Suicide Survivors Awareness Day

Every year on the Saturday before Thanksgiving, the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention sponsors National Survivors of Suicide Day - reaching out to thousands of people who have lost a loved one to suicide. This Saturday, November 21, 2009, is their 11th year of raising awareness and providing support.

Over 230 simultaneous conferences for survivors of suicide loss will take place throughout the U.S. and across the world. An amazing network of healing conferences is available for those who have survived the tragedy of suicide loss. Connecting on this day allows survivors to know that they are not alone in this experience. And perhaps more important than anything else, research has shown that survivors of suicide contribute significantly in better understanding suicide and its prevention. There is great power in the personal narrative.

To find a city worldwide where a conference is being held link here and here

Read more on suicide outreach and about the 10 common myths about suicide here



Andriessen, K. (2009). Can Postvention Be Prevention? Crisis: The Journal of Crisis Intervention and Suicide Prevention, 30 (1), 43-47 DOI: 10.1027/0227-5910.30.1.43

Optimism and Your Heart

Two recent issues of the journal Circulation include studies showing that positive thinking and health are interconnected.

In this study over 90,000 American women were followed for eight years, tracking their levels of optimism and heart attack rate. The results showed that the least optimistic subjects had higher incidences of heart attacks. The other study evaluated optimism and Coronary Heart Disease in over 2,000 Canadian men and women - and found that positive thinking resulted in a lower risk for CHD.

Positive Psychology is the study of positive thinking, thriving and resiliency and focusing on strengths-based traits. Though many of us are genetically wired to see the glass half full, you can learn how to accentuate the positive.

I'm a half full person.

What are you?

Tindle, H., Chang, Y., Kuller, L., Manson, J., Robinson, J., Rosal, M., Siegle, G., & Matthews, K. (2009). Optimism, Cynical Hostility, and Incident Coronary Heart Disease and Mortality in the Women's Health Initiative Circulation, 120 (8), 656-662 DOI: 10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.108.827642

Give An Hour

Over 1.9 million troops have been deployed in Afghanistan, Iraq, and the Persian Gulf since September 11, 2001. Many who return home are finding a shortage of mental health therapists.

Give an Hour is a pro bono program that recruits mental health professionals to aid in this treatment gap. Give an Hour is endorsed by six major mental health associations in the United States--the American Association of Pastoral Counselors, the American Psychiatric Association, the American Psychological Association, and the National Association of Social Workers, the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy, and the Anxiety Disorders Association of America. Only licensed mental health professionals are included in the network. Link here for registration.

Give an Hour is also looking for non-licensed volunteers who can use their skill‐sets to help veterans and their families. If interested, link here

Volunteering has long been known to have significant mental and physical health benefits for the volunteer. But did you know that recent research indicates how volunteering in your community produces "neighborhood well-being"?



Mellor, D., Hayashi, Y., Stokes, M., Firth, L., Lake, L., Staples, M., Chambers, S., & Cummins, R. (2007). Volunteering and Its Relationship With Personal and Neighborhood Well-Being Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 38 (1), 144-159 DOI: 10.1177/0899764008317971

Seasonal Affective Disorder

Question: What is seasonal affective disorder?
Answer: Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) is a pattern of significant depressive symptoms that occur and then disappear with the changing of the seasons. SAD has also been called "Winter Depression" or "Winter Blues". The reason for these names is that SAD occurs when days get shorter around November and lasting until Spring.

Question: What's the difference between seasonal affective disorder and other forms of depression?
Answer: SAD is similar to other major depressions in its severity and symptoms; however, it occurs seasonally usually starting in the fall and lasting until early spring. This disorder is cyclical. SAD patients also tend to sleep and eat more compared to patients with other types of clinical depression — usually, depression patients have insomnia and loss of appetite. For some individuals, seasonal changes cause a "Reverse Seasonal Affective Disorder" where symptoms of mania, elevated mood, racing of thoughts and pressured speech can occur. In this case, Reverse Seasonal Affective Disorder stems from Bipolar Disorder. SAD can also occur in summer months.

Question: How many people are affected by this disorder each year?
Answer: SAD affects millions of individuals worldwide. The illness is more common in higher latitudes, that is locations farther north or south of the equator, because the timeline of darkness is longer.

Question: What are the symptoms of SAD?
Answer: Symptoms include many of the same symptoms of depression: sadness, anxiety, lost interest in usual activities, withdrawal from social activities and an inability to concentrate. The difference though, is that these symptoms resolve each Spring and tend to occur again in late Fall.

Question: What is the cause of Seasonal Affective Disorder?
Answer: Melatonin, a sleep-related hormone secreted by the pineal gland in the brain, has been linked to SAD. This hormone, which may cause symptoms of depression, is produced at increased levels in the dark. Therefore, when the days are shorter and darker the production of this hormone increases. A dip in Serotonin has also been associated with SAD.

Question: What kind of treatments are available?
Answer: Phototherapy or bright light therapy has been shown to suppress the brain’s secretion of melatonin. Although, there have been no research findings to definitely link this therapy with an antidepressant effect, many people respond to this treatment. The device most often used today is a bank of white fluorescent lights on a metal reflector and shield with a plastic screen.

For mild symptoms, spending time outdoors during the day or arranging homes and workplaces to receive more sunlight may be helpful. One study found that an hour’s walk in winter sunlight was as effective as two and a half hours under bright artificial light.

If phototherapy doesn't work, an antidepressant drug may prove effective in reducing or eliminating SAD symptoms.

Daily exercise has been shown to be helpful, particularly when done outdoors. For those who tend to crave sweets during the winter, eating a balanced diet may help stave off SAD.

Question: How Do I Seek Treatment for SAD?
Answer: If you have noticed a pattern to your depressive symptoms, make an appointment with your physician and bring this to his or her attention. Medical tests and exams should be up to date to rule out any other reason for depressive symptoms. Thereafter, a consult with a psychologist, social worker, psychiatrist or psychopharmacologist so that together you can formulate a treatment plan with light therapy, medication, talk therapy or a combination of them.

Resources
Seasonal Affective Disorder Association: http://www.sada.org.uk/

Society for Light Treatment :www.websciences.org/sltbr

The Circadian Lighting Association: www.claorg.org

New Medications From Psychology Today

Have A Stigma Free Halloween

Halloween is one of the oldest recorded calendar events.

The tradition started over two thousand years ago with The Celts, who believed that the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred on October 31st. So, on that "Hallow's Eve" they built bonfires and wore ghostly costumes to drive the evil spirits away, and carried a potato or turnip candle lantern to intimidate the demons around them.

The National Alliance For Mental Illness reminds us that not only is it the season for ghosts and goblins, but also stigma. Costumes and seasonal attractions that feature psychos, mental patients, and insane asylums perpetuate stereotypes. Intended as fun, these violent stereotypes serve to perpetuate stigma -- which as reported by the U.S. Surgeon General is one of the greatest barriers to people getting help when they need it. It also is the source of prejudice and discrimination that leads to isolation and impedes progress toward recovery.

Last year, I didn't notice any neighborhood kids with stigma related costumes. But there was this young adult couple who made my eyebrows arch. One was dressed in scrubs with a butterfly net, and the other was in pajamas with a bloody cleaver.

Sheesh.