Anorexia nervosa is an unusually deadly mental disorder centered on a fixation with thinness and weight loss. Current guidelines allow doctors to diagnose the disorder in individuals whose body weight falls below 85 percent of expected norms. However, according to the results of a new report published in September 2013 in the American Academy of…
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure is how the old saying goes, and when it comes to mental health, nothing could be more true. The cost of depression is high, both for the people struggling with the disease and for all of those in their work, family and social circles. Depression…
Finding could help people with post-traumatic stress disorder, researchers say. PTSD, or post-traumatic stress disorder, is a psychological disorder that results from terrifying experiences. Veterans of war are at risk of this disorder because of what they have been through while engaged in combat, but others are susceptible too. PTSD can develop after one is…
Alcohol-related dementia is an unofficial term used to describe a decline in mental function caused by the habitual, excessive consumption of alcoholic beverages. The American Psychiatric Association recognizes this dementia under a more general heading called “substance/medication-induced major or mild neurocognitive disorder.” In a study presented in September 2013 by Loyola University Chicago, a team…
Over the last 50 years, sugar has become a staple in the American diet. In a newly released interactive infographic called America’s Sugar Addiction: How Our Need for a Sweet Fix Has Expanded Our Waistlines, Promises Behavioral Health and Addiction Treatment Magazine capture the steady decade-by-decade climb of sugar in all its forms, including cane…
There have been many stories over the years about giant alligators and crocodiles supposedly living in the sewers of American cities. These wild yarns have been routinely dismissed as urban legends; tall tales spun to frighten, amuse and entertain. But sometimes truth is scarier than fiction, and in the city of Phoenix, a new drug…
10 Myths About Mental Illness Are Debunked. This week, Oct. 6 to Oct. 12, we are celebrating Mental Illness Awareness Week, also known as Mental Health Awareness Week. “Celebrating” might seem like an odd word as the mention of the phrase “mental health” will inevitably bring up thoughts of suffering and dysfunction. But as we…
You may have seen Terrie Hall and struggled to watch her talk. Hall was once a competitive cheerleader, but now her mouth sags on one side and she’s lost her voice to smoking. In her halting YouTube account seen by millions, the North Carolina ex-smoker still fighting cancer makes a suggestion to those who’ve yet…
The seizure of the Silk Road, a heavily barricaded and highly trafficked website hawking drugs and hit men alike, and the arrest of its mastermind, the formerly elusive Dread Pirate Roberts, will perhaps slow down the online illegal drug trade, but no one involved in the ongoing war against drugs has any illusions that long-term…
Inner-ear disorders are physical conditions that alter normal function in the innermost structures of the ear, which play an essential role in the ability to hear or maintain a sense of balance. Current evidence indicates that children diagnosed with behavioral problems develop serious inner-ear problems more often than their peers unaffected by behavioral problems. In…