Bonnie Burton is a trauma survivor who writes about therapy from the inside. As a gifted writer, she conveys some essential truths about the process of therapy, and shatters some stereotypes along the way. Her experiences with good therapists and not-so-good therapists are essential reading for client and therapist alike. (more…)

Why do some people develop post-traumatic stress disorder after a trauma and others remain symptom free? We are still trying to understand resilience, one characteristic of good mental health.

Researchers studying survivors of the September 11, 2001 World Trade Center attack have been surprised to find many of them to be free of PTSD symptoms. Resilience was less common among people who were actually in the buildings or in the immediate area, but the researchers report that even for “highly exposed individuals” the frequency of resilience never fell below one third.

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AstraZeneca announced last week that they have submitted a New Drug Application to the FDA for a sustained release version of their antipsychotic medication Seroquel (quetiapine). The company reports the new medication has a “short titration period” - meaning that patients may receive a therapeutically effective dose of the medication as soon as the second day of treatment.

Drug companies come out with new versions of their medications just before the patent on the existing version expires, but Seroquel’s patent does not expire until 2011. Israel’s Teva Pharmaceuticals filed an FDA request to produce a generic version of quetiapine last year and they were promptly sued by AstraZenica. Was this a factor in the early request for a sustained-release version? (more…)

The U.S.Food and Drug Administration has issued a public health advisory about potential risks of taking certain migraine medications - triptans - together with certain antidepressants. The advisory states, “A life-threatening condition called serotonin syndrome may occur when triptans are used together with a SSRI or a SNRI.” (more…)

Good decisions are made “with the head and the heart”. We actually make better decisions when we use our conscious mind together with our unconscious mind. Researchers in Denmark studied decisions made by people when they were allowed to think about their choices and compared this to decisions made when they were distracted and not allowed to consciously think about their problems. People made better decisions when they had been distracted - when the decision was heavily influenced by their unconscious mind. (more…)

Unlike most develped countries, the United States does not have universal health care. A new study by NAMI (The National Alliance on Mental Illness) has found that the cost for treating depression is three times higher in U.S. citizens with limited access to treatment. The annual “out-of-pocket costs” for medication, psychotherapy and other treatment costs averaged $4,312 for those with restricted access versus $1,496 for those with good health insurance. (more…)

Numerous studies have found that people diagnosed with mental illnesses smoke more than people without such a diagnosis. Up to 80% of patients with schizophreia smoke cigarettes. It seems that nicotine actually treats some of their symptoms. Some have gone as far as to suggest that teen smoking may help prevent schzophrenia. (more…)

Managed care continues to have a chilling effect on mental health treatment in the United States. Many therapists are required to complete lenghty paperwork after every few sessions of psychotherapy in order to request “authorization” for additional sessions. Companies claim to offer a benefit (such as 20 sessions per year) but aggressively manage these so that many ot the sessions are not authorized. The Pennsylvania Psychological Association has drafted legislation that will restrict this process in that state. (more…)

Researchers at Univeraity of California Davis have found that the amygdala and the hippocampus are abnormally large in boys with autism. The amygdala, an area associates with processing emotions, appears to grow “too big too fast” while the hippocampus, an area involved im memory, was larger at all ages.Read more in this article from The Davis Enterprise

Mental health medications are used for a variety of problems. Medications are the primary treatment for schizophrenia and bipolar disorder; and they are also important in the treatment of depression and anxiety disorders.

Read more about mental health medications