Sunday Sanity: Front Row Seats At The New Wal-Mart Boxing Ring

What do a wake, a funeral, a dog who seems to have developed irritable bowel syndrome, a depleted bank account, and a would-be fistfight in a Wal-Mart parking lot all have in common?

Why, they all worked together to make up my week, of course.

(Don’t worry, I wasn’t involved in the scuffle. I just happened to be strolling up the aisle when Wal-Mart’s parking lot almost turned into a boxing ring.)

Fortunately for today’s Sunday Sanity (yes, Sunday - I was running errands yesterday and our servers were undergoing maintenance last night, so, no posting for me!), the world of mental health news and events has been just as eventful (though not quite as depressing) as my week.

This week at Mental Health Notes, I offered you resources for learning more about brain stem strokes, told you about NAMI’s call for survey participants and the DBSA’s plethora of mental health podcasts, and updated you on my boyfriend’s Wentworth Miller’s (and his fans’) success with a donation to UNICEF. It was also a big week for books, as I finally posted my review of Bruce Goldstein’s Puppy Chow Is Better Than Prozac and started a contest for a copy of Dr. David Clarke’s They Can’t Find Anything Wrong!

Regarding mental health advocacy, Mental Health America released “Get Connected” on Campus to offer college students stay connected and manage stress, and gives us information about the Democratic and Republican platforms on mental health and substance abuse issues, while the National Alliance on Mental Illness offers tips on how to manage hot weather while taking medication.

In the world of mental health news, UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers have discovered (with mice) the need to create new brain cells for exercise or antidepressants to be effective in reducing depression, a study published in a recent online issue of Neurology shows that older people’s mental skills begin to decline before death even without the presence of dementia, and researchers from the University of Michigan Depression Center and their nationwide colleagues have found gender differences regarding the effectiveness of antidepressants. Cherry Hospital of Goldsboro, North Carolina will soon be under investigation after the recent death of a patient who was left unattended in a chair for 22 hours and died choking on his medication, Dr. Raj Sherman of Canada is taking on mental health stigma, and in Australia a man who loses one of his cabins and “lost an income” to the arson of a mentally ill homeless man feels the Mental Health Court’s decision to detain the man at a mental health facility is a “cop out.”

Here at b5media’s Health & Wellness Channel, Kristina at Autism Vox talks about the shocking case of a video on YouTube of an autistic boy getting beaten up, Kendra at A Hearty Life muses on the mental strength a marathon runner must have, and Liz at Alzheimer’s Notes shares a video about a family dealing with Alzheimer’s Disease. The gals at Healthbolt are holding a giveaway for the Food Matters Documentary DVD, Scott at Health and Men talks about how badly America’s healthcare needs help, and Grace at Kids Health Notes gives a few tips on how to help your kids get back to school stress free. Karen at Pink Ribbon Review is up for the Best Health Blog for the Blogger’s Choice Awards, Angelique at Breaking the Mirror celebrates her 23rd “ana-versary,” and, sadly, Marijke at Help My Hurt explores a different kind of hurt when she said goodbye to her beloved greyhound Dee.

That’s all for this week, folks! There are some pretty interesting news bits in there - some I will probably address further later this week - but in the meantime feel free to discuss them in the comments!

Image: SXC