Aug 31st, 2010
by Lynn Benjamin.
By Tara Parker Pope New York Times August 30, 2010
Doctors say frequent headaches and migraines are among the most common childhood health complaints, yet the problem gets surprisingly little attention from the medical community. Many pediatricians and parents view migraines as an adult condition. And because many children complain of headaches more often during the school year than the summer, parents often think a child is exaggerating symptoms to get out of schoolwork.
Often the real issue, say doctors, is that changes in a child’s sleep schedule, including getting up early for school and staying up late to study, as well as skipping breakfast, not drinking enough water and weather changes can all trigger migraines when the school year starts.
Posted in: Children, Headache.
Aug 31st, 2010
by Lynn Benjamin.
By RICHARD A. FRIEDMAN, M.D. New York Times August 30, 2010
Many brain imaging studies, using positron emission tomography, show that cues like viewing drug paraphernalia are enough by themselves to activate memory circuits and unleash drug craving. Where you are and what you are doing when you use a drug like cocaine is inextricably linked with the high. And these associations are stored not just in your conscious memory, but also in memory circuits outside your awareness.
This kind of pathologic learning lies at the heart of compulsive drug use. Long after someone has apparently kicked the habit, long after withdrawal symptoms subside, the individual is vulnerable to these deeply encoded unconscious associations that can set off a craving, seemingly out of the blue.
Posted in: Addiction, Alcohol, Drugs, Marriage and Divorce.
May 25th, 2010
by Lynn Benjamin.
By RONI CARYN RABIN New York Times, May 24, 2010
One in 10 new fathers experience prenatal or postpartum depression, a condition long thought to affect only mothers, according to a new analysis of dozens of earlier studies.
The men are at highest risk for depression three to six months after the birth of a child, and their depression often corresponds with depression in the mother….
Posted in: Post Partum Depression & Anxiety.
May 12th, 2010
by Lynn Benjamin.
Tara Parker-Pope April 12, 2010, NY Times Magazine
Published in 2005 in The Archives of General Psychiatry, the Glasers’ [Ronald Glaser and Jan Kiecolt-Glaser, researchers at Ohio State University] findings help explain epidemiological data showing that couples in troubled marriages appear to be more susceptible to illness than happier couples. The results may also have practical relevance for surgical patients, for instance, waiting for incisions to heal. But most important, the study offered compelling evidence that a hostile fight with your husband or wife isn’t just bad for your relationship. It can have a profound toll on your body.
Posted in: Couples, Marriage and Divorce.
May 12th, 2010
by Lynn Benjamin.
By Tara Parker Pope, NY Times, May 10, 2010
… It may not be feelings of love or loyalty that keep couples together. Instead, scientists speculate that your level of commitment may depend on how much a partner enhances your life and broadens your horizons — a concept that Arthur Aron, a psychologist and relationship researcher at Stony Brook University, calls “self-expansion.”….
“We enter relationships because the other person becomes part of ourselves, and that expands us,” Dr. Aron said. “That’s why people who fall in love stay up all night talking and it feels really exciting. We think couples can get some of that back by doing challenging and exciting things together.”
Posted in: Couples, Marriage and Divorce.
Apr 27th, 2010
by Lynn Benjamin.
Scientists have known for years that skimping on sleep is associated with weight gain. A good example was a study published in 2005, which looked at 8,000 adults over several years as part of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Sleeping fewer than seven hours a night corresponded with a greater risk of weight gain and obesity, and the risk increased for every hour of lost sleep.
Losing sleep may increase appetite and, as a result, weight.
Posted in: Sleep, Weight.
Apr 27th, 2010
by Lynn Benjamin.
All children, she [Miller] wrote, suffer trauma and permanent psychic scarring at the hands of parents, who enforce codes of conduct through psychological pressure or corporal punishment: slaps, spankings or, in extreme cases, sustained physical abuse and even torture.
Posted in: Children, Parenting, Trauma.
Apr 22nd, 2010
by Lynn Benjamin.
Developmental trauma disorder:
Towards a rational diagnosis for children with complex trauma histories.
by Bessel A. van der Kolk, MD
The developmental impact of childhood trauma: the
complex disruptions of affect regulation, the disturbed attachment patterns, the rapid
behavioral regressions and shifts in emotional states, the loss of autonomous strivings, the
aggressive behavior against self and others, the failure to achieve developmental
competencies; the loss of bodily regulation in the areas of sleep, food and self-care; the
altered schemas of the world; the anticipatory behavior and traumatic expectations; the
multiple somatic problems, from gastrointestinal distress to headaches; the apparent lack
of awareness of danger and resulting self endangering behaviors; the self-hatred and selfblame
and the chronic feelings of ineffectiveness. (page 9)
Posted in: Children, Trauma.
Apr 21st, 2010
by Lynn Benjamin.
The Role of Stimulants in Treating Both Disorders
by Anthony M. Ocana, MD, MSc | April 7, 2010 in Psychiatric Times, Vol 27, No 4
■ ADHD and addiction are distinct disorders, but they both have dysregulation of one or more of the dopaminergic circuits. ADHD is associated with earlier onset of substance use, more severe addiction, and more difficulty in maintaining abstinence.
■ Various genetic, environmental, and drug-induced insults combine to create an area of disrupted dopamine neurotransmission, which is associated with diminished perception of reward, worsened cognition, and impaired behavioral inhibition.
Posted in: ADHD, Addiction.
