Aside from suffering a would-be job disappointment, I had a pretty productive week. I got a good bit of work done, caught up with some snail mail, finally found the perfect collar for Chopper, hung flyers for our next NAMI meeting and ensured it would be announced on the news, in the paper, and in two local radio stations’ community events, and managed to prepare a pretty decent Saturday Sanity for you all!

This week at Mental Health Notes, I passed along announcements regarding The Melanie Blocker Stokes MOTHERS Act and a new online self-help treatment program for bipolar disorder, shared my review of Elyn Saks’s memoir The Center Cannot Hold: My Journey Through Madness, answered a reader’s question about the mental health side effects of quitting smoking, asked you whether or not mental health is going to play a role in how you vote in November, guest posted at Lively Women about the top five mental health concerns for women, and contributed to the Health & Wellness Channel’s theme day for July by providing you with five questions you can ask your doctor about prescription medications.

In the world of mental health news, the recent suicide of a Navy veteran at a Spokan, Washington VA hospital (which brings this year’s count of suicides at that hospital to six) is raising questions about how PTSD patients are being treated. Some researchers have examined a link between energy drinks and college students who engage in risky behavior, while other researchers think having family meals together may decrease the risk of teen substance abuse. And, Elizabeth Klerman of Brigham and Women’s Hospital & Harvard Medical School comments on why older people seem to need less sleep.

Regarding mental health advocacy, I couldn’t find much that I didn’t already talk about this week, but I did learn that the Indianapolis-based Community Health Network is allowing patients to create pages similar to MySpace pages, which I think is pretty neat.

Here at b5media’s Health & Wellness Channel, there are, as usual, a few contests going on. Marijke at Womb Within is holding a giveaway for a copy of The Baby Emergency Handbook. And, Kendra hosted our monthly theme day for July! Head on over to A Hearty Life to check out a round up of posts about independence.

And so ends another edition of Saturday Sanity. If you’d like something featured in next week’s edition, shoot me an email with “Saturday Sanity” in the subject line.

Image: SXC

Post from: Blisstree

Saturday Sanity: From Book Reviews To Energy Drinks

Last week I received a request from a Mental Health Notes reader wishing to see a post regarding smoking and mental illness – specifically, the effects of quitting smoking on people with mental illness:

Alicia, can you please make a posting about the effects of quitting smoking on people with mental illness. The challenges of it, how it can spark an episode, safe ways of quitting etc…This is a really important issue that the “regular quitters” don’t have to deal with. I have had a difficult time finding online information and support on this topic.

Always happy to oblige, I put on my detective’s cap and found the following information and resources for people with mental illness who smoke and want to quit.

General Information about Smoking and Mental Illness

One case study published by the Centre National De La Recherche Scientifique states that within a population that has a low rate of smoking, “Smoking is associated with schizophrenia, but not with mood disorders [...].” Another study, published by the same Centre, states that “patients with schizophrenia show a greater frequency of tobacco smoking than patients with mood disorders.”

Similarly, The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry has published studies regarding the relationship of mood disturbance to cigarette smoking and the association between high nicotine dependence and severe mental illness, while the American Journal of Psychiatry has published a study regarding cigarette smoking and schizophrenia and the Archives of General Psychiatry provide Major Depression and Stages of Smoking: A Longitudinal Investigation.

So, I think it’s pretty safe to say that the number of smokers soars among groups of mental health patients, and mental health patients may deal with side effects of smoking that other smokers don’t have to deal with (like interaction with medication). Couple that with the health dangers all smokers deal with, and why shouldn’t a mental health patient be interested in quitting smoking?

However, for some mental health patients, the side effects of quitting smoking may be frustrating on an entirely different level. Read on to find out why.

Why Might Quitting Smoking Be Difficult for Mental Health Patients?

According to Quit Smoking Message Not Getting Air Time In Mental Health Care, “health services are failing to provide appropriate smoking cessation strategies.” Lack of support aside, what are the side effects – if any – a mental health patient may endure as s/he tries to quit smoking?

Unfortunately, most of the information I found about mental health side effects to quitting smoking revolved around certain drugs to help people quit smoking, like Chantix. However, in addition to “an intense craving for nicotine,” in its list of nicotine withdrawal symptoms the MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia includes:

• Tension
• Irritability
• Headaches
• Difficulty in concentrating
• Drowsiness and trouble sleeping
• Increased appetite and weight gain

All of which can wreak havoc on a person who’s already trying to manage the symptoms of mental illness.

Even more interesting is that the MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia also states, “Withdrawal may also sometimes bring on a relapse of major depression, bipolar disorder, or substance abuse problems.”

Um, hello. That’s scary stuff.

So, how are mental health patients supposed to quit smoking and avoid relapses of mental illness symptoms?

Information about Resources to Help Mental Health Patients Quit Smoking

Naturally, you need to talk to your doctor before you start any health-related program – including one designed to help you stop smoking. Given what the MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia has told us, folks with mental health issues may want to pay special attention to getting a doctor’s advice and supervision.

After talking with your doctor, you may want to check out the following resources to help you quit smoking:

• The American Cancer Society’s Guide to Quitting Smoking
• The American Lung Association’s plethora of information about quitting smoking
• The Tobacco Control Research Branch of the National Cancer Institute’s Web site Smokefree.gov
• Nicotine Anonymous

Do you have experience trying to quit smoking with a mental illness? Feel free to share your story in the comments!

Image: morgueFile

Post from: Blisstree

What Are The Mental Health Side Effects Of Quitting Smoking?