Don’t sweat it
One of the most effective things you can do to improve your mental health is to exercise, but some of us aren’t going to do calisthenics or go jogging for various reasons. Another effective mental health treatment is meditation. Tai chi or chi gung are fun alternatives to both and can even be learned by watching U-Tube videos.—MR
Using Tai Chi to Build Strength
By Jane E. Brody, New York Times, September 10, 2018
Tai chi moves can be easily learned and executed by people of all ages and states of health, even elderly people in wheelchairs.
Modern myth
From personal experience over the last 50 years and clinical observation as a mental health counselor, I have witnessed cannabis as the primary cause in many cases of anxiety, depression, job loss, divorce, psychosis and suicidal ideation by users. When cannabis is removed, symptoms have disappeared without other interventions. If you suffer from any of the above, go without it for a year and see if your mental and social disorder improve. If you can’t or won’t, you have to face the fact you are addicted and the anxiety or other symptom you feel is likely a withdrawal symptom that is relieved when you take more of your drug fooling you into thinking it’s helping.-–MR
The Big Number: Most adults think marijuana can be good for health
By August 18, 2018
Can marijuana be beneficial to your health? Most American adults — 81 percent — think so, according to new national survey results published online by Annals of Internal Medicine. The survey included responses from 9,003 adults considered a nationally representative sample. The believed benefits cited by the most people were managing pain (noted by 66 percent of participants), treating diseases such as multiple sclerosis and epilepsy (48 percent), and easing stress, anxiety and depression (47 percent). That said, 91 percent of respondents said they also believe that marijuana comes with risk, the most common being legal problems (cited by 52 percent), addiction (50 percent) and impaired memory (42 percent).
Drugs versus behavioral change
Changes to your behavior, such as going for a 20-minute walk a day, improves sleep without the cost of pills or risk of addiction. Though I will admit, if I don’t go for my walk, I might not sleep. Is that an addiction?—MR
The Evidence Points to a Better Way to Fight Insomnia
By Austin Frakt, New York Times, June 26, 2018
One weekend afternoon a couple of years ago, while turning a page of the book I was reading to my daughters, I fell asleep. That’s when I knew it was time to do something about my insomnia.
Alcohol damages your bodymind
The research is conclusive. The World Health Organization says one drink a day increases your chances of cancer by seven percent. Two drinks a day, fourteen percent. Personally, I don’t like them odds. Not to mention causing depression, anxiety and relationship problems. Puh-leez don’t believe the marketing by the wealthy alcohol industry that there is some health benefit to drinking. Those rich, um, guys don’t care about you.—MR
Did Drinking Give Me Breast Cancer?
The science on the link is clear, but the alcohol industry has worked hard to downplay it.
by Stephanie Mencimer, Mother Jones, May/June 2018
Drugs are addictive
Whether it’s an antidepressant, anxiolytic, pain killer, or cannabis, drugs are addictive. If you take one long enough—in the case of Xanax, a popular anti anxiety med, only a week—your body gets used to it and has to have more. Your natural brain chemicals, the ones that are supposed to help you overcome depression, pain or anxiety, diminish because they aren’t being used. If you don’t want to be a drug addict, even in the case of chronic pain, try mental health counseling first. Then, if that doesn’t help, have the counselor refer you for a prescription and continue to help you with behavioral changes, so you don’t have to be on it for very long.—MR
The good, the bad and the ugly
First off, please understand there are no such thing as “germs.” What traditional medicine calls “germs” are just normal human bacteria whose population has grown out of control. When they do—in response to poor food choices among other insults—your health suffers. When you take antibiotics to reduce the overgrowth, it indiscriminately kills the good bugs whose job it is to control the bad bug’s population. Around and around you go with your physical and mental health flushing down the toilet.—MR
The Germs That Love Diet Soda
By Moises Velasquez-Manoff, New York Times opinion, April 6, 2018
Non drug treatments can work
The below article talks about how acupuncture works on pain. Acupuncture also works really well on anxiety, and often depression, because a lot of depression is the brain chemically “depressing” itself so it won’t feel too anxious. Reduce anxiety and you reduce depression.—MR
Acupuncture Can Ease Wrist Pain of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
Acupuncture can relieve wrist pain, and researchers have tracked the brain and nervous system changes that may help explain why.
Wolf in sheep’s clothing
We all know the painkiller Oxycontin is an opioid like heroin and methadone. It’s easy to get addicted to and produces really poor behavior patterns because it reduces or eliminates empathy. Our brains also produce an opioid—the reward chemical, to reward us for species-enhancing behaviors like sex or eating, so we do more of them. Cannabis triggers the reward chemical in our brains at a higher amount than normal, so while we can’t get addicted to its THC, we can and do get addicted to our own inner opioid. But most some people don’t realize how addictive and destructive cannabis is to the individual and his or her family for this reason. Medical marijuana is another Oxy, i.e. an oxymoron.—MR
In just one year, nearly 1.3 million Americans needed hospital care for opioid-related issues
The coast-to-coast opioid epidemic is swamping hospitals, with government data published Tuesday showing 1.27 million emergency room visits or inpatient stays for opioid-related issues in a single year.
Who are you?
You are not your thoughts. You’re who decides which thoughts are helpful and to be taken seriously. Your brain just does what it does–think. What you decide to do about your thoughts is the only thing under your control. So please remember worries aren’t you. Decisions you make regarding them are. You are the Decider.—MR
Take a cue from Buddhists and Stoics and ask yourself these 5 questions to get through stressful times
New diet
They lie
The below congressional report shows how pharmaceutical company salespeople lied to docs about the safety and effectiveness of opioids to make drug sales. In my personal experience as a mental health counselor, I’ve heard various claims from patients about what their docs told them about the psychopharms they were prescribed. Obvious untruths. Antidepressants do not balance bad brain chemistry. They inhibit feeling emotion. Period. If you can’t feel emotion, you don’t feel so sad. That’s great. But you can’t feel glad either. They also inhibit the psychotherapeutic process so it’s hard to get truly well. When you decide to stop taking the antidepressant, your old crappy emotions come roaring back worse than ever. Now’s the time for counseling, so you really can make progress toward a healthier, happier life.—MR
McCaskill Opioid Investigation Releases First Report Detailing Systemic Manipulation of Prior Authorization Process by Insys Therapeutics
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill, the top-ranking Democrat on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, today released the first product of her wide-ranging investigation into opioid manufacturers and distributors. “Fueling an Epidemic: Insys Therapeutics and the Systemic Manipulation of Prior Authorization” describes the emphasis Insys Therapeutics put on boosting approvals for its highly addictive fentanyl drug Subsys, even for inappropriate, off-label uses, and details an audio recording in which an Insys sales representative misidentifies herself and uses language designed to circumvent the prior authorization process.
Solitude is healthy
Many people know that socializing is good for the health, and we frantically try to find ways to not feel alone even when we are, such as cruising FaceBook. We feel like failures if we don’t have an active social life. But studies prove that solitude is required for good mental and physical health also. Like most things in life, balance and moderation are required. So find time to have enjoyable alone time unconnected from your phone. Gosh, a rocking hammock under the swaying sycamore trees sounds like a good idea right now!—MR
Technology is impairing our ability to be alone, research shows. Here’s how to reap the benefits of solitude
By Emily Esfahani Smith, Washington Post, July 12, 2017
As our lives become ever more connected, there are so few places we can go to truly be alone anymore.
Murder plain and simple
Pharmaceutical companies that oversell opioid pain killers and docs that prescribe them prolifically should be held criminally accountable. “With approximately 142 Americans dying every day,” the below-mentioned report notes, “America is enduring a death toll equal to September 11th every three weeks.” There are less dangerous options to pain management.—MR
White House opioid commission to Trump: ‘Declare a national emergency’ on drug overdoses
The President’s Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis issued a preliminary report on Monday stating that its “first and most urgent recommendation” is for the president to “declare a national emergency under either the Public Health Service Act or the Stafford Act.”
Why they call it “dope”
Smoking cannabis not only causes a loss of motivation to get good grades (or whatever) due to the fact it highjacks the motivation system in the brain, but studies also show that longterm use lowers IQ. Not something I’d choose to do…—MR
These college students lost access to legal pot — and started getting better grades
Washington Post,
The most rigorous study yet of the effects of marijuana legalization has identified a disturbing result: College students with access to recreational cannabis on average earn worse grades and fail classes at a higher rate.
Medicare needs fixing too
Masked marauder
Most folks believe if they feel psychotic, depressed or anxious, it’s a mental health issue, e.g. “I’m afraid to drive on the freeway.” In deed, that may be true. AND it may also be true that the bipolar disorder you are taking meds for may actually be the onset of a serious physical illness. I’ve had patients who were given psycho-pharmaceuticals when their issues were, in fact, undiagnosed multiple sclerosis and scleroderma. Another severely depressed patient was gluten intolerant. My own anxiety and depression turned out to be a horribly imbalanced small intestine that probiotic treatment cured! Keep an open mind and engage a healthcare professional who will consider the range of possibilities before settling on his or her first diagnosis. Now you know why I call my practice “Bodymind.”—MR
When Anxiety or Depression Masks a Medical Problem
It’s perfectly normal for someone to feel anxious or depressed after receiving a diagnosis of a serious illness. But what if the reverse occurs and symptoms of anxiety or depression masquerade as an as-yet undiagnosed physical disorder?
Reasons to live
The keys to a longer happier life may not be what you think.–MR
Prioritizing these three things will improve your life — and maybe even save it
By Colby Itkowitz, Washington Post, April 28, 2017
Want to live longer, enjoy life more and actually find that elusive happiness?
Eat your way to happy
The human brain NEEDS clean protein and fat at fairly close intervals to function well daily. Even just one soft boiled egg for breakfast is a good way to start. Protein does not trigger the “eat more now” response like carbs or sugar. Any questions?—MR
6 foods to eat for a mood boost
By Cara Rosenbloom, The Washington Post, April 6, 2017
If you’ve ever found bliss in a bite of chocolate or smiled when someone offered you a french fry, then you know food can make you happy. But while it’s true that your favorite treat may give you a brief emotional lift, sustained mood-boosting brain power can only come from a consistent supply of nutritious foods.
Second opinion
Folks, it’s really hard to diagnose just about any illness, let alone mental illness. Primary care physicians are generally not equipped to do it. Go to a mental health professional for a mental health diagnosis. And go to a non-prescriber like a mental health counselor to find out what your non-pharmaceutical options are before you start swallowing pills. Psychotherapy has been proven scientifically to work just as well as meds in the short term and better in the long term.—MR
20 percent of patients with serious conditions are first misdiagnosed
By Lenny Bernsein, The Washington Post, April 4, 2017
More than 20 percent of patients who sought a second opinion at one of the nation’s premier medical institutions had been misdiagnosed by their primary care providers, according to new research released Tuesday.
The truth is out there
The feds were stupid not to provide quality cannabis for this study so we can prove once and for all that it is dangerous to mental health. My personal study as a mental health counselor has convinced me. If you have PTSD, stay away unless you would like to become more paranoid, reactive and sleepless.—MR
Johns Hopkins was ready to test pot as a treatment for PTSD. Then it quit the study.
By Aaron Gregg, Washington Post, April 2. 2017
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