Researcher Connects Computer Communications And Psychosis

Tags

chaplaincy, facebook, Internet addiction, pastoral care, psychology, psychosis, spiritual care, technology

One of the major drawbacks to technology is its tendency to be addictive. The following study discusses some of these problems.

Researcher Connects Computer Communications And Psychosis

Main Category: Psychology / Psychiatry
Article Date: 23 Nov 2012 – 0:00 PST

As Internet access becomes increasingly widespread, so do related psychopathologies such as Internet addiction and delusions related to the technology and to virtual relationships. Computer communications such as Facebook and chat groups are an important part of this story, says Dr. Uri Nitzan of Tel Aviv University’s Sackler Faculty of Medicine and the Shalvata Mental Health Care Center in a new paper published in the Israel Journal of Psychiatry and Related Sciences.

In his study, the researcher presented three in-depth case studies linking psychotic episodes to Internet communications from his own practice. According to Dr. Nitzan, patients shared some crucial characteristics, including loneliness or vulnerability due to the loss of or separation from a loved one, relative inexperience with technology, and no prior history of psychosis or substance abuse. In each case, a connection was found between the gradual development and exacerbation of psychotic symptoms, including delusions, anxiety, confusion, and intensified use of computer communications.

The good news is that all of the patients, who willingly sought out treatment on their own, were able to make a full recovery with proper treatment and care, Dr. Nitzan says.

Behind the screen

The Internet is a free and liberal space that many individuals use on a daily basis and a growing part of a normal social life. But while technologies such as Facebook have numerous advantages, some patients are harmed by these social networking sites, which can attract those who are lonely or vulnerable in their day-to-day lives or act as a platform for cyber-bullying and other predatory behavior.

All three of Dr. Nitzan’s patients sought refuge from a lonely situation and found solace in intense virtual relationships. Although these relationships were positive at first, they eventually led to feelings of hurt, betrayal, and invasion of privacy, reports Dr. Nitzan. “All of the patients developed psychotic symptoms related to the situation, including delusions regarding the person behind the screen and their connection through the computer,” he says. Two patients began to feel vulnerable as a result of sharing private information, and one even experienced tactile hallucinations, believing that the person beyond the screen was physically touching her.

Some of the problematic features of the Internet relate to issues of geographical and spatial distortion, the absence of non-verbal cues, and the tendency to idealize the person with whom someone is communicating, becoming intimate without ever meeting face-to-face. All of these factors can contribute to a patient’s break with reality, and the development of a psychotic state.

A changing social landscape

Dr. Nitzan and his colleagues plan to do more in-depth research on Facebook, studying the features and applications that have the potential to harm patients emotionally or permit patients to cause emotional harm to others. Some psychotic patients use the Internet to disturb people, abusing their ability to interact anonymously, he says.

Because social media are now such an important part of our culture, mental health professionals should not overlook their influence when speaking to patients, Dr. Nitzan counsels. “When you ask somebody about their social life, it’s very sensible to ask about Facebook and social networking habits, as well as Internet use. How people conduct themselves on the Internet is quite important to psychiatrists, who shouldn’t ignore this dimension of their patients’ behavior patterns.”

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The new brain scan for Alzheimer’s: what’s early certainty worth?

Tags

Aging, Alzheimer's disease, alzheimers, chaplaincy, dementia care, health, health care, medical ethics, medicine, mental-health, research, technology

Here is an interesting ethical dilemma to consider in the near future.  Would you want to know if you were predisposed to Alzheimer’s?  Would knowing for certain if you had a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s make a difference in how you choose to live the rest of your life?  Here is a post that poses these and other questions on the subject.

by: Leslie Kernisan

 

Last week the NY Times story on a new scan that identifies Alzheimer’s in the brain caught my eye, and probably caught yours too. What is the benefit of this test, wondered my colleague Alex Smith in a recent Geripal post, and is it worth the cost?

What is the value of “knowing for sure — period”?

I can’t say I know the answer for sure, but I do know that the period of uncertainty is hard on most families when we work up early cognitive impairment in the outpatient setting. (It usually lasts for months, if not longer.)

I also know that for geriatricians in outpatient clinical practice, the diagnostic question isn’t just “Is it or isn’t it Alzheimer’s?” It’s also:

• What’s causing this cognitive impairment?
• Is it dementia (of any stripe)?
• Are there any additional factors making the cognition worse? (As in: medications, medications, and oh yes, medications. Benzos and anticholinergics, I’m talking about you.)

The new brain scan, obviously, doesn’t answer many of these questions, nor does it directly lead to better dementia care for patients and families.

Still, I think that decreased period of uncertainty might be valuable, especially when I think about how the process of diagnosing early dementia usually goes. (I wrote about my experience of this process in more detail on the Geritech.org blog this week.)

So although usually I’m a less-is-more kind of clinician, I find myself conflicted about the scan.

Would I order it? Maybe.

What about the rest of you? I’m especially eager to hear thoughts from the other clincians who are diagnosing dementia in the outpatient setting.

What Smartphone Phantom Vibration Syndrome is Revealing

Tags

phantom vibration, psychology, smartphones, technology

Many of us have this experience.  We don’t have our phone with us, and suddenly we feel a vibration in our pocket and begin looking for the source of the vibration, the phone that isn’t there.  In this article, one author discusses the psychological ramifications of phantom vibrations and what this means about our lives in a technological age.

By Elisha Goldstein, Ph.D.

 

A few years ago I was sitting at lunch talking to a friend when my brain picked up a subtle buzz in my pocket. I reached for the phone to see what the message might be and lo and behold, my phone wasn’t there, it was sitting right on the table. I was being visited by a phantom vibration.

If you’ve experienced this, you’re not alone. It’s apparently a widespread phenomenon. But what does it mean to our daily life?

In a recent study, 89 percent of undergraduates experienced phantom vibrations about once every two weeks. That’s fascinating, but even more fascinating as it applies to our mental health is that people who are more reactive to messages on their phones also had a higher rate of phantom vibrations than those who weren’t.

The study suggests that targeting people’s reactivity to Smartphone messaging can help reduce these vibrations.

In my book, the very experience of phantom vibrations has widespread implications in helping us understand the relationship between our brain, perception and why we do what we do in life.

What do I mean?

This study shows us that people who use phones more and are more reactive experience more vibrations that are not even there. It’s not too far of a leap to say then that people who practice and repeat certain negative ways of seeing things, are more likely to see people and the world negatively, and it’s highly possible that their perception is a phantom or something that’s not based in reality.

Remember that phrase, “neurons that fire together, wire together”? Well, here’s another example of that to the extreme; the neurons are wiring together to create a perception that may not actually exist. We can also look at other repetitive things in our environment that may create phantom perception.

Does it matter that it’s a phantom vibration or that the phone isn’t in the pocket? If we feel the vibration, we feel the vibration, it exists in our experience.

We can use this phantom vibration research to our advantage. If we increase experiences that have to do with kindness, compassion, forgiveness, altruism, openness and other approaches that have high correlations with happiness and well-being, can we create the effect of experiencing more of this even in the face of difficulty when our brains would normally default to the negative?

Neuroscience, learning theory and probably many people’s experience is showing us the answer is yes. A thick thread that weaves through The Now Effect says that when we intentionally practice and repeat things in life they become automatic.

And so it is: phantoms that are coming to us through our technology are once again showing us that we are active participants in our own health and well-being.

Allow this to be a moment of taking a few deep breaths, rebooting your nervous system, and checking in with the things in your environment that are passively influencing the way you see yourself and others.

What small actions can you begin to practice to shape the kind of vibrations you feel in daily life?

As always, please share your thoughts, stories and questions below. Your interaction creates a living wisdom for us all to benefit from.

Phone photo available from Shutterstock

Elisha Goldstein, Ph.D. is a clinical psychologist in private practice in West Los Angeles and is author of The Now Effect, co-author of A Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Workbook, Foreword by Jon Kabat-Zinn, author of the Mindful Solutions at Work App, the Mindful Solutions audio series, and the Mindfulness at Work™ program currently being adopted in multiple multinational corporations. Join The Now Effect Community for free Daily Now Moments, Weekly Updates and tips and free access to a Live Monthly Online Event with Elisha Goldstein, PhD.

Are We Our Brother’s Keeper? Dealing with Suicide on Facebook, Online

Tags

chaplaincy, facebook, national suicide prevention lifeline, psychology, suicidal ideation, suicide, suicide help, suicide prevention, technology

The Internet can often be a place of further anonymity when people are feeling depressed or suicidal.  It is a place to go for help without “revealing” too much (though this statement would depend on how much one put out there in a less depressed state).  The question is, what should someone do when coming across a person expressing suicidal thoughts.  The below article and the article I will post after this piece discuss this topic in depth.

By John M. Grohol, PsyD Founder & Editor-in-Chief

 

Suicide on the Internet has been a concern since the Internet spawned Usenet newsgroups (think “forums” in today’s vernacular) in the 1980s. It was one of the first things I came across in the early 1990s when I started visiting these online support groups and discussion forums — lots and lots of suicidal people are online.

Suicide is the third leading cause of death among teens and young adults ages 10 through 24 and the second leading cause of death among those ages 25 through 34.¹ Over 10,000 people a year in the U.S. alone die by suicide in these two age groups, and a total of over 32,000 people commit suicide each and every year.

Diseases like diabetes, cancer and heart disease kill more Americans every year — but they tend to be older people. HIV kills far less people but gets far more attention in the press. And while childhood cancer is indeed tragic, suicide in a young person is far more tragic because it is far more treatable and preventable — if only people would open their eyes.

So given young people’s overwhelming use and living their lives online, what do you do when you come across someone who’s suicidal and online? Should you even do anything?

 

Remember, suicidal thoughts happen ““when pain exceeds resources for coping with pain.” When a person is reaching out online, it could be a cry for help because they are very close to committing suicide, or because they don’t have any specific plan, but are just in extreme emotional pain. If they could reach out for help in a more targeted way — e.g., by contacting a mental health professional, friend or doctor — they probably would.

People turn to expressing their suicidal thoughts online because it is the way people communicate nowadays — especially young people. They don’t use the phone as much. It just follows that “online” is the place to find a place to post such thoughts.

Natasha Tracy recently explored this topic on her blog and suggested the following steps be followed:

In the case of Facebook suicide threats:

• Reach out to the person and ask them if they are alright. Ask them if they are getting help.
• Give them the information on suicide hotline numbers.
• There is an optional third step here – report the suicide threat to Facebook.

If the person responds and says they are getting help or that they do not intend to attempt suicide, you have done your job. Always encourage they seek professional help and tell them they are not alone.

I agree with these three points — except that the last one is only relevant to Facebook. Since Facebook does not equal the Internet — and more people spend more time online NOT on Facebook — I’d suggest you can contact the site’s owner of where you found the posting, and let them know about it (in case they don’t already). Facebook’s own suicidal reporting system is a half-hearted good step forward (and the one I would consider using, despite its violation of the users’ privacy and inherent paternalism). CrisisChat.org is another good online service for those in immediate crisis — but has limited availability at present. (More online suicide resources can be found here.)

Letting a person know they are being heard is so important and so easy to do. It also helps a little bit with the hopelessness that accompanies suicidal thoughts.

The key to suicide intervention online is to connect the person with the suicide crisis resources in their country or local community.²

Since you may often not know where that is, your ability to actually do that — even to get them to the right country’s resources — may be severely limited. For instance, giving them a telephone number for the U.S. when they’re in Saudi Arabia is not only of no help — it could just reinforce the hopelessness and helplessness of their own situation.

If the person doesn’t respond or responds saying that they will kill themselves:

• Ask them where they are.
• Tell them that you have to contact the authorities to get them help.
• Call a suicide hotline number or the police to report the suicide threat to the professionals.
• Give all the information you have to the professionals including any information the person has on their Facebook page about their phone number, address, current location or anything else that might help find the person.
• Tell the person that you have called for help and continue to encourage them to reach out to a professional.

While I respect these suggestions, they require far more effort on each individual’s part and calls into question — are we are brother’s keeper? Are we actually responsible for other people’s actions online??

I’d argue the answer depends on each person’s situation. These suggestions may be helpful as a general guideline — but if and only if you yourself are in a place you feel comfortable, safe, and with enough time to do so.³

Most people are going to those who might come across the post of a friend or acquaintance that they simply didn’t know was feeling so bad. If someone you know is feeling so bad and suicidal that they’ve reached out to their Facebook friends, Twitter followers, or someplace else online as a means of expression, it’s probably safe to say they need some support. Lend a helping hand if you feel up to it.

Suicide remains a serious a concern in our society. These tips are generally good and well-intentioned. But don’t feel guilty if you don’t feel up to it. We can only be responsible for our own actions — online and in real life.

Suicide Resources

• Suicide – Read this first
• Online Suicide Resources
• Common Hotline Phone Numbers

Read the full article: What to do if a Person Threatens Suicide on Facebook

Footnotes:

1. http://www.cdc.gov/Injury/wisqars/pdf/10LCD-Age-Grp-US-2009-a.pdf [↩]
2. Sadly, these resources are nearly always underfunded and are staffed online with trained crisis counselors who are not the same as mental health professionals (e.g., they usually don’t have any professional degree). So while many crisis resources are helpful and beneficial, some are not so much. [↩]
3. If I had to do this for every suicidal post I encountered online, I could easily make it my new full-time job (as I come across literally dozens each and every day). But most people aren’t going to be like me, working in a field where we’re exposed to so many suicidal postings. [↩]

Dr. John Grohol is the CEO and founder of Psych Central. He is an author, researcher and expert in mental health online, and has been writing about online behavior, mental health and psychology issues — as well as the intersection of technology and human behavior — since 1992. Dr. Grohol sits on the editorial board of the journal Cyberpsychology, Behavior and Social Networking and is a founding board member and treasurer of the Society for Participatory Medicine.

Facebook Use Feeds Anxiety And Inadequacy Says Small Study

Tags

anxiety, blogging, facebook, feelings of inadequacy, pastoral care, research, science, social-media, technology, twitter

In the continuing saga of studying the effects of social media on our psyche, the following article discusses the increased anxiety found among those who use  social media sites.  Just as a point of disclosure.  I share these studies because I think that as our society becomes is more global and all around us at all times through these mediums, we need to be aware of the dark side of social sharing.  I am a user of Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, blogging, etc.  And yet, I also ponder its value in the long term.  I have noticed over time the switching from one medium to another by many of my friends, as well as some who use these sites only sparingly.  I think we gain from being able to share but at the same time I do think that each of us has to find limits for ourselves.  What are we sharing and why? 

Featured Article
Main Category: Psychology / Psychiatry
Also Included In: IT / Internet / E-mail

Article Date: 10 Jul 2012 – 4:00 PDT

Use of social media like Facebook and Twitter may be feeding anxiety and increasing feelings of inadequacy, according to a small UK study reported in The Telegraph on Monday.

For the study, commissioned by the charity Anxiety UK, researchers at Salford University Business School surveyed 298 people about their use of social media and how it affected them. The charity also conducted some smaller in-depth research of its own.

Anxiety UK’s chief executive, Nicky Lidbetter reportedly said if people are already predisposed to anxiety, then it seems the added pressure from technology acts as a “tipping point” to make people “feel more insecure and more overwhelmed”.

Lidbetter said it was surprising how many of the respondents seemed unable to ignore the demands of their gadgets and found the only way to get a break from them was to switch them off.

Clinical psychologist Dr Linda Blair, told The Telegraph that one of the issues appears to be people are behaving as if technology is in control of them, instead of the other way around:

“We can switch the gadgets off but a lot of us have forgotten how to,” she added.

According to The Telegraph article, the researchers found:

As of May 2012, Facebook has over 900 million active worldwide users.

• More than half (53%) of the respondents said use of social media sites had changed their behaviour, with half (51%) of those saying the impact had been negative.
• Those who said their lives were worsened by social media, also reported feeling less confident after comparing their achievements against those of their online friends.
• Two thirds of respondents said they had difficulty relaxing and sleeping after using the sites.
• More than 60% of respondents said the only way they could get a break was to switch off their gadgets: one in three said they did this several times a day.
• Over half (55%) of respondents said they felt “worried or uncomfortable” when they couldn’t get onto their social media or email accounts.
• A quarter of respondents said after having confrontations online they experienced difficulties in personal and work relationships.

But what is not clear from a small study like this, that also only examined links between reported use of media, emotions and behavior, is that it is hard to say what is causing what: is social media use leading to more anxiety and insecurity, or is that people already high in these traits are attracted to social media and/or less resilient to its effects?

With over 900 million users worldwide, Facebook and its use is a growing area of research. So much so, that in May 2011, a team from Norway announced it has developed a psychological scale devoted to measuring addiction to Facebook that they hope will help researchers investigating problem behavior linked to use of the social medium.

One of the scale developers, Dr. Cecilie Andraessen, from the University of Bergen (UiB), said she and her colleagues observe that people who use Facebook more tend to be the ones who score higher on the scale in terms of anxiety and social insecurity.

“We have also found that people who are anxious and socially insecure use Facebook more than those with lower scores on those traits, probably because those who are anxious find it easier to communicate via social media than face-to-face,” she told the press at the time.

The Norwegian team also found that people who are more organized and ambitious tend not to become addicted to Facebook, and are more likely to use social media as an integral part of work and networking activity.

More recently, research from the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada, concluded that while in theory, by helping to encourage and improve friendships, Facebook could be great for people with low self-esteem, in practice, users with low self-esteem seem to behave counterproductively, bombarding their friends with negative tidbits about their lives and making themselves less likeable.

Waterloo graduate student Amanda Forest, said people with low self-esteem may feel safe making personal disclosures on Facebook, but they may not be doing themselves any favours:

“If you’re talking to somebody in person and you say something, you might get some indication that they don’t like it, that they’re sick of hearing your negativity,” Forest told the press.

However, she said when people have a negative reaction to a post on Facebook, they seem to keep it to themselves:

“On Facebook, you don’t see most of the reactions,” said Forest.

There is also some evidence that use of social media affects mood differently to other demands.

Earlier this year, Dr Maurizio Mauri of the Institute of Human, Language and Environmental Sciences at IULM University in Milan, Italy, and colleagues, reported findings of a study where they measured 30 people’s physical and psychological responses while they used Facebook, performed a stressful task, or just relaxed, and found each of these activities appears to have a different effect on mood and arousal.

When their volunteers used Facebook, their biological responses (such as skin conductance, blood volume pulse, brainwave patterns, muscle activity, breathing activity, and pupil dilation) corresponded to what Mauri and colleagues described as the “Core Flow State”, a new concept that researchers are starting to characterize with objective measurements. Some say it is a state where people feel highly aroused and enjoying what they do, and where their skills are challenged. Others say it is a cluser of biological responses that make people want to repeat their experience.

Written by Catharine Paddock PhD
Copyright: Medical News Today

Is Technology Taking Over Your Life?

Tags

blogging, chaplaincy, gadgets, psychology, technology

In a word, yes.  And it doesn’t always have to be seen as a negative.  Yet, there comes a point when technology becomes too much.  We all need to find times when to say enough for the moment.  Of course, that is easier said than done.

By Jenise Harmon, MSW, LISW

 

Most of us these days are pretty wired.

We have our laptops, our smart phones, our Kindles and Nooks, iPods and iPads.

Technology is often seen as being a way to connect with people: we can Skype with far away friends and relatives, chat on Facebook, find friends we haven’t seen in years.

We can hear in minute detail the daily happenings of near strangers.

But do these things which seem to make us close, actually make us more distant from one another?

I see families out to dinner, and each member is completely engaged with their own electronic device.

Moms and Dads are increasingly using electronics to entertain young children, even infants.

Friends stop mid-conversation to answer their phone, or laugh at a text. Couples on dates are not immune – when conversation lapses, smart phones come out.

Everyone, it seems, is plugged in.

I am a big user of technology. I operate a paperless office, I rely on email and text messages to communicate, I use Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, and LinkedIn on a daily basis.

As a parent I know how easy it is to hand a crying child an iPad to keep her entertained during a wait at the dentist.

I can also see firsthand the disappointed look on my child’s face when she says “watch me!” and I’m engrossed in yet another funny YouTube video.

When out with friends, I’m guilty of checking email. Constantly. And I’m beginning to really understand the mental and emotional barrier that a device the size of my hand can erect.

Technology, while seeming to connect us to one another and to the world, can do the exact opposite. Instead of engaging with the people we are with, we become distracted by a screen. Watch two people who are physically together but in their own electronic worlds, and you’ll see what I mean.

I’m not one to reminisce about the good old days. I like my technology. It allows far away family members to watch my child grow up, it helps me to keep in contact with friends thousands of miles away.

I also realize that, like everything else in life, technology requires limits.

I don’t want my life to be a mess of ringtones, vibrations and pings. I don’t like feeling as if I’m obligated to be attached to my phone or computer every.single.minute of every day.

My life is calling out for balance. Is yours? Here are some things that can help:

1. Be engaged in the world around you. If you’re walking with your spouse, be present. If you’re playing catch with your kid, don’t check your phone every few minutes.  Enjoy the silence, the conversation, the scenery. Everything outside of the moment can wait.
2. Spend some time each day unplugged. It may be at dinner, or when you’re watching your kid ride his bike, or when you have coffee with your best friend. Don’t check to see if you have a text. Don’t answer the phone if it rings.
3. Remember, technology is meant to work for us, not to take over our lives. It can be exhausting to think you have to answer every text the moment it comes in, or read and respond to every email within minutes, or even hours.

As technology continues to evolve, we must evolve with it. And part of that means we need to be able to set our own limits on how we use it.

So go, shoo, get off your computer, put away your phone. Wake up. Life is waiting to be lived.

photo of young women from Shutterstock

photo of mother and child from Shutterstock

New Mothers Helped By Blogging

Tags

blogging, first time parents, maternal and child health journal, psychology, research, social-media, stay at home moms, technology

I found this review of a study to be quite interesting.  Here is an example of how one venue of social media is bringing people together and removing a sense of loneliness. 

New mothers who read and write blogs may feel less alone than mothers who do not participate in a blogging community, according to family studies researchers.

“It looks like blogging might be helping these women as they transition into motherhood because they may begin to feel more connected to their extended family and friends, which leads them to feel more supported,” said Brandon T. McDaniel, graduate student in human development and family studies, Penn State. “That potentially is going to spill out into other aspects of their well being, including their marital relationship with their partner, the ways that they’re feeling about their parenting stress, and eventually into their levels of depression.”

McDaniel and colleagues from Brigham Young University surveyed 157 new mothers about their media use and their well-being. The moms were all first-time parents with only one child under the age of 18 months – most much younger than this. The researchers report in the online version of Maternal and Child Health Journal that blogging had a positive impact on new mothers, but social networking – mainly Facebook and MySpace – did not seem to impact their well-being.

“We’re not saying that those who end up feeling more supported all of a sudden no longer have stresses, they’re still going to have those stressful moments you have as a parent,” said McDaniel. “But because they’re feeling more supported, their thoughts and their feelings about that stress might change, and they begin to feel less stressed about those things.”

McDaniel pointed out several potential benefits for new mothers who blog, including giving moms both a way to connect with family and friends who do not live nearby and an outlet to use and showcase their hobbies and accomplishments, particularly for stay-at-home moms.

The researchers found that 61 percent of the mothers surveyed wrote their own blogs and 76 percent read blogs. Eighty-nine percent of the mothers who wrote their own blogs did so to “document personal experiences or share them with others,” and 86 percent wanted to stay in touch with family and friends through the blog.

Because this is one of the first studies to look at the effects of participation in online communities on new mothers, McDaniel noted that there is not enough information collected yet to determine how or why blogging and social networking have markedly different impacts on new moms. However, this study demonstrated that mothers who blogged frequently show stronger connections to their family and friends.

The researchers saw a significant correlation between a strong connection to family and friends and increased feelings of social support, which in turn led to higher marital satisfaction, less marital conflict and less parenting stress. The mothers who experienced fewer feelings of parenting stress also had fewer feelings of depression.

Study participants completed an online survey that focused on two main subjects – their media use and their well-being. Mothers rated their feelings on scales corresponding to each item. Moms also tallied time spent on different activities throughout the day, including sleep, housework, childcare tasks and computer usage. They reported spending about three hours per day on the computer, using the Internet — behind only childcare, at almost nine hours a day, and sleep, at about seven hours per day.

McDaniel is continuing this line of research and exploring why blogging has the significant impact it does with new moms, while social networking may not always show the same effect. He emphasizes that this initial study is all correlational research, and one cannot establish causation from this study.

Self-Harming And Suicide In Young People – The Impact Of Social Networking Sites

Tags

psychology, research, self-harm, social networking, suicide, technology

While the article primarily focuses in on the issues of self harm and suicide in young people, the discussion includes a short piece on how social networking could be a way of preventing both self harm and suicide.  Yet, the piece also acknowledges how social networking can also be harmful.  I guess it depends on the person and circumstances. 

Worldwide, suicide is the most prevalent cause of death in female teenagers, and the third most common cause of death in male adolescents, after road traffic accidents and violence. In a study published in The Lancet, researchers examine existing research in order to look at the associations between self-harm and suicide in young people.

According to official estimates 164,000 people commit suicide each year, but Professor Keith Hawton, Dr Kate Saunders of the University of Oxford’s Center for Suicide Research, and Professor Rory O’Connor of University Stirling’s Suicidal Behavior Research Laboratory, UK, say that this figure is likely to be significantly more.

They highlight that official classifications often hide deaths from suicide to protect families, especially in places where self-inflicted deaths are still considered a criminal act.

Professor Hawton explained:

“Although suicide is uncommon in adolescents compared with non-fatal self-harm, it is always a tragic outcome. Despite the fact that around 10% of adolescents report having self-harmed, the reasons why they do it and why some – but not others – go on to take their own life are still very poorly understood.

Further research in this area is urgently required if we are to make any headway in reducing the number of young people who either cause themselves significant harm or take their own lives.”

Professor O’Connor said:

“To prevent adolescent suicide and self-harm, it is also important that we better understand why some young people who have thoughts of suicide do not act on these thoughts – whereas others sadly do and in too many cases die by suicide.”

Suicidal Thoughts – Social networking sites could play a positive role

According to some studies, social networking sites may influence adolescents who are experiencing suicidal thoughts, but Hawton and his team explain that these types of sites can also play a positive role: “The challenge is in ensuring that new media provide support for vulnerable young people rather than helping or encouraging self-destructive behaviors.”

They state that more research is required in order to help clinicians understand more about the reasons for adolescent self-harming and suicide. Furthermore, effective interventions urgently need to be developed.

Professor Hawton and his team concluded:

“The identification of successful prevention initiatives aimed at young people and those at especially high risk, and the establishment of effective treatments for those who self-harm, are paramount needs.”

Written by Grace Rattue
Copyright: Medical News Today

Talk therapy on phone improves depression

Tags

chaplaincy, depression, feinberg school of medicine, mental-health, pastoral care, psychology, research, spiritual care, technology, telephone therapy, therapy

For many, face to face encounters can be difficult to engage in.  This has led to an increase in phone or other forms of therapy.  According to the below article, it seems that the face to face aspect of care is not an absolute need and for many, this method of communication might work better for improving one’s well- being.  Would the same hold true for supporting other mental and emotional ailments?

Talking to a psychologist on the phone as therapy for depression may work as well as meeting face-to-face, according to a new study.

Depression is common in the general population and psychotherapy is considered an effective treatment that some patients prefer to antidepressant medications.

The convenience of phones could make psychotherapy more readily available. (Charles Rex Arbogast/Associated Press)But about 75 per cent of patients with depression in previous studies said barriers like time constraints, lack of available and accessible services, transportation problems and cost stop them from going for treatment.

In Wednesday’s issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, researchers compared treatments by randomly assigning 325 patients at community clinics in Chicago to face-to-face therapy or telephone therapy for 18 weeks.

“Our study found psychotherapy conveniently provided by telephone to patients wherever they are is effective and reduces dropout,” the study’s lead author, David Mohr, a professor of preventive medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, said in a release.

The results showed 20.9 per cent of the people who had therapy over the phone dropped out compared with 32.7 per cent for face-to-face therapy.

But those in the telephone group scored three points higher on a depression scale than those who met in person.

“The three point difference is of questionable clinical significance but it raises the question whether some individuals are at risk of worsening after treatment with telephone therapy compared to face-to-face,” Mohr said.

Overcoming barriers to treatment

The slight worsening could’ve been because those receiving phone treatment had more mental health difficulties and would’ve dropped out of in-person sessions altogether.

The possibility that face-to-face treatments creates better results for some can’t be ruled out, Mohr said. Physical presence could increase resilience or help people maintain their skills after treatment ends.

“The telephone offers the opportunity to extend care to populations that are difficult to reach, such as rural populations, patients with chronic illnesses and disabilities, and individuals who otherwise have barriers to treatment,” the study’s authors concluded.

“However, the increased risk of post-treatment deterioration in telephone-delivered treatment relative to face-to-face treatment underscores the importance of continued monitoring of depressive symptoms even after successful treatment.”

The researchers couldn’t think of any reasons why the findings wouldn’t apply to psychotherapy for other illnesses such as a anxiety disorders but that wasn’t specifically tested.

They were unable to mask the patients to the treatment, which could affect bias the results.

The research was funded by the U.S. National Institute of Mental Health of the National Institutes of Health.

Are Smartphones, Droid and the iPhone Ruining Our Lives?

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chaplaincy, gadgets, pastoral care, psychology, smartphones, spiritual care, technology, zack morris

There is a trend, not just in certain religious communities, to question the dangers of smartphones on our lives.  It is very easy to get overwhelmed and addicted to having so much in the palm of one’s hands.  Yet, the value that it has cannot be underestimated either.  This article presents a good view of the good and bad related to smartphones.  All I can say is that I am glad that I have Shabbat as it gives me the opportunity to shut down once a week.

By Nathan Feiles

 

It’s amazing how much has changed since the late 1980s and early 1990s when Zack Morris (a character on the TV show “Saved by the Bell”) was given a cell phone the size of a sub sandwich, and phone boxes and antennae were installed in cars so people could have a “car phone.”

It has almost fully become a new world since then. And what’s also most amusing is how much the world revolves around cell phones and their smartphone brethren — phones like the iPhone and Droid. These smartphones are now barely used as phones, but rather pocket-sized computers.

In my work as a therapist, a common theme is people’s desire to repeat the lives they were raised with. For people over roughly age 28, when they think back to their childhoods and pick out the parts they want to repeat as adults, the images that stick out don’t involve computers or cell phones. There was less to be distracted by and more focus on the present.

The ideals that I often see in sessions are very similar (each having its unique variations). The vast majority of people want a spouse or life partner, most (not all) want children, a house or large apartment, vacations with family, family dinners, secure career or job, and friends. But most want one more thing: Connection. Not via a cell phone or Internet, but emotional connection with families, friends, partners, spouses, and children.

 

People now have so much access and connection to other interests that it has become easy to lose sight of and become distracted from our goals and ideals. For those who are in relationships, significant attention and time spent on social media (including chatting on the computer or texting) are distracting from the connection-potential of relationships. For those who are single, it’s become much easier to fall into a daily rhythm where our companion is our smartphone or computer.

The tendency for people to isolate has significantly increased, not because it’s desired, but because it’s just too easy now. There may still be the desire for a relationship, but it’s become harder to get motivated when it’s so easy to self-entertain now.

Are Our Smartphones Helping us Live in an Alternate Reality?

The Internet and smartphones have essentially become a way of living life in an alternate reality. How much attention is spent playing with a computer or cell phone rather than spending time with family or friends, or making friendly conversation in line at the store, or on public transit? How often are we out with a person or people and find ourselves answering text messages (or watching others answer theirs), or looking at Facebook or tweeting?

There are definitely benefits to having the access we have now. But for people striving for lives that mimic an age where the best form of communication was a cordless or a corded telephone, we find ourselves dreaming of realities that are hard to fit into today’s reality. The result is an increase in disappointment that things aren’t the way people had imagined. It can be lonely at times when we have 500 friends on Facebook; however, when wanting to hang out in person no one is there because we’re not used to talking by voice or in person anymore.

We feel comforted having many friends in our Internet world, but often we forget about creating a network in our non-virtual world as well. Reality has undergone a substantial change, and now we’re left to decide how much we want to shape our realities to fit our ideals, reshape our ideals to fit today’s realities, or some of both.

Obviously, the answer isn’t to abandon our social media gadgets. The trouble comes when our doses of alternate reality and real life become out of balance to the point where the alternate reality takes over. We find ourselves interacting more with the technology in front of us — even if there’s a person on the other side — as opposed to live people, including our families.

Disconnecting From Your Smartphone and Reconnecting With Your Life

So what do we do about this? Here are a few suggestions:

• Use the phone function. Smartphones have telephones! Many of us may find that an unnecessary function these days with so many ways to talk with our fingers, but make a goal to reach out to people who are important in your lives with your voice. It will increase the connection and quality of friendships and relationships, bringing them more live as opposed to behind the screen. Maybe instead of typing “Happy Birthday!” on Facebook walls, call them up.
• Schedule your usage. If overuse is an issue, set specific times each day that you’ll allow yourself to be on the computer, check and respond to emails, respond to less-important texts, etc. Basically, set limits on the amount of time spent in alternate reality. (This may vary a bit if your work relies on up-to-the-minute info).
• Schedule your activities. Rather than scheduling computer time, schedule free-time activities: 5pm-6pm, read; 6pm-7pm, play with the kids; 9pm-10pm spend quality time with my partner; 7pm – rest of evening, meet particular friends for drinks, etc. Scheduling the things you want to do can help ensure you’ll actually do them. Make sure to schedule the times and not only the date or activity. That’s what makes the schedule effective — not just knowing what you want to do, but when you are going to do it.
• Leave your phone at home. Remember what it was like to go out and not have a cell phone or pocket computer? Try leaving your phone at home for a period of time just to take some time without being connected. Maybe take a walk without your phone, or go out for an evening without it. If you’re concerned about emergencies or need to coordinate meeting people, take your phone with you but keep it off unless you need to find your friends or are in trouble. It’s amazing the difference just turning off your phone can make.

In the end, a little disconnection hopefully will pave the way for a reconnection to those ideals and goals that are most important to you, even if those ideals were created in a world vastly different from the present.