Psychotherapy Beats Light Treatment for SAD

By HealthDay

As daylight hours dwindle, people with seasonal affective disorder (SAD) can often feel the onset of wintertime depression, but a new study suggests one type of remedy may work better than another at banishing the SAD blues.

Cognitive behavioral therapy specially designed to treat people with SAD is more effective at preventing recurrences of depression than either light therapy or a combination of the two, the study found.

The psychotherapy may also be a time-saver -- potentially welcome news with Daylight Saving Time coming to an end on Nov. 1.

"It's an up-front investment, three hours of therapy a week in total over six weeks, whereas light therapy is 30 minutes a day and not just for six weeks," said study author Kelly Rohan, a psychologist at the University of Vermont. "Light therapy depends on a lot of time and effort, a minimum 30 minutes in front of the fixture every day of the symptomatic months every year. I don't know how many people are willing to do that."

The study was published in a recent issue of the journal Behavior Therapy.

According to Rohan's group, this is the first published data on the long-term effects of different therapies for SAD, which is characterized by mood and energy declines between November and April, when light is in short supply in the northern hemisphere.

The treatment of choice for the disorder has traditionally been light therapy, which spurs remission in about 53 percent of cases during the winter.

Light therapy involves exposure to bright light, typically administered using a "light box" -- a set of fluorescent bulbs or tubes encased in small, portable devices made of plastic or aluminum. A plastic screen covering the bulbs blocks out potentially harmful ultraviolet rays.

But the authors of this study had also developed and tested a group cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) protocol geared to people with SAD.

The treatment addresses attitudes, thoughts and behaviors which contribute to SAD.

For the initial study, 69 people with SAD were randomized to receive light therapy, CBT, a combination of the two or neither (they were wait-listed).

Six weeks after treatment started, 80 percent of those receiving combination therapy were in remission vs. 50 percent for CBT and the same for light therapy. Only 20 percent of those in the control group experienced remission.

The current paper adds data collected a full year after the first treatment.

This time, 5.5 percent of those receiving the combo therapy and 7 percent of those receiving CBT alone had a SAD recurrence, vs. 36.7 percent of those treated with a light box. That represents a sharp drop in the number of people benefiting from light therapy, possibly due to the inconvenience of the method, which must be used every day.

In this study, only four people continued their light therapy into the following winter.

Individuals receiving CBT alone also had less severe depression than either of the other two groups, indicating that CBT may be the way to go.

What's puzzling is the fact that combining CBT and light therapy didn't work as well as CBT alone. "There's something about being initially treated with the combination that seems to water down the effectiveness the next winter," Rohan said.

This all seems to suggest that CBT could be the way to go.

"It's [working] from the very first symptom, which for most people is October or November through March or April. The initial time in treatment is less with CBT and it's also meant to be over and done with -- the treatment that keeps on giving," Rohan said. "Once you're finished, you don't have to be in treatment every winter for the rest of your life, whereas you are expected to get the light box out and use it for every day of fall and winter. You undergo [psychotherapy], you learn, you keep using the techniques in the future."

"I absolutely agree with this study," said Susan Zafarlotfi, clinical director of the Institute for Sleep/Wake Disorders at Hackensack University Medical Center in New Jersey. "I find CBT more effective in general for depression. Behavioral therapy is resetting a person's thoughts. In CBT, you take all of the aspects of a person's thoughts and you rewrite the dictionary in a different way."

"But don't minimize the power of light therapy," Zafarlotfi warned. "It can be useful."

Rohan is now following a larger sample of patients over two winters.

Millions of Americans Don't Get Enough Sleep

By HealthDay

Only one-third of adults say they are getting enough sleep every night, a new U.S. government report shows.

Some 50 million to 70 million American adults suffer from sleep and wakefulness disorders, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Not getting enough sleep has been tied to mental distress, depression, anxiety, obesity, hypertension, diabetes, high cholesterol and certain risk behaviors including cigarette smoking, physical inactivity and heavy drinking.

"There is a relatively small percentage of people getting what sleep experts feel is an adequate amount of rest and sleep," said Dr. Bruce Nolan, director of the sleep center at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, who was not involved in the report. "That is a very important physical and mental health concern."

Getting at least seven hours of sleep results in greater alertness, better work performance and better quality of life, Nolan said. "People who get too little or too much sleep are associated with more health problems, including work problems, performance problems and productivity problems," he noted.

The report is published in the Oct. 30 issue of Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, a CDC publication.

Of the U.S. adults surveyed regarding their sleep in the past month, 11.1 percent said they did not get enough sleep every day of the month.

In addition, CDC researchers found that women (12.4 percent) were more likely than men (9.9 percent) to report not getting enough sleep. There were ethnic differences, with blacks (13.3 percent) saying they got less sleep compared with all other ethnic groups.

There were also geographical differences, which ranged from a low of 7.4 percent of people in North Dakota not getting enough rest to 19.3 percent in West Virginia.

These data were collected from a survey of 403,981 adults living throughout the United States.

The main causes of sleep loss are overlapping and include lifestyle, occupation and specific sleep disorders, the report noted.

In the past, many people thought that sleep was "a waste of time," Nolan said. "It was to be avoided. And getting seven or eight hours of sleep was a sign of laziness," he said.

"That kind of thinking is outdated," he said. "We have lots of evidence that getting good quality sleep is associated with better quality of life."

People who have trouble sleeping should seek the help of a sleep specialist, Nolan said. Also, your doctor should be aware if you are having sleep problems, he said.

Ways to get better quality sleep, according to the CDC, include:

• Keep a regular sleep schedule.
• Avoid stimulating activities for two hours before bedtime.
• Avoid caffeine, nicotine and alcohol in the evening.
• Sleep in a dark, quiet, well-ventilated room.
• Avoid going to bed hungry.

In addition, sleep medications can be helpful, the CDC says.

The Halloweeney Version of Thursday Thunks

1. So Halloween is this weekend, if you haven't heard. Are you gonna open your doors up or not?
Not, I will be working

2. You better open 'em cuz I'm coming... what are you putting in my treat bag?
When I do hand out candy, I get four or five kinds of candy that I like and a couple that I don't. I hand out the kinds I don't like first, and keep a lot of the kinds I do like to eat myself. So mostly you'd probably get those crappy peanut butter taffy things or candy corn

3. Since October is the bestest month for television (well for cable & dish subscribers it is) and there is a horror movie on at any given time of the day - are you sick of them yet?
I work when most of the horror movies are on TV, so I don't end up watching them, but I am sick of the commercials advertising them

4. Which one of those movies can you watch over & over again?
"The Craft"

5. Tell us about a Halloween scare you've had....
I can't think of one really

6. Did you watch the old Casper cartoons when you were a youngin? Well, back then they weren't old I suppose, but I'm sure you still understand my question.
The only cartoons I ever watched were "My Lil Pony," "Care Bears," "Strawberry Shortcake," and "Gummi Bears"

7. Have you ever found a four-leaf clover?
What does that have to do with Halloween? LOL ... yes I have

8. Haunted Houses... you know, the kinds you pay to get in and they chase you with chainsaws and severed heads.... do you like 'em?
No, I don't like getting scared

9. Do you use cute cartoon type wrapping paper for Christmas presents or the not cutesy paper? Or are you one of those gift card and/or gift bag people?
I buy cutesy wrapping paper, preferably ones with puppies

10. How long do boiled eggs need to stay in the boiling water before they become hard boiled eggs?
My mom tells me to do it for 10 minutes, but I always do more like 15 minutes ... not that I normally boil eggs ever

11. Jason is coming in through your front door... Freddy is coming through your back door... zombies are at every window of the house and Norman Bates is calling to invite you to dinner... what do you do?
Run around like the crazy mental patient I am, and they'll get scared of me and leave

12. Did you know that the scariest part of Halloween is giving all of your Reeses Peanut Butter Cups away?
Yep, I love those things

13a. If you were to play a part of a haunted house (not the ghosts in the attic kind), what would you want to be?
I'd be a sexy zombie

13b. Have you ever played a part in a haunted house?
No

14. If Thursday Thunks had a Halloween party, what do you think Kimber & Berleen would come dressed as?
I think they'd take the opportunity to dress all sexy for once and would be a really sexy cat and mouse


15. Do you cook a turkey for Thanksgiving?
Nope, my mommy does it for me

16. Have you ever read a book that scared the pants off of you?
Not that I can recall

17. Whats the predicted high temperature for today?
67 degrees F, but I keep my house at 64 degrees at all times

18. Have you ever howled at the moon?
Only for fun while I was drunk

19.You are in an alley and a werewolf and a vampire are coming at you - one of them has to win. Which one do you want to bite you?
Well that depends... Does the werewolf look like Jacob from the Twilight movies?


And does the vampire look like Spike from "Buffy the Vampire Slayer?"


Oh, hell, they can both bite me...

I feel so hurt and scared

I've been staring at the computer screen for a long time trying to think how to word how I feel and I really can't.

The best I can say is I feel hurt. Everyone in my life has left me feeling hurt lately (by "life" I mean the people I know face-to-face. My internet friends have done nothing to hurt me).

I feel like I have poured my heart out into all my friendships and relationships, and I have just been torn... disappointed by everyone. I feel like my heart is just exposed, like there's no skin or bones covering it. I feel like everything is hurting it because there's nothing protecting it from harm.

When I need someone to be there to talk to when I'm upset, there's never anyone there. I really have no one to lean on... at least no one who truly understands me and fully cares.

Ending my 7-year friendship with my former best friend was one of the best things I've done recently. She has hurt me so much by never being the friend she claimed to be. Cutting off contact with her actually did some good because she doesn't have an opportunity to blow me off when I'm suicidal or something like that now. Having a predetermined decision to not run to her when I'm upset takes away the possibility to be hurt. If that makes any sense.

The situation with my ex-boyfriend Aaron is starting to hurt me more and more each day. There's never been any closure between us because frankly nothing has ever really fully ended between us. I've made the mistake of talking to him the other night, and he started calling me baby and sweetheart and talking about how we almost got married and were in love, and it got to me. I do still love him, and no matter how much I try to ignore it, it's there. There's a huge part of me that wants to get back together with him, but in my head, I know it would probably be a big mistake if I did. Of course, there's a chance that if I took the risk, that maybe things would work out wonderful and we'd both finally be happy. I'm scared to take the risk because I'm afraid I'm going to get hurt, but I'm scared to not take the risk because I'm afraid I'll continue to hurt because I'm denying myself of the strong love I feel. Aaron keeps pestering me to give him the web address to my blog. He says he wants to read it to learn more about me. I'm struggling with the decision of whether or not to let him read it. Normally I don't mind if someone reads it, but I'm also scared about pouring my heart out to him anymore because if I let him into my heart and mind that much by reading my blog, he could devastate my heart if he hurts me again.

I hate how I feel right now.

I see dead people

What the Hell Wednesday: I see dead people

1. What is the scariest person you have seen in Wal-Mart?
One time I was in the cashier's line behind a woman who was probably in her 60s but dressed like a teenager, with a Hannah Montana tanktop, boyshorts, and flipflops. I wanted to cry. I tried to snap a photo of her, but she kept turning around and talking to me like I was her best friend

2. Are you superstitious? Name something that you believe or that you can’t believe others believe.
I can't believe in spirits or ghosts. I know a lot of people who do believe in them, but I just am not at all convinced

3. What is your favorite old timey candy? i.e. candy corn etc
Tootsie rolls

4. What was one of the homemade costumes you have worn.
I combined a little girl's pink kitten costume (cat ears, tail, and whiskers) with lingerie, a pink feather boa, and a mini skirt, and I went as a "prostitute kitty" for Halloween when I was 22

5. Did you ever play tricks on anyone during Halloween?
No, sadly I was a good girl. I wish that just once I would have egged or toilet papered someone's house just so I'd have a fun story to tell in memes like this

6. If the world was to end like in some horror movies, how would it end? Zombies? Crazy virus?
I think the swine flu will kill us all... just kidding... I think global warming will go off the charts and we'll burn up

7. What was your/or someone else’s worst thrown together costume?
When I was a kid, there was a boy down the street who wore a sheet and a beard and said he was Moses

8. Did you go to alot of houses to get candy or just get enough candy and go home.
I'm from a small town, and we basically went to every single house in town that had a porch light on

9. What do you hate most about Halloween?
Kids ringing my damn doorbell when my light isn't on

10. What do you miss today that you had in the past Halloweens?
Free candy. If I want candy now, I pretty much have to pay for it myself

11. Do you think kids costumes are better now or then?
They were better back then. Today, they're sometimes way too skanky for little kids' costumes

12. What would you do if you woke up and you were the only person left … everyone else was gone (like in the twilight zone episode)
I'd enjoy the quiet and sleep

13. What is your favorite Halloween creep?
Does that mean like Halloween monsters? I like vampires

I should work 7 days a week

I hate having days off from work. I'd work seven days a week if my company would pay me to do it. I've suggested it several times to my boss, but she says that I'd have to work two days without pay because they can't pay me to work seven days.

On the days I don't work (normally Mondays and Tuesdays), I have way too much time to think about things. I have no distraction from myself. I sit around and obsess about everything in my life. My thoughts race at a million miles a minute.

I normally try to set up as many mystery shopping assignments on my days off as I can, but this week I had only one on Tuesday, and none on Monday. The last week of the month is always slow on shops. So the last two days, I've been mentally torturing myself, and I can't stop doing it.

Thank God my work week starts tomorrow.

Depression Often Goes Untreated in Working Moms

By HealthDay

More than 65 percent of U.S. mothers with depression don't receive adequate treatment, a new study has found.

Black, Hispanic and other minority mothers are least likely to receive adequate treatment. Mothers with health insurance are three times more likely to receive adequate treatment than those without insurance, wrote the researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health.

"Health insurance facilitates access to adequate treatment for maternal depression. Expanding health insurance coverage to mothers with depression is a critical step in helping them get the care that they need," study author Dr. Whitney P. Witt, an assistant professor of population health sciences, said in a news release from the university.

The analysis of national data on 2,130 mothers with depression also found that working mothers were less likely to receive adequate treatment, possibly because long work hours make it difficult for them to find time to seek treatment. This means that workplaces could prove a useful location for depression intervention.

"Services like employee-assistance programs can help these mothers get screened and treated, even if they are unable to visit a provider or a mental health professional in the health-care setting," co-author Kristin Litzelman, a population health sciences doctoral student, said in the release. "Since healthy employees are productive employees, it's often a win-win for employers to offer benefits that support employee mental health."

Depression in mothers can have a major impact on the entire family, especially on the health and well-being of their children, the researchers noted. Treating depression in mothers can improve the long-term health of their families.

Health-care providers need to understand the racial, ethnic and educational disparities that affect treatment of mothers with depression in order to intervene and help these patients get the care they need, the study authors noted.

The study was released online in advance of publication in an upcoming print issue of the Journal of Behavioral Health Services and Research.

Antipsychotic Drugs Spur Dramatic Weight Gain in Kids

By HealthDay

Children and teens who take medicines for conditions such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and autism tend to put on a substantial amount of weight, a new study finds.

The worry is that excessive weight gain and other metabolic changes in childhood can place kids at risk for chronic health problems as adults. Some of these medicines, collectively known as "atypical antipsychotics," have been linked to increased blood-fat levels.

"We are very much afraid that this will lead to diabetes and metabolic syndrome," said study author Dr. Christoph Correll, medical director of the Recognition and Prevention program at the Zucker Hillside Hospital in Glen Oaks, N.Y.

The study, reported in the Oct. 28 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, is the largest analysis of its kind, Correll said.

Jeanette M. Jerrell, a professor of neuropsychiatry at the University of South Carolina School of Medicine in Columbia, is the co-author of a similar study published last year in the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine.

"We found that obesity/weight gain, type 2 diabetes mellitus and cardiovascular conditions were more prevalent in the treated cohort," she noted.

Her study also found that kids taking multiple antipsychotics were at significantly higher risk for obesity/weight gain, type 2 diabetes, abnormal blood-fat levels and cardiovascular problems.

"This new study is important because it draws further attention to the safety profile of antipsychotics in young populations, and the critical need for expanding the evidence base to guide clinical decisions," she said.

Concerns about the safety of atypical antipsychotics are not new. In 2003, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration ordered manufacturers of these drugs to add a warning about the risk for hyperglycemia and diabetes.

What's more, a 2008 report in The Lancet suggested that some of these drugs -- sometimes called "second-generation" antipsychotics -- may be no better than older, "first-generation" medicines. The authors concluded that each drug must be weighed individually based on its efficacy and side effects.

Correll's study was designed to assess the safety and effectiveness of the newer class of drugs in youth. His team followed 272 patients, aged 4 to 19, who were taking an antipsychotic for the first time. Patients were being treated for mood spectrum, schizophrenia spectrum or aggressive behavior spectrum disorders.

Fifteen pediatric patients who refused to participate or discontinued their antipsychotic medication within four weeks of starting served as a control group.

The study focused on four antipsychotics commonly prescribed to children: aripiprazole (Abilify), olanzapine (Zyprexa), quetiapine (Seroquel) and risperidone (Risperdal).

After nearly 11 weeks, the treated kids gained an average of 18.7 pounds on Zyprexa, 13.4 pounds on Seroquel, 11.7 pounds on Risperdal and 9.7 pounds on Abilify, while the control group gained less than half a pound. Between 10 percent and 36 percent became overweight or obese during the treatment period, according to the study.

"In these kids that we studied, there was rapid and dramatic weight gain, more than has been described before," said Correll, who is also a scientist in the Center for Psychiatric Neuroscience at the Feinstein Institute for Medical Research in Manhasset, N.Y.

Use of each drug was linked to wider bellies and increased "fat mass" -- the proportion of the body comprised of fat.

The drugs had varying effects on metabolic levels. Zyprexa and Seroquel users experienced significant adverse changes in total cholesterol and trigylcerides. Risperdal use resulted in a significant increase in triglycerides. Abilify, however, appeared "metabolically neutral," Correll said.

"Some of these kids are maintained on these medications for many years if not indefinitely, so it's definitely a concern," said Ronald T. Brown, dean and professor of public health at Temple University Health Sciences Center in Philadelphia. "For children who really don't absolutely need these drugs, they need to be doing more behavioral approaches in psychotherapy."

In an accompanying editorial, Drs. Christopher K. Varley and Jon McClellan of Seattle Children's Hospital concluded that large, independently funded studies are needed to establish the long-term safety and benefit of these drugs in children.

"Until those data are available, consideration of less risky treatment interventions and scrupulous attention to metabolic parameters in children and adolescents who receive atypical antipsychotic medications are essential," they wrote.

Correll, in fact, is currently involved in a longer-term follow-up study to assess the health effects of these drugs in children over an extended period of time.

For now, he advises clinicians and families to carefully weigh the risks and benefits of the medications against the risk of the illness, and to consider other pharmaceutical and non-pharmaceutical options. It's also important to teach children about healthy lifestyles and to closely monitor kids' weight, lipid levels and blood glucose, he said.

Bladder Problems May Often Be Related to Mental Health

By HealthDay

Psychiatric disorders and sexual trauma in women increase the risk of lower urinary tract symptoms, such as incontinence and overactive bladder, a new study finds.

U.S. researchers analyzed the answers in two questionnaires -- the Urogenital Distress Inventory-6 and Incontinence Impact Questionnaire-7 -- completed by 121 female veterans referred to a specialized urology clinic for evaluation of lower urinary tract symptoms. The researchers also examined the women's mental health, history of sexual trauma, age, race and obstetric history. The women were compared to a control group of 1,298 women.

Compared to those in the control group, the women in the lower urinary tract symptoms group had higher rates of psychiatric disorders (64.5 percent versus 25.9 percent) and sexual trauma (49.6 percent versus 20.1 percent). Further analysis revealed that women who were younger than 50 and had a history of miscarriage had higher Urogenital Distress Inventory-6 scores, while those with psychiatric disorders and a history of miscarriage had higher Incontinence Impact Questionnaire-7 scores.

"This is the first study to our knowledge to characterize the association of psychiatric comorbidities and sexual trauma with the type, severity and quality-of-life impact of lower urinary tract symptoms in women using validated surveys. The prevalence of psychiatric comorbidities and sexual trauma is high in women veterans presenting for evaluation of lower urinary tract symptoms," wrote Dr. Adam P. Klausner, an associate professor and director of neurourology, female urology and voiding dysfunction at Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center, and colleagues.

The study was released online Oct. 22 in advance of publication in the December print issue of the Journal of Urology.

Constant Light Linked to Symptoms of Depression

Yet another reason I shouldn't be working crazy hours at the newspaper ...


By HealthDay

Exposure to too much light at night may cause depression, suggests a new study.

Ohio State University researchers found that mice kept in a lighted room 24 hours a day had more depressive symptoms than mice that had a normal day-night cycle. The study also found that mice that lived in a constantly lit room, but could take refuge in a dark tube when they desired, had fewer depressive symptoms than mice that couldn't get away from the 24-hour light.

"The ability to escape light seemed to quell the depressive effects," lead author Laura Fonken, a graduate student in psychology, said in a news release from Ohio State University.

The findings indicate the need to learn more about how artificial light affects humans, said study co-author Randy Nelson, a professor of neuroscience and psychology.

"Constant light with no chance of escape increased depressive symptoms," Nelson said in the news release. "The increasing rate of depressive disorders in humans corresponds with the increasing use of light at night in modern society. Many people are now exposed to unnatural light cycles, and that may have real consequences for our health," he added.

The study, presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience held Oct. 17 to 21 in Chicago, is scheduled to be published in the Dec. 28 issue of the journal Behavioural Brain Research.

Research into the effects of artificial light on health "is important for people who work night shifts, and for children and others who watch TV late into the night, disrupting their usual light-dark cycle," Fonken said.

Nelson noted that hospital intensive care units are brightly lit throughout the night, which may have a negative effect on patients.

The Halloween Meme

Sunday Stealing: The Halloween Meme

1. What is your favorite written work of horror fiction?
It's been a long time since I read any horror fiction. When I was younger I loved the R.L. Stine (Fear Street series) and Nicholas Adams books, but my favorite horror book of all time was "The Night Inside" by Nancy Baker, which for some reason was later renamed "Kiss of the Vampire"

2. What is your favorite work of science fiction/fantasy?
I'm not really into sci-fi or fantasy stuff

3. Who is your favorite monster?
The cookie monster!


4. What is your favorite Horror movie?
The first "Saw" movie

5. What horror movie gives you the most chills?
The "Saw" movies

6. What character from any horror film would you most like to play?
I think I'd be Amanda Young from the "Saw" movies. I've read stories that say the character is supposed to have borderline personality disorder and is a self-harmer, so it's fitting for me

7. Freddy or Jason?
Neither. I prefer vampires

8. What is your favorite Halloween treat?
Caramels

9. Ghosts or goblins?
See answer to #7

10. Friendly-faced jack-o'-lantern or scary one?
Scary

11. What is your scariest encounter with the paranormal?
I can't say I've had one

12. Do you believe in ghosts? Why or why not?
No I believe when you die, that's pretty much it

13. Would you rather be a zombie, alien, or psycho?
I think we all know I'm already psycho

14. Favorite Halloween costume?
For whatever reason I like the slutty animal-related costumes

15. Best thing about Halloween?
Coworkers bringing candy to work

16. Person in your family who most likes Halloween (not counting yourself)?
None of us really like holidays

17. Are you superstitious?
Not much really

18. Share an unusual Halloween story.
For Halloween 2003, I dressed up as a prostitute kitty. I wore trashy prostitute type clothes and then added cat ears, whiskers and a tail

19. What did you do for Halloween as a kid?
Trick-or-treated from door to door. Kids can't really do that anymore

20. What's the best Halloween party that you've attended?
I don't think I've ever attended one that wasn't school-sponsored, so they weren't really good

Hey Jealousy

Saturday 9: Hey Jealousy

1. Tell us a story when you got jealous.
There's a girl from my hometown who is the embodiment of who I always wanted to be. Blond, tall, skinny, beautiful, cheerleader/model type. She tried to steal my boyfriend when I was 16 and she was only 12 by sticking almost naked photos of herself in his school locker. Now she's a full-time model/actress. She's on bus benches and billboards and in tv commercials and even a movie. I hate her for trying to steal the boyfriend from me all those years ago, but mostly I hate her because I want to be her. I think that's the first time I've ever admitted to being jealous of her

2. What is your least favorite thing about yourself?
Personality-wise: my laziness
Physically: my odd-shaped feet

3. Who do you mess with the most?
What exactly is meant by "mess with" ? If you mean games, I'd have to say coworkers. I have to pretend to be something I'm not a lot at work

4. Do you have any special talents? What are they?
I have a talent for making myself appear to be whomever you want me to be

5. If you could have a secret fling that no one would ever find out about, would you?
Ehh, people would find out because I can't keep that kind of thing a secret

6. What's the furthest you've been from home?
I've hardly ever been out of Oklahoma. Frankly, I'm fine with that. The farthest away is Illinois

7. How many Saturday 9 player's blogs do you typically visit?
5-10. More if I'm bored one day

8. Some great bloggers lose their "mojo" and quit blogging. Could you see that happening to you?
My coworker/friend who has a popular blog calls that her "blojo," which I think is hilarious. Anyways, I lose it sometimes and take little breaks, but this blog means way too much to me for me to give it up for good

9. What's the biggest mistake you've made so far this year?
Sleeping with a certain person back in April. It turned out bad, very bad

Finally stood up for myself and ended a long friendship

Over 3 1/2 weeks ago, I sent my so-called best friend a message saying that I want to stop being friends because the friendship was toxic to me and makes me worse. She never responded. She just ignored the message and didn't say anything at all until Wednesday afternoon.

She finally sent me a message yesterday, but it wasn't about what I said or anything related to our friendship. It was to ask about the website I watch TV shows on. She could take the time to ask where to watch TV online, but she didn't care enough about me or our friendship to ever respond to me ending our friendship.

So I finally stood up for myself and sent this email to tell her how she made me feel: "It feels great to know that you care more about the TV shows you watch than me and our friendship. You can't take one minute out of your life in over 3 weeks to send me a message saying that you don't want to stop being friends and would like to fix whatever is wrong, but you sure as hell can take the time to send me a message to find out the website for TV. It just proves my point that you've been a horrible friend to me and that I'm better off without your selfishness in my life. Oh and by the way, it's www.CastTV.com. I'm telling you that because when someone sends you a message, a good friend replies to it."

She then called me AFTER I went to work. She knew I was at work and couldn't talk. I hit ignore on the call and she left a voicemail admitting to just ignoring my message 3 1/2 weeks ago because she didn't know how to respond to it. If she cared one bit about our friendship, wouldn't she have known to respond by saying she was sorry or wanted to try fixing things or something?

Damn ... that's interesting

I just checked my horoscope, and it's totally right....

Libra: Sept. 23 — Oct. 23
Venus has been helping you to make some changes in your personal life. Recently you've let go of some friendships while embracing a few new ones. It's important to keep surrounding yourself with positive people who share your optimistic view of life.

That's a little odd, isn't it? I just let go of my friendship with the best friend I had for about 7 years, and I'm becoming friends with other people.

Memes, And Endorsements, And Zombies -- Oh my!

1. If you were to start a meme (or a second or third), what would you call it and what day would you pick?
I'd do just a random question meme on Mondays since there aren't as many memes for Mondays

2. When a celebrity endorses a product, do you really believe they like it/use it?
I have a strong feeling that most of the celebrities haven't even seen the products they supposedly endorse

3. Why don't zombies ever just eat each other?
Because they need brains ....

4. If you were an elephant, would you rather roam free or be in a zoo?
Roam free... so I wouldn't have to put up with all the damn kids at a zoo

5. The doorbell rings on October 31st, do you answer it?
I never answer the door no matter what day it is

6. If you see a piece of paper on the ground while out & about, do you pick it up? If so, do you look to see what it is?
It depends on what color the paper is and if it looks like there is a bunch of writing on it

7. If Jon Gosselin and Octomom got married and then their own reality show, do you think she would try to get pregnant again for better ratings?
Octomom is so stupid that I'm sure she probably would, and that's one show I would never ever ever watch

8. If Thursday Thunks was to be put on hold or quit completely, would you be sad?

Yes, very very sad

People with schizophrenia rarely kill strangers

By Reuters Health

Despite some highly publicized incidents in recent years, people with schizophrenia rarely commit random homicide, research shows.

Pooling data from seven studies in four countries, researchers found that the odds of a person with schizophrenia killing a stranger were 1 in 14 million people per year.

The risk appears even lower if the disorder is being treated with antipsychotic medication, the investigators report in the Schizophrenia Bulletin.

When they looked at 42 incidents in which someone with schizophrenia killed a stranger, they found that nearly two-thirds of those offenders had never been treated with medication.

They conclude that it is "exceptionally rare" for someone with schizophrenia to kill a stranger -- and that earlier and continued treatment of the disorder could make these events rarer still.

Schizophrenia is a brain disorder that causes people to break from reality, with symptoms such as hallucinations, paranoia and unusual thoughts and perceptions.

Most people with schizophrenia are not violent, but studies show that they are more likely than people without the disorder to commit violent crimes. This is especially true if a person with schizophrenia abuses drugs or alcohol, or had a history of violence before developing the brain disorder.

People with schizophrenia are responsible for a disproportionate number of homicides; while they account for about 0.5 percent of the world's population, they are estimated to commit 6.5 percent of homicides worldwide, according to Dr. Olav Nielssen of the University of Sydney in Australia, the lead researcher on the new study.

Most of the victims, though, are family members, Nielssen told Reuters Health in an email, and in nearly half of these cases, the person's schizophrenia had never been treated.

The current findings are based on seven studies from Europe and Australia looking at homicides by people with schizophrenia. The estimated annual rate of "stranger homicides" ranged anywhere from 1 in 7 million to 1 in 18 million people per year.

The researchers also compared 42 cases of stranger homicide with 42 in which the victim was a family member. They found that the former were more likely to be committed by a schizophrenic individual who was homeless, or had a history of severe childhood or adult behavioral problems, including violence.

In both groups, more than half of the offenders had never been admitted to a psychiatric hospital or placed on antipsychotic medication. Of the 42 who killed a stranger, 64 percent had never received drug treatment.

Some highly publicized homicides in Canada, the U.S. and the UK in recent years have led to law changes designed to compel people seen by mental health services to take any prescribed antipsychotic medications.

However, Nielssen said, "Because a large proportion of both stranger and family homicides occur prior to initial treatment, laws designed to ensure continued treatment of known patients will not have much effect in preventing homicides."

Instead, he asserted, a more effective approach would be to get people treated sooner, when their initial psychotic symptoms arise. In wealthier countries, Nielssen noted, the lag time between first symptoms and initial treatment is one year, on average.

He and his colleagues argue that a key obstacle to early treatment is so-called "dangerousness" laws, which require that a person be deemed a danger to himself or others before involuntary treatment is an option. Such laws are in place in most U.S. and Australian states, half of Canadian provinces and in several European countries, Nielssen noted.

He said that instead of focusing on a patient's potential danger, mental health laws should be based on the individual's need for treatment and competency to refuse it.

SOURCE: Schizophrenia Bulletin, October 12, 2009.

Burn down the house

I dance around this empty house
...
Pictures framing up the past
Your taunting smirk behind the glass
This museum full of ash
...
This used to be a funhouse
But now it's full of evil clowns
It's time to start the countdown
I'm gonna burn it down
...
I'd rather live out on the street
Than in this haunted memory

Those are lyrics from Pink's song "Funhouse." I hear this song all the time, and each time I hear it, the more I relate to it. I really think it represents how I feel both about my house and the house that I grew up in which my father still owns.

In the song, Pink burns her house down because it is full of bad memories of her broken marriage, and every day I walk around this nearly empty house and I can't get rid of the bad memories. I got rid of all my ex-husband's stuff, but the memories are still here. I can't shake the images of the abuse, of him holding knives to my throat, and of him cutting himself and letting the blood drip on my face while I was crying and trying to get free.

Before anyone calls Oklahoma's arson hotline to warn them about me... No I won't be burning the house down. I'm not naive enough to think that burning it down would make the memories disappear out of my head, but sometimes I do think if the lingering physical evidence of him was gone then he wouldn't cross my mind as much as he do.

Same thing goes for the house I grew up in. I can't stand to drive through my hometown because that house is still standing there. I see it and it brings up over 20 years of painful abuse from my father. Each time I drive by it, I really consider lighting a cigarette and throwing it over the fence into the backyard in hopes that it will light the grass on fire and then take the house down in flames.

I remember years ago there was a "Behind the Music" show on the musical group TLC on VH1 during which Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes talked about how she accidentally burned down her and Andre Rison's mansion in 1994. She said something about watching the "house of evil" burn down and feeling relief. I often think about her saying that when I feel the desire to burn down one of the evil houses.

I wish I could feel that relief without actually burning them down.

How will TV drama treat bipolar disorder?

By Christine Stapleton
The Palm Beach Post

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Just what we need: Another cop show that turns mental illness into entertainment.

A&E is producing a pilot about a tough — and beautiful — Los Angeles police detective, Maggie Bird, who suffers from bipolar disorder and is reassigned to a desk job when her bosses learn of her illness. The detective's dilemma is this: “Her illness makes her brilliant as a detective but makes her personal life hell,” A&E senior vice president of drama programming Tana Nugent Jamieson said. “So she is teetering on and off her medications.”

Well, this should be interesting. I don't want to judge the show, “The Quickening,” before seeing it.

A&E has a solid, respectable record of bringing mental illness into our living rooms with programs such as “Intervention,” about addicts struggling to get clean and sober, and “Obsessed,” about the struggles of those living with severe anxiety disorders.

So how will A&E handle bipolar disorder? From what little we know about the program, it sounds as if the detective will be forced to choose between her medication and her career. She waffles, going on and off her meds. This often happens in the real world, and I applaud A&E for showing viewers the byproduct of this devastating behavior.

But it would be wrong to feed the misperception that mood stabilizers dampen our creativity and work flow. This is not true — when doctors responsibly prescribe these medications and patients take responsibility for their mental health.

I know. I take a mood stabilizer for my bipolar. I was worried about how it would affect my writing and energy.

The best way for me to describe it is like this: My thoughts come one at a time now. I am able to think them through before acting on them. My mind does not race. I can focus for long periods of time. If you tell me a phone number today I can (usually) remember it. My energy is not frightening and people do not raise their eyebrows and step back when I walk into a room.

But even if I deluded myself into thinking I had to choose between my career and my medications, it would be selfish to give into my mania and stop taking my mood stabilizer. I am painfully aware of the havoc I can wreak on my life and those around me when I am not on my medication. I also know there is more than one mood stabilizer and more than one doctor prescribing them.

It is my responsibility to contact my doctor if my medication is not working. And it is my responsibility to find a new doctor if my doctor does nothing more than write me a prescription every three months during a 15-minute office visit.

I am worth it and so is that detective.

You may be a redneck ...

I grew up in a small Oklahoma town, so I know tons of rednecks. This has been my favorite meme so far...

1. It is a common myth that anyone who lives in a trailer is a redneck. Do think this myth is true?
Not every single person who lives in a trailer is a redneck, but a lot of them are, especially in Oklahoma.

2. Have you ever been to a redneck wedding and if so describe it?
I haven't ever been to one myself, thank God. But I did recently get to see photos of what I'd call a semi-redneck wedding. It was two of the people from my hometown, and the groom and all the groomsmen wore blue jeans and camouflage vests and ties with no jackets. The bride's dress even had camouflage on it. I don't know why anyone would do that



3. What makes a person a redneck?
A severe lack of class

4. Do you know any rednecks or have any in the family? Just because your family tree branches doesn't mean you don't have a redneck or two in it.
My father's mother was a stripper for most of the first half of her life, and then once she got too old and gross to strip, she just started drawing unemployment and other government aid. She claimed she was too disabled to work, but that wasn't true. She's been on welfare for at least 30 years without even trying to work. Also, when I was 11 years old she gave me slutty thong panties for a Christmas gift, and she told me that all girls need sexy panties. I was 11!!! Why would anyone give an 11-year-old "sexy panties" ?

5. Say you had to enter a Redneck Games competition. Which event do you think you'd win the gold medal in?
I'm honestly not sure I am redneck enough to take gold in anything, but I would do a watermelon seed spitting contest. Actually I did do that once when I was a teenager, but I didn't win

6. Does a mullet make a man sexy or skanky?
Extremely skanky

7. Do you keep your Christmas lights on your front porch all year long?
I don't even put Christmas lights on my front porch at Christmas time. I do have two strings of non-Christmas related lights up in my living room that stay up all year long, but that's not as redneck-ish as lights on the front porch all year

8. What do you think of when you hear the term muddin'?
I think of idiots from my hometown who used to get drunk and do it

9. Can duck tape really fix anything?
Nope, can't fix a broken heart

10. Know any redneck words?
Does "ya'll" count?

11. Why is it that if aliens are looking for intelligent life they always seem to abduct the biggest rednecks?
The biggest rednecks are the only ones stupid enough to get abducted

12. Famous last words of a redneck:
"Hey ya'll watch this"

13. Finish this sentence: You might be a redneck if...
You get "dressed up" to go to Walmart and look like this ...

Photo source: People of Walmart

Damn mental block

I'm stuck in a horrible writer's block yet again. I keep doing the blog memes just to keep myself in the habit of blog posting, but it's not really helping.

I have so much that I want to write, and I can hear the blog entries in my head, but I can't get them out of my mind and onto the computer screen.

I wish there was some device that could read my mind and type up my thoughts for me. Wouldn't that be awesome?

More than anything, I think I just want to get the thoughts down on paper (or on the screen) to get them off my mind. I hate hearing a million thoughts in my head at once.

Simulator offers look at life with schizophrenia

By the Associated Press

LONGVIEW, Texas — Social worker Roy Brady said investing about 10 minutes to sit through a simulated schizophrenia experience gave him a new appreciation of what people with the mental illness go through.

"I can't imagine living life on a daily basis and dealing with that," Brady said after experiencing visual hallucinations and distortions, voices, wind effects and smells that came through a three-dimensional virtual symptom simulator.

"I was able to evaluate the messages and knew they were not real," Brady said. "But someone with schizophrenia would not be able to tell what's real and what's not."

Paula Hendrix, president of the Greater Longview chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, said Brady's experience is just what the nonprofit group is hoping to achieve with the MindStorm simulation device.

"This a valuable tool to help caregivers, health care professionals, judges, family members and those in law enforcement get a taste of what someone with schizophrenia is going through on a daily basis," Hendrix said.

Colleen Miley, a board member of the NAMI chapter who works at Longview's Brentwood Hospital, said the purpose of having people go through the simulation is to improve the lives of people living with mental illnesses.

"The word that came to my mind after going through it was 'sad,' " Miley said. "I think it will help create some empathy for those who come in contact with people with mental illness."

The device was taken to Good Shepherd Medical Center, Community Healthcore and Longview Regional Medical Center to provide health care workers with the experience. The public can experience the hallucination simulation from 3 to 6 p.m. today at the Longview Museum of Fine Arts.

"No one around them really knows or understands what people with schizophrenia are experiencing and everything that is going through their minds," Miley said. Many of those patients face a constant barrage of sensory distractions that may include a variety of visual and auditory hallucinations.

Larry Hamm, area business specialist for Janssen Pharmaceuticals, the company providing the simulator, said the experience gives caregivers and family an idea of the barrage of voices, images, smells and other false sensations mental illness sufferers face.

"A lot of times people think those with schizophrenia are being belligerent, but they're really just dealing with all this sensory overload they face every day," Hamm said. "This allows people to see how difficult it might be to hold down a job or function."

Hendrix said several East Texas judges and other officials are scheduled to experience the simulation while the device is in Longview.

5 Post Secret cards I loved ...

... from today's Post Secret post

ABC's of Meme

Sunday Stealing: The ABC's of Meme

A- Advocate for: Mental health awareness, domestic violence awareness, gay rights

B- Best Feature: Golden brown eyes

C- Could do without: A job... I hate having to work

D- Dreams and desires: To become a therapist to help people

E- Essential items: Caffeine, music

F- Favorite past time: Listening to music

G- Good at: Staying calm in difficult situations

H- Have never tried: Flying in a plane

I- If I had a million dollars: I'd pay off all my debt, my family's debt, and buy us all new houses and cars

J- Junkie for: Mountain Dew

K- Kindred spirit: Lissy

L- Little known fact: I pluck my toe hair (yeah that was totally random)

M- Memorable moment: The day I got Oreo when he was 10 weeks old, he fell asleep and woke up freaking out because he didn't know where he was. I had to hug him and console him. It was a good little bonding moment for us

N- Never again will I: get married to a loser

O- Occasional indulgence: Donuts ... yum yum

P- Profession: Drone at a newspaper

Q- Quote: “Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the number of moments that take our breath away.”

R- Reason to smile: Puppies

S- Sorry about: Nothing really

T- Things you are worrying about right now: Nothing really

U- Uninterested in: Treatment of mental illnesses

V- Very scared of: Heights

W- Worst habits: Fingernail biting and saying things without thinking first

Y- Yummiest dessert: cinnamon rolls

X- X marks my ideal vacation spot: Australia where the kangaroos and koalas play

Z- Zodiac sign: Libra. I'm all about balance

Seven real ways to stop the cycle of abuse

By divorce360.com

Q: After several miserable years I finally divorced my husband who was verbally abusive. Now I find myself dating a man who is not that different. What's wrong with me?

A: Verbal abuse is as harmful as physical or sexual abuse. You can become more educated about this through the Internet just look for information about the national domestic violence hotline. The first order of business for you is to get out of the present relationship and, hopefully, you have family and friends to turn to for support. By talking to others who care about you and whose opinion you trust, you will gain the momentum to walk away from a situation that you certainly don't deserve to be in.

Trying to understand your personal dynamics and what motivates you is the first step toward changing your attitudes and behavior. There can be many reasons why you allow yourself to be treated this way — perhaps you were raised in an abusive family, or had a father who did not show you respect, or you don't feel deserving of a partner who values you. Consider joining a support group or seeing a therapist who can help you identify and work thorough the unresolved issues that are holding you back.

Some men, and women too, can be manipulative nice to you one minute, then vicious. This is often followed by guilty feelings, which then cause them to be ingratiating again. You are not alone — a lot of women are seduced by a covert method of control and get caught up in a web of deceit. Women's feelings of low self esteem and fear about leaving can be at the source of their tolerating abuse in a relationship.

Make this the time in your life when you refuse to be under any man's dysfunctional influence any longer. Buy a journal and begin to write about the thoughts and feelings that relate to what you are now experiencing. You have the inner strength to move forward for yourself — you just have to access it.

Affirmations are strategies that you develop, visualize, repeat and act on, in order to build self esteem and confidence. These exercises are subjective and the ones you create need to resonate personally for you. What follows are some ideas to help you begin this important process of self growth:

1. I avoid dangerous and toxic people.

2. The moment I hear something hurtful I speak up, quickly and firmly.

3. My unfolding requires a nourishing atmosphere.

4. There are those who value what I value.

5. I can ask for assistance as others have solutions I haven't thought of.

6. I have the courage to actualize my intentions.

7. I know I can reach my goals.

Take these suggestions to heart and keep working on them until they feel as if they are a part of you. And before long, instead of asking what's wrong with you, you will be more focused on what's right.

The toll free number for the National Domestic Violence Hotline (NDVH) is 1-800-799-SAFE (7233), and the web site address for more information is http://www.ndvh.org/.

Ten reasons you should take a break from sex

I saw this on the newspaper's news wire and I thought it was funny. I'm almost 6 months into my "fast" from sex, and I advise everyone to do it at some point in their lives. It's been so freeing for me ...


By divorce360.com

When we think of one taking a vow of celibacy, images of clergymen and women are usually the first things that come to mind. But scantily-clad pop stars who've French kissed Madonna? Not so much. According to reports, music icon Britney Spears had been placed on a six-month “sex ban” by parents Jaime and Lynn Spears who feared their daughter's not-so-great taste in men might lead to another breakdown.

“Jaime and Lynne feel she's so close to cracking the big time that they don't want anything to get in her way,” a friend told “Now.” Roll your eyes if you must but Ma and Pa Spears might be onto something. Sure, sex can be incredible, but it can also be the giant, panting, red elephant sitting at the dinner table.

Eliminating sex from the equation for a few months after a breakdown (whether it be of a marriage or otherwise) might serve as a great way to ease a bit of the pressure and spend a little more time getting to know someone which is great, especially if that someone is you.

10 SEXY REASONS IT'S GREAT TO TAKE A BREAK:

1. You're worth far too much than to sneak home in last night's clothes, wondering what that acrobatic person's last name was.

2. Imagine taking a little longer to get to know someone before you drop your knickers, and avoiding that, “Gee, if I knew this last week, I would not have slept with you,” feeling.

3. Contrary to popular belief, sex with someone new does not cure past heartaches. Better to give that heart time to heal before you let someone else in your bed.

4. Yes, sex is yummy but flirtations and sexual tension can be utterly delicious. Enjoy them a while!

5. You can wear your comfy cotton undies on dates and your date will be none the wiser.

6. There is something to be said about totally selfish self love. Take yourself on dates, wear sexy unmentionables (for your eyes only) and, at the end of the evening, if so inclined, get to know yourself a little better.

7. STDs just love casual sex.

8. You know that pile of clothes in your bedroom that you keep meaning to pick up and wash? Yeah, you don't have to do that just yet.

9. Finding new ways to get excited and be intimate with yourself or someone new can be incredible. Cooking, dancing, painting, talking, exercising, the possibilities are endless. Get to know your body, your likes and dislikes, things that turn you on and off and heighten your senses in other ways for a while.

10. When it does happen, it will be because you really, really want it to. Now, that's sexy.