Medicine helps patients with mental illness stop smoking

The medication varenicline may be of particular advantage in helping patients with mental illness to stop smoking, researchers have found. According to background information supplied by the researchers, varenicline reduces symptoms of withdrawal and also reduces the reinforcement received from nicotine while smoking. Against that background, a total of 22 patients were randomly assigned to receive either varenicline or placebo for three weeks. The patients underwent functional magnetic timbre imaging scans before and after the treatment period, during which they viewed short video-clips, which included scenes that involved smoking and scenes that did not. In scans performed before treatment, the viewing of smoking cues activated brain areas known as the ventral striatum and medial orbitofrontal cortex and also elicited reports of cravings, whereas the viewing of impartial cues did not.

After the treatment period, similar patterns persisted in patients who had taken placebo, whereas those treated with varenicline experienced a decrease in both brain activity and reported cravings in response to smoking cues. In a scan taken while the individuals were at rest before viewing the videos, participants who took varenicline showed a greater activation in the brain area known as tangential orbitofrontal cortex than did those who took placebo. Increased activation in this area predicted a blunted response in the medial orbitofrontal cortex when the smoking cues were shown. “The results of our study reveal a distinctive new action of varenicline that may contribute to its clinical efficacy,” the authors concluded. “Unsuccessful smoking cessation is more widespread in individuals with psychiatric illness, suggesting that they have greater difficulty quitting.

NAMI free course dealing with mental illness

The National Alliance of Mental Illness (NAMI) will be submission a free 12-week course for families coping with mental illness. The Family-to-Family Education program is for people who have a close family member with a serious mental illness. Sponsored by NAMI, the program is facilitated by a team of trained family members who know what it’s like to have a loved one who is afflicted. The next Family-to-Family course will be offered on Tuesday, Feb. 1, at the First Unitarian Universalist Church, situated at 5200 Fannin.

The program will give current information about schizophrenia, major depression, bipolar disorder (manic depression), panic disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, borderline personality disorder and co-occurring brain disorders and addictive disorders, as well as up-to-date information about medications, side effects and strategies for medication adherence. Additionally, those who attend will learn, among other things, the current research related to the biology of brain disorders, the most effective treatments to promote recovery, problem solving, listening and communication techniques, strategies for handling crises and relapse, and guidance on locating appropriate support and services within the community. All instruction and course supplies are free to class participants.

Mental health system weakening to spot danger

Our mental health system is out of order. One must commit a crime before being admitted to a jail or hospital for help. To expect a deranged person to suddenly take responsibility for his or her instruction properly is unlikely. Maybe we should expand our mental hospitals with caring supervision, and keep some of the dangerous psychotics off the streets and out of the firearm shops!

Families Dealing with Mental Illnesses look for Help

In the wake of the Tuscan shootings, mental illnesses and the laws surrounding it have taken a national focus. The illness effects millions of families including ones here in the Ark-La-Tex.
Texarkana resident Nina Fairchild says her mother Brenda Moore is bi-polar and schizophernic. Moore took a turn for the not as good as last April.

Fairchild says her mother hears voices and continually writes bizarre letters. Part of the mental disorder, especially in schizophernia, involves a lack of insight. According to law, adults can't be forced to take medication unless they are direct threat to themselves or someone else. The National Alliance on Mental Health provides maintain for patients and their families.

Doctors to assess mental health efforts

Initiatives at Barrington High School to raise awareness about teenage mental illness in the wake of a number of suicides in new years will be critiqued by doctors under a new partnership announced Wednesday. The doctors from Rush University Medical Center in Chicago and the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University will evaluate such labors as policies and procedures, programs, resources and communication surrounding mental health issues. They also will offer recommendations for improvements.

The Skokie-based Cheryl T. Herman Foundation, which supports education, diagnosis and treatment connected to depression, bipolar disorders and associated illnesses, is funding the partnership. Dr. John Zajecka, an associate professor of psychiatry at Rush University Medical Center who specializes in bipolar disorder, depressive disorders and mood disorders is one doctor and the other is psychologist Mark Reinecke, a professor and chief of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Feinberg School of Medicine. His specialty is developmental psychopathology of depression and suicide, and the treatment of teenager depression.

Image Center provides opportunities for folks with mental illness

The Image Center, located at EFK Plaza in Herkimer, is a social organization operated by Upstate Cerebral Palsy. The Image Center provides an environment for individuals with a mental illness to gather and experience leisure and entertainment opportunities with specially trained staff on site. Individuals may enjoy a variety of leisure time activities with friends such as bingo, board games, trips and parties. The center is ready with a pool table, air hockey table, Nintendo Wii, big screen television and a Karaoke machine. In order to be eligible to receive services at the center, individuals must be over the age of 18, diagnosed with a mental illness living in Herkimer County and getting mental health services.

Help mentally sick

No one chooses to have a mental illness. There are good studies to show that the vast majority of people who live with mental illness are never aggressive and that most violent people are not mentally ill. Nevertheless, with the horrendous tragedy in Tucson there are some things we as a society should face. We do not provide enough care for people with mental illness.

The Downtown Eastside has hundreds of people who do not have sufficient care plans and who, by being in that environment, are severely addicted to drugs as they self-medicate. Whatever you think about police use of force, half the people shot by police turn out to be suffering from mental disorders. I understand we have limited resources and many competing demands for tax dollars, but we need to remember to care for those who need help and are often the last ones who will be able to ask for it. We need to fund supportive housing and adequate care plans so people with mental illness can live with respect and poise.