Short term meditation induces changes in the brain

Short-term meditation induces white matter changes in the anterior cingulate

The anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) is part of a network implicated in the development of self-regulation and whose connectivity changes dramatically in development. In previous studies we showed that 3 h of mental training, based on traditional Chinese medicine (integrative body–mind training, IBMT), increases ACC activity and improves self-regulation. However, it is not known whether changes in white matter connectivity can result from small amounts of mental training. We here report that 11 h of IBMT increases fractional anisotropy (FA), an index indicating the integrity and efficiency of white matter in the corona radiata, an important white-matter tract connecting the ACC to other structures. Thus IBMT could provide a means for improving self-regulation and perhaps reducing or preventing various mental disorders.

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From PNAS

Combatting stress through biofeedback and lemons

Measure your stress and relaxation responses.Bio feedback is a tool to monitor physiological symptoms and to project physical reactions, being used more and more in the US military to "de-stress" veterans.

Colin Moses and Kazuri

BUILDING ON SUCCESS - Colin Moses in interview from OFF_PRESS on Vimeo.

Making ex-offenders pay, ex-offenders pay back society through conservation work

Offenders supervised by Northumbria Probation Trust took on vital conservation work in a national park.

The 12 offenders worked for a week at Snowdonia doing construction work with the National Trust and Charity Mobex North East. They also built dams to help re-establish the wetland, improve vegetation for wildlife and stop erosion.

During the week the offenders improved their communication skills, increased their self esteem while also paying something back to society by helping with this important conservation work.

Nick Hall, acting chief executive for Northumbria Probation Trust said: 'I am very impressed with the work the offenders completed and the impact this has had on them.

'I had met some of the group on a previous occasion and was amazed at the transformation in them. The conservation work has helped them to believe in themselves and realise that they can achieve other things in life without offending.'

The offenders who took part in the conservation work were subject to licence supervision on release from prison and living in Approved Premises in Northumbria.


First published on  http://justice.gov.uk/

 

Israeli researchers seek to develop 'morning-after-pill' for post-traumatic stress disorder

Treatment intended to prevent psychiatric episodes, similar to the treatments administered today after a stroke to prevent further complications, or after an event that could lead to post-traumatic stress disorder.

By Dan EvenTags: Israel health

An initial clinical trial conducted on 24 people involved in traffic accidents seems to corroborate earlier animal experiments indicating that it may be possible to develop a "morning-after pill" to prevent the development of post-traumatic stress disorder. The Israeli researchers who conducted the trial determined that the administration of a hormone reduces the risk of developing PTSD by 80 percent.

The project, led by Prof. Joseph Zohar, head of the psychiatry department at Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer, and chairman of the Israeli Consortium on PTSD, is designed to develop a treatment to prevent psychiatric episodes, similar to the treatments administered today after a stroke to prevent further complications, or after an event that could lead to post-traumatic stress disorder.

	Photo by: AP

"Most psychiatric conditions, such as depression or even schizophrenia, develop gradually and not at a specific point in time, but PTSD appears in response to a specific traumatic event," explains Zohar.

"The treatment of post-trauma in the past several years is rich in myth and thin on facts, especially when it comes to first-aid after exposure to trauma," he adds.

Until recently, it was common practice to treat individuals exposed to traumatic events with tranquilizers from the Benzodiazepine family, such as Valium. But apart from their relaxing effect, these drugs delay the release of cortisol in the body. Animal experiments suggest that this "neutralization" of the hormone reduces the body's ability to defend itself against PTSD. American medical organizations began advising against Benzodiazepine treatment directly after stress exposure, and researchers began looking for better pharmaceutical alternatives.

Prof. Hagit Cohen, head of the anxiety and stress research unit of Be'er Sheva's Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, carried out an animal trial in which mice were exposed to a stress stimulus - in this case, litter soaked in cat urine. Some of the mice developed extreme stress symptoms, which were reduced when they were injected with cortisol shortly after developing the symptoms. The results of the study were published in the Biological Psychiatry journal in 2008, and gave rise to the human trial.

The pilot involved 24 survivors of traffic accidents who showed symptoms of stress after being admitted for treatment at the Sheba emergency room. Of the 12 subjects who were treated with the one-time injection of cortisol, only one was diagnosed with PTSD a month after the exposure to stress; at the end of a three-month period in which their conditions were monitored, none showed signs of PTSD. Of the 12 who received a placebo injection only, three developed PTSD.

The accepted medical definition of PTSD is the presence of an acute stress reaction to exposure to a traumatic event for at least a month after the event itself. Between 10-15 out of every 100 individuals are likely to develop PTSD after exposure to traumatic events; among people considered at high risk, who present with stress symptoms shortly after the exposure, as in the case of the Sheba trial subjects, the risk of PTSD climbs beyond 50 percent.

In the trial, 100 milligrams of cortisol were administered by injection, but Zohar noted that the use of cortisol in pill form will also be examined. Cortisol has a number of medical uses, and in the case of allergic and asthmatic attacks, it is administered in larger doses than the ones used in the clinical trial.

The protocol for the trial called for administering the cortisol within six hours after the exposure to the traumatic event - in this case, a traffic accident.

"In medicine, we call this period 'the golden hour' - in this case, the period during which the traumatic memory is fixed. If the emotional memory is not fixed in place, PTSD does not develop later on," Zohar said.

The results of the trial will be published in the December issue of the European Neuropsychopharmacology journal. The researchers recently received approval in principle for a research grant from the U.S. National Institute of Mental Health.

The results of the clinical trial could pave the way for the development of preventive treatments in psychiatry, similar to the administration of tetanus vaccine after exposure to toxins.

"The work raises the possibility in the future of developing a rapid treatment that could be given to people, such as combat soldiers, who have been exposed to traumatic events. There is a need for an agent that could be administered in the field and that does not impair motor responses or performance and that does not have a soporific effect - and cortisone meets these requirements," Zohar said.

A call to arms for treatment in the community for the mentally ill, Hope not Dope

First published in the Guardian


John Hoggett, Speak Out Against Psychiatry
Ritalin, an anti-depressant used to treat children who have been diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.  
I am sick of seeing friends who are seriously mentally distressed neglected and damaged by mainstream psychiatry. I am fed up hearing about people being detained, locked up and forced to take damaging medication before anyone has found out why they are distressed. I am angry about children being forced to take addictive psychoactive drugs by health professionals because no one could be bothered to work out why they are playing up. I met some others who wanted to change things and together we formed an organisation called Speak Out Against Psychiatry.

Speak Out Against Psychiatry is a group of service users, carers and advocates with direct experience of the psychiatric industry. We know that people who are mentally distressed need compassionate understanding and intense social support. We know that there have been many successful units around the world that have helped people resolve their problems with little or no medication. They have been relatively cheap and successful yet they are not being taken up in the UK. Why not?

Take Western Lapland, in Finland. There, the mental health system is based on a method called Open Dialogue: lots of long conversations with family and friends. It has the best outcomes for first episode psychosis in the developed world. About 80% of participants are back at work or training within two years. Very little medication is used. These results should be the envy of the medical professional yet it is mainly ignored. Similarly, the Family Care Foundation in Gothenburg, Sweden, allows seriously disturbed people to live with rural families for a year or more. They get therapy and the family can regularly talk over how things are going. It gets people off medication, a frightening contrast with the standard treatment from the NHS.

Here, psychiatrists' main activity is diagnosis, yet many people do not find this helpful. They find talking about their lives and their symptoms helpful. Yet talking about hearing voices or the unusual ideas expressed by people experiencing psychosis is discouraged by mainstream psychiatry.

Most people who are extremely distressed have experienced immense personal trauma. Two-thirds of people diagnosed with schizophrenia had experienced physical or sexual abuse. Most psychiatrists ignore the evidence and prefer to talk about unproven brain disorders and imbalances in neurotransmitters. So the causes of mental distress are not fed back into wider social policy.

Then there are the drugs. Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder has no scientific basis and concerns about the drug Ritalin, used to 'treat' it are well documented. There are other ways of helping children who are in conflict with their parents and teachers that do not use potentially addictive medication. Equally, the prescribing of major tranquillisers such as Haloperidol to elderly people in hospital and nursing homes can be dangerous yet is becoming standard practice instead of developing staff skills in dealing with people experiencing dementia. Meanwhile, anti-depressants may be no more effective than a placebo. The serotonin hypothesis of depression is rubbish. It is a marketing ploy by drug companies. Anti-depressants are potentially addictive and sometimes dangerous, yet one in three women take them some time in their lives. On top of this, electroconvulsive therapy is still used yet there has been ample research showing its dangers and it is just about useless.

Speak Out Against Psychiatry  wants  to hear your stories and they want the Royal College to hear them too.

All the evidence shows that mainstream psychiatry and psychiatric medication is a waste of public money. There are better ways of helping people who are mentally distressed and we need to start using them.

The Sickness of War Theory, Air Force Cites New Testament, Ex-Nazi, to Train Officers on Ethics of Launching Nuclear Weaponsperverted by the US Military

This is a link to a power point presentation used in training nuclear defence operatives for the US Military.
Really stomach churning, brain washing propaganda. Well done to Truthout for doing what they do best. This has been pulled for "review" following the Truthout report last week which is here

For more on the Christian Theory of War which dates back to St Augustine, 

An Ancient Teaching:

The Catholic Church’s teaching on just war developed very early. St. Augustine of Hippo(354-430) was the first Christian writer to describe the four conditions that must be met in order for a war to be just, but the roots of just-war theory go back even to non-Christian Romans, particularly the Roman orator Cicero.

Two Types of Justice Concerning War:

The Catholic Church distinguishes between two types of justice concerning war: jus ad bellum and jus in bello. Most of the time, when people discuss just-war theory, they mean jus ad bellum (justice before the war)—the four conditions by which we determine whether a war is just before we go to war. Jus in bello (justice during the war) refers to how the war is conducted once it has started. It is possible for a country to fight a war that is just, and yet to fight it unjustly—by, for example, targeting innocent people in the enemy’s country.

The Four Conditions for Jus Ad Bellum:

The current Catechism of the Catholic Church (n. 2309) defines the four conditions for determining the justice of a war as:

1. the damage inflicted by the aggressor on the nation or community of nations must be lasting, grave, and certain;
   
2. all other means of putting an end to it must have been shown to be impractical or ineffective;
   
3. there must be serious prospects of success;
   
4. the use of arms must not produce evils and disorders graver than the evil to be eliminated.

These are hard conditions to fulfill; the Church teaches that war should always be the last resort.

A Matter of Prudence:

That decision is left to the civil authorities: “The evaluation of these conditions for moral legitimacy belongs to the prudential judgment of those who have responsibility for the common good.” In the United States, for instance, that means Congress, which has the power under the Constitution (Article I, Section 8) to declare war, and the President, who can ask Congress for a declaration of war.

When the Catechism states that the decision to go to war is ultimately a prudential judgment, that means that the civil authorities bear the responsibility for making sure that a war is just before they fight it.

The Role of Modern Weaponry:

While the Catechism mentions that “the use of arms must not produce evils and disorders graver than the evil to be eliminated,” it also states that “The power of modern means of destruction weighs very heavily in evaluating this condition.” Here, the Church is concerned about the possible use of nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons, the effects of which, by their very nature, cannot easily be confined to combatants in a war.

The injury or killing of the innocent during war is always forbidden; however, if a bullet goes astray, or an innocent person is killed by a bomb dropped on a military installation, the Church recognizes that these deaths are not intended. With modern weaponry, however, the calculation changes, because governments know that the use of nuclear bombs, for instance, will always kill or injure some who are innocent.

Because of that, the Church warns that the possibility of the use of such weapons must be considered when deciding whether a war is just. In fact, Pope John Paul II suggested that the threshold for a just war has been raised very high by the existence of these weapons of mass destruction, and he is the source of the teaching in the Catechism.

Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI, went even further, telling the Italian Catholic magazine 30 Days in April 2003 that "we must begin asking ourselves whether as things stand, with new weapons that cause destruction that goes well beyond the groups involved in the fight, it is still licit to allow that a 'just war' might exist."

Furthermore, once a war has begun, the use of such weapons may violate jus in bello, meaning that the war is not being fought justly. The temptation for a country that is fighting a just war to use such weapons (and, thus, to act unjustly) is just one reason why the Church teaches that “The power of modern means of destruction weighs very heavily in evaluating” the justice of a war.

Wernher Von Braun, a former member of the Nazi Party who used Jews imprisoned in concentration camps, captured French anti-Nazi partisans and civilians, and others to help build the V-2 rocket for Hitler's Third Reich, is cited in an Air Force PowerPoint presentation about the morals and ethics of launching nuclear weapons. 

Image: Department of the Air Force