Publications on Mental Health Topics

The Sexual Assault Epidemic No One Talks About, by Joseph Shapiro, NPR, Jan 8 2018.

“[Pauline's] story NPR found in a yearlong investigation, is a common one for people with intellectual disabilities. NPR obtained unpublished Justice Department data on sex crimes. The results show that people with intellectual disabilities — women and men — are the victims of sexual assaults at rates more than seven times those for people without disabilities. It's one of the highest rates of sexual assault of any group in America, and it's hardly talked about at all. ”

Is Alcohol A Problem? Online Tool Helps Assess Risk And Find Help, by Allison Aubrey , NPR, Jan 8 2018.

“The thinking about problem drinking and alcoholism has changed. It's no longer considered a black-and-white, you have it or you don't condition. "We now know that there's a full spectrum in alcohol use disorder," says George Koob, the director of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcohohlism, part of the National Institutes of Health. You can have a mild, moderate or severe problem. And there's not a one-size-fits-all approach to getting help. There is a wide range of options — from residential "detox" programs to cognitive behavioral therapy, to medications such as naltrexone that can help people drink less, or acamprosate, which can help people stay dry. But many people who might need help don't know these options exist. It's a big obstacle to treatment. ”

Perfectionism May Undermine Mental Health of Youth, by Rick Nauert, PhD, Psych Central, Jan 3 2018.

“New research suggests the desire to be perfect in body, mind, and career may be taking a toll on college students’ mental health...This study is the first to examine group generational differences in perfectionism, according to lead author Thomas Curran, Ph.D., of the University of Bath. He and his co-author Andrew Hill, Ph.D., of York St. John University suggest that perfectionism entails 'an irrational desire to achieve along with being overly critical of oneself and others...'The rise in perfectionism among millennials is being driven by a number of factors, according to Curran. One relatively new factor involves exposure to social media; data suggests social media may pressure young adult to excessively compare themselves to others, which makes them dissatisfied with their bodies and increases social isolation.   ”

15 Behaviors We Don’t Always Recognize Are Self-Harm, by Juliette Virzi, 2018.

“When people talk about “self-harm,” they’re usually referring to self-mutilation behaviors like cutting. But cutting is not the only way people self-harm — in fact, sometimes self-harm doesn’t “look” like self-harm at all. Mighty contributor Catherine Renton wrote eloquently about this in her piece, “The Behavior I Didn’t Realize Was Actually Self-Harm.” Renton realized the casual sex she engaged in was actually a way she had been harming herself. She wrote, Self-harm isn’t always about causing physical pain. It’s continually tugging at that thread that will cause you to unravel. Sadly, what can start as fairly innocuous behavior can lead to more serious harm and even attempts at suicide. ”

Eating Disorders: The Journey to Recovery Workbook, 2nd Edition, by Laura Goodman, LMHC and Mona Villapiano, PsyD, 2018.

Best ADHD Blogs of the Year, by Chaunie Brusie , Healthline , 2018.

Everything You Need to Know About ADHD, by Traci Angel; Timothy J. Legg, PhD, PsyD, CRNP, ACRN, CPH, Healthline , 2018.

End Domestic Violence: The Complete Guide to Red Flags, Abuse, and Healing, by Carlson, L., 2018.

“This compact guide cuts out a lot of noise and gets straight to the point, which makes it a fast and easy read. It has eight chapters focusing on different aspects of abuse.  Chapter one: a complete list of 60 red flags which can possibly lead to an abusive relationship. These are merely flags which have the potential to turn into abuse and not a guarantee the person with these traits will be abusive, as most people will likely display one or two of the flags. However, someone who has several red flags, especially those which are considered more serious, is highly likely to engage in abusive behavoir.  ”

'Who's Going to Believe Me?'—Why It's So Hard to Talk About Domestic Abuse in LGBTQ Relationships, by Seema Yasmin, SELF.com, Dec 22 2017.

“Some patterns of abuse are the same across straight and LGBTQ relationships, with abusers aiming to disempower, disenfranchise, and hurt their partners. But there are distinct forms of abuse in queer relationships. ”

Life Expectancy Drops Again As Opioid Deaths Surge In U.S., by Rob Stein, NPR, Dec 21 2017.

“Life expectancy in the U.S. fell for the second year in a row in 2016, nudged down again by a surge in fatal opioid overdoses, federal officials report Thursday. 'I'm not prone to dramatic statements," says Robert Anderson, chief of the mortality statistics branch at the National Center for Health Statistics. 'But I think we should be really alarmed. The drug overdose problem is a public health problem and it needs to be addressed. We need to get a handle on it.' ”

Deployment Cycle of Emotions: No, You’re Not Crazy, by MJ Boice, National Military Family Association, Dec 20 2017.

“Every military family will have a different set of challenges when experiencing deployments. Likewise, each member of a military family will have different reactions based on their unique placement in the family. Experts have studied the cycle of emotions military families encounter during deployment and have found certain emotional characteristics can be identified through different phases throughout each deployment. ”

Teen sexual identity, childhood trauma linked to suicidal behaviors, by Shereen Lehman, Reuters, Dec 18 2017.

“Both LGBQ sexual identity and traumatic experiences in childhood are linked to a heightened risk of suicidal thoughts and behaviors, U.S. researchers say. Teens who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or are questioning their sexual identity are also more likely than their heterosexual peers to have had adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) in childhood, the study team reports in Journal of Adolescent Health...'Furthermore, cumulative exposure to ACEs greatly increased suicide risk behaviors among sexual minority adolescents. For example, compared with heterosexual students with no exposure to ACEs, LGB/not sure students with two or more ACEs had approximately 13 times higher odds of attempting suicide in the past year,' Clements-Nolle said. ”

Exercise, pills, brain training show little hard evidence of slowing dementia, by Gene Emery, Reuters, Dec 18 2017.

“An extensive review of research on exercise, nutritional supplements, drugs and brain-training techniques concludes there is no definitive evidence that any of them protect against Alzheimer’s disease or other types of dementia. 'To put it simply, all evidence indicates that there is no magic bullet,' said Dr. Eric B. Larson, executive director of the Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute in Seattle, in an editorial in the Annals of Internal Medicine, where the analyses appear. ”

ADHD drug use in pregnancy increases risk of heart defects, study finds, by Susan Scutti, CNN, Dec 13 2017.

“The attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder drug methylphenidate is associated with an increased risk of heart defects in infants whose mothers take the medication during pregnancy, according to a study published Wednesday in the journal Jama Psychiatry. Specifically, the researchers found a 28% increased prevalence of cardiac malformations after first-trimester exposure to the stimulant, which is the active ingredient in Ritalin, Concerta, Daytrana, Methylin and other ADHD medications. ”

Depression in late teens linked to high school drop out, by Cheryl Platzman Weinstock, Reuters, Dec 8 2017.

“Older teens struggling with depression are more than twice as likely to drop out of high school as peers without that mental illness or those who recovered from a bout of depression earlier in life, Canadian researchers say. Understanding that current or recent depression raises dropout risk may encourage schools to put a higher priority on mental health services, the study team writes in the Journal of Adolescent Health. ”