During the 40 weeks after receiving a brief course of ω-3 (“omega three”) polyunsaturated fatty acids, adolescents at risk for psychotic disorders were less likely to progress to psychotic status than similar peers who did not receive the supplement. In the study by G. Paul Amminger and colleagues, the youths in the treated group also had fewer positive, negative, and general symptoms of psychosis and improved overall functioning than those in the control group.
The youths in the treated group received a supplement of two fish-oil capsules twice a day for 12 weeks, and the controls received a placebo of coconut-oil capsules. The researchers then monitored their status and symptoms for the following 40 weeks.
Continue reading ‘Fish oil and adolescent psychosis’
In “Hushing the intruders in her brain,” Shari Roan continued her account of childhood-onset schizophrenia as experieinced by January (‘Jani’) Schofield. In the current story, Ms. Roan provided an update about Jani’s and her family’s life and progress. The coverage includes cotent about changes in Jani’s therapy and medications, the family’s living situation, and other aspects of life with childhood schizophrenia. As previously, there are accompanying multimedia features to the story, including this video by Don Kelsen.
Continue reading ‘Jani’s story updated’
Published in Acting in,
Acting out,
Assessment,
Autism,
Bi-polar,
Causes,
Conduct disorder,
Delinquency,
Depression,
Families,
Musings,
News,
Policy,
Prevention,
Research,
Schizophrenia,
The press and
Treatment .
| Twelve key children’s services for community services boards |
- specialized children’s emergency services;
- crisis stabilization;
- evaluations for Comprehensive Services Act services;
- psychiatric/medication;
- office-based mental health therapy;
- office-based substance abuse therapy;
- mental health case management;
- intellectual disabilities case management;
- substance abuse case management;
- home-based behavioral treatment and support for families;
- school-based day treatment; and
- local residential services.
|
Right here in my home commonwealth of Virginia last week, Mira Signe, Vicki Hardy-Murrell, John Morgan, and Margaret Nimmo Crowe explained why it is important that government and private organizations attend to and address issues in children’s mental health. By explaining that Virginia has inadequate services and that one in every five children or youths experience mental health problems at some time during their lives, they made the point that that there is a tremendous need for public focus on these issues. This was the kick-off event for the Campaign for Children’s Mental Health.
The Campaign for Children’s Mental Health is a 3-year sustained effort to make mental health services more available and accessible to Virginia children in need. It will strongly endorse Governor-elect McDonnell’s call for system improvements; urge the General Assembly and state and local government to work collaboratively with the administration to address system deficiencies; and conduct a high-profile three-year advocacy and education drive to build public and political support for improved mental health services for children.
Only about one in 20 of Virginia’s children have access to the key services listed in the accompanying box. So, four out of five children who need these services do not have access to them.
No, Virginia, this is not an acceptable way to treat our children. Let’s do better.
Children and youths who were treated with “atypical antipsychotic medications” (aripiprazole, olanzapine, quetiapine, or risperidone) gained substantial weight and had changes in their metabolism in a study reported by Christoph Correll and colleagues in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The drugs, which are used to treat childhood schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and (sometimes) Autism, also caused changes in blood lipids.
| Drug |
Brand Name |
| clozapine |
Clozaril |
| risperidone |
Risperdal |
| quetiapine |
Seroquel |
| olanzapine |
Zyprexa |
The medications, which are also known as second generation antipsychotics, are marketed under the names shown in the table at the right.
On average, the children’s weight gains differed across the different medications, ranging from 8.5 kg with olanzapine to 4.4 kg with aripiprazole. For better than half of the children, the gains amounted to more than 7% of their body weight. Changes in the children’s metabolism varied by drug, too; olanzapine caused the largest problems and aripiprazole caused no changes in metabolism (e.g., cholesterol).
Continue reading ‘Meds cause weight gains’
January First made Oprah!
I’m a tad late getting to this, as the segment aired 6 October 2009, but I’m glad to note that Ms. Winfrey covered the story of Jani, the 6-year-old girl with childhood schizophrenia whose story Shari Roan candidly reported last June in the Los Angeles Times.
Because it’s coverage by someone whose authority comes from television, there are video segments to be seen. Try this one. Link to the section of Ms. Winfrey’s show’s Web site about the segment.
From the Web site for the Ms. Winfrey’s show, I also learned that Jani’s father has created a site devoted to Jani. The site lists it’s purposes as promoting “awareness… that severe childhood mental illnesses do exist and can strike at any age” and “that these kids are the way they are because of BIOLOGY, not because of abuse, environment, or bad parenting. Every parent we know of a mentally ill or autistic child is deeply committed to their child’s welfare.”
Tom Jackman’s article about Danny Watt to which I referred a few days ago (see this post) is generating a lot of discussion on the Post’s Web site. The comments on Mr. Jackman’s story are informative. For example, at least a half dozen mention having a family member with mental illness. Link to the comments.
The recent posts about news coverage of mental illness (e.g., “Danny Watt’s Story” and “Jani Illustrates Troubles“) has had me thinking about how popular media portray these problems. Over on Psych Central, Margarita Tartakovsky has an article entitled “Media’s Damaging Depictions of Mental Illness” that I recommend to readers of EBD Blog. In addition to discussing myths that are too commonly perpetuated by media such as television and film, she recommends ways to help distinguish between accurate and inaccurate portrayals of mental illness.
Link to Ms. Tartakovsky’s article.
The parents of Daniel Watt, a youth who had multiple problems, told the story of their son’s life and suicide. Tom Jackman of the Washington Post reported the story of Danny and his parents, helping explain some of the problems of addressing the needs of children with multiple diagnoses—co-morbid schizoaffective disorder and substance abuse, in Danny’s case.
Danny Watt once leapt from a moving train. He hurtled through the windshield of a rolling car. Got pummeled by drug dealers. Overdosed. Swallowed rat poison. Tried to hang himself.
In his tumultuous 21 years, Danny Watt danced with death in the most amazing, horrible ways. In the end, two college students spotted him facedown in the cold, murky water of the C&O Canal one afternoon in April 2008. The medical examiner said Danny had drowned.
Continue reading ‘Danny Watt’s story’
Shari Roan’s article entitled “Jani’s at the mercy of her mind” illustrates the difficulties encountered by children with schizophrenia and their families. For those who do not know about schizophrenia in children, this journalistic case study will be a good introduction.
It’s been a rough week. A few days ago, at UCLA’s Resnick Neuropsychiatric Hospital, 6-year-old Jani toppled a food cart and was confined to her room. She slammed her head against the floor, opening a bloody cut that sent her into hysterics. Later, she kicked the hospital therapy dog.
Jani normally likes animals. But most of her animal friends — cats, rats, dogs and birds — are phantoms that only she can see. January Schofield has schizophrenia. Potent psychiatric drugs — in doses that would stagger most adults — seem to skip off her. She is among the rarest of the rare: a child seemingly born mentally ill.
Here’s a video segment (7:45) from the story; it’s by Don Kelsen and Tim French.
Link to Ms. Roan’s article. For other resources about childhood schizophrenia, see these links:
Reporting on US National Public Radio’s Morning Edition, Joanne Silberner presented a story about police officers handling incidents in which they encounter people with emotional and behavior disorders who are behaving in ways that appear threatening to the officers. Although her story uses adult cases for illustrations, this topic should also be of interest for youths who have EBD and for the families of children with EBD.
Here’s an excerpt from Ms. Silberner’s report.
It’s a situation no one wants to see: An armed police officer is called because someone is in the throes of a psychotic episode. “How the officer handles that situation can have a significant impact,” says Russell Laine, head of the International Association of Chiefs of Police.
Continue reading ‘Officer training for handling incidents’
Mental Health America, a large and active US group that advocates for people with emotional and behavioral disorders, will focus its centennial celebration around the theme, “’Celebrating the Legacy; Forging the Future’ 1909 – 2009.”
Mental Health America is celebrating 100 years of advocacy, public education, and support for Americans with mental health conditions. Over the past century, we have transformed our nation’s approach to mental health by working to create a just, humane and healthy society in which all people are accorded respect, dignity and the opportunity to achieve their full potential free from stigma and prejudice.
These are the folks who famously recast as a bell the shackles that had been used to restrain people with mental illness. That bell now symbolize improved—but still not perfected—understanding and treatment for people with mental illness. In addition to offering many other valuable services (policy advocacy, hotlines, etc.), MHA educates the public about mental health and mental illness. It provides fact sheets about (to list just a few) anxiety disorders, depression, bipolar disorder, eating disorders, schizophrenia, and suicide.
Go learn more.
Mental Health America
2000 N. Beauregard Street, 6th Floor Alexandria, VA 22311
Phone (703) 684-7722
Toll free (800) 969-6642
TTY 800/433-5959
Fax (703) 684-5968
Under the title “The Father Factor: How Dad’s Age Increases Baby’s Risk of Mental Illness: Could becoming a father after age 40 raise the risks that your children will have a mental illness?” in Scientific American, Paul Raeburn reported on the association of paternal age with childhood schizophrenia and Autism. Using the birth of his own child as a springboard, Mr. Raeburn recounts some of the research on this topic. For example, he covers Dolores Malaspina’s epidemiological work as well as mouse-analog studies by Jay Gingrich. It’s a good introduction to the topic.
Read Mr. Raeburn’s article. Also, for additional resources, please see Leslie Feldman’s “Fathers’ Age as Contributor to Risk for Autism” from right here on EBD Blog.
by.
EBD Blog Comments