Mental Health: Then and Now

The treatment options for those suffering from mental illness have evolved significantly over time.  Those struggling with various disorders now have several non-invasive and humane choices available to them for managing troubling symptoms.  But sadly, this has not always been the case. Not so long ago, the stigma associated with mental illness, coupled with the barbaric ways in which many were treated, could be fairly classified as criminal.

In the 19th century, one of the most widely used treatments for mental illness involved a process called “blood letting.”  Doctors believed patients could be cured by relieving their “poisoned blood,” and by altering blood pressure rates which were contributing to their condition.

Many believe the famous Salem Witch Trials were actually a movement targeting the mentally ill.  Ill people were labeled demons and animals, and were regularly executed and excluded.  For years to come the mentally ill would be chained, placed in straightjackets  and warehoused in asylums which had the sole purpose of removing them from society altogether.  Once there, they became guinea pigs for a wide range of deplorable, experimental treatments.

Things did not get much better with the dawning of the 20th century.  At the time, “hydrotherapy” was the preferred treatment by psychiatrists working in these so-called hospitals.  Patients were subjected to both icy and hot water submersion, externally and internally, as doctors believed they could alter brain activity by changing the patient’s body temperature.  Some of the other treatments in this era were not much better.  Here are a few that were employed.

· Henry Cotton of Trentwood State Hospital thought bacteria from tooth rot contributed to insanity and began pulling the teeth of his patients.  Almost half of them died as a result.

· Jacob Klaesi began inducing a deep sleep in his patients by combining barbiturates with their other medications, hoping to alter brain patterns at a subconscious level.

· Two Harvard doctors, Jonathan Talbot and Kenneth Tillotson thought it would be therapeutic to bind patients in icy cold blankets and drop their body temperatures by as much as 15 degrees.

· The Viennese doctor Manfred Sakel introduced a process called insulin-induced coma, also thought to be therapeutic.

Towards the middle of the 20th century, as the population grew, so did the number of people identified as mentally ill or unstable.  To be mentally ill meant to carry an unfathomable stigma and be subjected to a slew of harmful stereotypes.  It was also during this era that the two most notorious forms of mental health treatments—treatments we have all come to know too well—were introduced.

Electroshock therapy was widely accepted as the most effective treatment for the mentally ill.  Later discredited, this therapy was applied to thousands of patients.  Doctors believed that seizures and mental illness were opposite entities, and that by inducing seizures in patients with the use of electric shock, they could somehow reverse the effects of the illness.

Lobotomy also surfaced around this time.  Introduced by Portuguese doctor Egas Moniz, a lobotomy is a procedure in which a patient’s frontal lobes are surgically altered, usually with some type of drill.  Moniz believed that mental illness was a product of static patterns and that “to cure these patients we must destroy the more or less fixed arrangements of cellular connections that exist in their brain.”  Moniz won the Nobel Prize based on his work.

Thankfully treatment for the mentally ill has come a long way, and while a stigma still remains to some degree, more people are beginning to seek the proper attention for what ails them.  There are some experts, though, that believe we still have a long way to go.  While doctors have certainly come far from the days of submersion and bloodletting, the treatments currently being offered may still have room for improvement.

Medication therapy is the primary strategy employed by the majority of doctors today.  In fact, antidepressants have replaced all other categories of drugs as the most prescribed drugs in North America.  Initially, drugs called dopamine blockers, which included Thorazine, were the medications most often prescribed.  They succeeded only in placing patients in “vegetable-like” states, making them difficult to treat.  Currently, a class of drugs called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, or SSRIs, have taken over the lead.  The drugs Prozac, Zoloft and Paxil are included in this category, and according to some experts, their usage has reached epidemic proportions.

The SSRIs have helped many people deal effectively with their symptoms, but the drugs do nothing to address the actual causes of depression.  As a result, millions of people are becoming dependent on drugs that they may never be free of.  To make matters more complicated, the usage of SSRIs has been known to cause many troubling side effects.  Insomnia, digestive problems, tremors and sexual difficulties are regularly endured.  Many believe these medications are responsible for a host of dangerous conditions, and are creating more problems than they are addressing.

In the wake of these record prescriptions, some mental health professionals are beginning to employ some alternate techniques.  Talk therapy, cognitive therapy and behavior modification strategies are often combined with medications to try and unearth the root of the illness.  Some wonderful reports are beginning to come in, boasting the effectiveness of these treatments, and it has prompted doctors to employ a more comprehensive approach for these conditions.

Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) is a strategy involving a combination of eastern meditation techniques and cognitive therapy.  Patients are taught to meditate and are instructed just to “accept what is,” and “live in the moment.”  The theory behind MBCT is that meditation, coupled with cognitive therapy will help people recognize and interrupt harmful patterns, such as dreading the past and anxiously awaiting the future, and replace them with “right now” thinking and a feeling of peace and empowerment.

Other techniques such as Subconscious Restructuring and Magnetic Stimulation therapy are quickly gaining popularity in the medical community.  The former seeks to treat the causes of depression, and other disorders, at the subconscious level.  It helps patients become aware of harmful stimuli, and provides them with techniques to identify these triggers and actively alter or eliminate them.  Magnetic Stimulation is a technique in which charged or static magnets are applied to an affected area, in this case the brain, to alter its activity.

Collectively, all of these alternate therapies represent a positive shift in the arena of mental health.  As the stigma, inherent in mental illness, gradually begins to ebb, doctors are embracing the challenge of tackling mental health at its root.  Times have changed, but its important to remember that mental illness is still avery serious dilemma—a dilemma without a cure.  With continued research and a complete commitment to finding a cure, a commitment which is embraced both medically and sociologically, the options available to those suffering will continue to evolve, offering a ray of hope for treating this global plague.

5 Tips to Tackle Procrastination

Procrastination is a nasty little habit in which individuals habitually put off the things they need to do.  It’s a practice that hampers productivity and can lead to a mountain of stress, but this stress could easily be avoided with an effective plan to tackle it.  This article will explore some of the quickest methods for ridding procrastination from your routine.

Each tip will help boost your performance and make you more relaxed and confident about each new day.  If you are ready to rid your procrastination then keep reading for how to get real results in your life in a very short time.  However, the key to ending procrastination is in action.  You have to do these tips in order to see if and how they work for you.

1.  Make an Appointment with Yourself

If you are anything like me, your life is filled with a multitude of meetings, appointments and obligations.  You bend over backwards to make sure the people you work and live with are happy and content.  But how much time do you spend with yourself, planning your own happiness?

I urge you to make an appointment with yourself and just engage in self-talk conducive to your own success.  If you are not planning your happiness and scheduling “me” time then who is? Make important but realistic promises to yourself and vow to stick to them.  Try it, it will feel good I promise.

2.  Make a List

With each new day, you probably find yourself juggling a thousand and one thoughts.  You struggle to remember each of your tasks, but undoubtedly something will be missed.  This is a process that requires a lot of energy to maintain and will gradually create unnecessary stress in your life.

To avoid this, start each morning with a list—a prioritized list of the things you want to accomplish for that day only.  This is not a “wish” list, but an “absolute” must list. Use this list as a road map to navigate your day, crossing items off as you achieve them.  Remember to celebrate after each item is crossed off.

When it comes to tasks a list will help eliminate procrastination and keep you focused on what is really important.  Moreover, this list will release the thoughts from your head, and help eliminate the stress they can cause.  Another style of writing that many people prefer is keep track of their thoughts in a journal.

3.  Slay the Beast First

There is probably one particularly difficult task in your life that stands out.  It may be a task you’ve avoided for quite some time, constantly putting it off and making excuses for why it couldn’t be done.  It’s only an illusion that you cannot do it, eventually you will have to own up to your inability to learn.  Then you’ll wonder why you didn’t learn it sooner.  No wonder using this method eventually causes a great deal of stress.

What is the one thing that you could do that you are avoiding, but if you did do it, it would completely change your situation?  Put this “beastly” task at the top of your list and get to work attacking it first.  Focus on slaying it and stay proactive.  Why not make a game of it and pretend your actions will determine if the who wins between you and the beast.  The more inspired actions you take the less likely the beast will win.

The relief you will feel as a result of completion will be rewarding.  This will help provide a remarkable sense of momentum in your life, making subsequent tasks that much easier.  Just think, if you can slay the beast… you can do anything!

4.  Get organized

You may think organization has nothing to do with procrastination, but I beg to differ.  A cluttered life will almost always lead to a cluttered mind.  The mind reflects your ability to get exterior results and the disorganization in your life can make any project seem impossible.

Everything in your life costs you energy to maintain.  The more papers, to-do notes and unsatisfactory relationships you have in your life, the less energy you have to focus on what is really important.  When you are tired at the end of the day and don’t want to take the extra step for your dreams, getting organized can help motivate you to move forward.

Spend a day organizing your life.  If you cannot devote an entire day at once, schedule two – 8 hour days or three – 5 hour days.  Take time to catch up on whatever in your life requires the most attention.  Make a folder for each of your important papers and file them alphabetically.  Check and answer emails.  Pay those late bills.  You know where you have been neglecting responsibility, start by paying some attention there.

When you feel more organized you will be less likely to put off the tasks in your life.  They will seem more manageable and you will feel less stress.  When you feel less stress you will want to do more with your self and your time.

5.  Schedule Leisure Time

Everybody needs time to unwind and refuel.  Whether you are a hotel maid or a Wall Street millionaire, you need to have time in your life reserved solely for the things that are most important to you.  However, most people are caught in the trap of “I have to…, but I can’t”, or “I can’t, because I have to…”.

For example, you might not think that you have the time or money to take a vacation because you are paying down debt or saving for something special.  But if you don’t invest good quality time out for yourself you will soon be paying the price in other ways.  Your health or your spiritual well-being can suffer if you don’t take a break.

Most people neglect doing the things they need to do and then out of guilt try and do things they cannot do. Avoid this trap by simply taking time out of your schedule to take a healthy break. Stick to this time, relaxing only during the parameters you have set.

With your leisure time now set, use the other time to work diligently, pursuing each of your goals without procrastination.