June, 2010
Psychotropic Drugs Have Potential to Cause Birth Defects
Researchers at the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Studies at University of Copenhagen (UC) have found that children of pregnant women who use psychotropic medications are at an increase risk of birth defects. UC Professors Lise Aagaard and Ebba Hansen’s study investigating the adverse drug reactions of psychotropic medications on children 17 years and younger over a ten-year period is available in the open access publication BMC Research Notes (http://www.biomedcentral.com/1756-0500/3/176/abstract).
Learn more about Psychotropic Drugs Have Potential to Cause Birth Defects
How To Promote Good Mental Health
Everyone knows the importance of good mental health, but how do you achieve it? Whether you’re born with a predisposition to a mental health disorder or acquire it as a result of substance abuse, can you achieve good mental health anyway? What exactly can you do to promote better mental health? Here are some points to consider.
Veterans with Substance Abuse Disorders More Likely to Commit Suicide by Violent Means
Of the more than 30,000 suicides that take place in America each year, approximately 20% of them are committed by veterans, according to the Secretary of U.S. Veterans Affairs (VA). It is well known that veterans face multiple mental health risks following combat duty—including depression, anxiety, post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), substance abuse, homelessness, and suicide—and the risk rates have surged for current and returning Afghanistan/Iraq war military personnel. However, new data on veterans’ mental health has revealed an even more alarming statistic among this demographic. A U.S. study, which will be published in July issue of the Journal on Studies of Alcohol and Drugs, shows that veterans diagnosed with a substance abuse disorder who commit suicide are more likely to do so by violent methods than by nonviolent methods.
Elements iPhone App: iPromises Recovery Companion
Elements Behavioral Health and Promises Treatment Centers released a new iPhone app this month, the iPromises Recovery Companion. The app is offered for free in the iTunes store. The iPromises Recovery Companion offers a powerful tool to help build one of the most important elements of addiction recovery: a community of like-minded peers who understand the joys and challenges of recovery. iPromises allows you to easily contact your sponsor and friends in recovery, keep a calendar of meetings and service, get a daily positive message, and track your accomplishments, challenges, moods, and triggers.
Learn more about Elements iPhone App: iPromises Recovery Companion
Poor Neurotransmitter Activity Linked to Mental Illnesses
Like a fast-moving relay race, neurotransmitters are the vehicle by which messages travel from one nerve cell to another in the brain. They affect mood, memory and our ability to concentrate, as well as several physical processes. When these chemical messengers are disrupted, the message may go right back to the transmitter or be lost altogether. When considering mental illness, the result of interrupted neurotransmitters can be depression or even a tendency toward drug and alcohol dependency.
Though the brain has billions of nerve cells, they don’t actually touch – thus the job of neurotransmitters to bring messages back and forth. Because neurotransmitters can impact a specific area of the brain, including behavior or mood, their malfunctions can cause effects ranging from mood swings to aggression and anxiety. Many neurotransmitters exist in the brain, but those most studied in relation to mental disorders are dopamine, acetylcholine, GABA, noradrenaline (norepinephrine) and serotonin.
Understanding the way neurotransmitters function in the brain could lead to better treatments for mental disorders. Normally, nerve impulses move along the brain through axons , long cellular structures – until they land at a presynaptic membrane. These membranes house the neurotransmitters that will be sent out into free spaces, or synaptic clefts, so that they can be collected by receptors of another neuron. The neuron that collects the neurotransmitter then internalizes it and the nerve impulse can keep moving forward with the message.
Learn more about Poor Neurotransmitter Activity Linked to Mental Illnesses
Diabetes and Childhood Eating Disorders
Children diagnosed with diabetes might find it hard not to obsess over food. With restrictions on carbohydrates and doses of insulin which can affect appetite, children with diabetes may find it hard to think about anything but food.
Anger and Aggressiveness Linked to Specific PTSD Symptoms in Veterans
A new study sponsored by the National Institute of Mental Health, Department of Veteran Affairs, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine reveals that focusing on particular symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) may help health officials better treat anger and aggression issues among veterans returning home from the Afghanistan and Iraq wars.
Learn more about Anger and Aggressiveness Linked to Specific PTSD Symptoms in Veterans
Study Finds Anxiety and Panic Disorders Most Disabling Co-Occurring Disorder Among Tourette Syndrome Patients
Tourette syndrome is an inherited neuropsychiatric disorder characterized by multiple physical tics (such as eye blinking, head jerking, and facial movements) and at least one vocal tic, such as throat clearing and repeating words or phrases.
Obsessive Compulsive Disorders Bear Heavy Costs and Often Go Undiagnosed
The strange or quirky behaviors people with obsessive compulsive disorder exhibit may seem like an exaggeration of normal processes, but these behaviors are part of a life-debilitating condition and recognized as an anxiety disorder.
Learn more about Obsessive Compulsive Disorders Bear Heavy Costs and Often Go Undiagnosed
Young Men Who Attempt Suicide More Likely to Abuse Partners Later in Life
A new study has found that males who attempt suicide before age 18 are much more likely to be aggressive towards their partners later in life, including physical abuse. The study, published online in the journal Psychological Medicine, underscores the importance of intervention for suicidal teens.
Learn more about Young Men Who Attempt Suicide More Likely to Abuse Partners Later in Life
Connect with an Elements Recovery Adviser
newsletter
