• 2400 Russellville Rd Hopkinsville KY 42240

Teaching Excellence

Qualified Staff

Category Archives: Friday Factoids

HomeWestern State Hospital Internship Program   Blog   Friday Factoids
March 03 2016

Friday Factoids: Post-Partum Psychosis

Author Susan Vaught Categories Blog, Continuing Education, Current Interns, Friday Factoids, Mental Health and Wellness, Resources for Interns 0 Comments


 

It is safe to say that a good majority of the population has heard of postpartum depression.  Many may even know a new mother who has experienced this condition.  However, far fewer have heard of or truly understand postpartum psychosis, this writer included. 

 

Postpartum psychosis, also referred to as postnatal psychosis, is very rare. It develops in only 0.1% of all women after they give birth. Women who have experienced the condition previously are said to have a much higher rate of 30% with each additional pregnancy. Those who already have a serious mental illness, such as bipolar disorder or schizophrenia, are also at an increased risk.

 

Postpartum psychosis can present with a rapid onset of a few days to that of a few weeks following child birth.  A limited number of women do not exhibit symptoms, however, until they cease breast feeding, or until their menstrual cycles resume.  Most all cases develop within two weeks, though. It is important to note that it is a medical emergency and should be treated immediately to help reduce the severity of symptoms.

 

The most common symptoms of postpartum psychosis include hallucinations and delusions. Secondary symptoms may vary. They can include paranoia, mania, loss of inhibitions, low mood, agitation, restlessness, anxiety, trouble sleeping, loss of appetite and/or severe confusion. Rapidly fluctuating moods can also occur. A minimal percentage of women effected by this condition may even experience mania and depression simultaneously.

 

Due to the presentation of symptomatology, the psychiatric condition may be a severe emergency that requires admission to hospital for treatment.  When at all possible, it is best for the patient to be admitted with her newborn, into special psychiatric care options referred to as a mother-and-baby units. This helps to facilitate the continued bonding of mother and baby.  Medication management figures largely included in symptom reduction. The medications chosen often consist of a blend of neuroleptic (s), antidepressant(s) and mood stabilizers. Most women who follow medical protocol make a full recovery within several months.

 

Work Cited
K. K. (2013, October 6). Postpartum Psychosis: What You Might Not Know. Retrieved March 14, 2016, from https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/isnt-what-i-expected/201310/postpartum-psychosis-what-you-might-not-know 

 

Sit, D., ROTHSCHILD, A. J., & WISNER, K. L. (2011, June 7). A Review of Postpartum Psychosis. Retrieved  March 14, 2016, from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3109493/ doi: 10.1089/jwh.2006.15.352

 

Crystal K. Bray,
WKPIC Doctoral Intern

 

 

March 03 2016

Friday Factoids: Have Your Chocolate, and Eat It, Too!

Author Susan Vaught Categories Blog, Continuing Education, Current Interns, Friday Factoids, Mental Health and Wellness 2 Comments on Friday Factoids: Have Your Chocolate, and Eat It, Too!

 

Many of us have long been waiting for a justifiable reason to indulge in chocolate that did not first involve having a migraine. It is with great excitement that this writer must announce that our day is coming nearer. A fairly recent trial found that older adults who have a high dietary intake of flavanols, like those found in cocoa, have heightened memory performance on object-recognition tasks. Additionally, it also increased neural activity in the dentate gyrus of our hippocampi as measured by a fMRI.

 

Brickman et al. tracked 38 individuals over a period of 12 weeks. During that time, half of the sample population received a high intake diet of flavanols and the remaining sample followed the low intake diet. The team found that those receiving high intakes of flavanols had measurably improved neural activity, increased blood flow in the dentate gyrus and increased memory functioning on object recognition tasks. They noted that the increased blood flow was a direct correlation to improvement in memory functioning but needed to go a step further to prove this theory.

 

In addition to a massive amount of data collection, the team created a digital test called the ModBent. They designed the ModBent to be an extremely difficult memory recognition task that activated the dentate gyrus. It was designed to activate this region of the brain without triggering other areas known to be specific to memory. To establish the validity of the ModBent, Brickman et al. organized a double-dissociation study using the tool in healthy adults. The study confirmed that the measure did in fact only activate the dentate gyrus but that it also was receptive to the age of the examinee. The group used this information and designed two different versions of the ModBent. They administered one test at the beginning of their study and one at the end. Having two versions of the assessment prevented the participants from potentially experiencing repeat assessment practice effects.

 

The study found that high-flavanol group’s performance was on average 630 ms higher than the low-flavanol group. They compared the difference in performance to knock-out mice studies measuring for memory loss. It was noted that such a difference paralleled the results of aging in the brain by approximately three decades. This correlation was extremely significant to their findings. Brickman et al. established clear evidence that including flavanols in one’s diet would be beneficial to degree in reversing cognitive decline in memory.

 

Work Cited
Brickman, Adam M., Khan, Usman A., Provenzano, Frank A., Yeung, Lok-Kin, Suzuki, Wendy, Schroeter, Hagen, Wall, Melanie, Sloan, Richard P., & Small, Scott A.  Enhancing dentate gyrus function with dietary flavanols improves cognition in older adults. Nature Neuroscience. 12, 1978-1806 (2014).

 

It should be noted that Brickman et al. hypothesized that combining a high-flavanol diet with the added benefits of exercise (peak oxygen levels in our blood) would produce even greater results on the ModBent. However, in collecting data and measures for the comparison, they found that there was no difference in the aerobic group versus non-exercise group when measuring for peak oxygen intake. Therefore, they did not move forward with the study and the effects of a high-flavanol diet combined with exercise are still currently unknown.

 

Crystal Bray
WKPIC Doctoral Intern

March 03 2016

Friday Factoids: Schizophrenia and Premature Death

Author Susan Vaught Categories Blog, Continuing Education, Current Interns, Friday Factoids, Mental Health and Wellness, Resources for Interns 0 Comments

Schizophrenia has long been one of mental health’s most studied disorders. Our knowledge base regarding the diagnosis has grown by leaps and bounds over many years of research. Most people are aware of the cognitive, negative and psychotic symptoms associated with schizophrenia. However, far fewer realize that premature death can also be a distinctive feature of the disorder.

 

Statistically speaking, adults who have schizophrenia are typically expected to live only 70% of a normal lifespan when compared to same age peers. Essentially this means they will live 15-25 years less than the average person.  Striking as it may be to some, this is information that we have known for some time. However, researchers have recently updated this data to include all age groups and demographics.

 

Researcher Mark Olfson and his team recently studied a group of one million people with schizophrenia. During their study period, 74,000 individuals passed away. Of those 74,000, Dr. Olfson and team were able to identify the cause of death for 65,500 of them. They then compared the identified cause and age with that of same age peers. Their findings indicated that the increased rate of premature death crossed all age ranges as well as demographics, leaving no one group/age immune.

 

The data revealed that unnatural as well as natural causes of death were both increased by more than three times when compared to normative mortality rates of the same nature.  Natural causes of death by far accounted for the majority of causes. Lung cancer, other cancers, cardiovascular disease, influenza, and diabetes accounted for most of the natural causes. Suicide and accidental deaths were deemed to be the majority of unnatural causes.

 

Crystal Bray
WKPIC Doctoral Intern

 

February 02 2016

Friday Factoids: Where Do the 2016 Presidential Candidates Stand on Mental Health Issues?

Author Susan Vaught Categories Blog, Continuing Education, Current Interns, Friday Factoids, General Information, Mental Health and Wellness, Resources for Interns 0 Comments

 

In an election often dominated by worries about the economy and national security, mental health gets comparatively little exposure as a serious issue on the presidential campaign trail. In fact, during my search for information it was difficult to find clear and concise information about the candidates’ stance on mental health issues in America. During this election season, the issue of mental health services has been brought up most frequently when candidates have discussed mass shootings. Candidates on both sides of the aisle have stressed the need to prevent mentally ill people from acquiring guns. Democrats have advocated for gun control and Republicans argued that the lack of treatment for mental health issues should be blamed for mass shootings rather than the gun industry.

 

The heroin epidemic has provided an opportunity for candidates to link drug addiction and mental health, with candidates like Bernie Sanders arguing that the nation’s prison system must stop being used as a substitute for treatment. In addition, mental health is also commonly mentioned in regards to the Department of Veterans Affairs, with many candidates promising to reform the agency and give veterans access to proper mental health care. It is even rarer for candidates to mention mental health as its own issue, one that is not prompted by a national crisis or by a question from an audience member.

 

Out of all the 2016 candidates, Hillary Clinton and John Kasich are perhaps the most vocal advocates for mental health care. Clinton has called for mental health to be treated with parity to physical health issues. During the run-up to the Iowa caucus, Clinton frequently criticized the state’s Republican governor, Terry Branstad, for closing two of the state’s four mental hospitals. Kasich, who is often attacked by conservatives for expanding Medicaid in his home state of Ohio, has argued that the move helped treat the mentally ill. Bernie Sanders occasionally speaks about mental health as a part of his health care plan, and has called for a “mental health revolution,” usually in regards to making sure people are treated in light of the national conversation on mental health and guns.

 

Marco Rubio has talked about the stigma surrounding mental health issues when asked about it by voters. Some candidates have taken a different approach and have joked about the issue. Ted Cruz has said multiple times that he has “a lot of experience with mental health” issues because he’s dealt with Congress. One day after a man shot two journalists on live television Donald Trump said he is opposed to tightening gun laws in the U.S. but is in favor of addressing mental health to prevent shootings. Trump did not offer specific solutions to addressing the mental health problem, but said there are “so many things that can be done.”

 

When candidates do talk about mental health, what they say falls very clearly along party lines. Republican candidates who do address the issue tend to do so in the context of veterans affairs or to recommend institutionalizing certain mentally ill people rather than focusing on gun control. Democratic candidates who bring up mental health tend to do so in the context of reducing the flow in the prison pipeline and addressing substance use disorders. In other words and not surprisingly, mental health gets a mention where it seems to be politically expedient.

 

For more information, you can view each candidate’s political website.

 

References:
Willingham, E. (2015, September 6).What does your 2016 Presidential Candidate Say about Mental Health? Forbes. Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/sites/emilywillingham/2015/09/06/what-does-your-2016-presidential-candidate-say-about-mental-health/#6ccc3de6884d

 

Witkin, R. (2016, February 24)Where the 2016 Candidates Stand on Mental Health Issues. NBCNews. Retrieved from http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/first-read/where-2016-candidates-stand-mental-health-issues-n524826

 

Jonathan Torres, M.S.
WKPIC Doctoral Intern

 

February 02 2016

Friday Factoid Catch-up: MDMA-Assisted Psychotherapy for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

Author Susan Vaught Categories Blog, Continuing Education, Current Interns, Friday Factoids, Mental Health and Wellness, Resources for Interns 0 Comments

 

A drug often known as “Ecstasy” or “Molly,” has for decades been used as a party drug in clubs and for all-night raves. But lately, ±3, 4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMD) is also being used in very different settings and for a very different purpose. Pharmacologically, MDMA acts as a serotonin-norepinephrine-dopamine releasing agent and reuptake inhibitor. Basically, MDMA massively increases the release of serotonin, dopamine, and oxytocin. Respectively, these chemicals in the brain help you feel relaxed and calm, help you stay alert, and help you bond with people and be more trusting. Increased feelings of trust and compassion towards others would allow people to process their trauma, which could make an ideal adjunct to psychotherapy for PTSD.

 

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved phase two clinical studies of the treatment, and they are now underway in four separate locations in South Carolina, Colorado, Canada, and Israel. Results so far have been promising. Preliminary studies have shown that MDMA in conjunction with psychotherapy can help people overcome PTSD and possibly other disorders as well. MDMA is not the same as “Ecstasy” or “Molly.” Substances sold on the street under these names may contain MDMA, but frequently also contain unknown and/or dangerous adulterants. In laboratory studies, pure MDMA has been proven sufficiently safe for human consumption when taken a limited number of times in moderate doses. In MDMA-assisted psychotherapy, MDMA is only administered a few times, unlike most medications for mental illnesses which are often taken daily for years, and sometimes over the course of a lifetime.

 

Recent test results have shown 83 percent of the subjects receiving MDMA-assisted psychotherapy in a pilot study no longer met the criteria for PTSD, and every patient who received a placebo and then went on to receive MDMA-assisted psychotherapy experienced significant and lasting improvements. Long-term follow-up of patients who received MDMA-assisted psychotherapy revealed that overall benefits were maintained an average of 3.8 years later. These results indicate a promising future for MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for PTSD and lay the groundwork for continued research into the safest and most effective ways to administer the treatment.

 

The Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) is undertaking a roughly $20 million plan to make MDMA into a FDA approved prescription medicine by 2021, and is currently the only organization in the world funding clinical trials of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy. For-profit pharmaceutical companies are not interested in developing MDMA into a medicine because the patent for MDMA has expired. Data from Phase 2 studies will be used to plan Phase 3of MAPS’ drug development program. MAPS will work with the FDA to agree on a design for Phase 3 studies and submit the findings to the FDA in a New Drug Application (NDA) to approve MDMA-assisted psychotherapy as a prescription treatment for PTSD. Phase 3 of the development program will involve scores of therapists and hundreds of subjects in multiple countries and large multi-center trials. The challenge is no longer convincing regulatory agencies of the value of this research, but finding the financial resources for conducting the Phase 3 studies required to make MDMA-assisted psychotherapy a legally available treatment for those who need it most.

 

References:
Mithoefer, M.C., Wagner, M.T., Mithoefer, A.T., Jerome, L., & Doblin, R. (2011). The safety and efficacy of ±3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine-assisted psychotherapy in subjects with chronic, treatment-resistant posttraumatic stress disorder: the first randomized controlled pilot study. Journal of Psychopharmacology, 25(4), 439-452.

 

Mithoefer, M.C., Wagner, M.T., Mithoefer, A.T., Jerome, L., Martin, S.F., Yazar-Klosinski, B.,…Doblin, R. (2012). Durability of improvement in posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms and absence of harmful effects or drug dependency after 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine-assisted psychotherapy: a prospective long-term follow-up study. Journal of Psychopharmacology, 0 (0), 1-12. DOI: 10.1177/0269881112456611

 

Oehen, P., Traber, R., Widmer, V., & Schnyder, U. (2012). A randomized, controlled pilot study of MDMA (±3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine)- assisted psychotherapy for treatment of resistant, chronic Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Journal of Psychopharmacology, 0, 1-13. DOI: 10.1177/0269881112464827

 

Jonathan Torres, M.S.
WKPIC Doctoral Intern

 

1 … 10 11 12 13 14 … 30