Some critics are charging that the U.S. government is not doing enough to help returning war veterans with their mental health concerns. For instance, the first time vets are screened for a mental health concern is only on their way home from a deployment, using a standardized paper-and-pencil screening test. The screening consists of the Post-Deployment Health Assessment, a two-page form of fill-in-the-bubble questions. Only five questions -- including "Did you ever feel you were in great danger of being killed?" -- address mental health. A mental health expert reviews each questionnaire. Abbie Pickett is one of the tens of thousands who served in the National Guard in Iraq. She was in Iraq for 11 months in 2003 and 2004. When she came home, she said ...   Read more »

A top scientific adviser to the U.K. government is advising depressed people to forget drugs and take up lifestyle changes such as smiling and eating seaweed. Jane A. Plant is a professor of geochemistry at Imperial College London. She became interested in mental health via her work in environmental health and after first-hand experience. While her previous books have focused on a range of physical conditions, she has now turned her attention to depression. In her controversial new book, Beating Stress, Anxiety and Depression: Groundbreaking Ways to Help You Feel Better, Plant aims to "inform and empower sufferers and their families" and "give the reader the latest findings on medications commonly used and misused to treat the epidemic that is sweeping the Western world." The book ...   Read more »

"Dr. H. Can I see you for a minute?" A student has approached me after class. "Sure." I'm always pleased when a student shows some interest. "Well. I was wondering. Can you write me a recommendation?" Now I'm not pleased. I'm just astonished. Yes, this student has achieved a decent grade. But she's participated marginally and has never set herself apart from the group. It's the first one-to-one contact I've had with her. "I'm always glad to help out when I can, but surely there's someone who knows you better than I do," I reply, doing my best to stay polite. "Well. You know me better than any other professor because you teach the smallest class I've got." If I know her the best, she's in trouble. I ...   Read more »

Whether it’s a nuzzle of their wet nose, a game of fetch or a walk around the block, spending time with our pets can make us feel better, calmer and even happier. Indeed, studies suggest that people with pets experience both emotional and physical benefits (Barker, 1999). But can time spent with an animal truly translate into a meaningful, healing experience? That’s the goal of equine-assisted psychotherapy (EAP), an increasingly popular experiential treatment where individuals interact with horses in a variety of activities, including grooming, feeding, walking and equine games, for improving their psychological health. Both a licensed therapist and horse professional conduct EAP. According to the Equine Assisted Growth and Learning Association, EAP is used to treat “behavioral issues, attention deficit disorder, ...   Read more »

When my grandfather's mother died in 1900 in rural Maine, it was his aunt who stepped in to raise him and his baby sister. When my friend Jill lost her mother in the 1950s, her Gran and other relatives in their small Southern town kept the family together by dividing up the 6 siblings among them. That way the kids saw each other at school and every Sunday afternoon. When my friend Pat's daughter was abandoned by her husband in 1990, it was Pat who opened her home and her heart to 3 grandchildren. She and her daughter have since co-parented them to young adulthood. Last year, our neighbor Ted, took in his 6-year-old grandchild when his own daughter once again entered rehab. One of ...   Read more »

"Putting food by." That’s what my grandmother called it. As a girl, I spent lots of steamy summer days in an even steamier kitchen learning the art of canning. My grand-dad would bring in a huge basket of produce from his garden and the women of the family would get down to business, making jams, conserves, and jellies; putting up jars upon jars of vegetables and fruit; freezing even more. It was a sensory experience: The rich smell of cooking berries or tomatoes or pickles. The sounds of peas being shelled and beans being snapped. The intense green of blanched beans and asparagus. The beautiful colors of the jars lined up on the counter at the end of the day: green pickles, red beets, ...   Read more »

The most recent medications typically prescribed for schizophrenia include a class of drugs called "atypical antipsychotics." Atypical means they work in a manner that is significantly different than the previous class of antipsychotic medications. "Antipsychotic" refers to the fact that these medications were initially thought only to help people with psychosis (a common symptom of schizophrenia). People with schizophrenia who take this medication will typically find that their hallucinations or delusions will significantly decrease and, in some cases, disappear altogether. Since their initial development, further research has demonstrated that atypical antipsychotics can also have helpful mood stabilizing properties. Because of this, this class of drugs is commonly prescribed for someone with bipolar disorder. Someone who takes an atypical antipsychotic will find that their moods ...   Read more »

The most recent medications typically prescribed for bipolar disorder include a class of drugs called "atypical antipsychotics." Atypical means they work in a manner that is significantly different than the previous class of antipsychotic medications. "Antipsychotic" refers to the fact that these medications were initially thought only to help people with psychosis (a common symptom of schizophrenia). However, since their initial development, further research has demonstrated that this class of medications also can have helpful mood stabilizing properties. This means for someone with bipolar disorder, their moods swings will typically become less frequent and less intense. There are seven commonly prescribed atypical antipsychotic medications for bipolar disorder: Abilify (aripiprazole) Risperdal (risperidone, Rispen, Belivon) Zyprexa (olanzapine) Seroquel (quetiapine) Cloazril (clozapine) Symbyax (olanzapine/fluoxetine) Geodon (ziprasidone) Common side ...   Read more »

Have you ever noticed that one yawn sets off a chain reaction, spreading to others nearby? Dr. Gordon Gallup and colleagues at the University at Albany - State University of New York believe that rather than being a precursor to sleep, yawning is designed to help us communicate. Yawning is a universal, involuntary action, lasting an average of six seconds. Babies yawn in the womb, and most animals do it too. Gallup suggests that the purpose of yawning is to share information within our social group. Gallup has spent years exploring the phenomenon of contagious yawning. He defines it as "the onset of a yawn triggered by seeing, hearing, reading, or thinking about another person yawn." While it's uncertain what causes contagious yawning, it may ...   Read more »

Three Minute Refutations are a part of Three Minute Therapy involve a powerful exercise to change your thinking. It serves as a supplement to the Three Minute Exercise. While the Three Minute Exercise (in my book, see pp. 9, 18, 32, 40, etc.) helps you dispute your demands -- your "musts" and "shoulds" -- Three Minute Refutations target your rationalizations or excuses, which arise from your demands. For example, if you have bills to pay and find it uncomfortable to do so, you may tell yourself you "must" avoid that discomfort. Or if you have the urge to eat chocolate when eating it is prohibited on your diet, you may think you "must" satisfy this urge. These "musts" lead to self-defeating behaviors. The Three Minute ...   Read more »

Three Minute Therapy's (TMT) comprehensive approach works best for individuals desiring a scientific, present-focused, and active treatment for coping with life's difficulties, rather than one which is mystical, historical, and largely passive. TMT works, as shown by research, and it is a form of cognitive behavior therapy, but has its own distinctive features. Three Minute Therapy differs in many ways from therapies which are more traditional and which have their roots in Freudianism. Some of these differences are that Three Minute Therapy (TMT): Rejects the view that our emotional or behavioral disturbances are caused by childhood traumas. Rejects the view that our mind has a heavily disguised yet extremely powerful "Unconscious" part. ...   Read more »

Flashbacks are memories of past traumas. They may take the form of pictures, sounds, smells, body sensations, feelings, or the lack of them (numbness). Many times there is no actual visual or auditory memory with flashbacks. One may have a sense of panic, of being trapped, or a feeling of powerlessness with no memory stimulating it. These experiences can also happen in dreams. During the initial crisis, the survivor had to insulate her/himself from the emotional and physical horrors of the trauma. In order to survive, that insulated part of the self remained isolated, unable to express the feelings and thoughts of that time. It is as though the survivor put that ...   Read more »

A trigger is something that sets off a memory tape or flashback transporting the person back to the event of her/his original trauma. Triggers are very personal; different things trigger different people. The survivor may begin to avoid situations and stimuli that she/he thinks triggered the flashback. She/he will react to this flashback, trigger with an emotional intensity similar to that at the time of the trauma. A person's triggers are activated through one or more of the five senses: sight, sound, touch, smell and taste. The senses identified as being the most common to trigger someone are sight and sound, followed by touch and smell, and taste close behind. A combination ...   Read more »

I believe it was the poet Thom Gunn who said “ The longer people are dead, the more our relationship with them changes.” In Confessions of a Former Child: A Therapist’s Memoir I write about the evolving relationship with my wife and daughter, my patients and my parents. But my parents have passed on. So how is it that thoughts and feelings about the people who affected us the most, particularly the negative feelings, can morph into something different? As a psychologist and psychodramatist I use role-playing to untangle some of the pain in relationships, particularly when the other person, either through death or circumstance, isn’t available. Below is an excerpt from my memoir from the essay The Smoke Clears. It is a ...   Read more »

Bipolar disorder is the modern term for mood swings that used to be called manic depression. It is a fairly common yet serious mental illness, affecting between one and five per cent of Americans of all ages. Unfortunately there is usually a delay of several years before the diagnosis is made. Bipolar disorder has no known cure. The likelihood is that the individual will need long-term medication and ongoing support. But if it is well managed, with help from family, friends, support groups and health professionals, the person with bipolar disorder can lead a productive and satisfying life: many people with bipolar disorder are married, have families, work, study and pursue pastimes of their choice. Advances in drug therapy together with new approaches to non-medical treatment are ...   Read more »