By Ed Eide

Last evening Dr. Ron Groat shared information in regard to the stress most of us live with.  It was very interesting from many perspectives.  The key being stress is simply change.  However, with all of the changes the body goes through it can lead to other health issues.

He provided some coping ideas he referred to as the Three Strategies of Managing Angst:

       1.  Maintain the illusion of control:  We ned to distract ourselves, find diversions and forget.  If we can give control to someone we trust, we can be more more likely to maintain our health.
       2.  Be resilient:   Stay healthy.  An eighty percent decrease in diabetes and other chronic illnesses can occur if people follow four life style changes:  don’t smoke, avoid obesity, eat healthy, and exercise.
        3.  Adaptability:  Are we able to absorb new information, or are we stuck with our old opinions?  Can we allow for a change of opinion?

Many of us are living with various fears right now.  Dealing with these fears create angst which can lead to other illnesses.  Here is a link to a Harvard Study which can provide additional information.

Monday, August 10th, the New York Times featured an excellent article discussing the abundance of teens with mental illness that end up in the juvenile justice system. With a nationwide shortage of child psychiatrists and the increasingly scarce funding for community treatment options, many teens and kids have nowhere to seek treatment beyond youth prisons.  In such prisons children and teens with mental illness do receive diagnoses and medications, but the overall environment can often be hostile, neglectful and even violent.  This article forces a typically invisible issue to the forefront.  Is this the best we can do for these kids?  Is a youth prison even helpful in terms of psychiatric treatment and recovery?  What happens to these young people when they leave the youth prison?  Click here to read the full article.

Link:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/10/us/10juvenile.html?em=&adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1249920135-sLjO6IwxN+lYOtFuadqeXw

by:  Ed Eide, Executive Director MHAM

Dr. Ron Groat, psychiatrist and MHAM Board Member, answered questions about medication on Don Shelby’s afternoon radio show on WCCO yesterday afternoon.  Dr. Groat, who has practiced in the field of psychiatry for 30 years, shared his insight on how the use of medication, primarily by people with depression, is now being used for other sysptoms.  Doctors are prescribing some medications for people without a diagnosis in order to provide relief of other physical ailments.

Here is a link to the discussion between Dr. Groat and Shelby.  You can hear how diagnoses have changed over the years.  In fact how terminology has shifted along with a de-stigmatization of depression.

Elsewhere on our website is information about an upcoming event where Dr. Groat will talk about stress and how to maintain a healthy balance in your life for good health.