Women’s Health Information

A team at the Mental Health Research Institute of Victoria and the Melbourne based Prana Biotechnology have developed a drug, that they believe will not necessarily be a cure but a powerful intervention for people suffering from Alzheimer’s disease.

Human trials of this drug PBT2 will start next month.

You can read more about Alzheimers at Information For Her

Many women and men around the world live with a disorder called Obsessive Compulsive Disorder… or OCD. It is a mental condition that some who do not understand it will not recognize the affects that it has on people. OCD affects people in different ways. Not all symptoms are the same.

My partner has told me about his mother who would often spend up to 30 minutes at a time making sure the front door was locked before going out. While other people will clean and clean and clean, over and over and over again. Others will wash their hands constantly, making sure they are clean…

C Fieldson wrote this article for Women’s Health Information – the title is Again and Again and Again. It is an article explaining a little about Obsessive Compulsive Disorder…

Again and Again and Again
(Obsessive Compulsive Disorder)

Anxiety disorders are a known part of any society and have been for countless eons. Stories throughout the ages have characters plagued by phobias, panic attacks, anxiety and obsessions.

Acknowledgement of the commonality of these mental conditions doesn’t always make it easier to seek treatment or get help in handling the day to day fight. Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is perhaps one of the most mentioned as its behaviors or compulsions are easier to notice than the inner mental issues behind them.

One example of OCD is the compulsive hand washing of the queen in Hamlet as she tries to erase the illusionary guilt/fear she feels, repeating the action again and again.

OCD is an anxiety disorders characterized by the presence of recurring intrusive and unwanted thoughts, images or impulses - obsessions and repetitive behavioral and mental rituals - compulsions such as an obsession about germs and the repeated obsessive need to wash and rewash one’s hands after touching anything again and again.

A sufferer from OCD is aware that their symptoms are irrational and excessive but find the obsessions controllable and the compulsions difficult or impossible to resist.

The symptoms of OCD vary in type but the common thread is that they are distressing, exhausting, take up a lot of time and can significantly interfere with the person’s family and social relationships, daily routines, education and ability to work.

Some common obsessions include: fear of contamination from germs and dirt; fear of harm to self and others; intrusive sexual thoughts or images, concerns with symmetry, illness or religious issues; an intense, irrational fear of everyday objects and situations (phobias).

Common compulsions can include washing, cleaning, checking, hoarding, touching, counting and repeating routine activities and actions. Time spent dealing with one’s inner struggles over these issues can overwhelm her. It becomes difficult to carve out time for family, friends, chores and daily needs beyond the compulsions.

Although the causes of OCD are not completely understood researches know that they are related to chemical, structural and functional abnormalities of the brain. Genetics and hereditary factors play a role and outside stressful events, hormonal changes and personality traits all come into play as well.

It is estimated that at least three people in every hundred suffers from OCD at some time in their lives.

Treatment, as for almost any mental illness, uses a combination of medication, therapy and community support to help a patient handle this illness.

Medication is used to help restore chemical balance in the brain as well to help control the obsessions and compulsions. For OCD cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) is often used to help a patient identify symptoms of their illness and work out alternative ways of looking at the problem and coping with the effects in their daily lives.

This is especially important step of treatment. Learning how to deal with the stresses of their daily lives OCD can make managing home life difficult and CBT can help provide effective management tools for accomplishing family tasks.

Support and counseling for families is also essential in coping with the lingering effects of OCD by encouraging family to help relieve some of the day to day struggle to complete tasks and offer understanding and acceptance to the patient.

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder can make a normal life seem like a minefield filled with hidden dangers but supportive family and friends can help an OCD sufferer seek the medical help and treatment that will make life bearable and eventually fulfilling once again.

She won’t come out and talk with you. Her moods shifts seem so severe and her bad moods are lasting longer and longer. She doesn’t seem to spend time with her close friends anymore. To a parent changes like these can be terrifying as we can only imagine what is happening within our child.

Worry intensifies our reactions in various encounters and rarely helps in pinpointing the problem.

For most teenagers and young adults swings in mood and behavior are normal and expected. Even increasingly difficult times of rebellion and isolation are commonplace. However, if you find yourself seeing a pattern of change like your daughter withdrawing completely from family, friends and classmates, severe changes in sleeping and eating, deterioration in grooming and school work, increased paranoia, confusion or disorientation, it may be time to seek more help for your child.

Although drugs can exacerbate the symptoms of changing mental state, and in some cases actually bring on symptoms similar to those of several mental illnesses the effects often dissipate after the drugs have worked through the body.

Prolonged use of certain drugs may produce long-lasting effects. A medical assessment may be necessary to decide if there is an underlying psychiatric problem. Drug use can often be a sign of a deeper mental illness. Trained professionals are available to help both with the diagnosis and the treatment of drug dependency and its underlying causes.

Encouraging one to visit a doctor and honestly discuss these feelings is difficult but necessary. Criticism of a person’s behavior or thought processes defeats the intent which is of course to help your loved one or yourself find relief from their difficulties. Feelings of trust and acceptance are important to create an atmosphere where help can be sought. Here are a few ways to help this process:

An important note here is to find a doctor that the patient, and you, can work easily with. Treatment is a long and often difficult process and feeling comfortable with your doctor will make it all easier. Trust and respect are essential in achieving a positive result.

Finding help diagnosing and treating a mental illness is difficult. Overcoming social stigma and the innate need for privacy is a tough road for anyone. This is your chance to seek all the best tools to help yourself or your loved one find a way back from the dark place she is struggling through. Modern medicine has made great strides in dealing with mental illness and has much to offer you in this process.

C Sincular