How family and friends can aid mental health recovery

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By Natalie Jeanne Champagne

Recovering from mental illness is terrifying and exhausting, both for the person diagnosed and those who stand beside them throughout the recovery process. Sometimes, particularly when the diagnosis is new, the person suffering feels as if they will not ever become well again.
Family and friends might be unsure if recovery is possible. They question how they can help. Mental illness creates a feeling of helplessness for everyone involved. My and my family’s experience with chronic mental illness has allowed me to understand how important it is to have a support group. It can define the journey taken to recover from mental illness.
My diagnosis is rare. I was diagnosed with bipolar II disorder when I was 12. While my siblings were attending school and playing soccer on weekends, I was confined to a children’s psychiatric hospital. I remember wondering what was wrong with me. I remember my parents, wide-eyed, watching as my moods shifted by the hour, even the minute. We were all terrified. Mental illness is frightening at its core.
Unsure what to do, my parents brought me to doctors, psychiatrists, therapists and even nutritionists. The various doctors told them I had Attention Deficit Disorder; the psychiatrists told my parents they were parenting me badly. They were certain that explained my erratic behavior.
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A ‘walk in the park’ gives mental boost to people with depression

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For Immediate Release
Journal of Affective Disorders
May 14, 2012

Study suggests nature walks improve cognitive abilities for people diagnosed with clinical depression

Toronto, CANADA – A walk in the park may have psychological benefits for people suffering from depression.

Dr. Marc Berman, lead author and post-doctoral fellow at Baycrest’s Rotman Research Institute

In one of the first studies to examine the effect of nature walks on cognition and mood in people with major depression, researchers in Canada and the U.S. have found promising evidence that a walk in the park may provide some cognitive benefits.

The study was led by Marc Berman, a post-doctoral fellow at Baycrest’s Rotman Research Institute in Toronto, with partners from the University of Michigan and Stanford University. It is now published online, ahead of print publication, in the Journal of Affective Disorders.

“Our study showed that participants with clinical depression demonstrated improved memory performance after a walk in nature, compared to a walk in a busy urban environment,” said Dr. Berman, who cautioned that such walks are not a replacement for existing and well-validated treatments for clinical depression, such as psychotherapy and drug treatment.

“Walking in nature may act to supplement or enhance existing treatments for clinical depression, but more research is needed to understand just how effective nature walks can be to help improve psychological functioning,” he said. Dr. Berman’s research is part of a cognitive science field known as Attention Restoration Theory (ART) which proposes that people concentrate better after spending time in nature or looking at scenes of nature. The reason, according to ART, is that people interacting with peaceful nature settings aren’t bombarded with external distractions that relentlessly tax their working memory and attention systems. In nature settings, the brain can relax and enter a state of contemplativeness that helps to restore or refresh those cognitive capacities.

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Computer Use and Exercise Combo May Reduce the Odds of Having Memory Loss, Mayo Clinic Finds

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SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — You think your computer has a lot of memory and if you keep using your computer you may, too.

VIDEO ALERT: Click here as Dr. Geda explains the study.

Combining mentally stimulating activities, such as using a computer, with moderate exercise decreases your odds of having memory loss more than computer use or exercise alone, a Mayo Clinic study shows. Previous studies have shown that exercising your body and your mind will help your memory but the new study, published in the May 2012 issue of Mayo Clinic Proceedings, reports a synergistic interaction between computer activities and moderate exercise in “protecting” the brain function in people better than 70 years old.
Researchers studies 926 people in Olmsted County, Minn., ages 70 to 93, who completed self-reported questionnaires on physical exercise, and computer use within one year prior of the date of interview. Moderate physical exercise was defined as brisk walking, hiking, aerobics, strength training, golfing without a golf cart, swimming, doubles tennis, yoga, martial arts, using exercise machines and weightlifting. Mentally stimulating activities included reading, crafts, computer use, playing games, playing music, group and social and artistic activities and watching less television. Of those activities the study singled out computer use because of its popularity, said study author Yonas E. Geda, M.D., a physician scientist with Mayo Clinic in Arizona.
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Walking could be a useful tool in treating depression

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Something as simple as going for a brisk stroll could play an important role in fighting depression, according to researchers in Scotland.
Vigorous exercise has already been shown to alleviate symptoms of depression, but the effect of less strenuous activities was unclear.
A study in the journal Mental Health and Physical Activity showed walking had a “large effect” on depression.
One in 10 people may have depression at some point in their lives.
The condition can be treated with drugs, but exercise is commonly prescribed by doctors for mild symptoms.
Researchers at the University of Stirling scoured academic studies to find data on one of the mildest forms of exercise – walking.
They found eight studies, on a total of 341 patients, which fitted the bill.

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Fast Food Linked to Depression

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There is a direct relationship between eating fast food or commercial baked goods (doughnuts, cakes, croissants) and the risk of developing depression, according to a recent study by scientists from the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and the University of Granada.
The findings reveal that consumers of fast food are 51 percent more likely to develop depression than minimal or non-consumers.
Furthermore, the connection between the two is so strong that “the more fast food you consume, the greater the risk of depression,” said Almudena Sánchez-Villegas, Ph.D., lead author of the study.
The results also showed that those participants who ate the most fast food and commercial baked goods were more likely to be single, less active and have poor dietary habits (eating less fruit, nuts, fish, vegetables and olive oil). It was also common for individuals in this group to smoke and work over 45 hours per week.
The results were equally consistent in regard to the consumption of commercial baked goods. “Even eating small quantities is linked to a significantly higher chance of developing depression,” said Sánchez-Villegas.
The study sample consisted of 8,964 participants who were part of the SUN Project (University of Navarra Diet and Lifestyle Tracking Program). The subjects had never been diagnosed with depression or taken antidepressants. They were assessed for an average of six months, and during this time, 493 were diagnosed with depression or had started to take antidepressants.

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The Labeling Paradox -Stigma, the Sick Role, and Social Networks in Mental Illness

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Brea L. Perry1

1University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, USA
Brea L. Perry, University of Kentucky, 1515 Patterson Office Tower, Lexington, KY 40506, USA E-mail: breaperry@uky.edu
Abstract
Although research supports the stigma and labeling perspective, empirical evidence also indicates that a social safety net remains intact for those with mental illness, recalling the classic “sick role” concept. Here, insights from social networks theory are offered as explanation for these discrepant findings. Using data from individuals experiencing their first contact with the mental health treatment system, the effects of diagnosis and symptoms on social networks and stigma experiences are examined. The findings suggest that relative to those with less severe affective disorders, individuals with severe diagnoses and more visible symptoms of mental illness have larger, more broadly functional networks, as well as more supporters who are aware of and sympathetic toward the illness situation. However, those with more severe diagnoses are also vulnerable to rejection and discrimination by acquaintances and strangers. These findings suggest that being formally labeled with a mental illness may present a paradox, simultaneously initiating beneficial social processes within core networks and detrimental ones among peripheral ties.
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Overcoming obsessive-compulsive disorder

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Did I remember to lock the back door? Did I turn off the stove? Were the lights still on when I left the house this morning?
Such minor doubts are part our daily mental chatter. But for more than 650,000 Canadians who suffer from obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), thoughts along these lines can lead to compulsive checking — a potentially debilitating behaviour that keeps the sufferer locked in an endless cycle of fear and doubt.For Concordia University’s Adam Radomsky, a professor in the Department of Psychology and the director of the Centre for Clinical Research in Health at Concordia, finding a viable treatment for these individuals is driving research freshly funded by the Canadian Institutes for Health Research (CIHR).Based on previous work conducted with colleagues at the University of British Columbia and the University of Reading in the United Kingdom, Radomsky is now testing a novel approach to treatment for compulsive checking that could just mean vast improvements in the quality of life of countless individuals.

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Mike Wallace’s Battle with Depression

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Mike Wallace, who passed away over the weekend at age 93, was known for being a tough CBS 60 Minutes news correspondent.
But he also held onto a secret that is shared by many people in show business and the media — he had suffered from clinical depression.
It started in 1984, when a target of one of his investigative reports — U.S. Army General William C. Westmoreland — sued Wallace for libel for a news story on the Vietnam War. Calling into question his journalistic integrity, the lawsuit quickly drove Wallace into a depressive spiral.
After revealing his feelings to his primary care physician, the doctor suggested Wallace just put his depression aside, “You’re a tough guy. You’ll get through it.”
“Forget the word ‘depression’ because that’ll be bad for your image,” the doctor reportedly told Wallace.
Yet Wallace didn’t just “get through it” without help.
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Mental Illness Tied to Higher Rates of Physical Problems

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FRIDAY, April 13 (HealthDay News) — Adults with mental illness are more likely to have certain types of chronic physical health problems than those without mental illness, according to a U.S. government report released this week.
The report said adults aged 18 and older who had any type of mental illness in the past year had higher rates of high blood pressure, asthma, diabetes, heart disease and stroke.
For instance, about 22 percent of adults with any type of mental illness in the past year had high blood pressure and nearly 16 percent had asthma. The rates in adults without mental illness were about 18 percent and 11 percent, respectively, the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) report said.
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