Mental Health Awareness Month Focuses On Solutions.

Shortly after the coronavirus first began to spread across the United States, public health officials expressed concern that mental health conditions such as anxiety and depression would soon be on the rise as well.

Read stories at Living with Mental Health Conditions from NAMI.

Their concern was so great that in New York, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced plans to establish a free mental health service that allowed anyone needing counseling to speak to a medical professional about the stresses caused by the COVID-19 outbreak.

Two months later, the effects of a spike in cases of anxiety and depression caused by the coronavirus is still being felt, which is why the selection of May for Mental Health Awareness Month carries as much meaning now as it ever has.

As it is every year, the goal during Mental Health Awareness Month is to “fight stigma, provide support, educate the public, and advocate for policies that support people with mental illness and their families.”

Sponsored by the National Alliance on Mental Health (NAMI), the program also seeks to draw attention to suicide, and it does so through the “You Are Not Alone” campaign, which features real-life stories told by real-life sufferers of depression.

The NAMI website contains hundreds of personal stories that detail people’s trials and tribulations with depression. It also offers advice on how best to deal with anxiety and depression, which affects millions of people in the U.S. alone each year.

In 2018, for example, one of every five adults in the U.S. suffered from some form of mental illness and one of every 25 adults in the country suffered from some form of “serious” mental illness, according to a government study.

Another study showed that in 2016, nearly eight million youths between the ages of 6 and 17 experienced a mental health disorder, while another showed that more than nine million people struggled with both mental illness and substance abuse at the same time.

And like the coronavirus, mental illness does not discriminate. It affects people of all races and nationalities, with members of the gay, lesbian and bisexual community accounting for more than 37-percent of its sufferers.

Unlike the cold or flu, though, symptoms of mental illness are not always identifiable. What is typical behavior for one person may be a sign something is wrong with another, but the most common signs to look out for include:

• Feeling excessively sad or low
• Strong feelings of irritability or anger
• Decreased desire to socialize with friends or family
• A strong desire to sleep all day or not get up in the morning

The good news is that solutions for all these problems can easily be found. In fact, in accordance with Mental Health Awareness Month, Mental Health America has created the #4Mind4Body Challenge.

It’s designed to improve people’s overall health and well-being through small lifestyle changes that include eating better, sleeping longer and avoiding many of the habits and practices that can increase depression and anxiety.

For more on the #4Mind4Body Challenge, check out the MHA website at mhanational.org.

Critics encourage use of less risky alternatives.

The term “magic mushrooms” typically conjures images of hippies in tie-dyed t-shirts tripping out while listening to psychedelic rock music during the 1960s. However, the reputation of the fungi that is synonymous with the counterculture is changing.

Recent scientific studies at leading academic institutions point to promising results in the use of psilocybin, the hallucinogen in these mushrooms, for treating some of the most challenging mental health issues as well as addiction. This shift in mindset has also resulted in some cities and states moving to decriminalize possession of “shrooms.”

After nearly 20 years of research with psychedelics, Johns Hopkins Medicine announced the launch of a $17 million privately funded research center to study the potential for the drugs to treat severe mental health and addiction issues. The announcement follows the work of two professors who gave psilocybin to more than 350 volunteers who suffered from depression, anxiety or addiction. The ultimate goal of the center is to focus on the most challenging problems such as Alzheimer’s disease, opioid addictions and major depression and anxiety.

Some test subjects shared their experiences with psilocybin during a recent segment of CBS’s 60 Minutes newsmagazine. All reported relief from debilitating depression and addictions to smoking and alcohol. One woman who had advanced cancer said she no longer feared death.

“This is extraordinarily interesting” the center’s director and professor of behavioral biology, Roland Griffiths, told reporter Anderson Cooper. “It’s unprecedented and the capacity of the human organism to change. It was just astounding.”

Researchers say the drug quiets two parts of the brain that talk to each other while opening up communication lines among parts of the brain that don’t. This results in a loss of identity and accounts for the subject’s ability to perceive things differently.

Subjects, who are screened for psychotic behavior, are given large doses of the drug and monitored for six hours by a trained guide while in a special study room. They lie on a couch with a blanket, sleep mask and wear headphones that play classical or choral music.

Griffiths and his assistant director, who won FDA approval for the studies in 2000, told CBS that about a third of the subjects reported unpleasant experiences while on the drug. He said they have no way of predicting who will have a pleasant, deeply spiritual experience and who will have a “bad trip.”

However, those who reported nightmarish experiences said those proved to be the key to improving their outcomes.

Stories like these, along with the growing acceptance of medical marijuana, have prompted some cities to relax laws dealing with possession of such mushrooms.

In May, Denver voters passed a ballot measure to decriminalize psilocybin and direct local law enforcement to give psychedelic mushrooms the lowest arrest priority for adults 21 and older. The council in Oakland, California, also voted to loosen its mushroom laws soon after Denver. Advocates in other parts of California and in Oregon now are pushing for the same.

In Florida, the situation is complicated. Possession of psilocybin remains illegal. However, in 1978 the Florida Supreme Court found that mushrooms could not be reasonably found to be “containers” of the drug. The court essentially held that if the Florida Legislature wished to outlaw wild psilocybin mushrooms, it would have to name them in the law. So far, lawmakers have not done so.

This is why when Florida Fish and Wildlife officers catch suspected “Shroom hunters,” they typically charge them with removing plant life from a wildlife management area, as it’s hard to prove they intended to use the mushrooms to get high.

Reformers hope that the research will change the stereotypes related to psychedelics, which were banned from being studied in 1970 after they became equated with the hippies and liberalism. Also, scandal resulted after it became known that the CIA gave LSD to people without their knowledge in an attempt to develop a mind control program during the 1950s and 60s.

Critics say that other treatments are available that work on depression, including ketamine, a common anesthetic that won FDA approval for depression after researchers at Yale University spent two decades studying it. This year, it came out in the form of a nasal spray that patients give themselves while in a physician’s office.

“Depression is a brain disease,” said Robert Pollack, MD, a board-certified psychiatrist from Fort Myers. “It’s not just a moment in time.”

The Yale studies have shown that depression is caused by abnormalities of the neurotransmitters GABA and glutamate, which are responsible for most activities in the brain. Ketamine, which Dr. Pollack offers at his practice, triggers glutamate production.

He also expressed concerns that the recent coverage of psilocybin studies might endanger lives by encouraging people to experiment on their own.

“The media just sensationalizes this because it’s about psychedelic drugs,” he said. “It’s irresponsible journalism.”

If you want to know just how dangerous psychedelics can be, he said, “Ask any emergency room doctors who treated patients who took LSD in the 1960s and 70s. The problems they saw were terrible.”

The image many people form when thinking of medical researchers at work is one of serious men and women using sophisticated technology to investigate treatments and cures for diseases. But in some cases, these professionals use simple, everyday devices to combat people’s disorders and manage their symptoms.

A recent study, published in Nature Biomedical Engineering on August 5, reported on a new wireless device that regulates neural circuits in the brain using a tiny implant controlled by a simple smartphone. The researchers say this device speeds up efforts to uncover various brain disorders including Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, addiction, depression and pain.

The wireless device enables consistent chemical and optical nerve stimulation, which targets specific brain cells. Previous methods to achieve this effect involved the use of rigid metal tubes and optical fibers to deliver the drugs and light. This method limited the subject’s movement due to the physical connections to bulky equipment. It also often led to lesions in the brain’s soft tissue over time, making that method unsuitable for long-term use.

But this new approach uses large, Lego-like replaceable drug cartridges and powerful Bluetooth-enabled low-energy. This method allows for the targeting of specific nerve cells in the brain for prolonged periods without the limits of a physical connection to equipment or the risk of brain lesions.

Controlled by a simple user interface on a smartphone, researchers using this device can easily trigger any specific combination or the precise sequence of light and drug delivery without being inside a laboratory. And because it can be used for long periods, the device may contribute to uncovering the basis of many neuropsychiatric diseases.

Last year, scientists from the Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology in South Korea reported on advances in technology using wireless communication and portable devices for diabetes monitoring. Their study results were published in the January 2018 issue of Scientific Advances.

The researchers studied a new technology involving a smart soft contact lens capable of monitoring blood glucose levels in tear fluid, as well as other relevant physiological data in real-time. This data can then be used to facilitate disease management.

Previous attempts at using contact lenses for this purpose came under criticism because the material used was too opaque and rigid, and could potentially damage the eyes. The research team in South Korea addressed these concerns by placing the operational components around the edge of the lens away from the pupil.

The new contact lens that was developed is equipped with sensors that can detect blood glucose changes in the tears, as well as other biomarkers typically found in the blood. These biomarkers include cholesterol, sodium ion and potassium ion levels, offering additional disease monitoring possibilities.

The study researchers note that the contact lens collects tears for measuring glucose changes from those created by normal activities such as blinking. As a result, invasive collection methods, such as finger sticks to collect blood for testing, are avoided. The goal of the new technology is to increase patient compliance with regular blood glucose monitoring.

Other noninvasive methods for measuring blood glucose levels in people with diabetes are also being studied. One study is looking at a technology that measures blood glucose by placing a device near the eye. This technique uses a novel biochemical sensor embedded on a small hydrogel disk. The disk is inserted below the patient’s conjunctiva during a simple, painless procedure performed by an ophthalmologist.

The chemical in the disk reacts with blood glucose in the interstitial fluid below the conjunctiva and emits fluorescent light that is quantified by a special photometer device. This device is placed in front of the person’s eve. It can record blood glucose results in less than 20 seconds.

Another noninvasive device uses occlusion spectroscopy measurements to determine blood glucose measurements. It involves placing a ring-shaped probe around the person’s finger and applying gentle pressure. This pressure temporarily stops blood flow, and optical elements in the device’s sensor perform a sensitive measurement of the light transmitted through the finger.

In one study, measurements taken using this device were compared with measurements taken using invasive methods, and this device proved comparable. Tests showed this device to be a painless and accurate alternative to invasive methods such as finger sticks for continuous glucose monitoring in patients with diabetes.

The broiled fish filet with steamed broccoli and rice you had for dinner last night and the salad you opted for over the hamburger at lunch yesterday may be doing more for you than just keeping your waistline in check.

It may be giving your mental health a boost as well.

Medical researchers have long known that people who are depressed tend to eat greater quantities of fast food. New research suggests, however, that by simply changing their diet, depressed individuals may be able to improve their mood.

Through a study using 67 participants who had either been prescribed antidepressants or were attending regular psychotherapy sessions, the researchers at Deakin University’s Food and Mood Centre discovered what may be a new link between food and mood.

When the three-month study began, the diet of each of the subjects involved was virtually void of dietary fiber, fresh meats or vegetables and consisted almost exclusively of processed fast foods and sugary or salty snacks.

During the study, half of the subjects were allowed to continue eating as they were before the trial began while the other half were given diets made up exclusively of lean proteins such as grass-fed beef, fish, fresh vegetables, eggs and nuts.

All of the subjects’ depression levels were tested both before and after the trial began, and what the researchers found was that among those who ate healthier during the 12-week study, the scores improved by an average of 11 points.

In addition, nearly a third of the 33 individuals in the intervention group recorded scores so low they were deemed to be in remission. As for those who continued to eat normally, only 8 percent achieved remission while depression scores on average rose just 4 points.

While the study is hardly definitive, it suggests that any individual suffering from major depression could improve his or her mood simply by eating a healthier diet, which will likely result in better overall physical health as well.

All of this does, of course, fall under the category of easier said than done. After all, it is well known that when people are depressed, they often have a tendency to reach for comfort foods that they hope will lighten their moods.

It’s doubtful, though, that a bowl of ice cream or a box of chocolates will actually make anyone feel better. It’s quite possible, though, that by substituting a handful of grapes or some nuts and raisins for the ice cream or candy will make you feel better.

Some other eating tips that might help swing your mood in a more positive direction include eating a health breakfast; eating foods high in Omega-3 fatty acids such as fatty fish and walnuts and consuming at least 600 international units of Vitamin D per day.

For most of my life, I lived in Pennsylvania and for a while in Ohio. What these states have in common are the dark, dreary, depressing winter months. For me, they were really depressing because I suffer from SAD, seasonal affective disorder. I even ordered a therapeutic lightbox from Alaska, which I willed to my former officemates in Cleveland when I moved to Florida.

I’m not the only one who gets depressed during the dark months of the year. SAD affects about 4 percent to 6 percent of the US population. People with SAD in the winter typically feel lethargic, sleep a lot, eat more and gain weight, and generally stay inside until spring.

Getting SAD in the winter kinda makes sense, mainly because daylight is sparse and you have no energy to do anything anyway. Amazingly though, about 10 percent of people with SAD get symptoms of depression during the daylight-heavy summer months. It’s called reverse SAD or summer SAD.

People who get SAD in the summer typically have symptoms that are the opposite of those of winter SAD. They generally can’t sleep or don’t need as much sleep, eat less and lose weight and are agitated or anxious instead of lethargic. One thing people with summer SAD have in common with their winter counterparts is the tendency to avoid outside activities, which can lead to isolation. Not good!

Researchers have no definitive answers for what causes summer SAD. There’s been more research done on winter SAD because it’s more common, but studies that have been done on summer SAD point to a few possible reasons for its development.

Dearth of daylight is known to be a culprit in winter SAD. An overabundance of it is thought to contribute to the summer variety. Sunlight affects the production of melatonin, a powerful antioxidant and free radical scavenger that’s an ingredient of the neurotransmitter serotonin, which plays a role in controlling mood.

Messing up melatonin screws up the serotonin levels in the brain, which can lead to mood changes, including depression. Melatonin also affects the sleep-wake cycle, altering sleep patterns.

The higher summer temperatures are suspected of contributing to summer SAD, too. The heat in the summer can be oppressive and agitating to people with SAD. Some research suggests summer SAD has a genetic component. It’s been found that as many as two-thirds of people who suffer with SAD have a family member with a major mood disorder.

Researchers have floated a few other theories as well. Some suggested a link between SAD and allergies. Others are trying to determine if the season you were born in has any impact on the development of a seasonal mood disorder.  Sounds pretty out there to me!

If you get depressed during the summer months, there are some things you can do to help you get through it. Here are a few tips:

Don’t suffer in silence. Consider talking to a qualified therapist to share your struggles and get some management strategies. Another option is a physician or psychiatrist. Medication may be an appropriate treatment for you.

Get enough sleep. You might not feel like sleeping, but not getting enough can trigger symptoms or make them worse. The recommendation for adults is seven to eight hours of sleep per 24-hour period.

Don’t forget to exercise. Summer is a busy time, but take time to get in a workout. Physical activity is known to fight the symptoms of depression. Schedule your exercise for early mornings or evenings when it’s not so hot outside or consider an indoor exercise routine to beat the summer heat.

Don’t overdo dieting. I know you want to fit into that bathing suit, but being on a restrictive diet can make you feel stressed and unhappy. Instead, eat a healthy, balanced diet rich in protein, fruits and vegetables.

Plan ahead. If you currently take medication for a mood disorder, consult your doctor in the spring. He or she may adjust your dose ahead of time to prepare you for the depression of summer SAD that’s coming your way.

If you get SAD during the summer, take heart; fall’s just a few months away!

The ancient Chinese therapy of acupuncture has gained considerable steam in the United States during the past 20 years or so. Today, more than three million Americans receive the treatment each year, and the number just continues to grow.

If you’ve had acupuncture, let us know what you think about it. If you’re just considering it, here are a few particulars to help you make a more informed decision.

In Chinese medicine, health depends on the balance of the extremes (yin and yang) of the life force, or energy, known as chi. This life force flows through pathways in the body called meridians. The Chinese believe illness results when there’s an imbalance of chi.

The acupuncture treatment involves inserting very thin needles through your skin at specific points on your body that correspond to the meridians. By accessing the meridians, the treatment brings the chi back into balance and helps you feel better. Many in the medical community, however, remain skeptical of its benefits.

Western medicine has long known about acupuncture. An article that ran in The New York Times in 1854 is the first known to report on it in the United States. More than 160 years later, many health care practitioners are still wary of its value. However, during the century plus since that first article was written, a lot of research has been conducted and more has become known about this alternative therapy’s effectiveness.

For example, a 2012 meta-analysis, which is a study of existing research, compared acupuncture to standard medical treatment for musculoskeletal pain, chronic headaches and osteoarthritis. The researchers found a statistically significant benefit to acupuncture when compared to standard treatment.

One reason for this, scientists speculate, is acupuncture needles create tiny injuries where they are inserted. These injuries cause the body’s immune system to react by sending anti-inflammatory proteins and other healing substances to the injury site. By revving up the immune system, it is primed to manage bigger problems.

Another possibility the researchers suggest is the increased blood flow and immune system substances now present at the injury site could help remove accumulated cellular byproducts that may be leading to certain painful conditions.

A popular way acupuncture is being used in this country is as a complementary treatment along with standard medical care. Western health care practitioners see acupuncture points as places where muscles, connective tissue and nerves can be stimulated. One theory is that the treatment incites neurotransmitters to release the body’s own pain-killing chemicals.

A 2017 meta-analysis of 29 clinical trials seemed to back this approach to using acupuncture. It looked at nearly 18,000 patients with chronic neck, low back, knee or headache pain.

The study found that adding acupuncture to standard medical care, such as anti-inflammatory medications, significantly reduced the number of headaches and migraines. It also reduced the severity of neck and low back pain, and the pain and disability associated with osteoarthritis.

Acupuncture has been shown to be effective in treating pain, but it also treats other types of disorders. It’s been used to help with conditions related to cancer treatment, such as nausea and vomiting, and severe dry mouth. One study showed it is even effective at treating anxiety and depression.

The World Health Organization reports that acupuncture is effective for treating 28 conditions, but there’s evidence to suggest it may have therapeutic value for many more. If you’re thinking about trying acupuncture, consider this: it is a less costly treatment option than many standard therapies, and it has very few side effects.