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Tag: mental health treatment

  • Walmart Sets Its Sights On Mental Health Care

    Walmart Sets Its Sights On Mental Health Care

    This clinic is the first of its kind for the retail behemoth, but if successful, could be the first of many. 

    There’s a new resource for mental health in Dallas, Georgia—and it’s a bit unexpected. 

    Recently, Walmart announced it would be opening a new clinic called Walmart Health, debuting in the Georgia town and set to open sometime this month. 

    According to CNBC, the idea is to provide “comprehensive and low-cost primary care.” Among the services to be provided are primary care, dental care, counseling, labs, x-rays and audiology. The clinic will be housed in a building next to Walmart in order to provide more privacy for patients. 

    According to a Walmart spokesperson, there will be a focus on accessibility and affordability with the new clinic. 

    “Walmart is committed to making healthcare more affordable and accessible for customers in the communities we serve,” the representative said. “The new Walmart Health center in our Dallas, Georgia, store will provide low, transparent pricing for key health services for local customers. We look forward to sharing more details when the facility opens next month.”

    While this specific move is new for Walmart, the store isn’t a stranger to providing for those in need of health care. CNBC reports that the retailer is home to one of the largest pharmacies in the country, with locations in about 4,700 of its stores. According to the company itself, health and wellness made up about 9% ($36 billion) of its $332 billion in sales in the U.S. in the last fiscal year. 

    While mental health is a relatively new market for the retailer, this won’t be the first time Walmart has housed mental health care. For example, space for a behavioral health company was leased in a Texas store in 2018 because of a shortage in the area. 

    Walmart has also opened Care Clinics in various states in the past, but those have been housed in the actual store rather than in a separate space. 

    Part of the reasoning for the retailer branching out, Business Insider explains, is due to competition, specifically as Amazon has transformed the retail market. Now, traditional retailers are having to think outside the box in terms of what else they can offer customers. 

    “We all want to exist in 10 years,” Marcus Osborne, Walmart’s vice president of health and wellness transformation, told Business Insider last October. “None of us wants to be Sears.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Twitter Therapy Helps Nigerians In Need Of Mental Health Care

    Twitter Therapy Helps Nigerians In Need Of Mental Health Care

    Mental health nonprofits are using social media to close the treatment gap in Nigeria. 

    Nigeria’s continuing problem with brutal violence inflicted across the country (and neighboring Niger, Chad and Cameroon) by the terrorist group Boko Haram is causing mental health problems to rise, compounded by the government’s unwillingness to adequately fund mental health services in the country. A new report in The Week examines the issue in-depth.

    Boko Haram

    For a decade now, Boko Haram, also known as the Islamic State’s West Africa Province, has terrorized innocent Nigerians. The group is said to be responsible for killing more than 20,000 people and displacing more than 2 million since 2009. The group has abducted at least 8,000 children and teenagers, forcing them to join the fight or be killed.

    Boko Haram’s violent campaign has left countless Nigerians in need of mental health care to deal with the trauma of it all, but as The Week reported, the government has little interest in improving mental health care.

    Stigma is also a barrier to adequate care.

    “Nigerians still don’t see things like depression as illnesses… A lot of Nigerians would rather listen to their pastor or imam than a doctor,” said Emeka Iregbulem, a psychiatrist at the Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital in the city of Enugu.

    Nonprofits Address Treatment Gap

    NGOs like the Mentally Aware Nigeria Initiative (MANI) are left to address the treatment gap across Nigeria with little support.

    MANI, one of the few non-profits in Nigeria tackling mental health, in addition to deploying mental health providers to villages on kekes (motorized tricycle), is also utilizing social media to reach more Nigerians.

    With over 100 million Nigerians online, social media or messaging services like Twitter and Whatsapp offer some relief to those who may not otherwise address underlying trauma and depression.

    “We have counselors available around the clock to act as first responders when Nigerians need help,” said Rasheedat Olarinoye, a project manager with MANI. “Our counselors are volunteer psychiatrists and medical officers that are, a lot of times, the thin line between life and death.”

    Mowunmi Olanrewaju, a 26-year-old development worker in Lagos, received counseling from a MANI psychologist through Twitter direct messaging. She was dealing with depression and loneliness, but had not been able to afford regular counseling sessions.

    Olanrewaju said that receiving therapy through Twitter made a world of difference. “In the past, I imagined I would just get it over with (suicide), but now, I have seen enough of the pain and what it does to the people around you,” she said.

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • In Italy, Doctors Recommend Sleep Deprivation For Depression Patients

    In Italy, Doctors Recommend Sleep Deprivation For Depression Patients

    The treatment, which requires patients to stay awake for 36 hours, three times per week, is covered by Italy’s national health service. 

    A good night’s sleep is considered critical for mental, physical and emotional well-being, but a group of doctors in Italy is turning that knowledge on its head, by recommending sleep deprivation as a therapy for bipolar patients who are severely depressed. 

    “It’s absolutely counterintuitive,” Dr. Francesco Benedetti, head of psychiatry at San Raffaele Hospital in Milan, told the BBC. 

    In Benedetti’s unit, patients who have treatment-resistant depression turn to sleep deprivation in hopes of improving their mental health. 

    “They very often come to us and say ‘I’m helpless, nothing can be done.’ And that’s the perfect patient to try this most effective, rapid, shocking treatment to push up their mood,” Benedetti said.

    The Treatment

    The treatment, which requires patients to stay awake for 36 hours three times per week, is covered by Italy’s national health service. 

    Benedetti says that while sleep deprivation can contribute to depression for most people, it can alleviate symptoms for people with bipolar disorder. During the course of the treatment, patients are exposed to bright white light for about 30 minutes in the early-morning hours. That’s when most patients report a change in their mood, Benedetti said. After the treatment, patients are given Lithium, a common treatment for bipolar disorder, to keep their mood elevated. 

    Benedetti claims that the treatment works for 70% of patients. 

    “We see our patients being well after the treatment. They’re staying well. They return to their jobs,” he said. “They came in thinking of suicide, to be clear, and they go home ready to start their job again.”

    The BBC followed four patients, who reported a change after the treatment.

    “These nights, I was a little better. But this morning just awake, I felt that sensation of desperation,” said one patient, Georgio, a man in his sixties who has been battling depression for 20 years. 

    Georgio didn’t think the treatment had worked initially. In fact, he booked electroconvulsive therapy after the fact. But before he could try that, he found his depression was alleviated about a month after the treatment, and he believed that sleep deprivation may be why. 

    Another patient, Norma, said that she first went through sleep deprivation therapy four years ago and experienced an instant change to her bipolar symptoms. 

    “When I left here I felt fantastic,” she said. “I could tell straight away that I was better.”

    Since then, Norma has had two depression flareups, and both times sleep deprivation therapy has helped, she says. 

    However, other mental health experts including John Geddes, head of psychiatry at Oxford University, are skeptical of the treatment and say a controlled study must be done. 

    “When people are developing treatments and are enthusiastic about it all sorts of biases come in,” Geddes said. “We just see this all the time, particularly in the area of mental health. There’s so much to gain from a study of a new treatment.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • How Audiobooks Improved One Man's Mental Health

    How Audiobooks Improved One Man's Mental Health

    “By simply listening, I easily get transported elsewhere and beyond. Audiobooks are such wonders of life,” the man describes.

    Audiobooks have become an industry unto their own. They’re an easier way for people to digest a great story, and many top actors have made a great living narrating them. Now one journalist, Arvyn Cerezo, is telling Book Riot how listening to audiobooks improved his mental health.

    As Cerezo relates, he made a commitment to read everyday for what’s known as “bibliotherapy,” which means reading becomes part of your mental health program. Yet it was hard to make reading part of his everyday routine when life got hectic.

    At first, Cerezo used to be what he called “a purist and elitist,” and thought that actually “reading books was the only thing that counted. But then I remembered one of my university lessons about the ancient and beautiful tradition of oral storytelling… [It’s] not much different from the audiobooks that we have been enjoying for decades.”

    Once Cerezo started listening, he loved it, and wished he started listening to audiobooks sooner. He also discovered that audiobooks calmed him down and made him “placid” before doing freelance writing assignments that made him anxious.

    Another wonderful discovery was that audiobooks were great for blocking out outside noises and distractions. “It’s a total immersion for me because I get to read along with the narrator…I’m the type of reader who wants total silence while reading. I always lose focus when someone’s blasting music or talking nearby. I’m very grateful that audiobooks block all of them and more. By simply listening, I easily get transported elsewhere and beyond.”

    “Audiobooks are such wonders of life,” he raves. “With them, I still get to continue doing my bibliotherapy to boost my mental health and enjoy wonderful stories from different cultures while still pursuing life’s opportunities.”

    As it turns out, bibliotherapy has been around for a long time. As a report on Medical Xpress explains, the concept has been around since World War I, and the term was invented by a writer and minister named Samuel McChord Crothers. A woman named Helen Mary Gaskell took the concept even further, and once she built a sizable library, it became affiliated with the Red Cross in 1915.

    Gaskell said, “Surely many of us lay awake the night after the declaration of war, debating… how best we could help in the coming struggle… Into the mind of the writer came, like a flash, the necessity of providing literature for the sick and wounded.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Treating Chronic Depression: Which Form Of Therapy Wanes Over Time?

    Treating Chronic Depression: Which Form Of Therapy Wanes Over Time?

    A new study compared two types of therapy for early-onset chronic depression to see which stood the test of time.

    A new study highlights the complexities of treating persistent depression, by showing that the benefits of some types of therapy lessen with time. 

    The study, published in the journal Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, compared two types of therapy for early-onset chronic depression, which is characterized by depressive episodes that last two years or longer. Researchers compared the benefits of supportive psychotherapy (SP) with the benefits of the cognitive behavioral analysis system of psychotherapy (CBASP), a type of cognitive behavioral therapy that was specifically developed to treat chronic depression. 

    The researchers found that in the first year after a diagnosis and the beginning of treatment, CBASP was more effective than SP at relieving symptoms of depression. However, by two years after the diagnosis, patients treated with SP were doing better than those treated with CBASP. 

    “CBASP lost its superiority over SP at some point between the first and the second year,” study authors wrote. “This suggests the necessity of maintenance treatment for early-onset chronically depressed patients remitted with CBASP during the acute therapy phase, as well as the sequential integration of other treatment strategies, including medication for those who did not reach remission.”

    Treating Chronic Depression

    While all depression is difficult to treat, chronic depression can be especially hard. Many people who have chronic depression find that their condition is resistant to treatment. Because of that, it is especially important to know if a therapy like CBASP is not as effective as doctors initially believed it was. 

    Research indicate that 3-6% of people will deal with chronic depression. That includes Star Trek actor Wil Wheaton, who spoke about his experience with the condition last year. 

    “My life is, by every objective measurement, very very good,” Wheaton said at a conference for the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) last year. “And in spite of all of that, I struggle every day with my self-esteem, my self-worth, and my value not only as an actor and writer, but as a human being. That’s because I live with depression and anxiety, the tag team champions of the World Wrestling with Mental Illness Federation.”

    He said that the time he kept quiet about his chronic condition made things worse.  

    “I suffered because though we in America have done a lot to help mental illness, we have not done nearly enough to make it okay for our fellow travelers on the wonky brain express to reach out and accept that help,” Wheaton said. 

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Why Is Life Expectancy Lower For People With Mental Illness?

    Why Is Life Expectancy Lower For People With Mental Illness?

    New research explores why people with mental illness have a lower life expectancy than those without it.

    People with mental illness often die decades sooner than members of the general population, not because of suicide but because of physical illnesses and inequities in access to care. 
        
    “The consequent poor physical health outcomes of people with mental illness have been alluded to as a human rights issue,” researchers for The Lancet Psychiatry wrote in a recent report. “The premature mortality of people with mental illness reflects a large number of health inequalities between people with and without mental illness throughout the life course.”

    It has long been established that people with severe mental illness have life expectancies that are years shorter than people without severe mental illness. However, new research indicates that people with all types of mental illness have decreased life expectancy. 

    “There is now evidence that individuals who have diagnoses across the entire spectrum of mental disorders have a substantially reduced life expectancy compared with the general population,” the authors wrote. More research needs to be done on how milder mental illnesses affect life expectancy, they write. 

    Reduced life expectancy for people with mental illness is a global trend, study authors pointed out. 

    Lifestyle Choices

    There are a number of factors that affect the reduced life expectancy for people with mental illness. Suicide accounts for 17% of deaths among the population. In addition, physical disease, including cardiovascular disease and diabetes, occur at higher rates in people with mental illness.

    Compounding that, lifestyle choices like smoking, substance use and low exercise levels can lower the overall health of people with mental illness. Finally, many psychiatric medications have complex and potentially dangerous physical side effects. 

    A multidisciplinary approach to health, incorporating physical and mental health care, could make a difference in improving life expectancy for people with mental illness. 

    “Modifiable lifestyle factors, such as physical activity, diet, and smoking, are increasingly recognized as being fundamental to both physical and mental health,” the report authors wrote. 

    Addressing systematic issues like poverty and access to care is also important for both physical and mental health. Often, a person’s physical and mental health troubles can compound each other.

    “For instance, people with mental illness are more likely to be in poverty and to have cardiometabolic and infectious diseases, and conversely, chronic physical health conditions and social deprivation are key risk factors for mental illness,” the report authors wrote. 

    There Is Hope

    Although the research is grim, The Lancet report ends on a positive note. 

    “Nonetheless, our Commission takes an optimistic approach, and describes how disparities could be reduced through evidence-based prescribing and better integration of physical and mental health care,” the report reads. “Overall, protecting the physical health of people with mental illness should be considered an international priority for reducing the personal, social, and economic burden of mental health conditions.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Patients, Psychiatrists Share Their Experience With Treating Depression

    Patients, Psychiatrists Share Their Experience With Treating Depression

    From medication to exercise, patients and psychiatrists get candid about their methods of treating depression. 

    Kelli María Korducki wanted options. While she appreciated the arsenal of medications being offered to treat her depression, she also wanted to explore the emotional, personal side of the disease, not just the chemical imbalance. 

    “A more realistic, nuanced approach to the way we conceive of mental illness would go a long way toward validating the myriad potential causes for human suffering and clearing paths for many more in need,” Korducki wrote in a July 27 editorial for The New York Times. 

    Medication Management

    Korducki argued that psychiatry has become “medication management.” 

    “To be sure, many people need medication, and greatly benefit from it,” she wrote. “The right drugs have made my life better too. But I fantasize about a future in which mental illness is understood less in terms of static diagnoses and psychopharmaceutical stopgaps than each individual’s symptoms and the circumstances that might inform them.”

    In response to Korducki’s editorial, many people—doctors and patients—shared their experience with treating depression. 

    Insurance Changes the Game

    John M. Oldham, chief of staff at the Menninger Clinic and former president of the American Psychiatric Association, said that insurance requirements have transformed psychiatry into short, 20-minute med-check visits that do not have the length or intimacy to address a patient’s underlying concerns. 

    “Don’t get me wrong,” Oldham writes. “Psychiatric medications are valuable components of treatment. But mental illnesses are complicated. Medications can do part of the job, but the rest must be done by a careful partnership between psychiatrist and patient, a thoughtfully crafted treatment plan that includes psychotherapy and/or high-quality psychosocial interventions.” 

    Christopher Lukas, author of Shrink Rap: A Guide to Psychotherapy From a Frequent Flier, shared that his doctor told him that antidepressants weren’t serving him—instead, talk therapy was what really made a difference for Lukas. 

    “My psychotherapist believes in listening,” Lukas writes. 

    Jenny Orme, who has struggled with major depression, said that she refused to believe she was a “victim of her genes” even though her mother died from complications of depression at 45. Orme took her health into her own hands, with what she describes as a “rigorous program of yoga, tai chi, swimming and meditation.” That, combined with Eastern medicine and the support of friends and family, help Orme stay stable. 

    “The epidemic of mental illness and suicide calls for a multifaceted, enlightened approach to the treatment of this serious personal and public health problem,” Orme writes. 

    Like Orme, Kordicki says she now views her depression as more than a biological process, and now treats it as so. 

    “Rather than view my psychological experience as a biologically fated roller coaster, I’ve come to think of my mental health as a reflection of the complex ebbs and flows of life; accordingly, I’ve developed tools to better mitigate that which I can’t control, an agency I once wouldn’t have imagined possible,” she wrote. “I feel, for the first time, like a person who belongs to the world.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Can Video Games Help Treat Depression?

    Can Video Games Help Treat Depression?

    Some believe that a mind at play experiences beneficial neurological effects.

    Video games could be beneficial for those suffering from depression, some experts believe. It may seem counterintuitive as players seem to use video games to isolate and distract themselves from the world, but the mind at play helps people feel more confident and energetic.

    Anyone who has played video games knows it stimulates the mind, designed to tickle a person’s reward pathways when they achieve a goal or task as well as develop memory and learning in the hippocampus.

    In depressed people, these parts of the brain shrivel. Engaging in a combination of strategy, diligence, and effort to achieve a virtual goal can yield a very real sense of accomplishment that can help restore these critical regions.

    Fighting Depression

    Researchers have even created a video game specifically tailored to combat depression. In SPARX, players navigate a fantasy world and fight creatures called GNATs (short for gloomy, negative, automatic thoughts) that represent the mental formations of depression. The game is actually a form of cognitive behavioral therapy, wherein players are lead to literally confront and defeat their negative thoughts.

    While the game may seem hokey, it works. About 44% of those who played SPARX recovered from depression, up from the 26% of patients recovered though treatment without the game. In recovery, around 66% of SPARX players felt that their depression symptoms had been reduced by at least 30%, while a relatively fewer 58% of non-players could say the same.

    This could explain why some people link depression and video games, mistakenly assuming that the lonely escapist gamer is falling deeper into depression as a result of their self-imposed isolation.

    However, this cause-and-effect explanation is probably reversed — a depressed gamer is likely already depressed and is actually managing their own symptoms through the use of video games.

    Problematic Gaming

    That said, video gaming can become problematic if it is used only as an escape and distraction from life. It’s become a prevalent enough problem that the World Health Organization has officially recognized gaming disorder in its International Classification of Diseases.

    Like many forms of media, it comes down to which titles are played. Games like Minecraft engage the creative imagination of players, while Nintendo Wii games help people stand up and get moving. Online games like Fornite provide social interaction that can be increasingly harder for children to find as public gathering places, such as malls, fall out of fashion.

    Considering that over 26% of adults in the United States suffer from depression, it’s necessary to get to the truth of what helps and harms people suffering from depression.

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • What Is Mental Health First Aid?

    What Is Mental Health First Aid?

    These classes offer participants useful knowledge that can be utilized in the event of a mental health emergency.

    Mental Health First Aid is a term that’s gained a lot of momentum lately, especially with Lady Gaga’s Born This Way foundation, which encourages people to learn about mental health.

    A report on CNN explains the importance of taking mental health first aid classes, and how mental health training can be incredibly beneficial.

    These classes began 12 years ago, and close to two million people have attended them since. In 2015, the government allotted $20 million for this program, and in most areas of the U.S. you can take this class for free.

    Inside The Program

    While an eight-hour seminar can’t take the place of seeing a therapist or mental health professional, the program has been likened to learning CPR to equip yourself with lifesaving skills.
     
    Betsy Schwartz, an executive at the Mental Health First Aid program, says, “We’re not training anyone to be a professional. We’re only teaching people how to be an empathetic friend, family member or coworker.”
     
    CNN had attended a Mental Health First Aid seminar in Ohio, a state that’s had to grapple with alarming rates of addiction and suicide.

    As one social worker explained, “Ohio, since 1999, has had a 30% increase in suicide deaths and is above the national average for suicide rates. So it’s really important that we’re getting information in people’s hands. They’re not easy conversations to have and oftentimes people shy away from that.”

    At this seminar, instructors explained the signs to look out for with depression and anxiety, and how to help calm a person in the midst of a panic attack.

    The acronym ALGEE was introduced and explained.

    A – Assess for risk of harm or suicide 

    L – Listen non-judgmentally 

    G – Give information and reassurance 

    E – Encourage professional help, if needed 

    E –  Encourage self-help

    Diving deeper into the final step, encourage self-help, one instructor explained, “It’s going to be very important to have some buy-in into [someone’s] own recovery. We all like to be able to say ‘I did this.’ Get them involved in those decision-making skills.”

    One person who attended the class had lost a brother from suicide and had mental illness in her family. “Everyday in life you forget to listen and be aware,” she said. “If you’re uncomfortable, taking this class will help you become more confident in reaching out to somebody.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Police Shouldn't Handle Mental Health Emergencies

    Police Shouldn't Handle Mental Health Emergencies

    Cities across the nation are developing programs to shift the onus of mental health emergencies away from police officers.

    At least one-quarter of fatal police shootings involve people with a serious mental illness, which is why more cities are developing programs to respond to people who have mental illness with trained individuals rather than police, in order to deescalate fraught situations and maintain safety. 

    Manning Walker works with Cahoots, a group in Eugene, Oregon, that responds to non-criminal emergency calls where someone has a mental illness. In 2017, the group responded to 17% of calls to 911 in the city. 

    “When I’m talking to a more liberal group of people, I’ll make the argument it’s the compassionate thing to do, it’s the humane thing to do,” Walker told Vox. “When I’m talking to a conservative group, I’ll make the argument that it’s the fiscally conservative thing to do because it’s cheaper for us to do this than for the police and firefighters.”

    Eugene Police Department Lt. Ron Tinseth told The Wall Street Journal that the program expands their reach by allowing officers to prioritize illegal activities. 

    “It allows police officers to… deal with crime, but it also allows us to offer a different service that is really needed,” he said. 

    Cahoots employees are able to approach people in crises—who may be mentally ill, intoxicated or disoriented—calmly and connect with them in order to de-escalate emergencies. Then, the person can be connected with help, rather than be jailed. 

    “Therapy Session on Wheels” Respond To Mental Health Emergencies In Stockholm

    In Stockholm, a similar system has been in place since 2015. Nurses who specialize in mental health and a paramedic respond to suicide attempts and psychotic episodes. 

    “It used to be the police who handled these kinds of calls,” mental health nurse Anki Björnsdotter told Vice. “But just the presence of the police can easily cause a patient to feel like they’ve done something wrong. Mental illness is nothing criminal so it doesn’t make sense to be picked up by the police.”

    The system now has widespread support. 

    “It has been considered a huge success by police, nurses, healthcare officials, as well as by the patients,” said Fredrik Bengtsson of Sabbatsberg Hospital in Stockholm. 

    Oakland May Develop Similar Program for Mental Health Crises

    Oakland, California may be the next city to take this novel approach to addressing mental health crises. The city’s budget, passed at the end of July, includes money to study the feasibility of adopting a Cahoots program in Oakland. City officials hope that the program could launch next year. 

    View the original article at thefix.com