Obsessive Compulsive Personality Disorder

This is one of the better blogs I've come across. It gives you some insight into OCPD, a personality disorder. It is not the same as OCD! The writer sheds light on this commonly misunderstood personality with an interesting, yet unconventional way of looking at this condition.

giftofocpd.com

How to Avoid a Late- Life Crisis

From BBC news: 

It appears that 'mid-life' might not be the only time people suffer a crisis in their lives according to new research.

Psychologists have found that many people in their sixties also find themselves questioning their worth and place in the world, often following personal illness or the loss of friends.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-22130907

An Overview of Mental Health Therapies

Here's a great clip made by Diane Bederman!
http://www.dianebederman.com/the-many-voices-of-mental-illness-podcasts/podcast-episodes/6-episode-2-mental-health-therapies

Here you learn about the different talk therapies from cognitive behaviour therapy to psychoanalysis, drug therapy, and spiritual care.

Diane has a number of great clips on her website, so check it out!

From the DSM-5: Binge Eating Disorder

Here's a neat article from the APA. The DSM-5 is coming out with several changes. Binge eating disorder was previously categorized as a "diagnosis for further study." Read the article to find out why this change was made!

http://apahealthyminds.blogspot.co.il/2013/02/raising-awareness-for-binge-eating.html

Mental Illnesses share common DNA roots

The biggest study yet into genetics and mental health has come up with a stunning result: The five most common mental illnesses -- autism, attention deficit disorder, bipolar disease, schizophrenia and major depression -- all have a common genetic root. Read the article for more!

http://vitals.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/02/27/17121643-mental-illnesses-share-common-dna-roots-study-finds?lite

Bad sleep 'dramatically' alters body

Wonder why you can easily catch a cold after a poor sleep? Wonder why you can't recall information from a lecture after 4 hours of sleep?

A run of poor sleep can have a potentially profound effect on the internal workings of the human body, say UK researchers.

Blood samples were analyzed comparing periods of plenty of sleep versus sleep deprivation. There was a dramatic change in the function of many different kinds of genes!!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-21572686

No Flowers on the Psych Ward

A beautiful narrative that focuses on the hope that nature will someday play a bigger therapeutic role in the healing of psych patients, and artist Anna Schuleit's exhibit commemorating the closure of the Massachusetts Mental Health Center.

"So many items cannot come onto a locked psychiatric ward. Administration looks at everything as a possible weapon of self or mass destruction. No curtains. No jewelry. No art. No glass. And, I learn, no flowers, no plants, no nature."

http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2012/11/no-flowers-on-the-psych-ward/264923/