liveonearth: (bipolar_express)
The DSM, of course, is the list of diagnoses written by and for psychiatrists who are dispensing pharmaceuticals which are covered by insurance. The DSM does not consider the possible causes of the disorders listed, nor allow for the possibility that simple lifestyle changes might be adequate to "cure" a disorder. The book is used to authorize the mental health professional to dispense psychoactive medications. No conflicts of interest there (ahem).

The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH instead of just NIH) has decided that the basis of the DSM is not scientific enough, and it is not using those diagnoses as a foundation for ongoing research. The new Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) project to is intended to transform diagnosis by incorporating genetics, imaging, cognitive science, and more to create a new classification system. The new system of knowledge will be based on biology as well as symptoms, and will consider specific brain circuits, genetics, and experiences without regard for DSM categories. In fact the NIH is looking to support research projects that look across or subdivide current categories.

This is superb and hopeful to every person who has even been stuck with a diagnosis that didn't fit, or medicated when a simpler solution wasn't even entertained. My congratulations to the NIH for being independent enough to seek the truth.

SOURCE
http://www.nimh.nih.gov/about/director/2013/transforming-diagnosis.shtml
liveonearth: (bipolar_express)
Bruises fade and skin heals, but the mind remembers. Physical punishment is still prevalent among US families. This study found the prevalence of physical punishment without "more severe child maltreatment" was 5.9%. Boys get physically punished more than girls, 59.4% to 40.6%. Blacks get beat more than whites. Asians and Pacific Islanders (including native Hawaiians) were the least likely to get whupped by their own parents.

The harsher the physical (or emotional) punishment was, the higher the odds of an axis I or II diagnosis. Axis I diagnoses include major depression, dysthymia, mania, mood disorders, phobias, anxiety disorders, and drug and alcohol abuse or dependence. Axis II diagnoses include several individual personality disorders and cluster A and B disorder diagnoses. The researchers concluded that 2-7% of all mental disease is attributable to childhood abuse.

SOURCE
http://www.medscape.org/viewarticle/767353?src=cmemp
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liveonearth: (nothing to writing)
Never give up on something you can't go a single day without thinking about.
--Anonymous

(I am suspicious of the word "never". It goes right in with "always" and "should". And I notice that after a while, the thought occurrences of a person who is gone do decrease. Maybe never completely gone, but at least not so torturous. I do however think that this quote, as a mantra, is destructive by encouraging obsessive thought, and will impede the process of letting go, and hence I apologize for posting it. I just had to.)
liveonearth: (Default)
The links between obsessive-compulsive rituals and religious rituals have long been noted. Naturally, Freud had something insightful to say about it. In his 1907 essay "Obsessive Acts and Religious Practices," he implicitly linked the two. In a marvelous sentence, he describes obsessional neurosis "as an individual religiousity and religion as a universal obsessional neurosis." In a similar vein, the psychoanalyst Robert Paul has more recently described religion as "the neurosis of civilization."
--Sapolsky in The Trouble with Testosterone p265

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liveonearth

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