The CATIE trials, which became quite famous because of their inclusion in the New York Times, indicated that there hasn’t been a totally brand new mechanism of action in the world of medications for schizophrenia since the 1950s when the first antipsychotic Chlorpromazine was introduced. A new drug by Eli Lilly that is in clinical trials may be the first antipsychotic with a novel mechanism of action since chlorpromazine was introduced.
The investigational drug is called LY2140023. And, here is the big news: LY2140023 affects a neurotransmitter called glutamate. It is the first of a brand-new class of drugs called mGlu2/3 receptor agonists.
All antipsychotics used today act on dopamine, a neurotransmitter, a message-carrying chemical in the brain.
Blocking dopamine causes very unpleasant side-effects and many schizophrenia patents often stop taking their medications because of the unpleasant side effects. Weight gain and diabetes can both cause early death, and both side effects are caused by the dopamine-blocking medications.
There is an experimental drug in an early phase of development which attempts to treat schizophrenia using this new mechanism of action. It seemed to work safely in patients, without the dangerous and annoying side-effects of older drugs, U.S. researchers reported on September 2rd, 2007. 39 articles, in English, around the world on this topic, indicate to me this is an important new development.
LY2140023 is an investigational medication now. Lilly tested the new drug in a double blind study against its older drug Zyprexa in 196 patients in Russia and found it was not as efficacious as Zyprexa, but it is nevertheless effective, and the new drug did not cause many of the side-effects of Zypreza, such as weight gain, cholesterol and hormonal changes.
But, what is a double blind study? Double-blind means that the doctors and the patients are kept in the dark whether the patient is taking LY2140023, Zyprexa or a placebo. This way, the results are more scientifically accurate.
Approximately 32 percent of the patients treated with LY2140023 responded to the treatment, as opposed to 41 percent of patients who got Zyprexa, known generically as olanzapine, and just 3 percent of the patients given placebos.
LY2140023 patients had fewer side-effects. Most were mild, including nausea and headache and insomnia or sleepiness,.
To read more about this topic. Go to http://news.google.com and type in the search box: schizophrenia glutamate
Monday, September 17, 2007
Friday, February 16, 2007
Mental Illness is not "sexy" so it gets less funding for research, and why the "Gates Foundation" should do more for mental health issues
Today, I was talking to a worker of mine on the phone, and we had one of those conversations where we were talking about the fact that research for mental illness is really underfunded, "Yeah, compared to other diseases, it's amazing how little funding goes into the search for cures for mental illnesses." We agreed it is primarily because of the lack of "sexiness" of the mental illnesses, also it is due to the stigma attached to mental illnesses.
I read a lot of news online because I like the depth and the variety of viewpoints available. So, about 6 months ago there was a huge story in the world of philanthropy, Warren Buffett, the 2nd richest man in the USA according to the Forbes 500, a man worth many billions of dollars to his name will bequeath his considerable fortune to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. I could only think, "Wow! Imagine if even a small percentage of that money goes to searching for cures for mental illness!"
So, I called NARSAD (The National Alliance on Research for Schizophrenia And Depression, and I talked to a few people there letting them know about this big news that they had not heard of yet. The areas of interest of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation are the following: Global Development Program, Global Health Program, United States Program. I went to the Gates' Foundation Website, and I couldn't find any mention of any kind of real commitment to mental health.
By 2020 the World Health Organization projects that depression alone will be the #2 cause of disability around the world. Add schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and anxiety disorders to the mix.. and you definitely have an amazing fount of suffering that could definitely be treated better with a better understanding of those disorders. I have yet to see that The Gates foundation has donated anything to NARSAD. And, because around the world 1 in 4 people will be facing mental problems of some sort during their lifetimes... It would just make more sense if Mr.Gates would look past the "sexy" disorders.. and give the gift of mental health to billions around the world.
Why am I picking on the Gates Foundation? It is because they are the most well-known philanthropic foundation that is out there right now. If they took a leadership position in the world of mental health.. everyone would benefit.
That's my 2 cents for today.
I read a lot of news online because I like the depth and the variety of viewpoints available. So, about 6 months ago there was a huge story in the world of philanthropy, Warren Buffett, the 2nd richest man in the USA according to the Forbes 500, a man worth many billions of dollars to his name will bequeath his considerable fortune to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. I could only think, "Wow! Imagine if even a small percentage of that money goes to searching for cures for mental illness!"
So, I called NARSAD (The National Alliance on Research for Schizophrenia And Depression, and I talked to a few people there letting them know about this big news that they had not heard of yet. The areas of interest of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation are the following: Global Development Program, Global Health Program, United States Program. I went to the Gates' Foundation Website, and I couldn't find any mention of any kind of real commitment to mental health.
By 2020 the World Health Organization projects that depression alone will be the #2 cause of disability around the world. Add schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and anxiety disorders to the mix.. and you definitely have an amazing fount of suffering that could definitely be treated better with a better understanding of those disorders. I have yet to see that The Gates foundation has donated anything to NARSAD. And, because around the world 1 in 4 people will be facing mental problems of some sort during their lifetimes... It would just make more sense if Mr.Gates would look past the "sexy" disorders.. and give the gift of mental health to billions around the world.
Why am I picking on the Gates Foundation? It is because they are the most well-known philanthropic foundation that is out there right now. If they took a leadership position in the world of mental health.. everyone would benefit.
That's my 2 cents for today.
Monday, January 29, 2007
Between Bibliotherapy and Psychoeducation at NYSPI
I have worked as the Patient and Family Librarian at New York State Psychiatric Instute for approximately two and a half years now. Many Psychiatric Institutions have a library. Not so many have as comprehensive a library/patient resource as the PFL (Patient and Family Library)
To understand what we do here at the PFL one needs to understand the concepts of bibliotherapy and psychoeducation and how these concepts are being worked into the offerings of the PFL.
So, what is bibliotherapy? Bibliotherapy is an old concept in library science.. In the US it is documented as at least 100 years old.. The basic concept behind bibliotherapy is that reading is a healing experience. It was applied to both general practice medical care especially after WWII, because the soldiers had a lot of time on their hands whle recuperating, and they felt that the reading was healing and helpful. In psychiatric institutions bibliotherapeutic groups flourished during this time. The books kept the patients busy, and they seemed to be good for their general sense of well being for a variety of reasons. Since then, pretty much a standard definition of bibliotherapy is, According to Merriam-Webster online, "the use of reading materials for help in solving personal problems or for psychiatric therapy."
What is psychoeducation? Psychoeducation is a newer concept than bibliotheraphy, briefly defined Psychoeducation is a form of mental health treatment that includes elements of illness-related education and group psychotherapy. A great deal of research has demonstrated that psychoeducation increases patients' knowledge and coping skills with regard to mental illness and significantly reduces relapse and rehospitalization rates (Lukens & McFarlane, In Press) So, the whole idea behind the psychoeducation and bibliotherapy at the PFL is that the patients will read, educate themselves about their particular problems, and gain insight and will hopefully be able to cope better with what they are struggling with.
What are psychoeducational materials at the Patient and Family Library? Psychoeducational materials in our library include: books, pamphlets, videos, periodicals, and web sites. Our target customer is the psychiatric patient, a caring family member, or someone who cares for someone with a mental illness. It is often the case that the patient is a "first break" who is still orienting themselves to the new realities of a serious mental disorder. The social work interns reach out to the patient units with videos from the library's collection to lead groups that spark insight and understanding in the patients who attend the groups. This insight can help the patient deal with the day-to-day vissitudes of institutional life. And, we hope that making it out of the hospital and successfully re-intergrating into the community is aided by the insight that the patients get through these experiences.
The books that the library carries have been specially chosen by the clinical staff and the librarian for their quality and utility in the patients' personal journey of self-discovery, with regards to their illness. The thing that makes this book collection special is that the books deal with psychiatric issues; however, they have generally been written for laypeople. So, they are comprehensible to someone with an 8th grade level of education. Yes, we have the Physican's Desk Reference and the DSM-IV TR as is fitting for any medical library.. but we also carry inspirational stories of people like the late Mental Health Advocate Ken Steele whose biography "The Day the Voices Stopped" chronicles the strange and facinating world of a man's 30 year journey to wellness.. It takes us from the heartbreaking day he learned he had schizophrenia, to the day that the voices in his head stopped by appropriate medicine, and he could re-integrate into society as a advocate for the mentally ill. Against Depression by Peter Kramer, the author of Listening to Prozac, is the most circulated book in the library bar none. Dr. Kramer's engaging and illustrative writing describing the demons that plague the depressed and a snapshot of the science that is known at this point.. is gripping. A Beautiful Mind by Sylvia Nasar is the most popular novel in our library which deals with schizophrenia. I'm sure the popular movie which was loosely based on this novel helps its popularity. A Beautiful Mind is a classic story exploring the closeness between genius and insanity. It is a biography of John Nash, the man that would be hit by schizophrenia as a young man and he would also go on to receive a Nobel Prize for his groundbreaking work in applied mathematics. An Unquiet Mind by Kay Redfield Jameson is our most popular book regarding bipolar disorder. Again the closeness between the genius of a young doctor and her insanity is explored in a very real story. The reason I bring up schizophrenia, depression, and bipolar disorder is because staticically those have been the most read about topics in our library. Also, psychoeducation books in Spanish are agressively collected because of the large hispanic population that the library is situated in. .
However, not everyone who is looking for information has the concentration to read a 100+ page book, so we have short, easily-read, authoritative psychoeducational pamphlets in English and Spanish from The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), NARSAD, and NAMI NYS. We also have a good-sized current periodicals collection which has everything from mental health news, NAMI newsletters, institutional periodicals, and condition-specific periodicals.
Besides the space, the books, and the videos, the thing that ties together the Patient and Family Library library is its website. On the website there is an raison d'etre as to why the library exists, there is an online public access catalog hosted by librarycom.com, there is both a static (pdf) and a dynamic (php/MySQL) annotated video list of the psychoeducational videos, and there is a listing of some of the best mental health links in New York City. New York City has a wide range of services for the mentally disabled compared to smaller municipalities. To have a one-stop-shopping center for the best services in NYC is a useful resource for patients and their families.
There is always room to grow, and in the future years of the Patient and Family Library of New York State Psychiatric Institute will undoubtedly help people find better understanding of mental illnesses.
To understand what we do here at the PFL one needs to understand the concepts of bibliotherapy and psychoeducation and how these concepts are being worked into the offerings of the PFL.
So, what is bibliotherapy? Bibliotherapy is an old concept in library science.. In the US it is documented as at least 100 years old.. The basic concept behind bibliotherapy is that reading is a healing experience. It was applied to both general practice medical care especially after WWII, because the soldiers had a lot of time on their hands whle recuperating, and they felt that the reading was healing and helpful. In psychiatric institutions bibliotherapeutic groups flourished during this time. The books kept the patients busy, and they seemed to be good for their general sense of well being for a variety of reasons. Since then, pretty much a standard definition of bibliotherapy is, According to Merriam-Webster online, "the use of reading materials for help in solving personal problems or for psychiatric therapy."
What is psychoeducation? Psychoeducation is a newer concept than bibliotheraphy, briefly defined Psychoeducation is a form of mental health treatment that includes elements of illness-related education and group psychotherapy. A great deal of research has demonstrated that psychoeducation increases patients' knowledge and coping skills with regard to mental illness and significantly reduces relapse and rehospitalization rates (Lukens & McFarlane, In Press) So, the whole idea behind the psychoeducation and bibliotherapy at the PFL is that the patients will read, educate themselves about their particular problems, and gain insight and will hopefully be able to cope better with what they are struggling with.
What are psychoeducational materials at the Patient and Family Library? Psychoeducational materials in our library include: books, pamphlets, videos, periodicals, and web sites. Our target customer is the psychiatric patient, a caring family member, or someone who cares for someone with a mental illness. It is often the case that the patient is a "first break" who is still orienting themselves to the new realities of a serious mental disorder. The social work interns reach out to the patient units with videos from the library's collection to lead groups that spark insight and understanding in the patients who attend the groups. This insight can help the patient deal with the day-to-day vissitudes of institutional life. And, we hope that making it out of the hospital and successfully re-intergrating into the community is aided by the insight that the patients get through these experiences.
The books that the library carries have been specially chosen by the clinical staff and the librarian for their quality and utility in the patients' personal journey of self-discovery, with regards to their illness. The thing that makes this book collection special is that the books deal with psychiatric issues; however, they have generally been written for laypeople. So, they are comprehensible to someone with an 8th grade level of education. Yes, we have the Physican's Desk Reference and the DSM-IV TR as is fitting for any medical library.. but we also carry inspirational stories of people like the late Mental Health Advocate Ken Steele whose biography "The Day the Voices Stopped" chronicles the strange and facinating world of a man's 30 year journey to wellness.. It takes us from the heartbreaking day he learned he had schizophrenia, to the day that the voices in his head stopped by appropriate medicine, and he could re-integrate into society as a advocate for the mentally ill. Against Depression by Peter Kramer, the author of Listening to Prozac, is the most circulated book in the library bar none. Dr. Kramer's engaging and illustrative writing describing the demons that plague the depressed and a snapshot of the science that is known at this point.. is gripping. A Beautiful Mind by Sylvia Nasar is the most popular novel in our library which deals with schizophrenia. I'm sure the popular movie which was loosely based on this novel helps its popularity. A Beautiful Mind is a classic story exploring the closeness between genius and insanity. It is a biography of John Nash, the man that would be hit by schizophrenia as a young man and he would also go on to receive a Nobel Prize for his groundbreaking work in applied mathematics. An Unquiet Mind by Kay Redfield Jameson is our most popular book regarding bipolar disorder. Again the closeness between the genius of a young doctor and her insanity is explored in a very real story. The reason I bring up schizophrenia, depression, and bipolar disorder is because staticically those have been the most read about topics in our library. Also, psychoeducation books in Spanish are agressively collected because of the large hispanic population that the library is situated in. .
However, not everyone who is looking for information has the concentration to read a 100+ page book, so we have short, easily-read, authoritative psychoeducational pamphlets in English and Spanish from The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), NARSAD, and NAMI NYS. We also have a good-sized current periodicals collection which has everything from mental health news, NAMI newsletters, institutional periodicals, and condition-specific periodicals.
Besides the space, the books, and the videos, the thing that ties together the Patient and Family Library library is its website. On the website there is an raison d'etre as to why the library exists, there is an online public access catalog hosted by librarycom.com, there is both a static (pdf) and a dynamic (php/MySQL) annotated video list of the psychoeducational videos, and there is a listing of some of the best mental health links in New York City. New York City has a wide range of services for the mentally disabled compared to smaller municipalities. To have a one-stop-shopping center for the best services in NYC is a useful resource for patients and their families.
There is always room to grow, and in the future years of the Patient and Family Library of New York State Psychiatric Institute will undoubtedly help people find better understanding of mental illnesses.
Friday, January 26, 2007
Mental Illness and War: A Comparison
Being a person with mental illness that is also a contributing member of society, I wonder sometimes about the parity of treatment of mental illnesses such as mine against other money-driven things such as war.
Bibliometrics
What is that word and how can I use it to make sense of the difference between war and mental illness? Bibliometrics is a word from library science that means "the more that is published on a topic, the more important the topic is in terms of money and energy being used." The term bibliometrics was coined before the invention of the World Wide Web so it encompasses book and periodical publications only. The concept of bibliometrics can be stretched to encompass the Web as well to be able to make some basic observations on how mental illness stacks up to war, for example, in terms of money and effort being used by our society. I'll use my own new term "Webliometrics" for that concept. Let's see how mental illness and war compare.
I go to a very good Web site for news: Google News. I go there almost every day to check out what is happening in the new and emerging treatments for schizophrenia and other mental illnesses. You can get there by going to www.google.com and clicking on "news." Basically it is a news service that updates itself automatically from over 4,500 online news sources around the world. Google News has a nifty feature that tells you in the past 30 days how many stories match your search terms.
On November 1st, 2003, I did a search on "schizophrenia" and got 721 hits. "Not bad," I think to myself. What about depression, obsessive compulsive disorder, bipolar disorder, and borderline personality disorder? "Mental illness" comes up with 2,530 hits. "Depression" as a psychiatric illness comes up 5,670 times. "Bipolar" comes up 617 times. "Obsessive compulsive disorder" comes up 153 times, and "borderline personality disorder" comes up 34 times. For everything dealing with mental illness that I searched, it came up with 9,725 stories.
Next, I do a search on war which retrieves 75,900 articles. So, compared to war, mental illness is not given anywhere as much energy or power by our society. There is about ten times more published on war; therefore, there is about ten times as much money and energy being used in the war effort.
If the U.S. put the kind of money and effort that is being put into the War on Terror into research for cures to mental illnesses, we would break scientific ground every week! The National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI) has made a statement about schizophrenia recently regarding the powerful genomic technologies we possess. NAMI national's executive director Richard C. Birkel stated that scientists may be able to find a cure for schizophrenia in ten years. That should give a lot of people a lot of hope. (http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/031023/dcth070_1.html)
If the cure is in sight for schizophrenia, probably this holds true for most of the serious mental disorders. It's my opinion that it's not a matter of "if" we can find cures for serious mental illnesses with this technology. Rather, it's a question of when. The more effort and money that is thrown behind the search for cures, the faster these cures will come about! It's only a matter of time.
Maybe it doesn't make sense for America to throw money at mental problems because it is not worth it economically? Nonsense! Depression alone costs the U.S. economy $31 billion each year! (http://www.ajc.com/health/content/health/special/18depression.html)
If it takes ten years to find a cure for depression and the other mental disorders, that's well over $300 billion the U.S. is losing in productivity for these years. So, if the reason we are not more aggressively seeking cures for these mental diseases is not due to economics, then we must ask why. Is it because of stigma? Discrimination? Hatred? My personal belief is that it is the ignorance of mainstream society to the possibilities for cures for these diseases.
These diseases have existed so long that probably many people don't believe that cures may actually exist in the next few years. I'm just saying mental illness research should get more of the pie of money that is out there. I'm sure anybody afflicted with a mental illness or has a family member with a mental illness would have a similar sentiment.
Editor's Note: According to the site http://www.costofwar.com, the U.S. spent approximately $87 billion on the war so far. Congress has approved a total of $150 billion according to The New York Times. In contrast, the National Institute of Mental Health got $1.35 Billion for fiscal 2003. That is $150 billion for war vs. $1.35 billion for mental health research.
Bibliometrics
What is that word and how can I use it to make sense of the difference between war and mental illness? Bibliometrics is a word from library science that means "the more that is published on a topic, the more important the topic is in terms of money and energy being used." The term bibliometrics was coined before the invention of the World Wide Web so it encompasses book and periodical publications only. The concept of bibliometrics can be stretched to encompass the Web as well to be able to make some basic observations on how mental illness stacks up to war, for example, in terms of money and effort being used by our society. I'll use my own new term "Webliometrics" for that concept. Let's see how mental illness and war compare.
I go to a very good Web site for news: Google News. I go there almost every day to check out what is happening in the new and emerging treatments for schizophrenia and other mental illnesses. You can get there by going to www.google.com and clicking on "news." Basically it is a news service that updates itself automatically from over 4,500 online news sources around the world. Google News has a nifty feature that tells you in the past 30 days how many stories match your search terms.
On November 1st, 2003, I did a search on "schizophrenia" and got 721 hits. "Not bad," I think to myself. What about depression, obsessive compulsive disorder, bipolar disorder, and borderline personality disorder? "Mental illness" comes up with 2,530 hits. "Depression" as a psychiatric illness comes up 5,670 times. "Bipolar" comes up 617 times. "Obsessive compulsive disorder" comes up 153 times, and "borderline personality disorder" comes up 34 times. For everything dealing with mental illness that I searched, it came up with 9,725 stories.
Next, I do a search on war which retrieves 75,900 articles. So, compared to war, mental illness is not given anywhere as much energy or power by our society. There is about ten times more published on war; therefore, there is about ten times as much money and energy being used in the war effort.
If the U.S. put the kind of money and effort that is being put into the War on Terror into research for cures to mental illnesses, we would break scientific ground every week! The National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI) has made a statement about schizophrenia recently regarding the powerful genomic technologies we possess. NAMI national's executive director Richard C. Birkel stated that scientists may be able to find a cure for schizophrenia in ten years. That should give a lot of people a lot of hope. (http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/031023/dcth070_1.html)
If the cure is in sight for schizophrenia, probably this holds true for most of the serious mental disorders. It's my opinion that it's not a matter of "if" we can find cures for serious mental illnesses with this technology. Rather, it's a question of when. The more effort and money that is thrown behind the search for cures, the faster these cures will come about! It's only a matter of time.
Maybe it doesn't make sense for America to throw money at mental problems because it is not worth it economically? Nonsense! Depression alone costs the U.S. economy $31 billion each year! (http://www.ajc.com/health/content/health/special/18depression.html)
If it takes ten years to find a cure for depression and the other mental disorders, that's well over $300 billion the U.S. is losing in productivity for these years. So, if the reason we are not more aggressively seeking cures for these mental diseases is not due to economics, then we must ask why. Is it because of stigma? Discrimination? Hatred? My personal belief is that it is the ignorance of mainstream society to the possibilities for cures for these diseases.
These diseases have existed so long that probably many people don't believe that cures may actually exist in the next few years. I'm just saying mental illness research should get more of the pie of money that is out there. I'm sure anybody afflicted with a mental illness or has a family member with a mental illness would have a similar sentiment.
Editor's Note: According to the site http://www.costofwar.com, the U.S. spent approximately $87 billion on the war so far. Congress has approved a total of $150 billion according to The New York Times. In contrast, the National Institute of Mental Health got $1.35 Billion for fiscal 2003. That is $150 billion for war vs. $1.35 billion for mental health research.
Why I'm Angry at Uncle Sam Today: Aussies are beating us in the quest for cures
I just saw an exciting article on Yahoo! News regarding the role of thinning grey matter in a specific area of the brain and its relationship to cognitive dysfunction. This brings more understanding of schizophrenia that will eventually lead to a cure. As of right now there are 17 articles concerning schizophrenia research in English world-wide on Google News. This is big news as far as schizophrenia news goes. Usually, up to four articles would be published on a piece of schizophrenia research, which I think would be significant news, let alone 17!
So, who discovered this important piece of information? The scientists at the National Institute for Mental Health (NIMH)? The National Association for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression's people? No. This research was not controlled by American researchers. It was done by Aussies (Australians) at Neuroscience Institute of Schizophrenia and Allied Disorders in New South Wales.
I'm thinking, "I've never heard of these people." They aren't the big players I'd think would be able to do this kind of research. So, this groundbreaking research was done by some people from the land down under.
Australia has approximately 20,000 people with schizophrenia. New York City alone has more than three times that amount. And this is not the first time Aussies have done some heavy lifting in the field of schizophrenia research. In 2004 the scientists at Melbourne Mental Health Research Institute found 69 candidate genes that seem to be implicated in the disease. These Aussie scientists are good friends to people with schizophrenia all over the world.
Now, where does that leave the United States in this quest for academic excellence and cures for serious mental disorders? We're way behind where we should be. Well, NIMH has a budget for all mental disorders research of a little more than one billion dollars a year. That sounds like a lot of money to most people. Wow! A billion dollars a year! In reality, it's almost nothing. According to some estimates, each year schizophrenia costs about 20 billion dollars annually. Costs to American society that are associated with depression and other mental disorders makes the 20 billion seem like small change.
I think that many people in government think in terms of only dollars and cents. That being the case, if we cured schizophrenia, this would free up $20 billion a year for the American economy. Think of the good that could be done if we could cure only one disorder tomorrow!
Don't get me wrong, American scientists are good. However, they are hampered in this search for a cure for many mental illnesses by a government that is more intent on making war and our military-industrial complex bigger. America should take a leadership role in the search for cures for mental illness by putting its money where its future is.
Uncle Sam, do not forsake we who are living with mental illness! We are sons and daughters of this land as much as anyone else. We are citizens that deserve more of that pie that is the wealth of America to further our good, and this would be good for the rest of America.
Imagine more people with mental illness entering the workforce. Imagine the jails less crowded by people with mental illness because they have better judgment thanks to the right treatment. It can happen. It will happen. It's just a matter of when. Don't you want to be remembered by those who care about the mentally ill as a benevolent and wise Uncle Sam? Don't let the Aussies get all the credit!
So, who discovered this important piece of information? The scientists at the National Institute for Mental Health (NIMH)? The National Association for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression's people? No. This research was not controlled by American researchers. It was done by Aussies (Australians) at Neuroscience Institute of Schizophrenia and Allied Disorders in New South Wales.
I'm thinking, "I've never heard of these people." They aren't the big players I'd think would be able to do this kind of research. So, this groundbreaking research was done by some people from the land down under.
Australia has approximately 20,000 people with schizophrenia. New York City alone has more than three times that amount. And this is not the first time Aussies have done some heavy lifting in the field of schizophrenia research. In 2004 the scientists at Melbourne Mental Health Research Institute found 69 candidate genes that seem to be implicated in the disease. These Aussie scientists are good friends to people with schizophrenia all over the world.
Now, where does that leave the United States in this quest for academic excellence and cures for serious mental disorders? We're way behind where we should be. Well, NIMH has a budget for all mental disorders research of a little more than one billion dollars a year. That sounds like a lot of money to most people. Wow! A billion dollars a year! In reality, it's almost nothing. According to some estimates, each year schizophrenia costs about 20 billion dollars annually. Costs to American society that are associated with depression and other mental disorders makes the 20 billion seem like small change.
I think that many people in government think in terms of only dollars and cents. That being the case, if we cured schizophrenia, this would free up $20 billion a year for the American economy. Think of the good that could be done if we could cure only one disorder tomorrow!
Don't get me wrong, American scientists are good. However, they are hampered in this search for a cure for many mental illnesses by a government that is more intent on making war and our military-industrial complex bigger. America should take a leadership role in the search for cures for mental illness by putting its money where its future is.
Uncle Sam, do not forsake we who are living with mental illness! We are sons and daughters of this land as much as anyone else. We are citizens that deserve more of that pie that is the wealth of America to further our good, and this would be good for the rest of America.
Imagine more people with mental illness entering the workforce. Imagine the jails less crowded by people with mental illness because they have better judgment thanks to the right treatment. It can happen. It will happen. It's just a matter of when. Don't you want to be remembered by those who care about the mentally ill as a benevolent and wise Uncle Sam? Don't let the Aussies get all the credit!
The Sick Me vs. The Well Me
I have had schizophrenic symptoms since 1992, for almost ten years now. In the time after I contracted the disease, I have somehow gotten my undergraduate degree in English and a graduate degree in Library Science. Along the way I've had to learn to reconcile the sick versus well me. One of the biggest helping hands I've received in my life is this tool of knowing somehow when I'm sick and when I'm well. The degrees are cool too.
When I am well, life is easy. I don't have to have patience with disordered thinking, or depression. When I'm sick; however, it is a totally different story. Sometimes living day to day is a chore when you are a mentally ill person. Situations that a "healthy" person would easily deal with become insurmountable. When they happen to me and I am sick, I hope for them to just go away as soon as possible. This approach to life requires more patience than I ever had to muster when I was well.
How did I get my college degrees? Slowly. I paced myself. I went to school half-time for my Masters degree, and had to deal with many sick thoughts. How do I recognize sick thoughts versus well thoughts? That's a good question, because some people don't ever realize they are sick even when it is obvious to everyone around them. Insight, for me, is hard to come about when I am ill because the illness can be more real than reality. Kind of like a bad trip. I've never used hallucinogens, so I'm guessing that is how it must be.
How do I learn to trust people when I'm slightly psychotic? I can trust people when I am only slightly psychotic. If I were deep in psychosis, there would be no way I could do this. I juxtapose my present with my past, and then I notice something aberrant about my thoughts. A friend calls them 'signposts.' When I'm being too negative or too positive I notice it, and it is dangerous. If I'm too negative, I'm usually very tired. The quick fix? Go to sleep. Feeling too good means I'll be going down the wrong road soon, so I pop a 5mg pill of Navane and I stop the euphoria. If I'm feeling paranoid and in class, I reach inside, take some medicine that my psychiatrist has graciously prescribed, and say this too will pass, and it always did, eventually. Usually, paranoia would hit me in social situations when I was finishing up my degrees, and also at night. For me, physical fatigue can bring on sick thoughts. Realizing this, and pacing myself through school really paid off.
Another trick I use for dealing with my schizophrenia in school is reality testing through others. If I'm having sensory hallucinations, then I ask people if what I'm experiencing is real. A frequent question I had and still have at night is, "Do you smell smoke?" The trick is to believe the answer you get. It's hard to trust others when you are psychotic, but if you know for an objective fact that sane people can offer insight, it helps.
In conclusion, if you are going for schooling and have a mental illness, my pearl of wisdom would be to pace yourself. You can do it. I'm mentally ill and I did. I'm living proof. I've seen intelligent people with mental illness fail in advanced studies just because they didn't pace themselves. Go half time. If in doubt, take it nice and slow. It might be frustrating at times, but if you want it badly enough you can do it!
When I am well, life is easy. I don't have to have patience with disordered thinking, or depression. When I'm sick; however, it is a totally different story. Sometimes living day to day is a chore when you are a mentally ill person. Situations that a "healthy" person would easily deal with become insurmountable. When they happen to me and I am sick, I hope for them to just go away as soon as possible. This approach to life requires more patience than I ever had to muster when I was well.
How did I get my college degrees? Slowly. I paced myself. I went to school half-time for my Masters degree, and had to deal with many sick thoughts. How do I recognize sick thoughts versus well thoughts? That's a good question, because some people don't ever realize they are sick even when it is obvious to everyone around them. Insight, for me, is hard to come about when I am ill because the illness can be more real than reality. Kind of like a bad trip. I've never used hallucinogens, so I'm guessing that is how it must be.
How do I learn to trust people when I'm slightly psychotic? I can trust people when I am only slightly psychotic. If I were deep in psychosis, there would be no way I could do this. I juxtapose my present with my past, and then I notice something aberrant about my thoughts. A friend calls them 'signposts.' When I'm being too negative or too positive I notice it, and it is dangerous. If I'm too negative, I'm usually very tired. The quick fix? Go to sleep. Feeling too good means I'll be going down the wrong road soon, so I pop a 5mg pill of Navane and I stop the euphoria. If I'm feeling paranoid and in class, I reach inside, take some medicine that my psychiatrist has graciously prescribed, and say this too will pass, and it always did, eventually. Usually, paranoia would hit me in social situations when I was finishing up my degrees, and also at night. For me, physical fatigue can bring on sick thoughts. Realizing this, and pacing myself through school really paid off.
Another trick I use for dealing with my schizophrenia in school is reality testing through others. If I'm having sensory hallucinations, then I ask people if what I'm experiencing is real. A frequent question I had and still have at night is, "Do you smell smoke?" The trick is to believe the answer you get. It's hard to trust others when you are psychotic, but if you know for an objective fact that sane people can offer insight, it helps.
In conclusion, if you are going for schooling and have a mental illness, my pearl of wisdom would be to pace yourself. You can do it. I'm mentally ill and I did. I'm living proof. I've seen intelligent people with mental illness fail in advanced studies just because they didn't pace themselves. Go half time. If in doubt, take it nice and slow. It might be frustrating at times, but if you want it badly enough you can do it!
Making It Through College With A Mental Illness
Many people who are in treatment for their mental illness are encouraged to pursue higher education. With this in mind, recently, I recounted my struggle with juggling paranoid schizophrenia and actively pursuing a Master's degree in library science. The people at Yahoo! were good enough to publish my personal story of achievement in the face of severe mental illness in their directory of well over one million websites. And I am reaching about four hundred people each month with my story.
I have already received e-mails from people that say that this account of "making it" through college despite having a mental illness gives them hope that they too can succeed at their goal of making it through college. This has been very satisfying for me that I've been a small help to someone going though what I already have gone through.
So, what's in the book; and how do I get to it? Well, if you go to www.yahoo.com and type in the search box "kd3qc" without the quotes a link to my page will be prominently displayed on your screen. And best of all, it's free since I posted it using geocities.com. The book is a montage of stories and practical advice of what to do and what not to do while pursuing a college education. Social activities and academic activities are covered. The book is written with the person who has mental illness in mind; however, family members and mental health professionals also can benefit from reading this book. The book is broken up into six chapters titled: Preparing and financing for an education, Your First Day of Class, Your First Semester, What happens when you are re-hospitalized during school?, The saga continues, and Graduation!
I don't want to give away too many of the big secrets of the book, because then you wouldn't read it! However, here is a taste of the book from the chapter titled The Saga Continues: "After your first semester, the thing is that you need to keep your momentum going and not slack off in classes. The question arises: 'How do I avoid burning myself out?' The answer to that is simple, yet complex. The simple part is that you need to keep choosing subjects that are interesting to you. Selecting subjects you wouldn't mind studying is your best bet to long-term success in your academics. Your worst mistake would be to choose a lot of math courses if you can't stand numbers. No matter how driven you are, that is a sure way of dampening your resolve.
"Usually, college will take a full time student four years to complete. That means for four years of your life you need to be psyched about what you are studying and keeping focused on the end result. For people with a mental illness it could take much longer than the four years. That's ok though. Just getting a college degree is a major milestone in a healthy person's life. How much more sweet is it to the person with the mental disability! It is telling the mental disability, 'You do not own me! I am greater than you are!' It is an affirmation of self that should not be forgotten."
And that is the thought with which I'd like to end. Finishing college for a person with a mental illness is an affirmation of will overcoming this great burden. If you can get through college with a mental illness, it means that the mental illness doesn't own you. You are bigger than your mental handicap!
I have already received e-mails from people that say that this account of "making it" through college despite having a mental illness gives them hope that they too can succeed at their goal of making it through college. This has been very satisfying for me that I've been a small help to someone going though what I already have gone through.
So, what's in the book; and how do I get to it? Well, if you go to www.yahoo.com and type in the search box "kd3qc" without the quotes a link to my page will be prominently displayed on your screen. And best of all, it's free since I posted it using geocities.com. The book is a montage of stories and practical advice of what to do and what not to do while pursuing a college education. Social activities and academic activities are covered. The book is written with the person who has mental illness in mind; however, family members and mental health professionals also can benefit from reading this book. The book is broken up into six chapters titled: Preparing and financing for an education, Your First Day of Class, Your First Semester, What happens when you are re-hospitalized during school?, The saga continues, and Graduation!
I don't want to give away too many of the big secrets of the book, because then you wouldn't read it! However, here is a taste of the book from the chapter titled The Saga Continues: "After your first semester, the thing is that you need to keep your momentum going and not slack off in classes. The question arises: 'How do I avoid burning myself out?' The answer to that is simple, yet complex. The simple part is that you need to keep choosing subjects that are interesting to you. Selecting subjects you wouldn't mind studying is your best bet to long-term success in your academics. Your worst mistake would be to choose a lot of math courses if you can't stand numbers. No matter how driven you are, that is a sure way of dampening your resolve.
"Usually, college will take a full time student four years to complete. That means for four years of your life you need to be psyched about what you are studying and keeping focused on the end result. For people with a mental illness it could take much longer than the four years. That's ok though. Just getting a college degree is a major milestone in a healthy person's life. How much more sweet is it to the person with the mental disability! It is telling the mental disability, 'You do not own me! I am greater than you are!' It is an affirmation of self that should not be forgotten."
And that is the thought with which I'd like to end. Finishing college for a person with a mental illness is an affirmation of will overcoming this great burden. If you can get through college with a mental illness, it means that the mental illness doesn't own you. You are bigger than your mental handicap!
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