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NY Times: Getting Mental Health Care for Others
An article from the NY Times about getting mental health care for others: Getting Someone to Psychiatric Treatment Can Be Difficult and Inconclusive By A. G. SULZBERGER and BENEDICT CAREY TUCSON —What are you supposed to do with someone like Jared L. Loughner? That question is as difficult to answer today as it was in the years and months and days leading up to the shooting here that left 6 dead and 13 wounded. Millions of Americans have wondered about a troubled loved one, friend or co-worker, fearing not so much an act of violence, but — far more likely — self-inflicted harm, landing in the streets, in jail or on suicide…
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Oxytocin and BPD
An article that mentions BPD in the context of oxytocin…. Could ‘Love Hormone’ Oxytocin Cure Our Ills? Published December 06, 2010 | LiveScience In recent years, we’ve been bombarded with studies about the hormone oxytocin – researchers have demonstrated it increases trust and helps aid in social bonding. It has even garnered a reputation as the “love hormone.” But what good is it for? Despite all these findings, the hormone’s medical use remains limited to obstetrics – it is used to induce labor and aid in breastfeeding. But researchers are now trying to apply these findings, and are investigating oxytocin as a treatment for psychiatric illnesses. They say its unique…
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Nice Article about Empathy and Coping with BPD
Article about empathy and coping with BPD: Moran: Inspiration through empathy: Living with mental illness Published: July 22, 2010 6:00 PM Updated: August 05, 2010 8:00 AM For Lorelei Andrews (not her real name), volunteering to offer support to local individuals living with mental illness is cornerstone to her daily life. I had a chance to talk with her about her story and the current state of services in Kelowna for individuals living with mental illness. She has worked as a server, a wedding planner, a full-time student (earning two degrees), and a bridal consultant. In fact, she started one bridal gallery in Vancouver that has now become the largest…
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Changing of the Poll
Today, I closed the poll about treatment and BPD. The results showed that the majority of people with BPD are NOT in treatment. I have started a new poll about substance abuse and BPD. No related posts.
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Must Read Article about BPD and “coming off the couch”
Kiera Van Gelder shared with me today an excellent article she wrote about “coming off the couch” and admitting/sharing that you have BPD. It’s time to fight the stigma of BPD. coming out of the psycho closet When Merinda Epstein, a Policy and Law Reform Officer of the Mental Health Legal Centre in Melborne Australia, made the decision to “come out” with borderline personality disorder as a consumer advocate, her therapist was horrified. She asked Epstein, “why would you want to talk about that diagnosis in public for? You’ve got a perfectly good psychotic diagnosis to use in public!” Such unfortunately is the reaction many of us who self-identify as…
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Has Depression become a Catch-All Diagnosis?
I believe that it has. Why? Well, there are a number of reasons that depression is a catch-all diagnosis. One certainly is the influence of the pharmaceutical industry given that billions of dollars are spent on anti-depressants each year. Also, doctors who are not mental health professionals (like GP’s) are prescribing anti-depressants if their patients are “depressed”. Unfortunately, sometimes depression is not accurate. Many times when people say “I’m feeling depressed” they are really expressing that they are feeling emotional pain. Sometimes emotional pain is normal, sometimes a great deal of emotional pain is not normal and becomes problematic. When someone is feeling too much emotionally, it is not depression.…