Did you know that today is the United Nations’ official ‘psychology day’? No, neither did I until just now.
Did you know that today is the United Nations’ official ‘psychology day’? No, neither did I until just now. According to the official press release this event is all about making UN officials aware of what psychologists have to offer. Two panels will discuss psychology in relation ‘Peace and Conflict Resolution’ and ‘Human Rights and the World of Work’.
Update: Oh, and I see it’s World Mental Health Day as well (via Providentia and Mad World).
The mainstream media are reporting that the side on which mothers cradle their babies may be linked to maternal depression.
The mainstream media are reporting that the side on which mothers cradle their babies may be linked to maternal depression (Foxnews, The Telegraph). First, there’s the background to the story and second I explain why this study has been misrepresented. The Guardian writes:
“New mothers who cradle their infants on the right side of their body may be displaying signs of “extreme stress”. The findings build on previous research showing that most mothers prefer to hold their baby to their left, regardless of whether they are left- or right-handed.
The study suggests there is a correlation between the minority who hold a baby on the right and a greater likelihood that they are experiencing stress beyond the levels natural in new parents.”
Continue reading “Cradling to Right Linked to Depression in New Mothers – Or is it?”
The modern Western mindset has it that depression is an abnormal state. That when you’re a bit down, it means you have a medical problem that requires treatment.
The modern Western mindset has it that depression is an abnormal state. That when you’re a bit down, it means you have a medical problem that requires treatment. Of course, this isn’t necessarily true. While depression is clearly a major problem for many people that does require treatment of some type, do we all need to be treated every time we are down? More than this, though, if we become depressed, should we consider ourselves in some way abnormal?
How cognitive therapy works.
It seems incredible that a successful form of psychological therapy could be based on telling people their thoughts are mistaken. And yet that is partly how cognitive therapy works.
This type of therapy has easily overtaking Freudian-style psychotherapy in recent decades to become the most popular form of treatment for depression, phobias and many other common psychological problems. The founding father of cognitive therapy is Aaron T. Beck a psychologist not well known to the lay public, but widely revered amongst psychologists. One of his studies is the third nomination for the Top Ten Psychology Studies.
Cognitive therapy was originally developed for the treatment of depression. In his work with patients Beck developed the idea that at the heart of depression lay one or more irrational beliefs (Beck, 1963). Here are a few examples:
These irrational beliefs took the form of ‘automatic thoughts’ which seemed to be accessible to conscious introspection. Beck thought depressed patients could be helped if therapists could challenge these irrational beliefs. At heart cognitive therapy encourages people to see that some of their thoughts are mistaken. By adjusting these thoughts it has been found that people’s emotional distress can be lessened.
For many people he treated, and for the many more subsequently treated with his – and related techniques – his methods have turned out to be remarkably effective. It’s no exaggeration to state that the ideas and techniques that have flowed from Beck’s study and similar findings brought about a revolution in treatment for many psychological disorders.
Find out more about depressive thinking styles.
Image credit: kygp
At a Royal Institution lecture last night on the worst ideas on the mind there were some polite, but nevertheless underhand, tactics on show in an attempt to sway the vote towards one of four ideas. The ideas were lobotomy, drug company advertising, post-trauma counselling and the Freudian theory of hysteria.
Each speaker had ten minutes to convince us that their idea was the worst idea anyone had ever had on the mind. Ultimately, simple disgust won over the audience and lobotomy took the title.
Most people have experienced depression for at least a short period of time, perhaps as the result of an event or confluence of events. For others, though, depression will not dissipate with time, imprisoning the mind for a lifetime.
The causes of depression are many and varied. Occasionally the reasons are there for all to see: a loved one has died, for example, or a job has been lost or an important relationship has broken up. More often the cause is mysterious to the casual observer because it is not events that necessarily cause depression, it is the way in which we interpret events.
In a previous post I explained that current categorisations of mental illness find it hard to predict the course of the illness. Here I move onto the conventional pharmaceutical treatments associated with these categories.
There are two major pharmaceutical treatments for serious mental illness. For psychotic symptoms there are antipsychotics – also called neuroleptics. For mood disorders there are mood stabilisers, lithium being the most widespread. Many clinical trials on antipsychotics have shown that psychotic patients suffer fewer symptoms and later relapses when taking them. Indeed there are many people for whom medication provides their only effective lifeline.
But this is far from the whole story.
Mild to moderate forms of depression are often amenable to pharmacological or psychological approaches, but severe depression is a different matter. The successful treatment of very deep depression is something of a Holy Grail for many in the mental health field.
Continue reading “Vagus Nerve Stimulation Can Alleviate Chronic Depression”
“Health officials have launched a trail blazing drive aimed at spotting early signs of mental illness. The Mental Health First Aid scheme is aimed at health service staff, job centres, colleges, voluntary groups, and the police and ambulance services.”
There is a half-formed mutant meme knocking around that the psychiatrist, Peter Kramer, wants to destroy. This idea seems to have popped up that perhaps we don’t want to completely eradicate depression because some of the greatest artists and leaders have been depressives. Would Van Gogh have been able to knock out those masterpieces if he had been on Prozac?
Kramer is determined to fight the battle against those who think that depression is not really a proper disease, but somehow part of the human condition.
NY Times Magazine [Free Reg. Req.]
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