Hot MedFax

OK, so it worked for one guy (and now he's the president-elect), but sexism has been found to be harmful to men's mental health, according to newswise.com. Men who see themselves as playboys or as having power over women are more likely to have psychological problems than men who conform less to traditionally masculine norms, reports research published by the American Psychological Association. “In general, individuals who conformed strongly to masculine norms tended to have poorer mental health and less favorable attitudes toward seeking psychological help, although the results differed depending on specific types of masculine norms,” says lead author Y. Joel Wong, PhD, of Indiana University Bloomington. I guess it makes sense but it doesn't stop some from still enjoying it (I hate to but I must reference the new president again). Wong and his colleagues conducted a meta-analysis of 78 research samples involving 19,453 participants that focused on the rel...

We've always been told to get out and get some fresh air.  But did you know that walking can stave off depression? According to newswise.com, a new study has found that nature group walks lead to improved health. Now, I've never been a big fan of groups.  I've always enjoyed solo endeavors, especially in any kind of athletics (could that be because I'm a complete klutz?).  I've run for years, only once or twice with others (the only time my husband and I went running, he took off like a shot; later he said he's just always competitive -- we've never run together again!).  One of the places I most enjoyed running was in a wooded park near our condo before we had a child.  I ran in this quiet, eerie place for over 10 years (only requiring one stitch in my knee, after a stumble).  I got through many family fights, estrangements, work disasters and trying for years to have our child, running through the peaceful stillness of those beautiful slowly changin...

We all know when we've had a little too much to drink.  Maybe you feel slightly high, or very happy.  Some people cry.  But there's a new way to be drunk, and, believe it or not, it happens when you're asleep and you suddenly wake up.  It's called sleep drunkenness and is characterized by confusion, or inappropriate behavior during or after arousal from sleep.  Most people experience no symptoms. It affects 15% of the general American population -- that's one in seven people -- with half the people studied saying it happened more than once.  Almost 90% had a sleep disorder or a mental health disorder or were taking psychotropic drugs, according to biosciencetechnology.com.   “The high prevalence is surprising,” said Dr. Stuart Quan, a professor of sleep medicine at Harvard Medical School and physician at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, who wasn’t involved in a different study, newsweek.com reports. This state of “confusional arousal...

As anyone who's been bullied can tell you, they can still see that kid's face from 5th grade and remember his name long after they've graduated from college. Now a new study finds that not just the memory -- but the damage, too -- can remain long after you never see that person again. According to Mary Bowerman at USA Today, the study " shows harmful effects can extend decades after the initial bullying. Researchers found those bullied in childhood had lower levels of education, greater physical and cognitive health problems, and poor social functioning throughout their lives, compared to those who were not bullied." For five decades, she reports,  The National Child Development Study followed almost 8,000 participants of children born in England, Scotland and Wales. "In 1958, they assessed children ages 7-11 and found 28% of the participants were occasionally bullied and 15% were frequently bullied. The researchers checked in with the participants at...

A chilling new statistic from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).  Almost 20 percent of children in this country have some form of  mental illness . According to a story in today's Washington Post, between 7 and 12 million children experience a "mental disorder" every year.  That's one in five kids. And the rate is increasing, Tony Pugh reports.  Now, of course, we're not talking about all psychopaths, but children with disorders who find it hard to learn, behave and cope with their emotions.  The CDC puts that at  13 to 20% of all youths under 18. Even scarier, only 21% get treatment.  Would therapy have helped Adam Lanza?  No one will ever know.   And it's not because parents don't take their kids for help, it's that the help isn't there.  Pugh notes that a  shortage of sub-specialty pediatricians and child and adolescent psychiatrists contributes to the problem. Worse yet, fewer medical students are choo...

I guess we should be grateful.  The Washington Post reports that, after Newton, support for spending on mental health has soared. Brady Dennis and Lena H. Sun write that mental health professionals are jumping up and down and clicking their heels in delight that finally, finally, the spotlight is shining on the need to end budgeting slashes and plug the gaps in the mental care network. "A year that could have brought another round of thinning resources and a spot far down the priority list of policymakers is shaping up quite differently in some statehouses," they note.  Some states, like Minnesota -- long a free-thinking place with a conscience (I lived there briefly) -- is hoping to institute mental programs and resources in schools.  "Wisconsin’s famously budget-conscious governor, Republican Scott Walker , this month proposed a nearly $30 million boost to mental-health spending in his budget, including funding for a program that allows counties to pr...

There's hope for those who would be violent.  Thomas Insel, the U.S. mental health chief, said yesterday that the risk of violent behavior "drops 15-fold for people who receive treatment for psychosis," compared to those who do not, according to a story at Healthwatch, THE HILL'S healthcare blog. How do we get them into treatment before they commit a crime, though?  Those with mental illness are notoriously resistant to treatment and even Adam Lanza, who massacred 20 beautiful children in Newtown last month, was reportedly angry that his mother was about to commit him, and that's why he went on his murderous rampage. No one will ever know for sure, and Insel is not saying treatment would have helped Lanza, or prevented the tragedy, but, according to the story, the risk of potential violence multiplies the longer psychosis goes untreated. The scary truth is that one in five people in this country suffer from mental illness.  Not all of it is psychosis, of co...