The Mental Health Social Worker

SYDNEY —  An Australian scientist is doping up honey bees with cocaine to study how their brains react to the drug, and possibly find a way to stop addiction in humans.

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APA Denounces New Health and Human Services Regulations

ARLINGTON, Va. (Dec. 22, 2008) –The American Psychiatric Association (APA) decries the enactment of new regulations by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to deny federal funding to health organizations that don’t allow workers to refuse to provide medical services that they oppose on religious grounds. In these regulations, the onus is on the health care organization to prove that it allows workers to refuse to perform medical procedures such as abortion, sterilization and the providing of birth control pills to women. Workers may also refuse to provide in-vitro fertilization services to lesbians or single women.

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Science Update
December 24, 2008

Life’s Hard Knocks Can Leave Marks That Turn Genes On and Off

The first study of its kind to pinpoint environment-triggered genetic changes in schizophrenia has been launched with $9.8 million in funding from NIMH. The five-site study seeks telltale marks in the genome that hold clues to how nurture interacts with nature to produce the illness.

These “epigenetic” changes that occur with aging and other environmental influences regulate the turning on and off of the genes we inherit, with pivotal consequences for health. Thus, if one identical twin develops schizophrenia, the other twin is similarly affected in only about half of cases, despite the fact that they share the same genes and the illness is estimated to be 80 to 90 percent heritable. Evidence suggests that epigenetic differences may account for the discrepancy. (more…)

Commendation honors NASW Foundation’s sound fiscal management

Washington –The National Association of Social Workers Foundation (NASW Foundation) has achieved its third consecutive 4-star rating from Charity Navigator, America’s premier charity evaluator.  This honor notes the ability of the NASW Foundation to efficiently manage and grow its finances.  The NASW Foundation is among only 10% of the charities that Charity Navigator evaluates receiving their highest rating for three consecutive years.

“The National Association of Social Workers Foundation is honored to have received the 4-star rating from Charity Navigator year in and year out,” says Robert Arnold, director of the NASW Foundation.  “This commendation assures our donors and other partners that we are furthering the mission of the NASW Foundation in a fiscally responsible way.”

While always acting as society’s safety net, social workers and their services will be in increasing demand in the coming years, particularly in these troubled economic times.  The NASW Foundation supports social workers in their work on behalf of individuals, families and communities.  (more…)

An NIMH-funded program already shown to reduce risky sexual and substance abuse behavior among HIV-infected adults also appears to be effective in improving the lives of HIV-infected homeless or near-homeless adults, according to a new report. The study was published in the November 2008 issue of the American Journal of Public Health.

Background

Mary Jane Rotheram-Borus, Ph.D., of the University of California, Los Angeles, and colleagues examined the effectiveness of the NIMH-funded Healthy Living Program among a subgroup of HIV-positive adults. The program was designed for HIV-infected adults in general who continued to engage in risky behavior after learning of their infection. It consists of three intervention modules of five sessions each, designed to help participants reduce risky sexual behavior and drug use, improve their quality of life and stick to healthy behaviors.

A previous trial with 737 HIV-infected adults found the program to be effective in reducing risky behaviors. For this study, the authors analyzed data from 270 participants who were homeless or had been homeless in the three years prior to and during the study.

Results of the Study

Compared with a control group who did not receive the Healthy Living intervention, the authors found a significant reduction of risky sexual behavior among the subgroup. Up to 34 percent fewer risky sexual acts took place, and 72 percent fewer sexual encounters occurred with partners who were HIV negative or of unknown HIV status. In addition, individuals in the subgroup experienced up to 26 percent fewer days of alcohol, marijuana and hard drug use.

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By Carey Goldberg

Boston Globe Staff / December 15, 2008

Sexual “numbness.” Lack of libido. Arousal that stalls.

Such sexual symptoms have long been known side effects of the popular Prozac class of antidepressants, but a growing body of research suggests that they are far more common than previously thought, perhaps affecting half or more of patients.

And a handful of recent medical and psychological journal articles document a small number of cases in which sexual problems remain even after a patient goes off the drugs.

“This is such an upsetting issue,” said Aline Zoldbrod, a Lexington psychologist and sex therapist. “There are people for whom SSRIs are really life-saving, I think, but the idea that someone would have to choose between getting out of the darkness of depression and having a good sex life is horrible.”

Current warnings on the labels of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, or SSRIs, cite early studies in which the prevalence of sexual side effects was lower: 4 percent for Prozac, for example, and ranging from 0 to 28 percent for Paxil.

But more recent studies, in which patients were more likely to be asked about specific sexual side effects and thus more likely to report them, suggest that the ballpark range of those affected by SSRIs is between 30 percent and 50 percent, said researchers including Dr. Richard Balon, a psychiatry professor at Wayne State University who studies the symptoms. (more…)