CrossCurrents - The Journal of Addiction and Mental Health articles from December 2006

CrossCurrents - The Journal of Addiction and Mental Health archives from December 2006

Note from the editor.(Editorial)
December 22, 2006... In 1999 a young man named Adam hanged himself at his home in Winnipeg. This autumn, Adam's mother, Marlene Potash, took her own life. This tragedy has an ironic twist: Marlene didn't just give up when her son killed himself. She battled her way...

A view from CAMH.(Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services)(Editorial)
December 22, 2006... "Died suddenly." How often has that phrase been used in an obituary of someone with no known physical illness, an adolescent or young adult, when the real story is that the person died by suicide? It is no accident in the English language that...

Comic books tackle aboriginal youth health issues.(Darkness Calls)
December 22, 2006... Comic books are about more than entertainment and escape. Vancouver's Healthy Aboriginal Network (HAN) is using them to engage aboriginal youth and promote wellness. The compilation comic, Standing Together, features stories about health issues...

The healthy workplace: creating a culture of civility, respect and mental safety.(news)
December 22, 2006... The story of workplace safety, and the responsibility to provide it, originates with an innocent bottle of British ginger beer. It was the early 1930s and a woman in a local teashop was pouring her beverage when the decomposed remains of a...

Adding life to years by tackling HIV and depression.(human immunodeficiency virus)
December 22, 2006... "Stigma." Paul Lewand says the word carefully, and it is obvious from his voice the effect stigma has had on his life. Lewand, chair of the Vancouver-based British Columbia Persons with AIDS Society, lives with HIV, but it is a mental...

Minority with panic disorder receive adequate treatment.(Brief article)
December 22, 2006... Although panic disorder affects as much as five per cent of the American population at some point, most people with this disorder do not receive proven and effective treatment, according to a study from the University of Washington in Seattle....

Cognitive-behavioural therapy better than sertraline in treating OCD.(obsessive compulsive disorder)(Brief article)
December 22, 2006... Cognitive-behavioural group therapy (CBGT) and sertraline (Zoloft) have both proven effective in treating obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), but new research demonstrates a marked superiority for CBGT over sertraline. Researchers at the...

Psychiatric disorders more common in people with fibromyalgia.(Brief article)
December 22, 2006... Psychiatric illnesses, notably mood and anxiety disorders, are more common in people with fibromyalgia than in the general population, suggesting common underlying causes, according to research from the University of Cincinnati College of...

Interventions show promise in curbing teen methamphetamine use.(Brief article)
December 22, 2006... Partnership-based preventive interventions can be effective in reducing methamphetamine use among adolescents, according to research from Iowa State University. Researchers assigned 1,346 students at public schools in the American midwest to...

Parents often unaware of teen substance use.(Brief article)
December 22, 2006... Parents appear to be unaware of alcohol and other drug use among their teenage children roughly half of the time, according to a recent study. Researchers at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri, studied 591 pairs...

Mother-daughter gene matching may increase schizophrenia risk.(Brief article)
December 22, 2006... Daughters who possess a particular gene that closely matches their mothers' appear to be at increased risk of developing schizophrenia, according to research from the University of California in Los Angeles. A mother's fetus inherits one human...

Early alcohol dependence decreases likelihood of seeking treatment.(Survey)(Brief article)
December 22, 2006... People who become alcohol dependent at an early age are less likely to seek treatment than those who develop a dependency later in life, according to research from the Boston University School of Public Health. The study used data from 43,093...

Breaking the silence: a call for a national suicide prevention strategy.
December 22, 2006... SUICIDE IS A MAJOR PUBLIC HEALTH PROBLEM. ALMOST 4,000 Canadians take their own lives every year. Youth suicide rates have risen in the last 40 years. Suicide is at epidemic levels in some First Nations and Inuit communities. Quebec is...

The supportive classroom: why school-based suicide prevention programs?(opinions of Dr. Jennifer White)(Interview)
December 22, 2006... Dr. Jennifer White, assistant professor in the School of Child and Youth Care at the University of Victoria in British Columbia, has dedicated almost 20 years to suicide prevention. Here, she discusses the role schools can play within a broader...

A life worth living: clients with borderline personality disorder find hope.
December 22, 2006... "ONCE YOU TRY TO COMMIT SUICIDE, YOU OPEN A DOOR that you fear you will never be able to shut." Skye * is speaking about a subject she knows only too well. As a young woman in her 20s, she tried to die by suicide so many times she can't really...

When suicide comes home: helping child survivors grieve the loss of a parent.(focus)
December 22, 2006... "LIFE IS PRECIOUS." IT IS A TIMELESS ADAGE THAT WE HEAR, often from our parents, starting at an early age. Life is a gift that we should cherish, despite the hardships that may come our way. But what if when you are a child one of your parents...

Dead reckoning: when therapists lose a client to suicide.(focus)
December 22, 2006... THE CLIENT SEEMED VERY AGREEABLE, THOUGHT DR. IAN Dawe, as he left the room to make admitting arrangements. Dawe, at the time a psychiatry resident completing his final year of specialized training at a Toronto emergency department, saw no...

What role do distress centres play in the health care system?(q & a)(Distress Centres of Toronto executive director talks about telemedicine for emotional distress)(Interview)
December 22, 2006... This Q&A is based on an interview with Karen Letofsky, executive director of the Distress Centres of Toronto, which provide telephone support to those experiencing emotional distress or in need of crisis intervention and suicide prevention. ...

Reducing risks: talking to students about alcohol.(Talking to College Students about Alcohol: Motivational Strategies for Reducing Abuse)(Book review)
December 22, 2006... A 2005 Canadian campus survey from the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto has confirmed that heavy alcohol use remains popular with college and university students. While many of us in health promotion would like to determine why...

Suicide in Canada.(www.suicideinfo.ca)(www.cmha.ca)(www.cpa.ca/factsheets/suicide.htm.)(www.camh.net)(www.statcan.ca.)(Brief article)
December 22, 2006... Resources for help The best first stop is the Centre for Suicide Prevention at www.suicideinfo.ca. Follow the "Are you in crisis?" hyperlink from the main page. From here, you can also access resources to assist others. There are pointers...

Confidentiality and the suicidal client.(the last word)
December 22, 2006... Clinician-client confidentiality is a hallmark of the therapeutic relationship. It comprises an extension of clients' fundamental right to privacy and is an essential component of building a therapeutic alliance. Arguably, assurance of...

Conferences.(Calendar)
December 22, 2006... CANADA Looking at Sensuality and Sexuality Across the Divide of Shame February 17, Toronto, Ontario Institute for the Advancement of Self Psychology, 970 Queen St. E., P.O. Box 98182, Toronto, ON M4M 1J8 tel 416 690-3722 ...