Hypnosis Shown To Reduce Symptoms Of Dementia

A scientist at the University of Liverpool has found that hypnosis can slow down the impacts of dementia and improve quality of life for those living with the condition. Forensic psychologist, Dr Simon Duff, investigated the effects of hypnosis on people living with dementia and compared the treatment to mainstream health-care methods. He also looked at how hypnosis compared to a type of group therapy in which participants were encouraged to discuss news and current affairs. They found that people living with dementia who had received hypnosis therapy showed an improvement in concentration, memory and socialisation compared to the other two treatment groups. Relaxation, motivation and daily living activities also improved with the use of hypnosis. Dr Duff said: "Over a nine month period of weekly sessions, it became clear that the participants attending the discussion group remained the same throughout. The group who received 'treatment as usual' showed a small decline over the assessment period, yet those having regular hypnosis sessions showed real improvement across all of the areas that we looked at. "Participants who are aware of the onset of dementia may become depressed and anxious at their gradual loss of cognitive ability and so hypnosis - which is a tool for relaxation - can really help the mind concentrate on positive activity like socialisation." Further research will now take place to establish whether hypnosis maintains its effects on dementia as the illness progresses, over longer periods of time. Dr Dan Nightingale, co-author of the research and leading dementia consultant at the Abacus Clinic in Newark, added: "Evidence to date has shown that we can enhance the quality of life for people living with dementia through the correct use of hypnosis. We have now developed a course for clinicians who wish to incorporate hypnosis into health care plans."   -- The seven areas used to measure quality of life were concentration, relaxation, motivation, activities of daily living, immediate memory, memory of significant life events and socialisation. These were chosen as the main factors for patients with dementia by health workers. -- The University of Liverpool is a member of the Russell Group of leading research-intensive institutions in the UK. It attracts collaborative and contract research commissions from a wide range of national and international organisations valued at more than £108 million annually. The University of Liverpool

Australian Study Investigates Shockingly Low Level Of Concern In Elderly Regarding Falls

Despite aggressive efforts to raise awareness in elders of the dangers of falling, a study conducted on Australians 60 and older reported that most did not consider themselves at any great risk, nor did they regard prevention information as relevant to them. Due to amounting social concerns - such as the feeling of embarrassment associated with using a cane or walker - and the overly positive perception of self-health, most elders acknowledge preventative methods but don't feel that they're in need of them. The study was performed on three classes of elders: phoned interviews were made to 1) residents of Northern Rivers, New South Wales (where a fall-prevention intervention had been made five years prior) and 2) residents of Wide Bay, Queensland (the comparison community), and 3) a final group consisted of in-person interviews with eight focus groups that recently underwent a similar but shortened intervention process to group 1. The fall-prevention intervention was a five-year program called Stay on Your Feet (SOYF) that emphasized the fact that falls are an important health issue for elders, but are preventable. The phoned interviews asked elders to assess their physical activity, rate their own personal risk of falling and to agree or disagree with the statement: "Older people fall, and there is nothing that can be done about it." In addition to those questions, the focus group concentrated on how to best get the message through to elders to change their behavior through a revamped fall-prevention program. Analysis of results showed that participants from group 1 had actually been affected by the prevention intervention from five years back. Members of group 1 were more likely than those from group 2 to classify falls as preventable and consider their prevention a priority, and were less likely to agree with the said statement about older people falling and the futility of trying to stop it. Aside from the minor impact of SOYF, however, there was almost no difference between participants' perception in both groups in respect to their personal risk of falling, with an equal 60% of respondents rating their risk of falling as low. For the focus group, most participants favored a message that stressed how keeping active will result in keeping one independent for longer. Members of the focus group were keen to emphasize how important it was for them to be able to live on their own and maintain daily tasks, although a fall would certainly alter any elders' independence. No participants of the focus group agreed with the notion that staying more active would result in a lesser chance of a fall. In attempting to explain possible reasons for such results, it can be assumed that members of group 1 were duly affected by the intervention and retained knowledge of falls being both dangerous and preventable, but failed to include themselves as candidates at risk. While they were aware of the risks associated with falls, most felt those risks did not apply to them because of their health status. The focus groups' tendency to promote independence as a valuable asset that many elders fear losing may serve as a model that needs to be addressed in creating the best possible preventative program. The targeted program should be one that modifies traditional methods and places more emphasis on health and independence, which seems to be what the majority of elders favor and desire above all else. -As reported in a February '08 issue of American Journal of Public HealthWritten by - Greg GargiuloStrulowitz and Gargiulo Physical Therapy1 Nardone PlaceJersey City, NJ07306http://www.sgptr.com Contact: japhyryder1320@yahoo.comAbout the authorGreg Gargiulo is the health editor for Strulowitz and Gargiulo Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation, a practice focused on providing high-quality Physical and Occupational Therapy through their offices in Hudson County for over 30 years. Aside from his medical contributions, Greg also writes music reviews for various Web sites and is a copyeditor at The Star-Ledger newspaper in Newark, NJ.

Partially Shared Genetic Profile Between Schizophrenia And Bipolar Disorder Discovered

Both schizophrenia and bipolar disorder can be disabling conditions, and both present clinically with significant mood and psychotic symptoms. These two illnesses also share genetic variants that might be involved in the predisposition to both disorders. A new study scheduled for publication in the July 15th issue of Biological Psychiatry sought to analyze the patterns of gene expression in the brains of individuals diagnosed with one of these disorders to search for a common "characteristic [genetic] signature." Using microarray gene expression, Drs. Ling Shao and Marquis Vawter tested whether there was a core set of genes shared in the predisposition or long term consequences of both illnesses. The researchers found 78 dysregulated genes, representing genes involved in nervous system development and cell death, which displayed differential expression compared to control subjects. As Dr. Vawter further explains, "the pattern of dysregulation was similar in the prefrontal cortex for both illnesses and pointed to key processes. Part of the set of core genes could be explained by medication responses; however most of these core genes did not appear to be correlated to medication response." John H. Krystal, M.D., Editor of Biological Psychiatry and affiliated with both Yale University School of Medicine and the VA Connecticut Healthcare System, adds: "The new findings by Drs. Shao and Vawter provide evidence that there are a large number of genes that show a similar pattern of abnormal regulation in their sample of post-mortem brain tissue from individuals who had been diagnosed with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder. This overlap could provide insight into the neurobiology of both disorders." Better understanding of the neurobiology related to the shared genes may offer a window into discovery of common brain mechanism(s) that could guide the identification of new and more effective treatments. The authors also mention in their article recent discussions that have focused on considering schizophrenia and bipolar disorder as a single illness viewed along a continuum of mood and psychotic symptoms. Dr. Krystal concurs, noting that "we have traditionally treated these diagnoses as unrelated conditions even though many of the same medications, such as antipsychotic medications, are used to treat both conditions." Thus, there may be a need for our understanding of psychiatric diagnoses to evolve to fit the growing support of some common disease-related mechanisms that cross diagnostic boundaries, as evidenced by the findings in this study. ----------------------------Article adapted by Medical News Today from original press release.---------------------------- Notes: The article is "Shared Gene Expression Alterations in Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorder" by Ling Shao and Marquis P. Vawter. Drs. Shao and Vawter are affiliated with the Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Functional Genomics Laboratory, School of Medicine, University of California, Irvine, California. The article appears in Biological Psychiatry, Volume 64, Issue 2 (July 15, 2008), published by Elsevier. The authors' disclosures of financial and conflicts of interests are available in the article. Dr. Krystal's disclosures of financial and conflicts of interests are available here. About Biological Psychiatry This international rapid-publication journal is the official journal of the Society of Biological Psychiatry. It covers a broad range of topics in psychiatric neuroscience and therapeutics. Both basic and clinical contributions are encouraged from all disciplines and research areas relevant to the pathophysiology and treatment of major neuropsychiatric disorders. Full-length and Brief Reports of novel results, Commentaries, Case Studies of unusual significance, and Correspondence and Comments judged to be of high impact to the field are published, particularly those addressing genetic and environmental risk factors, neural circuitry and neurochemistry, and important new therapeutic approaches. Concise Reviews and Editorials that focus on topics of current research and interest are also published rapidly. Biological Psychiatry (http://www.sobp.org/journal) is ranked 4th out of the 95 Psychiatry titles and 16th out of 199 Neurosciences titles on the 2006 ISI Journal Citations Reports® published by Thomson Scientific. About Elsevier Elsevier is a world-leading publisher of scientific, technical and medical information products and services. Working in partnership with the global science and health communities, Elsevier's 7,000 employees in over 70 offices worldwide publish more than 2,000 journals and 1,900 new books per year, in addition to offering a suite of innovative electronic products, such as ScienceDirect (http://www.sciencedirect.com/), MD Consult (http://www.mdconsult.com/), Scopus (http://www.info.scopus.com/), bibliographic databases, and online reference works. Elsevier (http://www.elsevier.com/) is a global business headquartered in Amsterdam, The Netherlands and has offices worldwide. Elsevier is part of Reed Elsevier Group plc (http://www.reedelsevier.com/), a world-leading publisher and information provider. Operating in the science and medical, legal, education and business-to-business sectors, Reed Elsevier provides high-quality and flexible information solutions to users, with increasing emphasis on the Internet as a means of delivery. Reed Elsevier's ticker symbols are REN (Euronext Amsterdam), REL (London Stock Exchange), RUK and ENL (New York Stock Exchange). Source: Jayne Dawkins

Depression And Bipolar Results Worth Striving For - A New Recovery Model For Mental Illness

Depression And Bipolar Results Worth Striving For - A New Recovery Model For Mental Illness
Bipolar Advantage Inc. will be introducing a new integrated recovery program called the "Advantage Program" on September 6, 2008. "The days of thinking a diagnosis of bipolar disorder means living a diminished life are over," says company president Tom Wootton. "With Education, Assessment, Treatment, and Results Worth Striving For, the core principle of the Advantage Program is that mental conditions affect our entire lives, so all aspects need to be addressed in an integrated program. The Advantage Program addresses the physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, relationship, and career needs of each participant with an unprecedented coordination of the entire team of professionals." The comprehensive, six-month intensive program utilizes a professional team including medical, psychotherapeutic, relationship coaching, spiritual counseling, peer support, Anthony Robbins Coaching™, mind skills, fitness, and nutrition. The non-residential program offers working professionals, students and others the chance to fully participate through a series of workshops and individual sessions. "Tom is doing something no one else is really doing. He is turning a serious mental illness on its head and suggesting that by accepting rather than fighting the disorder, people with bipolar can identify and access their strengths and lead lives that are not only satisfying but productive beyond their wildest imaginings..." -Maureen Duffy, Ph.D. As a result of work done with Riverside, Orange, Alameda, and San Bernardino Counties, the Advantage Program was conceived by the collaboration of Tom Wootton, founder of Bipolar Advantage, and Dr. Peter Forster, M.D. of UCSF Medical School. Tom Wootton, one of the leading consumer advocates for the mentally ill and author of two books, The Bipolar Advantage and The Depression Advantage, will be giving free local talks about this integrated approach to creating an exceptional life. Tom will be giving a series of talks throughout the San Francisco Bay Area during July and August and nationwide in the fall. Be sure to check out the schedule of events to find a location near you. Engaging and insightful, Wootton discusses his own experiences and offers solutions to those with bipolar, their family and friends. Therapists, doctors and counselors are also welcome. About Bipolar Advantage Established in 2002, Bipolar Advantage Inc. is a consumer run organization of mental health professionals and others in support of those with mental conditions, their family and friends. Their mission is to help people with mental conditions shift their thinking and behavior so that they can lead extraordinary lives. Combining the insights of professionals with consumers who have mastered their condition, they are at the forefront of a revolution in mental health care. Through better Education, Assessment, Treatment, and most importantly Results Worth Striving For, the Advantage Program sets the new standard of care in mental health.

Protein On 'Speed' Linked To ADHD

A genetic change in the dopamine transporter - one of the brain's dopamine-handling proteins - makes it behave as if amphetamine is present and "run backward," Vanderbilt University Medical Center investigators report this week in The Journal of Neuroscience. The altered function of the transporter gene variant, discovered in two brothers with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), supports a role for dopamine signaling in the disease. ADHD is one of the most common mental health disorders in children and adolescents, affecting up to 5 percent of school-age children in the United States. "We believe that this is important evidence that ADHD can be caused by a functional deficit in the brain's dopamine signaling pathway," said Randy Blakely, Ph.D., director of the Center for Molecular Neuroscience. The researchers propose that because the altered transporter runs backward and pushes dopamine out into the space between neurons - like normal transporters do when amphetamine, or 'speed,' is present - it alters dopamine signaling and contributes to the symptoms of ADHD. "It's like these kids are on amphetamine all the time," said Aurelio Galli, Ph.D., an investigator in the center. Amphetamine causes hyperactivity, paranoia and psychosis in normal subjects. Variations in brain dopamine signaling have long been suspected to participate in the development ADHD and other neuropsychiatric disorders. Dopamine has roles in brain circuits linked to attention, motor function, reward and cognition, and drugs that target dopamine transporters and receptors are used to treat ADHD, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. Because the dopamine transporter is a key member of the dopamine-signaling network, Blakely and colleagues searched for changes in this protein in patients with ADHD. They found a single "letter" change in the transporter gene in two brothers. The particular mutation had been reported once before in a patient with bipolar disorder, which also has connections to dopamine signaling, but the functional impact of the mutation had not been pursued, Blakely said. In initial studies of the variant transporter in cultured cells, the group found no differences in function compared to the normal transporter - the mutant transporter moved dopamine into the cell and was appropriately regulated by dopamine transporter blockers and cellular signaling pathways. Turning to a sensitive technology called amperometry that uses a small carbon fiber to "listen in" on how single cells release or transport dopamine, the Galli and Blakely laboratories discovered that the altered transporters were running backward at an exaggerated rate, literally pushing dopamine out of the cell. "We think this activity would short circuit the normal synaptic transmission process," Blakely said. "Instead of the precise 'pop-pop-pop' of dopamine being released from vesicles (tiny packets of neurotransmitter), there's a cloud of dopamine bleeding out, and the dopamine signaling system is not as sharp as it should be." To their surprise, the investigators also found that amphetamine blocks the leak of dopamine through variant transporter. Normally, amphetamine does just what the mutation does - it causes the dopamine transporter to run in the reverse direction. The findings offer a new perspective on a conundrum in the ADHD field - the fact that two of the medications that successfully treat the disease have opposing effects on their molecular target, the dopamine transporter. With the normal dopamine transporter, methylphenidate (Ritalin) blocks the ability of amphetamine (Adderall) to make the transporter run backward, yet both drugs are equally beneficial to patients with ADHD. But when the transporter runs backward of its own accord - as it does with this rare mutant version - both agents act as blockers and stop the leak of dopamine. "This observation unifies the action of these drugs and strongly suggests that backward-running transporters may be an important mechanism in ADHD, even for those who do not have this particular mutation," Blakely said. Researchers studying the dopamine transporter have found that there are multiple ways to cause the transporter to run backward, Galli pointed out, and the team is now screening other genes in the "network of signaling pathways that target the transporter and reverse dopamine flow" as potential contributors to ADHD risk. The investigators also speculate that backward-running transporters may represent a more general phenomenon, giving rise to multiple types of neuropsychiatric disorders. "Millions of patients have taken drugs that block transporter proteins, such as those that handle brain norepinephrine and serotonin, to treat anxiety and depression," Blakely said. "We used to think that the only thing these drugs could do is block uptake - now we wonder if reducing the backward leak of neurotransmitter is a key component of their utility." ----------------------------Article adapted by Medical News Today from original press release.---------------------------- M. Mazei-Robison, Ph.D., and E. Bowton at Vanderbilt, and collaborators at the Medical University Vienna contributed to the current study. The National Institutes of Health supported the research. Galli is an associate professor of Molecular Physiology & Biophysics. Blakely is the Allan D. Bass Professor of Pharmacology and Professor of Psychiatry. Source: Craig Boerner Vanderbilt University Medical Center
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Study Of Molecular Genetics Of Depression: VCU Awarded Wellcome Trust Foundation Grant

Virginia Commonwealth University is part of an international research team that received a Wellcome Trust Foundation grant totaling more than $2.8 million to identify the genetic variants that have an impact on the risk for recurrent major depression. The goal of the five-year project, a collaboration between researchers based at the University of Oxford in England, VCU in the United States, and Fudan University in Shanghai, China, is to identify genetic variants which impact on the risk for recurrent major depression. Kenneth S. Kendler, M.D., a professor of psychiatry and human genetics in VCU's School of Medicine, is a key collaborator on the study and is working with professors Jonathan Flint, who is the project's principal investigator, and Yiping Chen, both at the Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics at Oxford University; and Shen Xun, a professor from Shanghai. "This is an especially exciting project first because it will be the largest of its kind to try to understand the genetic underpinnings of an especially common and disabling psychiatric disorders, and second, because of the challenge and opportunities to conduct this research with an collaborative international groups," said Kendler. "Our group at VCU has the responsibility to train and supervise the ratings which will be taking place at up to 15 different sites throughout China," he said. According to Kendler, because major depression, MD, is caused by many genes and environmental factors and their interactions, progress in discovering specific genetic risk factors has been slow. Low-cost genotyping technologies have recently made possible whole genome analyses of association between genetic variation and disease, but the complex origins of major depression indicate that no single study will be definitive. "It's important that large, well characterized data sets are made available. We propose to carry out a study of major depression sufficiently powerful to detect the small genetic effects now known to contribute to susceptibility to the condition. Our primary objective is to establish a large and freely available data set of phenotypes and genotypes," said Kendler. The team plans to collect data from 6,000 women with recurrent disease and 6,000 women without the condition to be used as controls. Study participants will be made up of women who are of Han Chinese background - so the participants will be genetically and ethnically homogeneous. Kendler said that Shanghai, China, is one of the few places in the world where it will be possible to acquire high-quality phenotypes in a relatively short space of time. The team will carry out a whole genome association analysis, which assesses variation throughout the human genome through the analysis of between 500,000 and 1 million genetic markers. Their results, genotypes and phenotypes, will be made freely available through a Web accessible database. In July 2007, VCU hosted a week-long training session for a delegation of psychiatrists from China involved in the research. The delegation's visit was the result of VCU's partnership with Fudan University and Beijing Foreign Studies University, part of VCU's efforts to internationalize its campuses. During his presidency, VCU President Eugene P. Trani has established significant linkages with 15 universities around the world, including in the Middle East, Europe, Africa and Asia. During the workshop held at VCU's Virginia Institute for Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics, attendees were instructed on how to assess depression in study participants using detailed research instruments. This involved learning some new interview skills through role playing. These interview skills differ from those used to asses clinic patients on a daily basis. Also, the nuances of questioning used to assess clinic patients differs from how questioning is done in a scientific research setting. There are also a variety of layers to the research interview process, which is estimated to take approximately 60 to 90 minutes. Following the workshop, the delegates returned to China to train other doctors in various health systems on how to assess for depression among study participants and to begin data collection. Kendler, along with Lisa Halberstadt, also with the VCU Department of Human Genetics, visited Shanghai in September 2007 to assist with the training program. ----------------------------Article adapted by Medical News Today from original press release.

Most schizophrenia patients improve with treatment

MedWire News: Most patients with schizophrenia do not experience a deteriorating course of illness and improve with treatment, study results indicate.

Previous studies have indicated that many patients with schizophrenia experience worsening symptoms.

"However, most of these studies relied on non-first-episode [patients] and were biased towards patients who experienced multiple hospital admissions and included patients at varying stages of illness," explain Dr E O'Callaghan, from University College Dublin in Ireland, and colleagues.
They add that the results of some recent studies have indicated that "the outcome of schizophrenia appears to be more favourable than once thought".

To investigate further, the team studied 97 patients with a first episode of schizophrenia symptoms and monitored them over a period of 4 years.

All the participants underwent a variety of tests during the monitoring period to assess their levels of positive symptoms, such as delusions and hallucinations, and negative symptoms, such as social withdrawal and communication problems. Each participant's period of untreated psychosis before diagnosis was also noted.

The researchers found that, on average, there was around a 50% reduction in the severity and frequency of positive symptoms among the patients over the course of the study period, and a significant reduction in their levels of negative symptoms.

Analysis also revealed that the patients' abilities to function in daily life also improved significantly of the 4-year study period.

Furthermore, 40% of patients were in employment at the end of the study period compared with just 21% at the start.

The team also found that patients with a shorter duration of untreated psychosis at the start of the study and those who had spent more time in education showed greater improvements than other patients.

Dr O'Callaghan and team conclude: "The outcome of schizophrenia may not be as pessimistic as once thought and most patients did not display a downward deteriorating course of illness."
They add: "This study supports the relationship between duration of untreated psychosis and outcome beyond the early stages of illness."

The research is published in the journal Psychological Medicine.

Survey reveals mental health stigma

MedWire News: Most people with mental health problems have experienced stigma and discrimination, survey results show.

Furthermore, stigma has a significant impact on the daily lives of people with mental health issues, reports the mental health charity Rethink.

Researchers from Rethink surveyed more than 3000 people with mental health problems about the stigma and discrimination they face, and from which groups they experience the greatest levels of stigma.

The survey revealed that nine out of 10 respondents reported experiencing stigma and discrimination because of their condition.

Of these, two thirds said that stigma had prevented them from doing everyday things, such as socialising, shopping and applying for jobs. Indeed, some respondents reported that stigma had even prevented them from reporting crimes.

The survey also revealed that, surprisingly, the greatest levels of stigma came from close family members, reported by 36% of respondents, closely followed by employers (35%), neighbours and other people in the local community (31%) and friends (25%).

Participants reported that the lowest levels of stigma came from young children (5%), teachers (8%), public transport workers (10%) and elderly people (12%).

Survey respondent Janey Antoniou, who has schizophrenia, recalled one example of the stigma she encountered: "I had a neighbour who used to run inside when she saw me because she had once seen me taken to the hospital by the police in my dressing gown. The fact that I'd walked down the road with a briefcase thousands of times seemed irrelevant."
Commenting on the findings, Paul Corry, Rethink's director of public affairs, said: "Our research clearly shows that stigma and discrimination are ruining people's lives.
"People with mental health problems have enough on their plates without facing additional pressure caused by other people's archaic and bigoted opinions."

He added that the findings will play a part in a major UK mental health anti-stigma campaign that will be launched in January 2009.

"The Moving People anti-stigma campaign will lay firm foundations for ending mental health discrimination in the UK, but long term it is essential that the government ploughs hefty resources into tackling the problem, as has been done in Scotland and New Zealand," said Corry.
"As an employer, the government could also lead by example and employ more people with mental health problems within its departments, and encourage other public sector bodies to do the same."

Life expectancy reduced in offspring of psychotic mothers

MedWire News: The offspring of women with psychotic disorders are more likely to die prematurely than those born to other women, researchers have found.
Dr Jaana Suvisaari, from the National Public Health Institute in Helsinki, Finland, and colleagues also found that this increased risk of death was evident until middle age and even affected offspring of women with psychotic disorders who did not develop such disorders themselves.
The researchers studied data on 337 offspring of women treated for schizophrenia and schizophrenia-type disorders in Helsinki before 1975. The participants were monitored from their 16th birthdays for an average of 28 years.
In total, 29 participants died during the monitoring period. Of these, 13 died from natural causes and 16 died from unnatural causes. Seven offspring committed suicide and two were victims of homicide.
Analysis revealed that, compared with death rates among people of the same age in the general population, the offspring of women with psychotic disorders were around two-and-a-half times more likely to die prematurely.
Even when excluding offspring who developed psychotic disorders themselves, the risk of early death among offspring with psychotic mothers was still 2.3 times greater than that among people of similar age in the general population, and this risk extended into middle age.
"Our current findings suggest that [offspring of psychotic mothers] have increased mortality risk from late adolescence until middle age, and that this is not limited to offspring who develop psychotic disorders," Dr Suvisaari and team summarise in the journal Psychological Medicine.
They add: "It may be that the transition from adolescence to adulthood is particularly difficult for some high-risk offspring, who would need support that would extend beyond adolescence. Currently, adolescent children of parents with schizophrenia are often left alone to deal with parental mental illness and its effects on everyday life, which extend from having to assume adult responsibilities in the family to feelings of fear related to the parent's symptoms.
"Developing support services for offspring of parents with psychotic disorder is an important challenge for mental health treatment systems."

Schizophrenia

What is Schizophrenia?

Schizophrenia is a serious brain disorder. It affects people all over the world. Schizophrenia patients experience progressive personality changes and a breakdown in their relationships with the outside world.

People who suffer from schizophrenia can have a very broad range of symptoms which cause great distress to themselves and their families. They have disorganised and abnormal thinking, behaviour and language and become emotionally unresponsive or withdrawn.

People used to think that schizophrenia was "all in your head". Today, we know the that schizophrenia is a brain disorder. There are differences, deep within the brain, of some people with schizophrenia. Researchers found this out by taking detailed pictures of the brain.

How do you get Schizophrenia?

This is still a mystery. The cause of schizophrenia is thought to involve many different factors. Researchers think that genes may play a role because you are more likely to get schizophrenia if you have a parent, brother or sister with the disorder.

The other causes of the illness remain unknown, although it is thought that schizophrenia sufferers have some parts of the brain that have not developed in the normal way. Environmental factors may also play a role. For example, infants who have birth trauma may be at a greater risk of developing schizophrenia.

There are other environmental factors – like poverty, for example – that can trigger the onset of schizophrenia, although they are not “causes”. Other factors like this are stress, for example while moving house or after losing a job, and substance abuse.

How serious is Schizophrenia?

Schizophrenia is a severe, chronic (long-term) brain disorder which interferes with your ability to think clearly, separate fantasy from reality, manage emotions, make decisions and relate to other people. it is a myth that people who have schizophrenia are very dangerous - this is rarely the case.How long does Schizophrenia last?
Although schizophrenia is treatable, relapses are common and the illness may never fully resolve.

How is Schizophrenia treated?

Despite extensive research there is still no known "cure" for schizophrenia. However, the outlook for people with schizophrenia has improved greatly in the last few decades and many people can be treated outside hospital and live within the community for most of their lives.
Prompt and effective treatment can certainly make a difference. Treatment includes counselling, social support and rehabilitation. In addition anti-psychotic medicines are available to treat the worst symptoms of the illness, such as hallucinations, but there is no "cure" at present.
Any medical information on this website is not intended as a substitute for informed medical advice and you should not take any action before consulting with a health care professional.

Attribution style in schizophrenia linked to symptom severity

Attribution style in schizophrenia linked to symptom severity


MedWire News: Attribution in schizophrenia patients is linked to overall symptom severity, with an internalizing style associated with higher global psychopathology, say scientists who also found that treatment has little effect on attribution.
Although it has been suggested that patients with persecutory delusions attribute hypothetical positive events to internal causes and hypothetical negative events to external causes, there has been little examination of how attribution is associated with other psychotic symptoms.
Romina Mizrahi, from the University of Toronto in Ontario, Canada, and colleagues therefore assessed a cross section of 86 patients with schizophrenia and related psychotic disorders using the Internal, Personal and Situational Attributions Questionnaire (IPSAQ).
The average age of the patients was 31.9 years, and 78% were receiving antipsychotics.
The average total Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) score was 66.68. The average score on the Positive internal subscale was 9.29, while those on the Positive personal and Positive situational subscales were 2.65 and 4.05, respectively.
Average scores on the Negative internal, Negative personal, and Negative situational subscale scores were 6.55, 3.98, and 5.45, respectively.
The average externalizing bias score was 2.73, and the personalizing bias score was 0.40.
Patients with an internal attribution style had significantly greater total PANSS scores than other patients, and a trend towards greater PANSS-Positive subscale scores. Confirming these findings, externalizing bias scores were negatively associated with PANSS total scores.
In a longitudinal substudy, 17 patients with schizophrenia and related psychotic disorders who were free of antipsychotic drugs at baseline were followed-up for 6 weeks after starting antipsychotic medication.
The average patient age was 31 years. All PANSS scores improved significantly during treatment.
There were no overall changes in attribution on any measure during treatment, although externalizing bias changed significantly during the first 2 weeks and then stabilized.
Patients with an internalizing attribution style showed less improvement in terms of their PANSS-Positive subscale scores at 6 weeks than other patients.
In view of their findings, the researchers call for longer term trials to better understand the role of attribution in psychosis and look at pharmacological and non-pharmacological methods to change attribution style in ways that could improve clinical outcome.

Negative life events remain an issue in later bipolar disorder

Negative life events remain an issue in later bipolar disorder


MedWire News: Patients with bipolar disorder have substantially more negative stressful life events (SLE) than age-matched controls, and this increased frequency continues into later life, US researchers have discovered.
There is little understanding of the full impact of SLE on the course of bipolar disorder, with the majority of studies investigating their role in early disease and few examining SLE in older patients, explain John Beyer and colleagues from Duke University Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina.
To investigate further, the researchers administered the Duke Social Support Index, which includes a 20-item checklist of major life events within the past year, to 88 bipolar disorder patients aged 18-49 years, 58 healthy controls aged 18-49 years, 58 bipolar disorder patients aged 50-89 years, and 43 healthy controls aged 50-77 years.
The average age of the patients in each group was 35.6 years, 31.7 years, 59.3 years, and 58.0 years, respectively. The team compared the number and type of SLE among the groups, and their association with phase of illness, age of onset, and previous episodes.
Young bipolar disorder patients had experienced an average of 1.94 negative life events in the previous 12 months, while older patients had experienced 1.64 negative life events. This compared with 0.70 and 0.67 negative life events in the respective control groups.
Controlling for gender, marital status, race, education, and recent hospitalizations, the team found that both younger and older bipolar disorder patients had a significantly higher number of SLE than controls, at odds ratios of 4.91 and 4.72, respectively.
While both older and younger bipolar disorder patients experienced similar numbers of SLE in the previous year, younger patients were significantly more likely to have been recently married, began a new job, relocated, or experienced the loss of a child.
The team also notes that both older and younger depressed bipolar subjects reported more SLE in the previous 12 months than those in a manic state.
The researchers conclude in the International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry: "These findings suggest that SLE remain a significant concern throughout the life span, and may continue to be associated with recurrences into later life."

Dopamine reward-processing impaired in acute bipolar mania

Dopamine reward-processing impaired in acute bipolar mania

MedWire News: Bipolar patients in an acute manic phase of illness show impairments in dopamine neural networks related to reward processing, suggest the results of a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study.
The findings provide a neurologic explanation for many of the symptoms frequently seen in acutely manic bipolar patients, such as poor decision-making, impulsiveness, excitability, and impaired learning.
Mania has been characterized as a disorder of abnormal goal pursuit regulation with elevated levels of achievement motivation and drive, Birgit Abler (University of Ulm, Germany) and co-workers explain.
The DSM-IV states that patients show excessive involvement in pleasurable activities that have a high potential for "painful consequences, eg, unrestrained buying sprees or foolish business investments."
In the early 1990s, researchers speculated that a dysregulation of reward-related neural networks mediating motivation and goal-directed behavior might account for these observations.
In the present study, the researchers tested these ideas by monitoring the brain activity of 12 acutely manic patients while they performed various reward games using fMRI.
They also assessed 12 mentally healthy subjects and 12 patients with schizophrenia as controls noting that "both patient groups were treated with comparable dosages of antipsychotic medication, providing the opportunity to disentangle the effects of medication and psychiatric diagnosis."
When presented with expectation of monetary awards, mentally healthy and schizophrenic subjects showed activation of dopaminergic brain areas, namely the ventral tegmentum. Manic bipolar patients, however, showed an entirely different pattern of brain activation.
Abler et al comment: "Such expectation signals are believed to help prepare for upcoming events and support decision making and planning processes.
"Dysfunctions of expectation signals could therefore help to explain the observation that manic patients tend to make suboptimal, often disadvantageous, decisions."
Further tests revealed that mentally healthy and schizophrenic subjects showed activation of dopaminergic nucleus accumbens regions when presented with a reward that was anticipated, but suppression of this region when an expected reward was omitted. By contrast, manic bipolar patients failed to show such a differentiation between receipt and omission of an anticipated reward.
The researchers say that this lack of "prediction error" could explain symptoms of impulsiveness, disinhibition, and impaired learning.
"Impulsivity was suggested to represent a core characteristic of the disorder responsible for symptoms like hyperactivation, excitability, and hasty decision making that could be related to striatal dysfunction as demonstrated here," they conclude.

Schizophrenia personality profile explored

Schizophrenia personality profile explored


MedWire News: Schizophrenia patients have a unique personality profile that is present across cultures, with male patients seemingly undergoing the greatest degree of personality change, Japanese study findings suggest.
While the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI), a self-report questionnaire covering four temperament and three character domains, is well-established, it has rarely been used in schizophrenia patients and never in Japan.
Hiroshi Kunugi, from the National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry in Tokyo, and colleagues administered the TCI and the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) to 86 Japanese schizophrenia patients and 115 age- and gender-matched Japanese controls.
Of the patients, 33 were female, as were 44 controls. The average age of male and female patients was 41.5 years and 41.9 years, respectively, compared with 41.2 years and 41.6 years for male and female controls, respectively. Patients had significantly fewer years in education than controls, at 13.6 years versus 17.3 years for males, and 13.1 years versus 14.4 years for females.
Average total PANSS score was 62.8 for male patients and 64.8 for female patients. On the TCI, patients had significantly lower scores than controls on the novelty seeking, reward dependence, self-directedness, and cooperativeness subscales, at 17.4 versus 20.6, 13.6 versus 15.2, 23.6 versus 30.1 and 26.7 versus 28.5, respectively.
Patients also had significantly higher scores than controls on the TCI harm avoidance and self-transcendence subscales, at 22.7 versus 16.9 and 13.8 versus 10.9, respectively. Only on the persistence subscale were the scores not significantly different.
Male patients had significantly higher harm avoidance and significantly lower self-directedness and cooperative subscale scores than female patients. In addition, male, but not female, patients had significantly different scores from controls on the reward dependence and cooperativeness subscales.
Both male and female patients had significantly different scores on novelty seeking, harm avoidance, self-directedness, and self-transcendence subscales than controls. There was moderate correlation between TCI and symptom dimensions on the PANSS.
"The present findings indicate that patients with chronic schizophrenia have pervasively altered personality profile as measured by TCI which is in line with previous studies, and male patients may undergo even more pronounced personality alteration than female patients when both of them are compared to healthy people," the team concludes in the journal Psychiatry Research.

www.psychiatrysource.com

Temperamental profiles may aid cognitive therapy planning in schizophrenia

Temperamental profiles may aid cognitive therapy planning in schizophrenia


MedWire News: Temperamental profiles have a different impact on executive function in schizophrenia patients from that seen in healthy individuals and may have prognostic value in planning cognitive enhancement therapy, say Canadian researchers.
There is evidence that symptoms combined with executive dysfunction and personality traits affect the social outcomes of schizophrenia patients, and it has been suggested that there may be underlying pathophysiological mechanisms linking personality to symptoms and cognition.
To examine the influence of personality traits on executive function in schizophrenia, Franços Guillem and colleagues from the University of Montreal in Quebec studied 44 schizophrenia patients and 22 healthy controls, administering the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI) and, to assess executive function, the Auditory Digit Span and the Wickens' test.
The average age of the patients was 27.3 years and the healthy controls were matched in terms of age, gender, and parental socioeconomic status, the researchers note in the journal Schizophrenia Research.
Patients scored significantly lower than controls on the TCI novelty seeking score, and there were significant differences in terms of cognitive function between high- and low-scoring patients, but not between high- and low-scoring controls.
The team also found that there was a significant difference in cognitive function between high- and low-scoring controls on the TCI harm avoidance scale, but not between high- and low-scoring patients, and that novelty seeking has an impact on the effect of harm avoidance.
Both patients and controls who scored higher on the TCI reward dependence scale had significantly higher parental socioeconomic status than those with low scores. There were no significant interactions between reward dependence and cognitive function.
Finally, patients scored lower than controls on the TCI persistence scale, and there were significant cognitive function differences between high- and low-scoring controls, but not high- and low-scoring patients.
"In summary, the present study suggests that the temperamental profile of schizophrenia patients may well be of important prognostic value in the planning of cognitive enhancement therapy," the team writes.

APA Calls Baby Borrowers Harmful To Young Children, Adolescents' Mental Health

APA Calls Baby Borrowers Harmful To Young Children,
Adolescents' Mental Health

Calling the NBC Show, The Baby Borrowers, exploitive and harmful to young children and families mental health, the American Psychiatric Association is urging NBC to provide a better review process of its programming in the future and to take into consideration the serious mental health implications shows such as the Baby Borrowers can have on individuals. The APA is calling on NBC to end this type of misuse of children used in order to secure ratings. NBC's show is designed to be a social experiment placing teenage couples in many different family situations, which includes "borrowing infants and toddlers for a few days to get a taste of parenthood. The APA issued this statement: "The American Psychiatric Association deplores the use of babies and toddlers as props or experimental subjects for a television program. It is inappropriate and sometimes harmful to remove very young children from their families and familiar environments, and the level of harm may not be apparent on simple observation. Since the program is meant to reveal whether or not the 'borrowers' are competent to care for these children, at least some of the children will have been exposed to incompetent and confused caregivers, and to whatever problematic situations arose as the caregivers struggled with each other. We urge NBC never to repeat this misuse of children; not to allow reruns to air; and to use every means to discourage the use of episodes in parenting classes or other venues where they might well be shown." About the American Psychiatric AssociationThe American Psychiatric Association is the nation's leading medical specialty society whose more than 38,000 physician members specialize in diagnosis, treatment, prevention and research of mental illnesses including substance use disorders. Visit the APA at http://www.psych.org and http://www.HealthyMinds.org.American Psychiatric Association

PT Recipe: The Dean of Beans

PT Recipe: The Dean of Beans

That burrito staple is in a class of its own.

Dropped into a salad, pureed into soup, or rolled into your favorite burrito, the black bean adds more than just protein and fiber to your plate. Research shows that black beans are a good source of compounds that inhibit the growth of tumors.
The secret of their anticancer success is anthocyanidins, the rich phenolic substances that give black beans their color and are also found in berries. According to a study in Food Chemistry, black beans are uniquely rich in the anthocyanidins delphinidin, petunidin, and malvidin. Research is just beginning to identify how the body uses each, but delphinidin is already known to interrupt the formation of new blood vessels in tumors, starving cancer to death. It is, in fact, their specific phytochemical content that distinguishes one bean from another, each having a phenolic profile that serves as a kind of chemical fingerprint. The anthocyanidins in black beans naturally occur in a form that confers the additional benefit of moderating blood sugar levels.
Between the Beans: The Difference that Flavonoids Make
Black Bean
Flavonoid(s)
delphinidin
petunidin
malvidin
Effects
antioxidant
anticancer
Pinto Bean
Flavonoid(s)
kaempferol
Effects
lowers cholesterol
reduces risk of heart disease
Dark Red Kidney Bean
Flavonoid(s)
kaempferol
quercetin
Effects
lowers cholesterol
reduces risk of heart disease
antioxidant
anticancer
Light Red Kidney Bean
Flavonoid(s)
quercetin (trace amount)
Effects
antioxidant
anticancer
Black Bean Salsa
Servings: 4-6
Total Time: 15 minutes
Black bean salsa is a simple and refreshing accompaniment to a variety of main courses and makes an excellent snack on its own. Perfect for the warmer months, it requires no cooking.
Ingredients
2 15-oz cans black beans, drained and rinsed
1 med. red onion, chopped
1 orange, peeled, sectioned and coarsely chopped
1 tomato, seeded and chopped
1 green chile pepper, diced
2 tbsp. fresh lime juice
1 tsp. fresh ginger, grated
2 tbsp. fresh cilantro, chopped
Directions
Combine beans, onion, orange, tomato, chile pepper, lime juice, and ginger in a large bowl and toss until well mixed. For best flavor, refrigerate for a few hours or overnight. Just before serving, add chopped fresh cilantro.
Psychology Today Magazine, May/Jun 2008Last Reviewed 21 Jul 2008Article ID: 4604

Using Genetics To Improve Traditional Psychiatric Diagnoses

Psychiatry has begun the laborious effort of preparing the DSM-V, the new iteration of its diagnostic manual. In so doing, it once again wrestles with the task set by Carl Linnaeus, to "cleave nature at its joints." However, these "joints," the boundaries between psychiatric disorders, such as that between bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, are far from clear.

Prior versions of DSM followed the path outlined by Emil Kraeplin in separating these disorders into distinct categories. Yet, we now know that symptoms of bipolar disorder may be seen in patients with schizophrenia and the reverse is true, as well.
Further, our certainty about the boundary of these disorders is undermined by growing evidence that both schizophrenia and bipolar disorder emerge, in part, from the cumulative impact of a large number of risk genes, each of which conveys a relatively small component of the vulnerability to these disorders. And since many versions of these genes appear to contribute vulnerability to both disorders, the study of common gene variations has raised the possibility that there may be diagnostic, prognostic, and therapeutic meaning embedded in the high degree of variability in the clinical presentations of patients with each disorder.
In addition, many symptoms of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder are traits that are present in the healthy population but are more exaggerated in patient populations. To borrow from Einstein, who struggled to reconcile the wave and particle features of light, our psychiatric diagnoses behave like waves (i.e., spectra of clinical presentations) and particles (traditional categorical diagnoses). Although new genetic approaches may revise our current thinking, such as studies of microdeletions, microinsertions, and microtranslocations of the genome, the wave/particle approach to psychiatric diagnosis places a premium on understanding the "real" clustering of patients into subtypes as opposed to groups created to correspond to the current DSM-IV.
Latent class analysis is one statistical approach for estimating the clustering of subjects into groups. In their study of 270 Irish families, published in the July 15th issue of Biological Psychiatry, Fanous and colleagues conducted this type of analysis, with subjects clustered into the following groups: bipolar, schizoaffective, mania, schizomania, deficit syndrome, and core schizophrenia. When they divided the affected individuals in the study using this approach, they found four regions of the chromosome that were linked to the risk for these syndromes that were not implicated when subjects were categorized according to DSM-IV diagnoses. Dr. Fanous notes that this finding "suggests that schizophrenia as we currently define it may in fact represent more than one genetic subtype, or disease process."
According to John H. Krystal, M.D., Editor of Biological Psychiatry and affiliated with both Yale University School of Medicine and the VA Connecticut Healthcare System: "Their findings advance the hypothesis that the variability in the clinical presentation of patients diagnosed using DSM-IV categories is meaningful, providing information that may be useful as DSM-V is prepared. However, we do not yet know whether the categories generated by this latent class analysis will generalize to other populations." This paper highlights an important aspect of the complexity of establishing valid psychiatric diagnoses using a framework adopted from traditional categorical models.

Bipolar Disorder: Manic Mouse Made With One Gene Missing

Bipolar Disorder (BPD or manic-depressive illness) is one of the most serious of all mental disorders, affecting millions of individuals worldwide. Affected individuals alternate between states of deep depression and mania. While depression is characterized by persistent and long-term sadness or despair, mania is a mental state characterized by great excitement, flight of ideas, a decreased need for sleep, and, sometimes, uncontrollable behavior, hallucinations, or delusions. BPD likely arises from the complex interaction of multiple genes and environmental factors. Unlike some brain diseases, no single gene has been implicated in BPD.

A major limitation to progress in research and treatment has been the lack of an appropriate animal model for BPD. This work was developed to create such a model based on a genetically engineered defect in the GluR6 gene. The glutamate receptor 6 (GluR6 or GRIK2, one of the kainate receptors) gene resides in a genetic linkage region (6q21) associated with BPD. Kainate receptors respond to the neurotransmitter glutamate, and recent research in mood disorders suggests that the glutamatergic system may play a role in causing mood disorders.
Until now, the role of GluR6 in regulating the mood swings of BPD has been unknown. Furthermore, the gene encoding the GluR6 receptor has recently been linked to treatment emergent suicidal ideation with antidepressants in a pharmacogenetic study. Notably, individuals with bipolar disorder are most susceptible to antidepressant-induced dysphoric states. In this study, mice of several strains were used to investigate this issue. Mice who were missing the GluR6 gene were compared with control mice.
The mice underwent a series of tests designed to approximate the symptoms of mania. The researchers found that mice that were missing the GluR6 gene exhibited many of these symptoms. They were more active in multiple tests and super-responsive to amphetamine, which is used in animal models to approximate hyperactivity. These mice also exhibited less anxious or more risk-taking type behavior and less despair-type behavior. They also tended to be more aggressive.
Notably, BPD is most often treated with a class of medications known as mood stabilizers; lithium is perhaps the best known of these medications. The researchers found that chronic treatment with lithium reduced hyperactivity, aggressive displays, and some risk-taking type behavior in mice missing the GluR6 gene. When biochemical tests were conducted, they also suggested that GluR6 may play a unique role in regulating some of the symptoms of mania. This new animal of mania permits researchers to better understand bipolar disorder and to screen for new treatments that if successful in the animal model can then be translated to the clinic.
Citation source: Molecular Psychiatry advance online publication 11 March 2008

Second Life Improves Real-life Social Skills

Social interaction is enhanced rather than diminished by online interfaces, according to new research on the virtual program Second Life. Eryn Grant, a PhD student in Queensland University of Technology's School of Humanities, recently completed a study which took an in-depth look at social order in emergent online environments.

In doing so, she said she had immersed herself inside the 'game' Second Life, an online social interface that allows people to interact socially and economically in a 3D virtual space.
"I wanted to see how you go about being a functional member of Second Life, what the rules and norms were, and how they were put into place, and I did that by analysing conversations," she said.
People on Second Life communicate through their avatars using textual chat-like features, and can meet at dance clubs, join groups with common interests and have philosophical discussions about their virtual world.
"There are not many places we go in the world where we are guaranteed social contact, in real life it is harder and less likely that you will go up to a stranger and start a conversation," said Ms Grant.
She said a major finding was that Second Life could act as an important tool in connecting strangers by making it easier for people to find a world in common.
Ms Grant said she did not share the worry of some that increased online interaction would detract from traditional social skills. "One major thing which I found was that you cannot have this intense kind of web-based interface without real-life tools - if you can't communicate to someone in real life, you won't be able to do it online," she said.
"You have to be able to go into these settings and perform according to the social rules, which you need to have learned in real life.
"I think this is where the world is heading; when you look at social interfaces, people are able to have quick and easy connections on platforms like Myspace, Facebook and Second Life. I think this is telling us we need to be and that we love to be social.
"The research ended on a positive note demonstrating our social and communication skills are changing, but they are not being eroded.
"I think it is like an extension of who we are as social beings, you go to work, see your family and log on to either Second Life, Facebook, Myspace and it is just about reaching out even more - who doesn't want to feel connected after all?"

Autism in adults finally getting attention

Official criteria for diagnosing autism spectrum disorders apply specifically to children, not grownups


Sharon Kirkey, Canwest News ServicePublished: Monday, July 21, 2008
Was the young doctor autistic?
He didn't think so: "I don't walk on tippytoes or get hypnotized by Wheel of Fortune," he explained.
But he did get upset when people didn't say what they mean. He loved math. "And then there's this odd thing I do with my hands and my nose when I'm excited and I think nobody's looking," he once wrote in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.

He thinks he may be on "some distant end" of the autism spectrum.
At the other end are people like the man who organized his wife's CDs by the composer's date of birth and fell asleep on the floor during social events; his wife thought he was eccentric.
Or the office clerk who beat up a woman on his way to the bus stop one morning for the simple reason she was in his way. He was obsessed with not walking on the cracks between the tiles on the sidewalk.
Autism in children has never been more in the news. But few are talking about the adults, experts say, and few therapists are available to treat the illnesses in adults just as more are seeking help.
The official criteria for diagnosing autism spectrum disorders apply to children. Some adults only recognize autism in themselves when their child is diagnosed.
On the high-functioning end of autism is Asperger's disorder, "and that's the group that's coming to people's attention," says Dr. Deborah Elliott, assistant professor of psychiatry in the division of developmental disabilities at Queen's University in Kingston, Ont.
Even Asperger's is listed under the category "usually first diagnosed in infancy, childhood or adolescence" in psychiatry's official guidebook, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, and it was only in 1994 that the syndrome was added.
Adults with Asperger's have normal or above normal intelligence, but their social skills are disastrous. They avoid eye contact, have difficulty forming relationships and can't pick up on normal social cues.
Some are diagnosed with social anxiety disorder or depression. "You treat the depression but then you're left with somebody who still is a bit odd and eccentric," Elliott says. "That may be the first time they actually come to somebody's attention. ... the reason he's depressed is because he can't develop relationships. Even though we've treated his depression, he's still stuck with disability."
Many more men than women are affected. Asperger's has been described as the extreme of male thinking, says Dr. Rutger Jan van der Gaag, a professor of clinical psychiatry at Radboud University Nijmegen in The Netherlands. "Very much detail, very little empathy."

After back-to-back British Opens, winner Harrington admits fear motivates him

SOUTHPORT, England - Staring at the famous claret jug after winning his second British Open in a row, Padraig Harrington explained Monday how he has always been motivated by a fear of failure.
He won by four strokes at Royal Birkdale on Sunday a year after beating Sergio Garcia in a playoff at Carnoustie, joining a select band of back-to-back winners of golf's oldest major and the first European in more than a century.
But the Irishman said he has spent his career having to prove he's a winner rather than relying on natural talent. Working on his mental approach, especially at the start of every year, has been crucial to that.
"Fear is, and will be always, the motivator with my golf," said Harrington, whose last two title wins have been British Opens.
"Every time I took my winter break, I was very anxious that my game would still be there when I came out. You can see from my results that I was always good from the start of the year because I'm anxious to come out and prove myself again."
Harrington spoiled the 53-year-old Greg Norman's bid to become the oldest major winner - 15 years after his last triumph, the British Open at Royal St. George's. He then fended off a late surge by Ian Poulter, who was trying to become England's first Open champion since Nick Faldo in 1992.
The Irishman finished with a 1-under 69 for a 3-over total of 283 to beat Poulter by four strokes and Norman and Henrik Stenson by six.
What sounds like a comfortable victory was far from it. The wind howled across Royal Birkdale for two straight days and the outcome was in doubt until Harrington's long approach to the 17th green set up an eagle putt.
He looked relaxed Monday as he sat with the trophy in front of him, but said that even after he won at Carnoustie last year, he still had fears that he might join the list of players who win one major and then virtually disappear.
"I have become more comfortable in the past number of years in terms of knowing a certain level of my game would be there," he said. "But definitely after winning a major last year, the biggest fear was not to go down the road of guys who have won majors and struggled to keep the intensity after that.
"So, fear is a big part of me and I'd like to say that I have all the trust and patience and like to relax, but that's not my makeup. (Fear) pushes me on and keeps me practicing, keeps me getting into the gym, so I have to work with it and use it."
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Michael Savage explains comments that angered parents of autistic children

Associated Press - July 21, 2008
NEW YORK - Right-wing radio talk show host Michael Savage, who described 99 percent of children with autism as brats, said Monday he was trying to "boldly awaken" parents to his view that many people are being wrongly diagnosed.
Some parents of autistic children have called for Savage's firing after he described autism as a racket last week. "In 99 percent of the cases, it's a brat who hasn't been told to cut the act out," Savage said on his radio program last Wednesday.
Savage offered no apology in a message posted Monday on his Web site. He said greedy doctors and drug companies were creating a "national panic" by overdiagnosing autism, a mental disorder that inhibits a person's ability to communicate.
On his radio show last week, he said: "What do you mean they scream and they're silent? They don't have a father around to tell them, `Don't act like a moron. You'll get nowhere in life. Stop acting like a putz. Straighten up. Act like a man. Don't sit there crying and screaming, you idiot.'"
The government estimates about 1 in 150 children have some form of autism. But many experts believe these unsociable behaviors were just about as common 30 or 40 years ago and that the increase is mostly caused by a surge in special education services and a corresponding shift in diagnoses.
Wendy Fournier of the National Autism Association, a parents' advocacy group, said she was invited to speak Monday on Savage's three-hour program by Savage's boss, Mark Masters of Talk Radio Network, which syndicates the show across the country. A spokeswoman from Talk Radio Network did not immediately return a call for comment.
Fournier called Savage's comments "way, way, way over the line and cruel."
"I'm hoping to make him see the reality of what these kids are facing," she said. "You can't fix it by telling a kid to shut up. It's like telling a kid with cancer to stop being sick."
Evelyn Ain, whose 8-year-old son has been diagnosed with autism, said she had never heard of Savage and couldn't believe what she had heard when she first listened to the remarks. She organized a demonstration Monday outside New York's WOR-AM, which broadcasts Savage.
"That isn't just freedom of speech, it is hateful speech when you say 99 percent of children with autism are brats," she said. "I'll tell you, I wish I had a brat."
Savage, with more than 8 million listeners a week, is talk radio's third most popular personality behind Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity, according to Talkers magazine. He's made a living off bold, outrageous statements: His brief MSNBC show was canceled after he told a caller he should "get AIDS and die, you pig."
Peter Bell, executive vice president of national advocacy group Autism Speaks, said he isn't aware of any big controversy about overdiagnosis of autism. He said Savage's remarks, effectively blaming parents, reflect an outdated point of view.
"He's an entertainer, he does these things for attention," Bell said. "I think we should, to the best we can, ignore it."
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Behind The Wheel

Driving takes our behavior for a spin. Paying attention on the road and more

Driving While Female

If your mother is a haphazard driver, save yourself by keeping mum. Women reminded of the stereotype of females as bad drivers subconsciously conform to that expectation and are twice as likely to run down a jaywalker. Their performance drops as much as if they were driving while dialing.
Virtual Reality, Dude
Men who play virtual racing games drive more aggressively than others. Recliner-seat driving increases risk-taking on the road, but the restart button doesn't work on the actual highway.
Just Hang Up
Driving simulations show that chatting on a cell phone slows drivers down and increases traffic as well as accidents. Going Bluetooth and hands-free doesn't solve the problem. Any phone conversation delays reaction times and distracts the driver from important cues—more so than chatting with a passenger, who knows to pause during tricky lane changes.
Eyes Off My Movie!
It's probably best not to view a DVD while driving—especially if you're watching from another car. Audiovisual displays are proven distractions for automobile occupants, but a study found that peeking across the lane at a nearby car with a nice system also impairs driving—and happens regularly.
Taxing the Brain
London researchers have shown that learning the city's layout boosts the size of the hippocampus—a brain area that aids in spatial navigation—in taxi drivers. Their new finding: One part of the hippocampus gets bigger, while another part shrinks, making cabbies poor learners of visuospatial information.
Catnap or Caffeine?
A cup of coffee and a half-hour nap each improve late-night driving performance in young and middle-aged adults, but while naps work better for the youngsters, coffee works better for the older crowd.
Psychology Today Magazine, May/Jun 2008Last Reviewed 14 Jul 2008Article ID: 4598