Leading Stories, Articles
Increased data connects food and cognitive behavior
By Jennifer E Chase
“Tell me what you eat, I’ll tell you who you are.” When epicurean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin wrote that statement in 1826, he didn’t mean he could literally divine who you were based on what you cooked, but he did imply that what we consume bears on our well being. His inference became the de facto maxim for anyone believing good health requires good food. Today, research is making his “you are what you eat” mantra as much about eating’s effects on our mental health as on our bodies, linking the potential for altering our moods by altering our foods. “I have [More]
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Homeless assistance programs are funded again
By Pamela Berard
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) renewed millions in grant funding for homeless assistance programs throughout New England. The funding, announced at the end of December, was part of nearly $1.4 billion to support 6,400 existing programs nationwide through HUD’s Continuum of Care programs. HUD provided the renewal grants to local programs to prevent any interruption in federal assistance. This was the first time HUD announced the renewal and new grants separately, so as not to delay funding to the existing programs. HUD’s Continuum of Care grants are awarded competitively and provide permanent and transitional housing to [More]
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APA president outlines priorities for 2010
By Ami Albernaz
Like most assuming a leadership post, Carol D. Goodheart, Ed.D., the relatively new president of the American Psychological Association, has a big agenda. In 2010, she hopes to help devise a useful framework for evaluating psychological service outcomes and to bring awareness to and develop resources for family caregivers. She is testing out a Wiki platform that will help psychologists more easily locate useful resources and even plans to add a few friendly touches to this year’s APA convention, including a “bring-the-family” event and collaborative workshops. A former nurse and longtime health psychologist who lives and practices in Princeton, N.J., [More]
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Psychologist/author spotlights hope
By Catherine Robertson Souter
Hope – it’s one of those words that brings to mind different ideas for different people. There are many definitions of hope – from blind faith to a wish for something better, to a certainty that everything will work out for the best. A strictly human emotion, hope is the ability to see a better future, to see a path out of darkness, and, as such, is key to an individual’s survival. For Anthny Scioli, Ph.D., a professor of clinical psychology at Keene State College and member of the graduate faculty at the University of Rhode Island, hope is so [More]
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Surgeries for OCD risky, but offer hope
By Ami Albernaz
For Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder patients who have exhausted all other treatment options, surgery offers great potential and poses great risk. For doctors shepherding along the precarious surgical procedures, successfully balancing the possible risks and rewards for patients will likely determine the future course of the work. Surgery has allowed some OCD sufferers to live a more normal life – to attend college, to travel, to rebuild relationships with family and friends. Yet for others, the side effects can be severe: memory deficits, edema, even seizure disorder. (In many cases, the side effects disappear in time). “We go out of our way [More]
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Proposed changes to Vt. legislation address mental health issues
By Phyllis Hanlon
Vermont’s Department of Mental Health (DMH) has proposed some legislative changes in hopes of expediting and simplifying processes involving individuals with mental health issues. One of the existing laws allows voluntary admission for individuals under the age of 14 if they give written consent with the understanding that they will become inpatients and are doing so under no duress. DMH Commissioner Michael Hartman reports some misuse of this practice. “We were seeing situations where six-year olds were signing consent,” he says. “I was given a copy of a consent signed with a crayon.” DMH is suggesting that individuals under the [More]
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Stimulus money will fund Rhode Island Early Head Start
By Elinor Nelson
The most vulnerable population in R.I. is about to get a leg up – or at least a tiny percentage of them will. Federal stimulus money totaling $1.6 million will be funding an expansion of R.I.’s Early Head Start program, which will provide for the program to serve another 80 families. But, that still leaves more than 90 percent of R.I.’s most impoverished infants and toddlers without these services. But for those recipients, Early Head Start offers a range of services that can make a difference for a struggling family. “Research shows positive outcomes for these families,” says Rhonda Farrell, [More]
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Study shows potential to re-write emotional memory
By Nan Shnitzler
In a new study, researchers have manipulated the brain’s own memory process to extinguish fear. In a series of experiments using only colored squares and skin shocks, a team from New York University and the University of Texas induced a fearful memory and then erased it. Participants remained free of the specific fear memory for at least a year. “It’s the first evidence that emotional memories in humans can be affected without drugs. That’s why it’s so exciting,” says Daniela Schiller, Ph.D., of New York University’s Center for Neural Science and Psychology Department, lead author of the study that appeared [More]
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Federal funds to assist health centers
By Pamela Berard
Sixteen New England community health centers will benefit from the nearly $600 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act awards that President Obama recently announced will fund renovation or construction projects at 85 centers nationwide. The awards aim to provide care for more than half a million additional patients in underserved communities, in addition to creating jobs in construction and health care. Lowell Community Health Center in Massachusetts received more than $9 million. Maura Smith, director of development and external relations, says the award will help renovate an historic vacant mill downtown. “We will consolidate all of our operations, which [More]
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Consumers rate their satisfaction on N.H.’s mental health services
By Catherine Robertson Souter
In a new research report, consumers of New Hampshire’s 10 community mental health centers (CMHCs) have shown that although they are overall pleased with the services that they receive, there are many areas where the system still falls short. In the second consecutive year of this survey, the Institute on Disability (IOD) at the University of New Hampshire asked adult, youth and the families of consumers of the health centers to provide feedback on the level of satisfaction that they had in working with them. Questions were asked about their satisfaction with the services themselves, access to those services, participation [More]
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