With Bipolar Disorder During Pregnancy: Prospective Study of Mood- Stabilizer Discontinuation” that abrupt discontinuation of medication greatly increased and hastened the recurrence, confirming earlier observations by the same researchers. (more…)

Arlington, Va. (Nov. 30, 2007) - The holiday season can be a happy time of year, as family andfriends gather to share warm memories and create new ones. However, the American Psychiatric Association (APA) recognizes that for some people, the holidays bring stress, anxiety and feelings of depression. (more…)

An intervention designed to enhance family interaction and improve foster parenting skills may benefit young foster children who had experienced extreme neglect or maltreatment in early life. The intervention stabilizes the children’s daily patterns of cortisol, one of several hormones controlled by the stress management system called the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. The study was published in the fall 2007 issue of Psychoneuroendocrinology. (more…)