What's the main difference between Western societies and those from the East? Many might cite such things as skin colour, dress codes, dietary habits etc. However, there is something much more important which those of us born and brought up in the West should take heed of - especially if we want to avoid the stress of mental disorders. It is how we, as a society, deal with each other.
Western societies are generally termed ‘individualistic', which means they encourage people to be independent from one another. Promoting self expression and the pursuit of individuality over group goals are paramount in such societies. It's what our schools teach us in order to promote personal growth and achievement. However, the underside of all this is that such styles of living are also much more likely to promote tendencies towards depression than for people from Eastern cultures, whatever the genetic factors each individual may possess.
Research supports the idea that depression can result from both genes and the environment, and an interaction of the two. In Western populations, people who carry the short version of the serotonin transporter gene (STG) tend to suffer major depressive episodes when they experience a number of life stressors.
Childhood memories: sibling bonds run deep and the trauma of losing a loved one can last a lifetime.
I lost my brother last year, aged 61. He had been diagnosed with terminal myeloma - a devastating cancer of the bone marrow - but by the time I discovered his illness, he was already in a coma. I was therefore denied the spiritual healing of a final conversation with him. Many bizarre symptoms have followed this event. Even though I now live in another country, far away from where my brother spent his whole life, I have recently ‘seen' my brother walking past the car as I drove along. The build was the same, the clothes similar - he was even carrying the unusual multi-striped golfing umbrella he always used - and his ‘eyes' red-rimmed. It is truly chilling when such an experience happens. The brain is an amazing organ.
Losing a close member of the family, particularly when they are still relatively young, is very difficult to deal with. In my case, there was a long-running family saga which meant that my brother and I had lost touch for many years.
Don't take no for an answer. It's vital. Older people can boost their brain activity by performing simple online searches, according to a study that suggests the web could be used in the fight against mental decline.
Researchers in California have discovered that internet searches are more effective than reading at improving brain function. It seems that ‘Googling' is particularly beneficial because it involves a number of simultaneous mental processes, including memory - of the original search term - and the comprehension and analysis of the results. The researchers say that searching online is a simple form of brain exercise that can be employed to enhance cognition in older adults. As part of the study, 24 people between the ages of 55 and 78 were asked to carry out a series of online searches while having the flow of blood around their brains monitored by a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scanner. They underwent the same test a fortnight later, having followed a regime of online searching at home.
The results showed that the function improvements detected in the initial scans - in the parts of the brain controlling language, reading, memory and vision - had definitely moved to other areas of the brain responsible for memory and decision making.
In her prime, Dorothy Johnson was quite a woman. Not only was she an international bridge player, an active social organiser, she was entrepreneurial in the way she thought.
But, what happens when someone like this, who was known for her intelligence, suddenly develops dementia? Is there something of that original sharpness of mind that can somehow overcome the crisis of the mind?
When, at 59, Dorothy started to show symptoms of dementia and simultaneously to provide illuminating chinks of information about what was happening to her, her daughter Penny watched and listened attentively. She remembers the day Dorothy, feeling agitated, stood in her kitchen brandishing a milk bottle and asking where the fridge was. "I wouldn't be asking if I didn't need the information," Dorothy explained.
Wasn't it a past US president who said ‘there are two sure things in life: death and taxes'? He was absolutely right, and he wasn't alone. Poets, professors, priests, and the ordinary man in the street have always talked about what unites us all: in a word, death.
But, what makes a ‘good death'? Is there such a thing? And how can each of us come to terms with the inevitability of what is facing us?
Education and preparedness is the route. It's only by understanding and planning for what is to come that we can avoid the stress, anguish and mental unhealthiness that follows avoidance and denial. In truth, death is nearly as unique as the life that came before it - shaped by the attitudes, physical condition, medical treatments, and mix of people that accompanies it.
Posted by: Uticopa in dementia on
Sep 22, 2009
With around 163,000 new diagnoses every year, dementia has been described as ‘one of the greatest challenges for medicine, nursing and society in the twenty-first century'. We're told that the number of people aged over 65 years is expected to increase by more than 60% in the next 25 years. In fact, while an estimated 700,000 people are currently diagnosed with dementia, 15,000 of them young people, this figure is expected to increase to one million by 2025. This is likely to be a major underestimate by up to three times because of the way the data relies on referrals to services.
The thought of one million people, and more, with dementia is a frightening prospect. Some nurses tell us that they received absolutely no education on dementia at university. Conclusion? They need to provide some! If such a crucial area of health care is being ignored by our univerisities, it gives the impression that it isn't very important, which belittles those with dementia.
Interestingly, two thirds of people with dementia are women.
Posted by: Uticopa in Alzheimer's on
Aug 26, 2009
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Forgetting a new acquaintance's name. We all do it.
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Forgetting an old acquaintance's name. Embarrassing, but we all do this, too.
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Remembering in the middle of the night that you forgot to put out tomorrow's rubbish bag for pick-up. The fact that you eventually remembered is positive.
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You can't remember where you parked the car. Common.
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Feeling you can't be bothered to attend book group, an activity you usually love.
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Wanting to chill alone every so often is normal. However, don't make it a habit; isolating yourself socially is also a red flag for depression.
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Losing your sunglasses - again. To misplace is human. To finally find the sunglasses in the refrigerator or the bin, on the other hand, is possible Alzheimer's.
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Your partner elbows you at a party and says, "Oh please, don't tell that story again." Over the years, couples often build up a trove of anecdotes (how we met, the time we sat next to a movie star on a plane, how we bought our house at a bargain price, the day we learned our son was a genius). However, alarm bells should ring if you hear, "But you just told that story five minutes ago" - and not remembering doing so.
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Not recognizing your own reflection for a second after a new haircut or new glasses. More worrying: Still thinking, after a moment's pause, that the person staring back at you in the mirror is someone else.
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Forgetting an appointment, or arriving on the wrong day. Don't worry unless this is happening routinely, instead of once in a blue moon.
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Feeling old and baffled because you can't work out how to text message, set up broadband access in your house or stream video to your TV set (though the 10-year-old next door can). However, worrying signs are when you can no longer follow a recipe or tell a cell phone from a TV remote.
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Saying things like, "that thingamabob" or "you know, that actress who was in that movie ...". Common.
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Can't find your car keys. Common. However, alarm bells should ring if you pick up a car key and you don't know what it's for.
What exactly is Alzheimer's, and who's at risk?
Although certain basic lifestyle changes can help delay the onset of the disease in some people, the exact cause of Alzheimer's disease isn't yet understood.
Alzheimer's is a progressive neurodegenerative brain disorder: Normal brain cell function is gradually destroyed, leading to irreversible declines in memory, cognition, and behavior. But what causes things to go awry remains unknown. It may be that Alzheimer's has several causes or that the interplay between genetic makeup and certain risk factors determines who's affected.
The way the human mind works is still unfathomable, even by the most eminent neurophysicians. For that reason, there are many adults walking around today who, although displaying typical symptoms of being on the autism-spectrum, have never been diagnosed. The spectrum is wide, ranging from mild Asperger's to full-blown autism.
Asperger's is a state of mind that typically affects the male ‘systems' part of the brain, rather than the female ‘emotional' areas. Amazingly, it was not even commonly recognised as a disorder at all until 1990. So, when a male child asks a question such as ‘how do the traffic lights know the cars have stopped?', warning bells should ring in parents' minds. It is a typical ‘aspie' query, based as it is on a slightly skewed sense of the world.
There is still general ignorance about the disorder, the average parent typically laughing at their child's odd question. Their son could not possibly have anything wrong with him because he is so quick with maths and computing, often displaying a manic sense of humour. One father was discussing society's increasing problem with his wife: ‘If there were 100 people in a room, one of them would have Asperger's'. Their ‘aspie' son, overhearing this, quickly retorted ‘You'd never get the aspie in the room!'
In so many ways our lives today are a vast improvement over those of our grandmothers’. We now have technology to fulfil our every need, and even some systems – like the much-vaunted ‘Cloud’ with its ‘big brother’ aspects – which George Orwell himself could not have imagined.
But in some ways, we still have much to learn from our forebears. Yes, life was harder in their day. However, the essential difference was in how they dealt with each other. They knew how to recognise, respect and deal with old age, in all its forms and frailties.
One can only wonder when that attitude is contrasted with today’s much-hyped media bombardment of all that is young, beautiful and famous. For females, in particular, to be seen as old today is catastrophic! Just ask Arlene Phillips, Selina Scott, Moira Stewart to name but a few. Many are the women who are forced to resort to plastic surgery, foolishly to keep up the appearance of youth. The media instil a fear of growing old within us with daily articles about how to look young and eliminate wrinkles.
Posted by: Uticopa in Untagged on
Aug 07, 2009
The British actor Hugh Dancy is taking an innovative route to stardom. He stars in ‘Adam’, a romantic comedy about Asperger’s syndrome – the first ever.
What makes this film medically-accurate is its ability to show adult relationships and the difficulties encountered when the man lacks that all-important empathy. Picture a typical marital scene where, after a blazing row, the woman finally calms down and says that little word ‘Sorry - it was all my fault’. In a ‘normal’ relationship, the man would empathise with her emotional feelings at this point and say something like ‘no, we’re both to blame really. I’m sorry too.’
But when the man (and typically Asperger’s is far more common in males) is on the Asperger’s spectrum, logic would then kick in. He would think, well, she’s said sorry so that means she’s admitted she was wrong. So, problem solved. Let’s move on.
