Psychiatry: a failing culture. Is there hope for a new reality?

By Jenny Lynn, OpenMind Therapist

I’ve been contributing to a discussion on a forum I’m part of : Schizophrenia: causes and treatment, and today I just had to share the following.  It is what I teach in my authenticity programme and what comes up for discussion generally in the groups that I run.

I realise as I look around and try and find some ‘real’ people that the world generally has become very outside referenced, very directional, analytical, superficial, external, competitive, animalistic ie: masculine while the other half of humanity, the sensing, intuitive, the creative, the vulnerable, the moody (as are the seasons) ie; the feminine has become deeply devalued.  I was talking about this just last Friday on my authenticity training day.  How do we learn to trust this deeper intuition?

 Externally referenced ways of working are constantly looking for social proof and social approval, whereas the intuitive way of working doesn’t need it.  Sadly though, it also therefore, doesn’t gain much cudos or credibility in this external world we live in.  My mission is to pull together those that work authentically and intuitively, or who suspect that this is really where it’s happening, so that we too can contribute meaningfully to social interpretation of ‘reality’.  Quite difficult to market because essentially, we are simply saying we’re fine as we are.  We don’t need extra knobs and whistles to make us into something.  All we need to do is explore our deeper selves and actualise our realisations.  This transformation itself causes others to transform. (Richard Rohr – Adam’s Return).
One thing that strikes me is that our reality is dictated by our own thoughts and experiences.  Bruce Lipton and Rupert Sheldrake discuss this beautifully in this video, which if you get an hour or so to look at is well worth it. Read more

llness during military deployment linked to mental health problems

Army personnel who become ill during deployment are just as likely to develop mental health problems on their return to the UK, as personnel who are injured, according to new research from the King’s Centre for Military Health Research (KCMHR) at King’s College London, published in BioMed Central’s open access journal BMC Psychiatry.
Dr Nicola Fear, from KCMHR at King’s and lead author of the paper, says: ‘On returning home to the UK, injured personnel receive assistance and support from the military, whereas those who come back as a result of illness enter the general medical system. We have identified a group of individuals who are possibly not receiving the help and support they need on their return from deployment.’ 

Dr Fear adds:  ‘We were really surprised by the results of the study. We found that the severity of the illness also impacts on post-deployment mental health – we found that the strongest link between illness and subsequent mental health problems was amongst those who were medically evacuated.’ 

The study sample was made up of 3,896 UK Army personnel who participated in the KCMHR military cohort study between 2007 and 2009 and deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan between 2003 and 2009. Researchers analysed data on attendance to military field hospital for UK military personnel in Iraq and Afghanistan, and linked the data to the self-reported mental health outcomes (from the KCMHR military cohort) for UK Army personnel who were deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan. 

Of this group, 6.8% (270/3896) had a record of attendance at the military field hospital for an illness during their deployment and 6.9% (261/3896) for injury. A total of 2.3% were medically evacuated back to the UK because of illness or injury. 

Personnel who were admitted to a military field hospital for illness during  deployment were 1.5 times (Adjusted OR 1.49) more likely to report having a common mental health problem post-deployment; and almost 3 times (Adjusted OR 2.79) more likely if they were medically evacuated due to illness. Common mental health problems included anxiety, depression and panic disorders. 

Injured personnel were 1.5 times (Adjusted OR 1.52) more likely to report having a common mental health problem post-deployment if they were admitted to field hospital; and 1.5 times (Adjusted OR 1.51) more likely if they were medically evacuated. Personnel who were medically evacuated due to injury were over 4 times (Adjusted OR 4.27) more likely to report probable PTSD post-deployment. In contrast, personnel who were returned to their unit after attending a military hospital for illness or injury were not at an increased risk of mental health problems post deployment. 

Dr Fear says: ‘The link between physical illness and mental health disorders is seen in civilian population. However, for Army personnel, we need to identify whether there is anything specific about their experiences of returning home due to illness which might result in subsequent mental health problems.’ 

The research was funded by the Ministry of Defence. 


For full paper: Forbes, H.J et al. ‘What are the effects of having an illness or injury whilst deployed on post deployment mental health? A population based record study of UK Army personnel who have served in Iraq or Afghanistan’ BMC Psychiatry http://www.biomedcentral.com/bmcpsychiatry/
 
For further information, please contact Seil Collins, Press Officer, Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London, email: seil.collins@kcl.ac.uk or tel: 0207 848 5377

Anxiety and depression big problems among children

Most of us think childhood to be a time associated with a fun, carefree way of life. However, most children these days are being affected by problems like anxiety and depression. Increased competition that has increased performance anxiety and stress has been held responsible for this by the doctors.

To mark the ongoing mental health week, city branches of the Indian medical Association and Indian Psychiatric Society organized a conference to discuss the most prevalent mental health issues. Anxiety and depression among children was one of these topics.

"In the last two decades, there has been a tremendous rise in psychological problems in children. This is mainly because increased parental and personal expectations because of the competitive environment. Now-a-days, a child is not satisfied by topping the class through his hard work. He has to top the state or the country to be really happy about his achievement as there is globalization of competition too," said psychiatrist Dr Kausar Abbasi, adding "Teachers and the education system have become very demanding."

Dr Nilesh Shah, professor and head of the psychiatry department of Sion Hospital, Mumbai, believes that more than depression, anxiety has become a common affliction among children. "In every class, one or two children can be found who suffer from over-anxiety.

These children get worked up about small things specially before important events like examinations or outings, keep seeking reassurances, lose temper easily and can't sleep well. Relaxation techniques like yoga, meditation, aroma therapy can be used to help them relax when anxiety is triggered," he said.

Some of the other types of anxiety which are not very common include school phobia, separation anxiety disorder when a child does not wish to separate from a parent for the smallest amount of time, social anxiety disorder where social situations and selective mutism where certain special circumstances or people trigger anxiety in the child, he informed.

One of the reasons that the children are suffering from such problems is the comparatively easy life they have. "The frustration tolerance and tolerance limits of children are very low these days as they are getting all they want from a very early age. Anxiety in children can also manifest through behavioral problems like bed wetting and parents should be on the watch out for them," said psychiatrist Dr Rajiv Palsodkar.

source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/nagpur/Anxiety-and-depression-big-problems-among-children/articleshow/16716332.cms