In this season of giving, show your support of mental health and wellness!

The practice where I work, Mental Health Counseling and Marriage and Family Therapy of New York, PLLC, is reforming as a not-for-profit agency to better serve uninsured people who are seeking affordable therapy.  As Our Collective Mental Health, Inc, we will continue to offer affordable therapy to individuals, couples and families in our New York offices (Union Square in Manhattan and Bushwick, Brooklyn).  We have a generous sliding scale and a range of practitioners so that we can provide mental health services to everyone, regardless of income; we also offer therapy by donation to older adults, 65+, so that income is not a barrier to service.  We will offer enhanced services in our new Vermont retreat center including:
~weekend wellness retreats for individuals, couples, and poly groups, including psychotherapy and recreational activities
~massage therapy workshops
~guest speakers
~nutritional counseling
~and more!
The retreat center is accessible via public transportation from NY, MA, RI, and NH, and is conveniently located in Londonderry, VT, near populat ski destinations like Stratton and Magic Mountain.
If you support our mission of offering affordable therapy to everyone, regardless of financial circumstance, employment or insurance status, please consider giving a donation this holiday season -- your support is appreciated!
Click here to donate, all amounts welcomed:  http://www.chipin.com/mywidgets/id/0148746eab68abb7

Tryptophan Strikes Again!

PsychCentral recently released an article about a study conducted at Purdue University that found mice who were predisposed to trichtillomania (hair pulling) were *more* likely to engage in these behaviors when fed a diet high in tryptophan and sugar.  This study raises the question of whether a similar phenomenon may be occurring in humans -- are we more likely to manifest symptoms of mental health issues in part due to our dietary choices?

There is a tendency in the U.S. to use the term "drug" to refer to an illicit class of mood altering substances, when in reality there are a number of drugs that are naturally-occurring in the body, like tryptophan, and our nutritional choices can sometimes throw off our bodies' natural balance. Parents may caution their children not to eat "too much sugar," but then stop at the donut shop or coffee cart on the way to work, "because I'm in a hurry" or "I don't have time to eat at home," and these daily choices deeply affect our mental health.  We feel gluttonous, greedy, lethargic.  When the "crash" inevitably comes, as our bodies try to balance themselves after an intake of caffeine or suger (or both, simultaneously), we feel...worse.  Cognitively, we know this, but we have come to accept it as normal.

We tell ourselves we'll "be good" tomorrow and restrict, avoid, cut back...that we should go on a diet, lose that extra 10 pounds.  Sometimes we do, and then we tell ourselves we're good, virtuous, healthy; and when we don't, we feel worthless, like failures or weak-willed creatures at the mercy of our desires.  Furthermore, if we are like our rodential brethren, we may be making ourselves sicker, more frenzied, more symptomatic -- more anxious, more depressed.  Tourette's Syndrome, characterized by uncontrollable verbal outbursts and tics, is one mental health concern that the researchers at Purdue think may be affected by the average American diet and its high volume of processed sugars.

Particularly with a New Year right around the corner -- and, for many, its requisite resolutions -- what if we reassessed our appetites and our desires, let them in?  What if, instead of "I should lose 10 pounds," we said, "I want to lose 10 pounds," and made a plan to do so?  Desires are natural, positive elements of our lives as humans; it is when we try to restrict, repress and deny them that we give them undue weight in our psyches, and invest desire with attributes: out of control, can't help it, I had to... Then some of us binge, purge, exercise excessively, or use other mood altering substances to check out, to avoid feeling bad.
Stop at the donut shop because you want to, not because you think you have no choice.  Then, the next day, try a breakfast with fresh fruit, to give yourself the natural sugars your body craves, and see if you feel any different.

Here's a New Year's suggestion:  Let yourself be aware of your body's reactions to foods and beverages.  In particular, notice your moods.  Do you feel edgier, more irritable at a certain point in the day?  Are you drinking enough fluids, especially water?  Sometimes we translate thirst as hunger.  If we choose to ingest coffee or other caffeinated beverages, drinking even more water helps rehydrate the body and replenish its natural balance.  Try to be gentle with yourself, to appreciate your desires as natural, and indulge them in moderation.

Happy holidays, and happy desiring!

For the original post on PsychCentral, follow this link:   http://psychcentral.com/news/2010/12/14/animal-study-suggests-dietary-link-to-mental-illness/21786.html

Drinking and Thinking

The NYC Dept of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) recently released a new public awareness campaign about alcohol use and the holidays.  Their tagline is "stop drinking while you're still thinking," and the ads, soon to be released into subways throughout New York City's five boroughs, depict some of the possible consequences fo alchol use -- theft as a result of a blackout, or alcohol-fueled violent behavior.  This prompted me to wonder about the relationship between drinking (or using other substances) and the holidays, and how much the messages we tell oursleves play a role in this use.

For example, how often have you found yourself thinking, at a boring work function or a networking cocktail hour, "I'll bet a drink would make these people more fun."  Or on a date that's going sour, "I have to have a drink or I'll never get through this!"  The truth is, our thinkng plays an important role in whether or not we have the *first* drink, not to mention the 3rd or 4th or 10th, and the fact that alcohol frequently leads to decreased inhibitions means that once someone has gotten to the 4th or 5th drink, their ability to determine whether "just one more" is a good idea has been chemically impaired.  At that point, continuing to drink isn't a moral concern ("I shouldn't be doing this") or an issue of willpower ("I can stop whenever I want"), it's a neorologically-induced snowball effect!  Alcohol can contribute to changes in mood and behavior, and is a central nervous system depressant, so "I feel better after a few drinks" may be true, but often people have emotional crashes after a few more or the next day.  Alcohol has been called the truth serum because it lowers our verbal inhibitions as well -- so think twice before having the fourth gin and tonic unless you really want your boss to know what you *really* think of him.

So, if we want to get through the holidays with our dignity -- and out wallets -- intact, thinking about drinking is preferable BEFORE the first sip.  If I'm thinking, "Alcohol makes me more fun," or "I can't talk to that person without a shot first," those things will be true.  I create my own meaning.  And if I tell myself, "yes, it would be easier to talk to that person with a shot in my belly, but if I want the rest of the night to go well, I'd be better off without it," that will also be true.

The simple fact, whether at the holidays or on any other day:  Alcohol is not a magic elixir.  You are probably not the hottest thing in the club because you had that Sminoff Ice.  However, you ARE a worthwhile person, and you are probably lots of fun to be around (when you're not sloppy drunk), so remember that the next time you head out for a holiday party.  Whether you choose to drink alcohol or not is up to you, and so is how you choose to feel about yourself.

For the NYC DOHMH press release, click here: http://www.nyc.gov/html/doh/html/pr2010/pr058-10.shtml

Tryptophan: the turkey drug

What would Thanksgiving be without a dose of tryptophan?  This "drug" is an amino acid produced by the body and found in certain foods.  While tryptophan is widely known to cause drowsiness, what few people know is that our bodies use tryptophan to produce serotonin, a neurotransmitter that affects appetite and mood in addition to sleep patterns. Serotonin is one of the "happy" chemicals in our brains that help our cells communicate.  Other substances that induce serotonin production, or prolong its time in our synapses, are MDMA, psilocybin, and many antidepressant medications in the class of MAOIs.

What effects does this increased release of serotonin have?  For one thing, it may curb impulsive behavior -- so people who gorge on turkey are less likely to overdrink, overdose, have lots of sex (and not just because they're feeling gross) or overspend -- according to MSNBC, this may have an inhibitory effect on those sale-frenzied shoppers who hit the streets at 4am to get the best deal on a Wii or a flatscreen TV:
http://bodyodd.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2010/11/22/5511082-thanksgiving-dinner-may-curb-holiday-spending-study-shows

Concerned about those impulse buys?  Have some turkey for breakfast....or, for vegetarians, have some soybeans, spirulina, sesame seeds, pepitas (pumpkin seeds) or sunflower seeds, as these are all excellent sources of tryptophan too!

Remembering the B

Often the B gets left out of the dialogue on LGBT concerns.  Same sex marriage becomes "gay marriage" and bullying becomes "anti-gay bullying."  Do gay adolescents have a rough time?  Sure, and so do lesbian adolescents.  Bisexual adolescents may go unnoticed because they "pass" as heterosexual, or may have an even harder time coping with feelings of being different.  This video, part of the "It gets better" series created by GLAAD and the American Institute of Bisexuality, reminds us to remember that not everyone who engages in same sex behavior is gay or lesbian.  And no matter what your sexual orientation -- even if you choose not to define your sexuality -- you have the right to live and love as you choose, without fear.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nneRVsAzu6E

Passionate Couples

According to a recent feature in the October 2010 issue of the American Psychological Association's magazine, Monitor on Psychology, couples who have more passionate relationships also consider themselves more creative. Dr. Kelly Campbell and her colleagues at California State University surveyed approximately 1,400 individuals and found that people in the passionate -- generally early -- stages of their relationships were also more likely to self identify as creative (their findings held for individuals in long-term relationships who described their union as passionate).  While their sample was limited, comprised mostly of individuals in their mid-20s who identified as heterosexual and female, this study has valuable implications.  Often when couples come to therapy, they complain of sexual concerns -- not enough sex, or not enough intimacy around sexual acts, or boredom with the same routine -- and expect much of the focus to be on the nuts and bolts of their sex lives...how much, how often, what position....when really, the issues underlying their changes in behavior likely have more to do with individual concerns (for example, a life change like the birth of a child or a partner's promotion when the other partner is unemployed).  Frequently, one or both members of a couple have fallen prey to the societal myth that couples must be fused, share everything and do everything together, and in the attempt to achieve this merger, they have given up their individual pursuits.  The fear is that doing things apart means the couple is not compatible, or that they don't want to spend time together.

Maybe John liked to go rollerblading in the park before he met Arthur, but has since abandoned this interest in favor of their shared interest in independent films (which John genuinely enjoys), and he feels a vague sense of dissatisfaction when they are intimate and Arthur doesn't spend as much time touching his body as he used to.  The thought, perhaps not conscious, could be voiced as, "He should do what I want him to do sexually...because look at everything I've given up for him!" John comes to therapy reporting that he's gained a few pounds since they started dating and he stopped being as active, and he worries that Arthur no longer finds him sexually attractive.

The fact of the matter is, no one else can make us happy, or more fulfilled.  "Shoulds" are a red flag that some irrational belief is lurking, and a great place to start in therapy.  If we choose to sacrifice our own passions, it is no one else's responsibility to compensate for that lack of (self-)love in our lives.  One way couples can begin to work towards having a more passionate relationship is to find endeavors that they can share, or pursue individually.  Maybe Shirley and Peter can take a yoga class together, start or join a writing group, or go on weekend trips to places with natural beauty where Shirley can take photographs and Peter can go rock climbing.  When each partner feels better about him- or herself, they are less likely to have relational stress and are more likely to report more satisfaction in the relationship, which -- you guessed it! -- leads to more passion.  When Arthur admires John's toned calves, or Peter looks at Shirley's photos with pride, positive regard is nurtured.  Making yourself happy may be a challenge at first, but it's a challenge worth facing and, if you're part of a couple or a relational group, your lover, spouse or partners will reap the benefits as you come into your own creatively.

If you're interested in finding out more about the benefits of individual, couple or group therapy, contact us to set up an appointment today!

Original entry from "In Brief" can be found here: http://www.apa.org/monitor/2010/10/inbrief.aspx