Well, we’re, what…two weeks into November? And NaNoWriMo is not going as well as I hoped it would. Don’t get me wrong – it’s going much better than last year’s. I just thought I’d be farther along than I am right now. Still, any progress on this book is a blessing!

On to the brainy stuff:

This week at Mental Health Notes, it was business as usual. I commiserated over animal testing in new schizophrenia research, told you about two ways you can donate to help veterans receive mental health treatment, pointed you in the direction of an article about dream symbols that mean you’re stressed, and rambled on about activities that help boost brain power. Oh, and I also offered some entertainment: You can download a radio broadcast about PTSD (informative stuff!) and watch an interesting performing arts segment titled “Mental Health” (not so informative stuff).

Regarding mental health advocacy and education, director Richard M. Patricia is spreading the word about his new documentary, Strive for Happiness. The film takes a look at what it’s like growing up in a home with a loved one who suffered from mental illness. iVillage’s iLearn courses is offering Stress, Sanity, and Survival, a free course that aims to help you learn how to better manage your stress. In Buffalo, New York, a campaign is underway to get mental health providers to volunteer their time and services to make sure veterans receive the treatment – and not just the medication – they need. And, serious mental health advocate and former First Lady Rosalynn Carter offered her views on the state of America’s mental health care at a recent Magellan Health Services, Inc. conference.

In the world of mental health news, research, and studies, hyperactivity is one of the conditions for which children are being increasingly medicated, researchers believe folks experiencing chronic pain may be at more risk for suicidal thoughts, and some researchers from researchers at the Centre for Women’s Mental Health at The University of Manchester think there’s a link between a mother’s mental health and stillborn babies and newborn deaths.

Here at b5media’s Health & Wellness Channel,

• Lively Women blogger Peggy Rowland is holding a contest to win a Conception Kit by Conceivex, Inc. (The contest will run until November 24.) Peggy also has also posted an interesting interview with an aromatherapist who explains how aromatherapy can work to manage stress.
• Healthbolt’s Liz Lewis is giving away a Motorola MOTOROKR S9-HD headset. (This one runs until November 18.)
• Grace Ibay points to a fascinating article about genetics and mental health (those of you looking for reasons to point fingers at Mom or Dad may love this one) over at Genetics and Health.
• Over at Autism Vox, Kristina Chew updates us on a sad story turned sadder involving the death of Jon Jon Jackson, a 10-year-old boy with autism.
• Marijke Durning shares the pain and healing that comes along with losing a pet at Cancer Commentary. And, at Womb Within, she allows a reader to share her story of depression and in vitro fertilization.

Now, I’m off to write!

Post from: Blisstree

Saturday Sanity: The News Is More Important

I’m really getting disgusted with scientific research. I mean, I enjoy hearing about mind-blowing and even sometimes unnecessary and almost always dangerous developments as much as the next person (wow, has anyone else been keeping up with that new FOX show, Fringe? Walter is my hero), but usually only for entertainment purposes. You know, fiction. Science fiction.

When it comes right down to scientific and medical research here in the real world…well, I’m getting jaded. I guess I already am jaded.

I just read an article about how British researchers are using a ketamine (a drug that actually has legit medical uses, but is popular among club goers as “Special K”) to learn more about schizophrenia. Schizophrenia scares a lot of people, so more understanding of how if affects the brain, and possibly how doctors and patients can better manage it, is indeed a good thing.

The researchers chose to use Special K because it mimics symptoms of schizophrenia (which makes me wonder on earth clubbers would want to voluntarily bring on symptoms similar to those of schizophrenia is beyond me, but, whatever). As I was reading the article, I immediately wondered who the researchers used for this little experiment. Given the popularity of the drug, were people lined up around the block to take part?

No. The researchers used mice.

Now, this isn’t shocking to any of us. We humans have unfortunately been using and abusing animals in one way or another since the dawn of time. We do it for food, we do it for advancement, we do it to save lives. I know the reasons. I just keep munching my carrots and advocating for change.

Still, even though the article wasn’t shocking…it made me sadder than other similar research-related articles I’ve read. I don’t know why; it’s not that different. I guess it’s because I just kept thinking about the poor little mice. How scared they must have been to have giants looming over them with needles (or whatever tools scientists use – maybe they fed it to them in cheese). How terrifying it must have been for them to start feeling the effects of the drug. And, not just the effects of the drug, but schizophrenia-like symptoms:

[...] the team showed how the drug disrupted the same electrical brain wave patterns in rats that go haywire in humans with schizophrenia.

Good grief. It’s difficult enough for humans who actually have schizophrenia to learn about what’s going on with the illness – can you imagine how horrible it must have been for mice, who have no clue what’s going on other than something’s going “haywire”?

Does the success of mental health research rest on animal experiments?

Post from: Blisstree

New Schizophrenia Research Saddens Me