Monthly Archive for September, 2010
Virtual Therapy – Wave of the Future?
Depression is a mood disorder characterized by the absence of a positive effect, low mood, and various associated emotional, physical, cognitive, and behavioral symptoms. Associated symptoms include sadness, pessimism, loss of interest, changes in sleep, decreased appetite, and decreased motivation. New technology has allowed depression to now be treated by way of computer. European countries are actively promoting the use of various software programs and this evolving treatment modality is popping up more and more in the research literature. Is it the wave of the future? Can people actually treat themselves with the aid of technology? Around any new innovative treatment lingers controversy. The concept of computerized cognitive behavior therapy (known as CCBT) is an interesting topic among mental health professionals. Many therapists simply don’t believe it works while others question its acceptability with their patients. Many do not initiate it because they don’t know enough about it. But many fear it as a replacement. Man versus machine - advancing technology is much like a rose with many thorns.
The Price of Happiness
Much research has focused on what makes people happy, but there are no definitive conclusions. For ages, adages that money does not equal happiness have been repeated by philosophers, religious leaders, and cultural icons. Now, a new study debunks that myth. An analysis of income and happiness in the United States reveals that a salary of $75,000 does, in fact, buy happiness.
Shock Therapy – A Thing of the Past or the Only Way Out?
When most people think of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), the first thing that comes to mind may be a scene in the 1975 film “One flew over the Cuckoo’s nest,” where Jack Nicholson undergoes the treatment, in a way more akin to torture than medical care. There are people holding him down, he is not under anesthetics, and the shocks cause him terrible pain.
Fear-Reducing Drugs – An Emerging Science?
A new animal study reveals that a brain protein can reduce the expression of fear when infused into specific parts of the brain involved in behavioral responses to fear-inducing stimuli. The findings have important implications for the possible development of new drug therapies that can mimic these effects in humans with anxiety disorders or post-traumatic stress disorder.
Popular Posts
- Mind Games - Science's Attempts at Thought Control
- The Science of Stuttering
- Intelligence - Are You Holding Back Your Brain?
- Risks of Personalized Medicine
- Is Grief a Mental Illness?
- The Brain's Buying Power
- The Cost of a Good Night's Sleep
- Risk Factors for Recurrence of Depression
- Salvia Divinorum - DEA Control over Magic in the Mint
- The Many Emerging Roles of Astrocytes
Future Posts
Latest Posts
- Thinking Fast Equals Risky Business
- A Gateway to Weight Loss?
- Intelligence – Do You Need it to be Successful?
- A Trip for Terminal Patients
- Memory Ain’t What It Used to Be – And That’s Good for Psychotherapy
- The Science of Stuttering
- Are Your Friends Making You Fat?
- Beer – The Smarter Drink
- Macroeconomics and Suicide
- From Nymphomania to Hypersexuality
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- Veronica Pamoukaghlian, MA: Thank you for your insightful
