June 26, 20062:57 pm
posted by Aric Thorpe, MHR
Compassion Fatigue: When Helping Hurts
Charles R. Figley, founder of Figley Institute of Tallahassee, recently presented an informative talk entitled “When Helping Hurts” at a conference. The focus of the talk surrounded compassion fatigue, in my opinion a greatly overlooked subject matter for both those involved in professional counseling as well as those in ministry. The presentation was based on over ten years of research regarding compassion fatigue.
Dr. Figley recalled that over his thirty plus years in the field many of his colleagues left their jobs, “not because of a lack of satisfaction with their jobs… or because of too much stress, not enough pay. But what they were really talking about was the toxicity of the work.” It is not unusual for professionals in the field of mental health and related fields to suffer emotionally on behalf of those that they are attempting to treat. In many cases, mental health professionals may feel a direct responsibility for the recovery of their patients. Here is an excerpt from Web MD of an interview with Dr. Figley regarding compassion fatigue.
“The helper, in contrast to the person(s) being helped, is traumatized or suffers through the helper’s own efforts to empathize and he compassionate. Often this leads to poor self care and extreme self sacrifice in the process of helping. Together, this leads to compassion fatigue and symptoms similar to posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).”
Click here to read “Compassion Fatigue: An Expert Interview With Charles R. Figley, MS, PhD”
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June 19, 20068:56 am
posted by Aric Thorpe, MHR
Fighting Depression: Prevention and recovery’s religious link
Former president of the American Psychological Association, Martin Seligman, Ph.D., regarding faith and depression stated “religion and spirituality might decrease depression…by fostering positive behaviors and lessening the impact of negative circumstances.” Many clinical professionals have shared Dr. Seligman’s position over the last century. The following article reviews several studies done over the span of approximately one hundred years regarding the relationship between faith and depression. All of the studies cited focus on people of high religious involvement who considered the spiritual aspect of their lives to be a priority. The common finding among these studies was that people of religious involvement were shown to have less instances of depression and more protection from developing a depressed state. Here is an excerpt of the article:
A review of more than 80 studies appearing during the last 100 years found a factor steadily linked with lower rates of depression religious participation. People involved in a religious group and who highly valued their religious faith were at a substantially reduced risk of a depressive disorder, while people with no religious link may raise their risk of major depression by as much as 60 percent, the review found. Lack of organizational religious involvement leads to a 20 to 60 percent increase in the odds of experiencing a major depressive episode, noted review authors Michael McCullough, Ph.D., of Southern Methodist University and David Larson, M.D., MSPH, president of the International Center for the Integration of Health and Spirituality (ICIHS).
Click here to read “Fighting Depression: Prevention and recovery’s religious link”
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June 8, 20065:04 pm
posted by Aric Thorpe, MHR
ATS: Violence Contributes to Asthma in Kids
Recently a study was published by Rosalind J. Wright M.D. and associates from Harvard School of Public Health. The study concluded that children exposed to violence, whether in the community or at home, have a higher risk for decrease pulmonary function. The study focused on 330 children from the Boston area who had been under observation from the time of gestation. The study used several controls, limiting subjects “socioeconomic status and pre- and postnatal tobacco exposure.”
Additionally, another study published by Kristin A. Riekert Ph.D. and colleagues from Johns Hopkins in Baltimore had similar findings. The study focused on 1,704 high school students with asthma and found that exposure to violence at school contributed significantly to decrease lung function. Here is an excerpt of the article:
“Outcome measures include forced expiratory volume at one second (FEV1) and forced vital capacity.
The 330 children were evenly divided by gender and 55% were Hispanic, 40% whose mothers had not gone to high school, and
21% who were exposed to tobacco smoke in utero.
They found that the FEV1 was 1.28 + 0.21 L. The mean forced vital capacity was 1.39 + 0.23 L. They found that increased
verbal aggression was associated with a significant decrease in FEV1 of 0.03 L (P<0.05)>“
Click here to read “ATS: Violence Contributes to Asthma in Kids”
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June 2, 20067:35 am
posted by Aric Thorpe, MHR
APA: Gamblers Ease Anger by Wagering
Could anger be linked with gambling? One study suggests that there is a link. Stefan Brennan, M.D., of Toronto’s Center for Addiction, recently relayed preliminary findings regarding a study done at his center during an American Psychiatric Association Conference.
Brennan stated that gamblers may be placing their bets as a strategy to cope with anger. To complicate matters, Dr. Brennan found that there was also a high instance of angry outbursts after gambling occurred. All of the gamblers in the study tended to lose money and had misperceptions about the likelihood of winning.
According to Dr. Brennan “they misunderstand the likelihood of winning, or underestimate the consequences of losing.” The study, which included sixty-two patients with gambling and anger problems, suggested that coping skills such as humor outperform standard cognitive behavioral therapy. The following is an excerpt of the article:
“Problem gamblers, especially those with concurrent alcohol or substance abuse, may be placing their bets as part of a “maladaptive” strategy to control anger, researchers said here today.
For clinicians, the finding implies that evaluating an addicted patient’s problems with anger management may play an important role in deciding on a possible treatment, said Stefan Brennan, M.D., of Toronto’s Center for Addiction and Mental Health during the American Psychiatric Association meeting.
Rather than focus on the behavior itself, “it may be worth asking how they feel about it,” Dr. Brennan said in an interview.”
Click here to read “APA: Gamblers Ease Anger by Wagering”
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