Of Interest to Mental Health Professionals

By Anne Rahilly - Evidence is rapidly growing showing vital relationships between both diet quality and potential nutritional deficiencies and mental health, a new international collaboration led by the University of Melbourne and Deakin University has revealed. Published in The Lancet Psychiatry today, leading academics state that as with a range of medical conditions, psychiatry and public health ...

Through the process of researching this issue, I became fascinated with recent research on neurodiversity as it applies to autism. To oversimplify vastly, neurodiversity is the idea that neurological differences (including autism) are the result of normal variation. In other words, we may be creating pathology where there is none.

People with HIV should be put on antiretroviral drugs as soon as they learn they are infected, federal health officials said Wednesday as they announced that they were halting the largest ever clinical trial of early HIV treatment because its benefits were already so clear.

Difficulty in swallowing can cause food to enter the airway, resulting in choking, pulmonary problems, inadequate nutrition and hydration, weight loss, and may even lead to death from causes like aspiration pneumonia. Swallowing difficulties are commonly found in over 6 million Americans.

The colors you wear send subtle signals out into the world. And while the idea that we should change colors with the seasons sounds both impractical and tedious, playing chameleon can highlight and draw out different aspects of our personalities. It's also a way to strategically position ourselves through our wardrobe.

By Janice Neumann The rate at which infants are suffering withdrawal after being born to mothers on opioid pain killers has increased five-fold since 2000, according to a new U.S. study. "I think the scope of the problem is staggering," said Dr. Stephen Patrick, a neonatologist who led the research.

Course excerpt from HIV/AIDS: Adherence Issues HIV and AIDS are medical terms that are linked together due to the progressive nature of HIV, with the end result of untreated (or undertreated) HIV being AIDS. The acronym stands for: H: Human. The virus affects humans. I: Immuno-deficiency.

By Lindsay Holmes Research suggests that social media can be a source of negativity and loneliness - but what if we started putting a positive spin on the conversation? That's what the microblogging platform Tumblr is hoping to do with their new Post It Forward initiative.

From Science Daily A unique connection between diabetes and Alzheimer's disease has been uncovered by researchers, providing further evidence that a disease that robs people of their memories may be affected by elevated blood sugar. While many earlier studies have pointed to diabetes as a possible contributor to Alzheimer's, the new study - in mice ...

From the National Institute on Aging More than 150 Alzheimer's and related clinical trials in the United States are looking for volunteers. At least 70,000 people with Alzheimer's, healthy volunteers, and caregivers are urgently needed. For more information on volunteering: http://www.nia.nih.gov/alzheimers/volunteer Related Online Continuing Education Courses: Alzheimer's Caregiver Guide and Tips on Acute Hospitalization is a ...

By Carolyn Gregoire What you eat can have a major impact on how you feel emotionally. A diet rich in probiotics - which support the growth of "healthy" bacteria in the gut - is known to boost digestive health and can even improve a person's immune system.

Course excerpt from Preventing Medical Errors in Nutrition & Dietetics Fortunately, patients as well as professionals are increasingly holding clinicians responsible for the evidence base that supports their practice. This serves to intensify the requirement that professionals keep themselves up-to-date on treatments that are being offered, both those that are supported by scientific evidence and those ...

From the National Institute on Aging A new report from the Institute of Medicine (IOM) calls for increased research on assessing and maintaining cognitive health in older adults. The report, Cognitive Aging: Progress in Understanding and Opportunities for Action, released April 14, 2015, also suggests that some interventions for healthy aging-exercise, reducing risk of cardiovascular disease, ...

By Fredrick Kunkle The federal government is expanding a program to create incentives for low-income people, particularly older Americans, to buy more fresh fruit and vegetables using food stamps. The U.S. Agriculture Department has joined with businesses, state agencies and nonprofits such as AARP to draw in low-income elders who may not get enough food ...

By Kayla Lee As college tuition continues to rise, an increasing number of students are looking at online degree programs. The amount of inaccurate information can be simply overwhelming. This is why we've made it our mission at OnlineColleges.net to research and provide an accurate resource, going so far as to collect our own school-level data ...

By Carolyn Gregoire We know that too much sugar is bad for our waistlines and our heart health, but now there's mounting evidence that high levels of sugar consumption can also have a negative effect on brain health - from cognitive function to psychological well-being.

The eighth annual World Autism Awareness Day is April 2, 2015. Every year, autism organizations around the world celebrate the day with unique fundraising and awareness-raising events. How will you celebrate? Use #LIUB to share your experience across social media and help light the world up blue this April!

Course excerpt from Preventing Medical Errors in Behavioral Health Your mobile calls and texts can be (and probably are being) snooped and stored, your email can be hacked, your tweets and Facebook posts are available for all the world to see. If you consider bringing your client communications into this realm, what ethical concerns do you ...

Course excerpt from Ethics & Boundaries in Psychotherapy Dual relationships (Zur, 2014) refer to situations where two or more connections exist between a therapist and a client. Examples of dual relationships are when a client is also a student, friend, employee or business associate of the therapist.

Course excerpt from Preventing Medical Errors in Behavioral Health Among the most elemental foundations of psychotherapy is the expectation that what is communicated with one's therapist will remain private. Confidentiality violations are a major source of practice error and highly likely to cause harm to patients.

Course excerpt from Ethics & Boundaries in Psychotherapy According to Barnett (2014), it is widely accepted that psychotherapists experience feelings of sexual attraction toward clients and engage in sexual fantasies about clients (Pope, Tabachnick, & Keith-Spiegel, 1987; Pope, Sonne, & Greene, 2006). This is a naturally occurring phenomenon that exists whether or not it is acknowledged ...

Occupational Therapy Board Rule 64B11-5.001, F.A.C., Requirements for License Renewal of an Active License; Continuing Education, was updated in July 2014 with significant changes. Please note that these changes will not be implemented until the 2015 - 2017 licensure biennium and will go into effect March 1, 2015, to avoid any potential adverse impacts on licensees and providers ...

by Susan Moyers, PhD, MPH, LD/N Adult Obesity: Prevention & Treatment is a 2-hour online CE course for dietitians and nutritionists. Overweight and obesity constitute one of the nation's ten leading health indicators with nearly two-thirds of adults in the United States now classified as either overweight or obese.

By Sarah Klein Despite an increase in diagnoses, plenty of stigma still surrounds attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD. Adults with ADHD (or parents of children with the disorder) are often somehow blamed for the condition - as if they're not trying hard enough to control a wide range of symptoms, which can include difficulty ...

By Philip Rucker and Rosalind S. Helderman Medical experts reacted with alarm Monday as two top contenders for the Republican presidential nomination appeared to question whether child vaccinations should be mandatory - injecting politics into an emotional issue that has taken on new resonance with a recent outbreak of measles in the United States.