<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss version="2.0"><channel><title>Mental Health Blog</title><link>http://mental-health.families.com/blog/</link><description>Mental health is something many of us take for granted.  Learn more about mental health conditions and how to seek the help necessary to deal with them here at the Families.com Mental Health Blog.</description><language>en-us</language><pubDate>Fri, 20 Nov 2009 23:09:00 +0000</pubDate><lastBuildDate>Fri, 20 Nov 2009 23:09:00 +0000</lastBuildDate><ttl>60</ttl><item><title>When Substance Abuse become Substance Dependence</title><link>http://mental-health.families.com/blog/when-substance-abuse-become-substance-dependence1</link><pubDate>Thu, 19 Nov 2009 22:59:58 +0000</pubDate><guid isPermaLink="true">http://mental-health.families.com/blog/when-substance-abuse-become-substance-dependence1</guid><description><![CDATA[Substance dependence is usually called addiction, and we customarily use the term to describe people who seem enslaved to the substance concerned. Yet there is much disagreement among experts as to just what constituents substance dependence.]]></description></item><item><title>What Makes a Psychopath? The Case of Josef Fritzl</title><link>http://mental-health.families.com/blog/what-makes-a-psychopath-the-case-of-josef-fritzl</link><pubDate>Tue, 17 Nov 2009 00:33:53 +0000</pubDate><guid isPermaLink="true">http://mental-health.families.com/blog/what-makes-a-psychopath-the-case-of-josef-fritzl</guid><description><![CDATA[Recently, Josef Fritzl, the Austrian father who imprisoned his daughter Elisabeth in an underground enclosure and fathered all seven of her children, was sentenced to life imprisonment himself.]]></description></item><item><title>When a Therapist Fails to Diagnose Narcissistic Personality Disorder in the Extended Family</title><link>http://mental-health.families.com/blog/when-a-therapist-fails-to-diagnose-narcissistic-personality-disorder-in-the-extended-family</link><pubDate>Tue, 17 Nov 2009 00:15:46 +0000</pubDate><guid isPermaLink="true">http://mental-health.families.com/blog/when-a-therapist-fails-to-diagnose-narcissistic-personality-disorder-in-the-extended-family</guid><description><![CDATA[It is not uncommon for many of my clients to have previously entered therapy for a range of conditions including depression and anxiety-related disorders and to be treated as what is known as the "Identified Patient" by their therapist and labeled with these disorders.]]></description></item><item><title>Suicide: The Inability of Family to See Past they Own Agenda</title><link>http://mental-health.families.com/blog/suicide-the-inability-of-family-to-see-past-they-own-agenda</link><pubDate>Wed, 04 Nov 2009 23:01:42 +0000</pubDate><guid isPermaLink="true">http://mental-health.families.com/blog/suicide-the-inability-of-family-to-see-past-they-own-agenda</guid><description><![CDATA[I once lived next door to a man who committed suicide. He was a lovely guy, with a wife and young child. But he was desperately ill and he was not getting the help he needed.]]></description></item><item><title>Architectural Housing Design Reflects Increasing Social Isolation</title><link>http://mental-health.families.com/blog/architectural-housing-design-reflects-increasing-social-isolation</link><pubDate>Tue, 27 Oct 2009 22:50:09 +0000</pubDate><guid isPermaLink="true">http://mental-health.families.com/blog/architectural-housing-design-reflects-increasing-social-isolation</guid><description><![CDATA[Most people over the age of 35 have some awareness of the changing atmosphere of suburban life over the last couple of decades. Leaving aside high rise inner city apartment blocks, most people a mere 20 years ago knew the names of most of their neighbors.]]></description></item><item><title>Antidepressants for Dogs: Canines Inadvertently Subjected to Myth</title><link>http://mental-health.families.com/blog/antidepressants-for-dogs-canines-inadvertently-subjected-to-myth</link><pubDate>Thu, 22 Oct 2009 23:16:50 +0000</pubDate><guid isPermaLink="true">http://mental-health.families.com/blog/antidepressants-for-dogs-canines-inadvertently-subjected-to-myth</guid><description><![CDATA[Regular readers of my articles will know that I have strong views on the use of antidepressants. These drugs are marvelous lifesavers for extremely depressed people but were never intended to be used long-term.]]></description></item><item><title>Hormonal Swings and Depression</title><link>http://mental-health.families.com/blog/hormonal-swings-and-depression1</link><pubDate>Mon, 19 Oct 2009 22:49:35 +0000</pubDate><guid isPermaLink="true">http://mental-health.families.com/blog/hormonal-swings-and-depression1</guid><description><![CDATA[While the symptoms of PMS are very familiar to many women, those who have a history of anxiety and depression or who currently suffer from anxiety and depression may notice that the changing hormonal levels during the month bring about increased emotional problems.]]></description></item><item><title>Prenatal Stress and Schizophrenia</title><link>http://mental-health.families.com/blog/prenatal-stress-and-schizophrenia</link><pubDate>Sat, 10 Oct 2009 09:57:03 +0000</pubDate><guid isPermaLink="true">http://mental-health.families.com/blog/prenatal-stress-and-schizophrenia</guid><description><![CDATA[Researchers have now uncovered a conclusive link between extreme stress during the early stages of pregnancy and the development of schizophrenia in the children of those mothers in later life.]]></description></item><item><title>Beth Is Having Technical Difficulties</title><link>http://mental-health.families.com/blog/beth-is-having-technical-difficulties</link><pubDate>Tue, 15 Sep 2009 00:19:10 +0000</pubDate><guid isPermaLink="true">http://mental-health.families.com/blog/beth-is-having-technical-difficulties</guid><description><![CDATA[We know that we have several faithful readers at the Families.com Mental Health Blog. Beth has been reading comments but unfortunately is having technical difficulties logging in. We are doing everything we can to remedy the situation.]]></description></item><item><title>Something Positive to Think About (2)</title><link>http://mental-health.families.com/blog/something-positive-to-think-about-2</link><pubDate>Tue, 14 Jul 2009 00:38:29 +0000</pubDate><guid isPermaLink="true">http://mental-health.families.com/blog/something-positive-to-think-about-2</guid><description><![CDATA[This is the second in a series of popular positive thoughts that will get you thinking about how you live your life, how your beliefs shape your life and suggestions to ponder on how you can change your own life for the better from some of the world's greatest thinkers and philosophers.]]></description></item><item><title>Something Positive to Think About (1)</title><link>http://mental-health.families.com/blog/something-positive-to-think-about-1</link><pubDate>Mon, 13 Jul 2009 06:29:51 +0000</pubDate><guid isPermaLink="true">http://mental-health.families.com/blog/something-positive-to-think-about-1</guid><description><![CDATA[With so much doom and gloom about, sometimes we have to make a concerted effort to think of the positive things in our lives. Alternatively, we can also find it useful to read another person's take on life that we have never thought if before.]]></description></item><item><title>Depression in the Elderly (2)</title><link>http://mental-health.families.com/blog/depression-in-the-elderly-2</link><pubDate>Fri, 10 Jul 2009 06:37:32 +0000</pubDate><guid isPermaLink="true">http://mental-health.families.com/blog/depression-in-the-elderly-2</guid><description><![CDATA[As we discussed in the previous article dealing with depression in the elderly, depression can hit at any age.]]></description></item><item><title>Depression in the Elderly (1)</title><link>http://mental-health.families.com/blog/depression-in-the-elderly-1</link><pubDate>Fri, 10 Jul 2009 05:39:40 +0000</pubDate><guid isPermaLink="true">http://mental-health.families.com/blog/depression-in-the-elderly-1</guid><description><![CDATA[Depression is not an uncommon illness across the most of the lifespan and the elderly are no exception. Sometimes elderly people visit their doctor with a series of ailments only to be told they are not physically ill, but are suffering from depression.]]></description></item><item><title>Post-birth Weight Loss and its Psychological Impact</title><link>http://mental-health.families.com/blog/post-birth-weight-loss-and-its-psychological-impact</link><pubDate>Mon, 29 Jun 2009 03:56:53 +0000</pubDate><guid isPermaLink="true">http://mental-health.families.com/blog/post-birth-weight-loss-and-its-psychological-impact</guid><description><![CDATA[I read an interesting article recently about new mothers and their struggle to regain their figures after childbirth. Actually, it was more sad than interesting.]]></description></item><item><title>Reassuring a Suicidal Person</title><link>http://mental-health.families.com/blog/reassuring-a-suicidal-person1</link><pubDate>Mon, 22 Jun 2009 04:38:29 +0000</pubDate><guid isPermaLink="true">http://mental-health.families.com/blog/reassuring-a-suicidal-person1</guid><description><![CDATA[In our continuing series on suicide, we look today at how to give reassurance, information, and hope to a person at risk of suicide. Suicide claims the lives of tens of thousands of Americans each year, and victims are of both genders, and come from a multitude of backgrounds.]]></description></item><item><title>Suicide: Why Do the Neighbors Talk but do Nothing?</title><link>http://mental-health.families.com/blog/rick-ryan-session-4-and-5-june-11-2009-dear-rick-thank-you-for-your-patience-with-my-flu-i-will-begi</link><pubDate>Fri, 19 Jun 2009 05:49:43 +0000</pubDate><guid isPermaLink="true">http://mental-health.families.com/blog/rick-ryan-session-4-and-5-june-11-2009-dear-rick-thank-you-for-your-patience-with-my-flu-i-will-begi</guid><description><![CDATA[This weekend I happened across a woman who needs help. She had a For Sale sign out front of her block of units and I stopped to ask her which one was for sale. She told me but it became obvious that she was distracted, depressed and anxious.]]></description></item><item><title>Denying the Father's Role when Mother is a Narcissist</title><link>http://mental-health.families.com/blog/denying-the-fathers-role-when-mother-is-a-narcissist</link><pubDate>Mon, 08 Jun 2009 23:53:02 +0000</pubDate><guid isPermaLink="true">http://mental-health.families.com/blog/denying-the-fathers-role-when-mother-is-a-narcissist</guid><description><![CDATA[One of the more painful aspects of detaching from a narcissist mother is acknowledging the role that the father plays in the family dynamic.]]></description></item><item><title>Sexting: Harmful or Harmless?</title><link>http://mental-health.families.com/blog/sexting-harmful-or-harmless</link><pubDate>Mon, 08 Jun 2009 23:44:59 +0000</pubDate><guid isPermaLink="true">http://mental-health.families.com/blog/sexting-harmful-or-harmless</guid><description><![CDATA[Teens and pre-teens are increasing sending explicit images of themselves via texting using cell phones, a phenomenon known as "sexting".]]></description></item><item><title>Born-Again Christians a Potential Threat to Mental Health Sufferers (2)</title><link>http://mental-health.families.com/blog/born-again-christians-a-potential-threat-to-mental-health-sufferers-2</link><pubDate>Mon, 01 Jun 2009 05:28:58 +0000</pubDate><guid isPermaLink="true">http://mental-health.families.com/blog/born-again-christians-a-potential-threat-to-mental-health-sufferers-2</guid><description><![CDATA[In our last blog in this series, we looked at how Joyce, an elder of her church, introduced a victim of sexual crime who was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder to a "so-called" Christian counselor, the latter telling the afflicted woman that "God had given her this burden to work throu...]]></description></item><item><title>Born-Again Christians a Potential Threat to Mental Health Sufferers (1)</title><link>http://mental-health.families.com/blog/born-again-christians-a-potential-threat-to-mental-health-sufferers-1</link><pubDate>Fri, 22 May 2009 00:35:00 +0000</pubDate><guid isPermaLink="true">http://mental-health.families.com/blog/born-again-christians-a-potential-threat-to-mental-health-sufferers-1</guid><description><![CDATA[I've written about this topic before. Sadly I have to write about it again. While some born-again Christians are wonderful, caring people, many are not.]]></description></item></channel></rss>