Below you'll find a list of all posts that have been categorized as “Family”
Suicide continues to be a leading cause of death for Americans, especially younger people, where homicide and accidents lag far behind suicide in fatality rates. Budgets for suicide research and suicide prevention are woefully small, and stigma is still a barrier to seeking help, both for suicidal people and for their family members and supporters. However, amidst all the bad …
We’re coming up on a time of year that for many (maybe even most) people offers significant challenges. Now is the time to plan ahead for the difficulties you typically face during the holiday season, and call to mind coping strategies that have worked for you in the past, or new ones that you want to try. Depression is a …
Tending to relationships is as important as watching cholesterol An 80-year-old longitudinal study of men, originally Harvard undergrads in the late 1930’s, looks at the determinants of good health, and has some surprising findings. Men who, in their 50’s felt “satisfaction” with their relationships with family, friends, and community had better overall health in the subsequent decades of life. Blood …
Loneliness is an important public health issue The American Medical Association has defined loneliness as a public health issue for all Americans. Why loneliness? Why public health? Loneliness is found across demographics, at every age level. It is not a matter of how many friends you have, rather, loneliness is feeling a lack of connection with other people. You may …
Get close to the people you’re close to. We all know how easy it is to take people for granted, and everyone has had the experience of attending a funeral, or just hearing of someone’s death, and thinking “I wish I had told her I love her one more time!” But close relationships can also be draining, stressful, and many …
Deaths of despair increasing, but only in the USA Mortality rates are rising in the United States, especially among poor, rural populations, and specifically among whites. Life expectancy in other groups continues its historic rise, and this rising pattern is also found in 16 other countries with comparable economic levels. This phenomenon has been dubbed “deaths of despair” because the …
How can I give helpful support to my mentally ill daughter, brother, spouse, best friend? In our practice, we frequently hear from family members of patients desperately hoping for some suggestions or guidelines to tell them what to do in cases of self-harm, addiction, lying, running away, or just plain apathy. It can be a heart-wrenching dilemma: to give support …
Holiday stress is a reality of life for many people, but for those struggling to manage chronic illnesses like bipolar, the holidays can be a real trial. Each year, MoodSurfing encourages readers to spend some time before the holidays reflecting on how they want to face up to, and hopefully get some fun out of, the winter holidays. Here are …
Suicide remains a sad mystery in many ways. Those left behind can never really know what was in their loved one’s mind at the last. We blame ourselves, and we deal with all the guilt, anger and grief that the act leaves behind, but we can never completely understand what leads someone to take their own life. Willa Goodfellow, in …
Bipolar disorder usually begins during adolescence or early adulthood, but it takes on average 10 years between the onset of symptoms and correct diagnosis and treatment. A recent article in the New York Times looks more deeply into the issues and controversies surrounding early diagnosis and treatment of bipolar disorder. Dr. Boris Birmaher, professor of psychiatry at the University of …
Social support lengthens lives – But how? A recent study looks at how interventions directed at patients recovering from medical treatment or conditions can help improve outcomes, particularly by reducing overall mortality. Numerous studies and clinical experiences have shown that social support, broadly understood, can have a substantial effect on survival rates and recovery times for patients in a variety …
Conflict happens in every relationship, no matter how good it is. The key to handling quarrels or conflict in a relationship is to recognize when one or both partners have entered an emotional hot spot, are activated, agitated, and defensive, and are unlikely to be able to continue the conversation without something being done to address how they are feeling. …
What do parents really want for their children? Most would say “a happy, healthy, well-balanced life”. But are the kids getting the message? When researchers asked teenagers what their parents wanted for them, they said “get good grades, go to college, get a well-paying job.” Even before the pandemic, surveys noted a rise in stress, anxiety and depression and substance …
Heredity and childhood trauma are two known risk factors for depression, but these can’t be modified in adults. Are there specific actions that could be taken by at-risk individuals that would make depression prevention possible? Much of the research available so far does not search for a wide variety of possible factors, instead focusing on a hypothesized intervention, e.g. exercise …
Are you supposed to be happy? Depression can be a really depressing thing to talk about and often we are told not to bring up “depressing” topics in conversation, even with close friends and family members. People struggling with depression are expected to put on a cheerful mask and not spread their sadness around to others. How can we learn …
Tips for surviving a quarantine with the family. Quarantines and lockdowns have become a common feature of our lives, and while we may be grateful for not being exposed to dangerous viruses, we are also suffering in a real sense from too much closeness to the people we live with. Weeks of stay-at-home orders may still be ahead of us, …
Privacy is a big issue nowadays, with everything we post online being available to the whole world forever, and stigma about mental illness is a painful reality for everyone. Even so, many people think carefully about disclosing some information about their diagnosis to others, both on- and off-line. Should you “come out” about a mental illness diagnosis? What will happen? …
Is there a link between teenagers’ use of electronic devises and depression? Well, it’s complicated. A new study analyzing data from high school students in Montreal has found a significant link between increased “screen time” and an increase in depressive symptoms. Interestingly, the increase in depression is linked to television and social media use, but not to video gaming. Researchers …
How do we teach children to be confident, compassionate and resilient? How do we keep our kids safe without scaring them too much? In the past generation, the USA has developed a real obsession with protecting our children from violent crime. Many of us are old enough to remember the first appearances of pictures of missing children on milk cartons. …
Interventions to reduce maternal depressive symptoms, especially during infancy may have lasting effects on child neurological development. A longitudinal study recently published in the Netherlands has found that children whose mothers exhibited depressive symptoms during their infancy have measurable reductions in brain size even by age 10. These findings provide evidence for an observed link between maternal depression and ADHD …
