CrossCurrents - The Journal of Addiction and Mental Health articles from September 2008

CrossCurrents - The Journal of Addiction and Mental Health archives from September 2008

Note from the editor.(tobacco use causes death and disease)(Editorial)(Brief article)
September 22, 2008... It's an indisputable fact that tobacco use causes death and disease, but what isn't common knowledge is the extent to which it affects the rives of people with mental illness and substance use issues--a population with a higher than average...

A view from CAMH.(resistant to smoking cessation)
September 22, 2008... Among the people I see with severe and persistent mental illnesses such as schizophrenia or bipolar disorder, I always ask about cigarettes; in contrast to the rest of Canadians, the majority of these individuals smoke. We then calculate...

After my suicide attempt: survivors share their stories of choosing to live.(profile)
September 22, 2008... Not a single day goes by that Brent Seal doesn't feel lucky to be alive. But it wasn't always like that. Seal attempted suicide in May 2007, after experiencing a relapse of schizophrenia. He's recovering very well, and slowly but surely...

Canada's first youth mental health court launches.(news)(Report)
September 22, 2008... As our understanding of mental health and mental illness grows and evolves, our social institutions, including the justice system, are also slowly changing. In 2005, I became acutely aware of the need for the justice system to reflect progress...

Are mental health services improving for people with dual diagnosis?(news)(Report)
September 22, 2008... As Wendy Richardson's 21-year-old son, Nathan, was led to an ambulance in handcuffs, he asked her for a kiss, not knowing if he would ever see her again. The incident marked the end of several weeks of Nathan spiralling into a state of...

Caring and inclusive schools curb student smoking.(research update)(Brief article)
September 22, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Schools that promote caring and inclusiveness can significantly reduce the incidence of smoking among students, according to research from the Medical Research Council Social and Public Health Sciences Unit in...

Link between abortion and anxiety called into question.(research update)
September 22, 2008... Women who have had abortions are net as vulnerable to anxiety as previous research suggests, according to a new study from Arizona State University in Tempe. The study involved two surveys of women who had a first pregnancy ending in abortion...

Substance abuse treatment makes healthy pregnancy more likely.(research update)(Report)(Brief article)
September 22, 2008... Expectant mothers who have substance use problems can significantly improve their chances of having a healthy pregnancy if they receive substance abuse treatment during pregnancy, according to new research from the Permanente Group in Vallejo,...

An active social life may protect against dementia.(research update)(Report)(Brief article)
September 22, 2008... People with active social lives later in life are less likely to develop dementia, according to research from Kaiser Permanente Southern California in Pasadena. Researchers recruited 2,249 women age 78 or older and followed them for four years....

Bipolar disorder increases risk of substance abuse in teens.(research update)
September 22, 2008... Bipolar disorder significantly increases the risk of substance abuse among adolescents, according to research from Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. Researchers interviewed 203 adolescents with an average age of just under 14. Of these,...

Nurses can deliver cost-effective depression treatment for cancer patients.(research update)(Report)(Brief article)
September 22, 2008... Research from the University of Edinburgh Cancer Research Centre demonstrates that nurses who have no previous experience in psychiatry can provide a cost-effective intervention as a supplement to usual care for cancer patients with major...

Early detection limits long-term impact of schizophrenia.(research update)(Report)(Brief article)
September 22, 2008... People with schizophrenia often experience negative symptoms such as social isolation, apathy and decreased attention to personal hygiene. A new study from Ulleval University in Oslo, Norway, has found that early detection of psychosis can help...

One addiction at a time: does integrating tobacco cessation into addiction programs make sense?(focus)(Report)
September 22, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] WHEN JILL * ENTERED THE AURORA CENTRE IN VANCOUVER, B.C., she knew it was the help she needed to recover from her crystal meth and alcohol addiction and ultimately regain custody of her children. She knew it was a...

Sacred smoke: remembering traditional tobacco in smoking cessation and prevention.(focus)(Report)
September 22, 2008... "IF YOU AND I WERE TRADING HORSES AND BLANKETS 200 YEARS ago," says Kathi Camilleri, a Cree/Metis woman who lives in the Kwakwakawak community of Campbell River, B.C., "we would summon a pipe carrier, fill a pipe with tobacco and light it. We...

"Enjoy your cigarettes; it's all you have": stamping out the smoking and schizophrenia connection.(focus)(Report)
September 22, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] EVEN THOUGH MICHAEL ELSON'S PREVIOUS ATTEMPTS TO QUIT smoking failed, he's "definitely going to try again." Elson, 34, loves the ritual of his morning cigarette, but says smoking is affecting his health and his wife...

No ifs, ands or butts: the smoking ban debate rages on.(focus)(Report)
September 22, 2008... "Some people say they stole our dignity by stepping in and going smoke-free, but how dignified is it to be on an oxygen machine?" "I have zero tolerance for zero tolerance." THESE STATEMENTS BY TWO CLIENTS OF THE MENTAL HEALTH system...

Healthier women, healthier children: addressing pregnancy and smoking requires women-centred approach.(focus)(Report)
September 22, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] MATERNAL SMOKING DURING PREGNANCY REMAINS A SERIOUS public health problem, wreaking havoc on the health of women, fetuses and newborns. Yet smoking cessation interventions for pregnant and postpartum women are not...

Smoke and mirrors? Smokeless tobacco and the harm reduction debate.(q&a)(Interview)
September 22, 2008... Harm reduction approaches to tobacco are relatively recent. They are also highly controversial. While proponents argue that harm reduction strategies are a more realistic approach to tackling the health risks of this highly addictive product,...

In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters with Addiction.(Book review)
September 22, 2008... How often does a book that intends to offer an evidence-informed, comprehensive analysis of addictions end up on the bestseller list? Such has become the fate of Gabor Mate's In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters with Addiction. ...

The Canadian Centre for Tobacco Control.(Tobacco control: A global perspective)(Website overview)(Brief article)
September 22, 2008... www.cctc.ca Sselect "Frameworks and Strategies" from the main menu, then "International." This directs you two key resources--the World Health Organization Framework and the World Bank report, Economics of Tobacco Control Refer to chapters...

WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.(Tobacco control: A global perspective)(Brief article)
September 22, 2008... www.who.int/fctc Spearheaded by the WHO, this treaty is based on the premise that we all have a right to the highest standard of health in the current climate of the global tobacco epidemic. The aim is to protect health through demand and...

United States.(Health web site)(Tobacco control: A global perspective)(Website overview)
September 22, 2008... www.ash.org For a state-by-state summary of smoke-free legislation, check out the Action on Smoking and Health web site. This is a challenging site to navigate, so it is best to go directly to the page at http://ash.org/smokingbans.html,...

Contraband: the quicksand beneath smoke-free Ontario.(the last word)
September 22, 2008... The recent implementation of Ontario's ban of retail tobacco displays and an amendment to ban smoking in vehicles transporting children are continuing proof of the strength of the province's Smoke-Free Ontario Act and its accompanying strategy....

Conferences.(Calendar)
September 22, 2008... CANADA Public Health Summit: Making Healthy Communities Count September 17-20, Toronto, Ontario Contact: International Conference Services Ltd., 1177 West Hastings St., Ste. 2101, Vancouver, BC V6E 2K3 tel 604 681 2153 ...

Religious communities and global cities: a tribute to Lowell W. Livezey.(In memoriam)
September 22, 2008... "Let us heed the call of the city": Lowell W. Livezey and the formation of a vocation "Religious leaders in New York City today face new and extensive challenges. The neighborhoods where they work are becoming increasing...

Religion in Urban America Program: Chicago conversations.
September 22, 2008... Structure, agency, and adaptation in congregations In debates over the relationship between structure and agency, Lowell Livezey took the position that religion as an institution, in particular the congregation, had "agency." By this he...

Got a right to the tree of life: religious jurisdiction, religious infrastructures, and urban religious territory.(Report)
September 22, 2008... "Chicago exemplifies the three processes of urban restructuring, religious restructuring, and social transformation," according to Lowell Livezey, "with which religious organizations must interact if they are to participate effectively in urban...

Civitas in Horto: James Luther Adams and Lowell Welden Livezey at the banquet table of Chicago citizenship.(Viewpoint essay)
September 22, 2008... It is worth noting that the relative simplicity and the interpersonal familiarity of rural existence was yearned for by the anti-urban Old Testament prophets, as they witnessed the complexities and the varieties of deception...

Negative Capability.(Religion and Urban America Program)(Essay)
September 22, 2008... The first discussion that I had at the University of Chicago with a new graduate student, Lowell Livezey, was a model of many more to come. It continued for roughly one quarter, almost three months, and consistently engaged more than a dozen...

Understanding our Ecologies of Faith: the Ecologies of Learning Project.(Organization overview)
September 22, 2008... Our urban challenges are fundamentally theological concerns. The new global world we live in requires that we continue to interpret our traditions, to look for revelation in our neighborhoods, and to offer new witness. The shifting terrain of...

The construction of sacred space in the urban ecology.(Report)
September 22, 2008... Entering the old furniture factory, Muslim worshippers quietly slip out of their shoes before finding a space on the prayer carpet. Not far away, Mennonites silence their animated greetings as they move into the renovated iron works factory and...

The making of a promised land: religious responses to gentrification and neighborhood ethnic diversity.(Report)
September 22, 2008... Since the 1980s, Flushing, Queens, has been the site of a new and revived commercial zone. Its prosperity reflects not only the successful investment of Taiwanese and Korean merchants, but also the formation of a new Asian community with a...

Negotiated or negotiating spaces; Korean churches in Flushing, Queens of New York City.(Report)
September 22, 2008... Introduction Just as Robert Orsi describes that the influx of the post-1965 immigrants has brought cultural, religious, and demographic changes in Bronx (Orsi 1999), (1) so Queens has experienced the drastic changes since 1965. Flushing,...

African American religion and public life: an assessment.(Viewpoint essay)
September 22, 2008... Introduction It is an honor to dedicate this essay to the memory of my longtime friend and colleague, the late Lowell Livezey. His novel project, "Ecologies of Learning," is arguably the most significant contribution to theological...

Discourses, institutions and populations: religion in an urban ecology.(Report)
September 22, 2008... I first met Lowell Livezey in Chicago in the early 1990s. Lowell was in the early stages of the Religion in Urban America Project (Livezey 2000a) and I was part of a group from the Department of Theology in Birmingham who had come to Chicago to...