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By Medical News Today

Post-traumatic stress disorder can affect soldiers after combat or ordinary people who have undergone harrowing experiences. Of course, feelings of anxiety are normal and even desirable – they are part of what helps us survive in a world of real threats. But no less crucial is the return to normal – the slowing of the heartbeat and relaxation of tension – after the threat has passed. People who have a hard time “turning off” their stress response are candidates for post-traumatic stress syndrome, as well as anorexia, anxiety disorders and depression.

How does the body recover from responding to shock or acute stress? This question is at the heart of research conducted by Dr. Alon Chen of the Institute’s Neurobiology Department. The response to stress begins in the brain, and Chen concentrates on a family of proteins that play a prominent role in regulating this mechanism. One protein in the family – CRF – is known to initiate a chain of events that occurs when we cope with pressure, and scientists have hypothesized that other members of the family are involved in shutting down that chain. In research that appeared in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), Chen and his team have now, for the first time, provided sound evidence that three family members known as urocortin 1, 2 and 3 – are responsible for turning off the stress response.

Full story at Medical News Today

By Dr. Leslie Becker-Phelps

If only we could wish away bad habits and unwanted traits. We would all be like the population of Garrison Keillor’s Lake Wobegon – “where all the women are strong, all the men are good looking, and all the children are above average.” Instead, we are stuck with our imperfect selves. While we enjoy shining moments of accomplishment and virtue, we also struggle with the less stellar aspects of ourselves; such as unhealthy eating, low self-esteem, depression, or untold anxieties.

Part of being human is the experience of always being a work in progress – never that final, perfect person. This can make life an exciting adventure; as long as you continue to move in the direction of growth.

Two important steps in encouraging growth are really being ‘in’ your life experiences – not always thinking about other things – and accepting those experiences. When you acknowledge, experience, and fully accept your feelings, you are essentially accepting all aspects of yourself and gaining a sense of being ‘at home’ in you. Even when you don’t like your emotions or are unhappy, they can still feel right. A perfect example of this is when you grieve the loss of someone important in your life; you don’t like the experience, but you have a sense that it is a genuine expression of your feelings, and so it feels right.

You might be thinking; This all sound great, but how can I find such inner peace? There is one very good way to do this that I am hesitant to mention because so many people misunderstand it… meditation. Although increasingly more people are learning the benefits of it for themselves, there are also many others who immediately ‘know’ it is not for them. They might be right, but they dismiss it before they really even understand it.

People often think of meditation as achieving a state of bliss, or at least a deep calm. Although it’s true that meditation can be relaxing, that’s not its main purpose. It is a practice of being aware of, and directing, your attention to your moment-by-moment experience. And it does this by teaching people to see when they become distracted or carried away with thoughts or feelings; and to return their attention to the moment (often focusing on their breath).

This process can be applied to people’s lives outside of meditation, helping them to change things about themselves. So, for example, the emotional overeater can note her urges to eat; learn to tolerate them – along with any accompanying unpleasant emotions – without reaching for food; and return her attention the tasks at hand in her daily routine. Importantly, she is neither denying her urges, which might send them underground to sabotage her later; nor chastising herself for having them, which would undermine her motivation to treat herself well and make healthier food choices.

Stated succinctly, meditation helps people change by teaching them to be inside their experience and simultaneously outside, watching it with perspective. By being in the moment without feeling overcome by emotion, people can become adept at seeing themselves repeat patterns. Then, while acknowledging and experiencing an old pattern, they can choose to respond differently. It’s in this way that meditation frees people to make the personal changes they so desire.

Source Psychology Today

By DAVID MCCRACKEN, MA, LP

With more than 2 million people age 65 and older suffering from depression in the U.S., including half of those living in nursing homes, effectively treating the elderly is a growing problem – especially as the numbers of seniors rise.

Researchers at UCLA found that an ancient martial art can help significantly.

When a gentle, Westernized version of tai chi chih was combined with a standard drug treatment for a group of depressed elderly adults, researchers found greater improvement in the level of depression — along with improved quality of life, better memory and cognition, and more overall energy — than among a different group in which the standard treatment was paired with a weekly health education class.

“This is the first study to demonstrate the benefits of tai chi in the management of late-life depression, and we were encouraged by the results,” said first author Dr. Helen Lavretsky, a UCLA professor-in-residence of psychiatry.

“We know that nearly two-thirds of elderly patients who seek treatment for their depression fail to achieve relief with a prescribed medication.”

In the study, 112 adults age 60 or older with major depression were treated with the drug escitalopram (brand name Lexapro), a standard antidepressant, for approximately four weeks. From among those participants, 73 who showed only partial improvement continued to receive the medication daily but were also randomly assigned to 10 weeks of either a tai chi class for two hours per week or a health education class for two hours per week.

All the participants were evaluated for their levels of depression, anxiety, resilience, health-related quality of life, cognition and immune system inflammation at the beginning of the study and again four months later.

The level of depression among each participant was assessed using a common diagnostic tool known as the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression, which involves interviewing the individual. The questions are designed to gauge the severity of depression. A cut-off score of 10/11 is generally regarded as appropriate for the diagnosis of depression.

The researchers found that among the tai chi participants, 94 percent achieved a score of less than 10, with 65 percent achieving remission (a score of 6 or less). By comparison, among participants who received health education, 77 percent achieved scores of 10 or less, with 51 percent achieving remission.

While both groups showed improvement in the severity of depression, greater reductions were seen among those taking escitalopram and participating in tai chi.

“Depression can lead to serious consequences, including greater morbidity, disability, mortality and increased cost of care,” Lavretsky said. “This study shows that adding a mind-body exercise like tai chi that is widely available in the community can improve the outcomes of treating depression in older adults, who may also have other, co-existing medical conditions, or cognitive impairment.

“With tai chi,” she said, “we may be able to treat these conditions without exposing them to additional medications.”

The results of the study appear in the current online edition of the American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry.

Source Psych Central

By PSYCH CENTRAL NEWS EDITOR

Although in the current economy being unemployed feels like the worst thing in the world, researchers have found something even worse — being stuck in a bad job.

Australian National University researchers have found that, from a mental health perspective, you may be better off being unemployed rather than being in a bad job.

The work was undertaken by researchers from the Centre for Mental Health Research, led by Liana Leach, Ph.D.

Using data from the 20-year Personality and Total Health (PATH) Through Life Project, the team looked at the mental health effects of being in a “bad job” – a job with low security, high stress and little control. The results, Leach said, were significant.

“Our research had two main findings. First, we found that those in poor quality jobs had poorer mental health than those in good quality work. People who were in a bad job were five times more likely to be categorized as depressed and twice as likely to be categorized as anxious than those in good quality work.

“Second, over time, those who moved from being unemployed into poor quality work actually experienced a greater decline in their mental health than those who remained unemployed,” she said.

The study examined the effect of several adverse work conditions on an individual’s mental health, rather than looking at the effect of specific roles or occupations.

The researchers examined results from a national household survey conducted over seven years of more than 7,000 people living in Australia.

Job quality was graded based on four factors: stress and level of demand, amount of control employees said they had over their work, job security (or potential for a future) and whether or not the pay was fair.

Participants also filled out a mental health questionnaire that assessed symptoms of depression and anxiety as well as positive emotions, such as feelings of happiness and calm.

After taking into account possibly confounding factors that could influence the findings, such as an individual’s age, gender, marital status and level of education, the mental health of unemployed individuals was on par with, or better than, the mental health of those with poor-quality jobs.

Those with the poorest-quality jobs showed a greater drop in mental health over time compared with those who were unemployed.

“In our study, a bad job, or poor quality job, was one where people perceived their job was insecure, perhaps because they were on a short-term contract or casual work, they had high job demands or a heavy workload, and they didn’t have much control over how they managed that workload. They also felt that it would be difficult to gain another similar job, suggesting they felt trapped in their current workplace,” said Leach.

The results indicate that, for employers, one of the keys to happy and mentally healthy employees is to keep an eye on these negative factors and work with staff to find solutions.

Leach said the study suggests it would be best for employers to be open to negotiation with employees about their work conditions – making sure employees have reasonable workloads and some control over how they manage this workload is likely to produce employees with better mental health.

“For their part, employees might like to negotiate with employers to see if they can make their workplace one that benefits their wellbeing and mental health.

“Everybody has moments in their jobs where it’s difficult and you’re not enjoying what you’re doing, but we hope this study helps to improve people’s workplace environments so that we can improve their mental health too,” said Leach.

Source Psych Central

By Roger Walsh, PhD, M.D.

Lifestyle changes – such as getting more exercise, time in nature, or helping others – can be as effective as drugs or counseling to treat an array of mental illnesses, according to a new paper published by the American Psychological Association.

Multiple mental health conditions, including depression and anxiety, can be treated with certain lifestyle changes as successfully as diseases such as diabetes and obesity, according to Roger Walsh, M.D., PhD. of the University of California, Irvine’s College of Medicine. Walsh reviewed research on the effects of what he calls “therapeutic lifestyle changes,” or TLCs, including exercise, nutrition and diet, relationships, recreation, relaxation and stress management, religious or spiritual involvement, spending time in nature, and service to others. His paper was published in American Psychologist, APA’s flagship journal.

Walsh reviewed research on TLCs’ effectiveness and advantages, as well as the psychological costs of spending too much time in front of the TV or computer screen, not getting outdoors enough, and becoming socially isolated. He concludes that “Lifestyle changes can offer significant therapeutic advantages for patients, therapists, and societies, yet are insufficiently appreciated, taught or utilized,” The paper describes TLCs as effective, inexpensive and often enjoyable, with fewer side effects and complications than medications. “In the 21st century, therapeutic lifestyles may need to be a central focus of mental, medical and public health,” Walsh said.

According to research reviewed in the paper, the many often unrecognized TLC benefits include:

• Exercise not only helps people feel better by reducing anxiety and depression. It can help children do better in school, improve cognitive performance in adults, reduce age-related memory loss in the elderly, and increase new neuron formation in the brain.
• Diets rich in vegetables, fruits and fish may help school performance in children, maintain cognitive functions in adults, as well as reduce symptoms in affective and schizophrenic disorders.
• Spending time in nature can promote cognitive functions and overall well-being.
• Good relationships can reduce health risks ranging from the common cold to strokes as well as multiple mental illnesses, and can enhance psychological well-being dramatically.
• Recreation and fun can reduce defensiveness and foster social skills.
• Relaxation and stress management can treat a variety of anxiety, insomnia, and panic disorders.
• Meditation has many benefits. It can improve empathy, sensitivity and emotional stability, reduce stress and burnout, and enhance cognitive function and even brain size.
• Religious and spiritual involvement that focuses on love and forgiveness can reduce anxiety, depression and substance abuse, and foster well-being.
• Contribution and service, or altruism, can enhance joy and generosity by producing a “helper’s high.” Altruism also benefits both physical and mental health, and perhaps even extends lifespan. A major exception the paper notes is “caretaker burnout experienced by overwhelmed family members caring for a demented spouse or parent.”

Difficulties associated with using TLCs are the sustained effort they require, and “a passive expectation that healing comes from an outside authority or a pill,” according to Walsh. He also noted that people today must contend with a daily barrage of psychologically sophisticated advertisements promoting unhealthy lifestyle behaviors such as smoking, drinking alcohol, and eating fast food. “You can never get enough of what you don’t really want, but you can certainly ruin your life and health trying” lamented Walsh.

For therapists, the study recommends learning more about the benefits of TLCs, and devoting more time to foster patients’ TLCs.

The paper recognizes that encouraging widespread adoption of therapeutic lifestyles by the public is likely to require wide-scale measures encompassing educational, mental, and public health systems, as well as political leadership.

Source Medical News Today