Children instantly and familiarly accept rejoicing and happiness, because this is their natural element. 

--Victor Hugo

A recent edition of the Harvard Mental Health Letter reported on a study conducted by researchers at the University of California, Davis. After informing the doctors that, at some point, actors would be visiting their practices (but not revealing exactly when), eighteen actors reporting psychiatric symptoms made nearly 300 visits to 152 doctors to test the influence of mentioning ads to the doctors.

The study found that physicians were strongly influenced by requests for medication. Physicians prescribed as follows in response to depression symptoms: 31% of the time when no medication request was made, 56% of the time when Paxil (paroxetine) was requested, and 76% of the time when a general request was made for medication. The effect of requesting a brand name was shown to have higher influence with other types of symptoms.

 

Minimally acceptable care was defined as a combination of an antidepressant and a referral to mental-health treatment with follow up at the two-week mark.  98% received minimally acceptible treatment when they made a general request for medication, 90% when they requested Paxil, and 56% if they did not mention drugs.

 

Having greatly benefited from modern medicine (for example, I have a surgically repaired right Achilles tendon), I am very glad I am able to take advantage of modern health care. However, I think that the medical establishment's claims of "science" in regard to emotional and psychological well being are sometimes overstated, and big business plays a role. Contact me, if you are interested in exploring life-consultation as an alternative to medical treatment.

In the April issue of the Family Court Review , Jeffrey Wittman and Timothy Tippens review court documents to assess custody recommendations made by mental-health professionals.

 

The authors found that 90% of the court-proffered evaluations make custody recommendations. The authors argue that, although clinicians have valuable input, their custody recommendations should not be accepted by courts due to lack of an research-proven custody considerations. Given the lack of research, clinicians are merely stating their opinions.

 

Clinical observations such as "Mother's parenting style is highly authoritarian," or "father's blue mood, the child's report of his chronic sadness, and his MMPI-2 evaluations suggest that he's moderately depressed" are considered appropriate.

 

The report states that the author's work is being met with resistance by mental-health professionals and with relief by judges. It also states that judges are beginning to request more training in family dynamics.

In the August 2005 issue of Psychological Science, scientists attempt to measure male bisexuality by measuring men's physical arousal to various erotic material. The study involved just over 100 self-identified straight, bisexual, and gay males.

 

The authors of the study reported that most of the bisexual men (and gay men) were significantly more aroused when watching erotica of men only. A small percentage of bisexual men were aroused exclusively by women. None of the self-identified bisexuals were equally aroused by both types of erotica.

 

The study results are followed by a discussion about whether physiological arousal is the sole means of determining one's sexual orientation and about philosophical interpretations of sexual-orientations (for example, should the new term "queer" replace "gay and bi"?). 

 

In my experience as a life-consultant, I like to help my clients maintain a focus on inner approaches and outward activities that result in them feeling happy. I think that moving one's life forward is more important than getting the label "right." If you agree, and if you think you could benefit from life consultation, contact me.

People who don't take risks generally make about two big mistakes a year. People who do take risks generally make about two big mistakes a year. 

--Peter Drucker

Rachel Yehuda, professor of psychiatry at New York's Mount Sinai School of Medicine recently published a report about the effect of 9-11 on pregnant women who were close to the World Trade Center and who reported symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome (PTSD). The report appeared in the online Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism , dated May 3rd, 2005.

 

The report states that the infants from these mothers had lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol than babies of non-PTSD mothers who also lived near the crash site. Low cortisol levels are considered a biological marker for PTSD.

 

The study points out that it does not make predictions regarding biological "causes" of PTSD or the chances of PTSD diagnoses in the children as they grow older. Because only 20% of people exposed to a trauma go on to develop PTSD, researchers have ongoing investigations into the factors that make some more vulnerable than others.

In the April 2005 issue of the American Journal of Psychiatry, a connection is explored between mothers carrying the antibody for toxoplasmosis (commonly found in cat feces, unwashed vegetables, and undercooked meat) and the development of schizophrenia in their children.

 

Researchers reviewed blood-serum samples from almost every pregnant woman in Almeda County, California, who had enrolled in Kaiser Health Care between 1959 and 1967. The researchers kept track of the women's 12,000 offspring from 1981 to 1987. They found that the offspring who later developed schizophrenia or related disorders had mothers with the highest levels of the antibody.

 

Alan Brown, the lead researcher on the project, emphasizes that more studies are needed to replicate this connection and better understand it.  He states that the findings are "modest and suggestive."

Before we set our hearts too much upon anything, let us examine how happy those are who already possess it.

--Francois De La Rochefoucauld