Science is constantly testing and re-testing the effects of treatments. One way that scientists argue for the efficacy of a specific treatment is to compare its effects to that of a placebo.
Many people have heard of the “placebo effect,” but may have found the term confusing. A placebo effect occurs when there is a measurable improvement compared to no treatment during the use of a mock treatment, such as: receiving an injection of saline instead of an injection of the actual medication being tested.
One such method was employed during a study regarding the effects of an opioid analgesic during the induction of pain. The researchers found that similar areas of the brain, specifically the anterior cingulate cortex (an area containing many opioid receptors), were activated during the drug treatment compared to the administration of the placebo on the positron emission tomography (PET) scans.
Petrovic, P., Kalso, E., Petersson, K. M., & Ingvar, M. (2002). Placebo and opioid analgesia: Imaging a shared neuronal network. Science, 295, 1737-1740.
Cassandra A. Sturycz, B.A.
Psychology Practicum Student
Most people consume one form of caffeine or another on a daily basis. So what’s the big deal? Caffeine is a stimulating substance that can negatively impact your body. Excessive caffeine intake can cause symptoms similar to those found in anxiety disorders like insomnia, irritability, restlessness, and nervousness. According to the Mayo Clinic, heavy caffeine use is defined as 500 to 600 mg per day. If you are someone who drinks a coffee in the morning, a soda with lunch, and sweet tea at dinner, you may be in the heavy use category.
Danielle M. McNeill, M.S., M.A.
WKPIC Doctoral Intern
As I wrote this, the word stayed alone on the page for several days.
I nodded enthusiastically when this project was proposed, but deep down I heard a sigh.
You will get through all of this.
Match.
I spent two years applying for internship- it nearly crushed me. The rejection triggered every what if? and insecurity I had. I was also angry; Why me? What am I getting out of this? Where’s the return for all I’ve invested? Here’s what was good about this, I was forced to ask the most important question about my career. IS THIS WORTH IT?
Going after a big dream means that inevitably you will be rejected. You will be rejected many times. The bigger the dream, the more rejection you’ll encounter. I once read that the pain of being rejected means that you take your work seriously (Resilience: Facing Down Rejection and Criticism on the Road to Success by Mark McGuiness has helpful tips). It’s important to you, so being told “No” is going to hurt. Rejection doesn’t mean that you’re not worthy. You’re going through what others before you have gone through to reach their goals. Here’s how I managed:
Keep Your Heart Open: Excellent advice from author Melody Beattie (Journey to the Heart). Adjusting to an internship that had chosen me, rather than my choosing it, was challenging. I reminded myself that there are always opportunities to learn and grow. This helped me to be more receptive and gave me space to learn a tremendous amount. It helped that I found an internship I really wanted, but without acceptance and openness I would have missed all it had to offer.
Meditate: No. I’m not on the mindfulness bandwagon. I began meditating when I was in college and I did it the hard way, with a candle! There are lots more user friendly options now. You’ll gain much needed clarity, decrease stress, and gain a perspective on the present.
Share: The other intern and I regularly share our experiences. It’s helped tremendously to have someone to talk to. Find someone who can appreciate your unique form of expression; if you need to laugh, cry or shout they will let you do that without judgment. Remember to do the same for them.
Plan: Think about your career as an organism living in a dynamic world, subject to the same law of uncertainty that you are. Setbacks are just colds that will soon dissipate. This is part of the process-not the end. What’s Next?
On your journey to the next great adventure remember that learning to handle rejection effectively will prime you to be even more successful during your next project. People who haven’t had a chance to learn from rejection don’t develop effective coping skills. And guess what happens to them. All Great Dreams begin with the Dreamer. Since you’re reading this you’re still here. And that’s all you need.
Let’s examine and dispel the myths in order to gain a better understanding of disorders that trouble hundreds of thousands of individuals. Listed below are the first 5 common myths:
1. Mental health problems are uncommon. False! The National Institute of Mental Health estimates that 1 out of every 5 Americans will have a diagnosable mental disorder within their lifetimes.
2. Mental health problems are caused by the person suffering from them. Mental health problems arise from a complex combination of indiviudal, medical, and social factors. Dr. Grohol correctly notes that people must take responsibility for their own thoughts, feelings, and behavior associated with disorders; however, they are not to blame for them. It is essential that people struggling with mental health problems take responsibility, NOT blame. There is a difference.
3. Mental health problems are purely biological or genetic in nature. Mental health problems come from many causes, and usually not just one. They are more than bad choices, bad genes, or bad chemical imbalances. Many issues and vulnerabilities work together to create them. That’s why they can’t be solved with just one strategy, like a particular pill, or a certain style of psychotherapy.
4. Mental health disorders are often life-long and difficult to treat. Many mental health problems are short term, and can be resolved with recovery-based treatment strategies. In fact, as Dr. Grohol notes, most medications (with a few notable exceptions, such as those prescribed for bipolar disorder and schizophrenia) prescribed for mental disorders should be taken for short-term (under a year) symptom relief.
5. Psychotherapy takes forever and gets into childhood issues. We probably have Dr. Freud to thank for this one (he was actually a neurologist, by the way). The system of therapy associated with Dr. Freud and often portrayed in movies and on television is psychoanalysis, which fits this stereotype. Modern psychotherapy approaches do not. Most use a cognitive-behavioral approach which is short-term and solution-focused. Cognitive-behavioral approaches help people identify irrational thinking that leads to illness-creating behavior and emotions. It is often possible to correct irrational thinking in a matter of weeks or a few months.
Former intern Margarita Lorence sent word about a seminar at Vanderbilt that could be useful to staff and students:
The route to psychosis: what differentiates individuals with psychotic experiences with and without a ‘need-for-care’?
It is increasingly recognized that there is a thread of continuity between health and psychosis. Large-scale surveys have confirmed the high incidence of seemingly benign positive symptoms in the general population, and high ‘schizotypes’ resemble psychotic patients on a number of experimental and epidemiological correlates. However most of the evidence for the psychosis continuum is based on psychometric identification of psychotic-like experiences, which some authors have argued do not capture the true essence of psychosis. This talk will present a range of studies, using different methodologies, of individuals who experience full-blown psychotic experiences but are not in need of care. The findings broadly support the predictions made by cognitive models of psychosis. Specifically, it will be demonstrated that maladaptive appraisals and response styles are key in differentiating individuals displaying psychotic experiences with and without a ‘need for care’. The implications for the psychological route to psychosis will be discussed.
Thursday, September 19th, 2013 4:10pm 112 Wilson Hall
