Issue
3
Dear Reader,
If this issue looks much different from the previous one, it is not
because your eyes are playing tricks on you. I decided that the
plain-text format was just too restrictive, and too hard to read,
compared the the HTML form you see now. I know some readers
prefer the plain-text form, but time marches on, and plain text is
simply not readable enough. I hope you like the new format, but if
you don't, send me a note.
As always, if you do not wish to receive email from me, please let me
know, and I will remove your name from my list.
Please send all correspondence to
meds@MentalMeds.org.
If you are
submitting material for the site or newsletter, include your URL or any
other contact information you wish to appear, and I'll include it.
(Just be careful to tell me what you want to appear, and what you do
not want to appear!)
Kevin Thompson, Ph.D.
Editor
Table of
Contents
Calling
for Articles
Do you have experiences you would like to share about how you have
coped with mental illness? Uplifting stories? Educational stories?
Email me with your idea, and if it makes sense, I will be happy to
include it in a future issue.
Humor
More funny stuff from around the Internet.
The Top Ten Reasons that you
might have Bi-polar Disorder, found on
Bipolar
CEO's web log.
10. You think Robin Williams should Perk Up.
9. You just bought the Kenny G and Berry Manilow box set just because.
8. You think going to bed on Monday and getting up on Friday is a good
rest.
7. What do you mean you’re tired--I had only 3 orgasms!
6. You cannot remember the number 7.
5. You know the names of at least three antidepressants and fifteen
mood stabilizers.
4. Your cat’s name is Kay and your dog’s name is
Jamison.
3. You bring your own research to the doctor’s.
2. You think a drive from Vancouver, BC to Miami is something to
do in four days.
And the Number One reason you may be Bipolar is:
1. Last night you understood the secrets to the universe, and this
morning you are contemplating whether the jam goes on top of the peanut
butter, or under it.
Q: How do you tell
the difference between the staff and patients in a psychiatric hospital?
A: The patients get better, and leave.
Send me your
favorite joke, funny story, or amusing picture, as long as
it is related to mental illness. Keep it upbeat, please! Jokes
involving mental illness are welcome, but jokes that demean mental
illness are not. If it's appropriate, I'll put it up on the humor page.
EMDR:
A Remarkable Treatment for Trauma
by Kevin Thompson, Ph.D.
Available
here.
Trauma
The term "trauma" refers to any a serious injury or shock. It can be
physical or emotional, and physical trauma often causes emotional
trauma. Traumatic experiences can cause permanent emotional and
psychological harm, especially if inflicted deliberately by another
person, and repeated over time. The lasting effects of emotional trauma
can include Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Dissociative
Identity Disorder, and other, crippling, ills.
The emotional wounds caused by serious trauma can be very difficult to
heal. The difficulty is greater, the more severe and prolonged the
traumatic episodes.
Yet recovery is often possible, and one interesting technique for
enabling recovery is called "Eye Movement Desensitization and
Reprocessing." The name is descriptive, but unwieldy enough that the
acronym EMDR is used almost universally.
EMDR
EMDR was discovered by accident, when Dr. Francine Shapiro (a very
observant psychologist), found that performing certain eye movements,
while thinking about distressing subjects, caused her distress to fade.
Further research in this area allowed her and others to develop EMDR as
it is used today. EMDR is now a widely available technique, still
considered experimental, but popular because it is relatively easy to
do, does not require medication (which only a medical doctor can
prescribe, and which is of limited use in treating trauma), and no
clearly superior alternatives are available.
EMDR should be performed by a therapist who has been trained in the
technique, and is certified as an EMDR practitioner. A certified
therapist is better equipped to provide the insight, guidance, and
support necessary to get the best results from the process (and to
minimize the possible negative effects) than an "amateur." Yet it
remains the case that EMDR itself is a very simple technique, when
stripped to its essentials.
What
the Therapist Does
EMDR has these fundamental characteristics:
- The therapist provides a stimulus that alternates between the left
and right sides of the patient, thus stimulating the right and left
hemispheres of the brain.
- While experiencing the stimulus, the patient focuses on a traumatic
event that has contributed to his suffering.
The most common approach, which inspired the name of the procedure, is
to provide a visual stimulus. The therapist may move his hand back and
forth horizontally, while the patient tracks the moving hand with his
eyes. Some therapists use a wand, or wand with a light on the end, and
wave the wand back and forth.
Less common, and used more often with children, is auditory
stimulation. The patient listens to a sound that alternates from side
to side. This can be done by listening to headphones, in which one
side, then the other, provides a tone.
A third approach is to use a tactile stimulus. The patient may hold or
touch vibrating objects with his hands, while the the objects take
turns vibrating.
The different techniques may be combined; for example, sound and
vibrations can be used at the same time, alternating in synchrony from
one side to the other.
What
the Patient Does
While experiencing the alternating stimulus, the patient thinks about
the traumatic event. "Think" here means not just cognition, but
recalling the totality of the experience. This means the patient
remembers not only the thoughts, but other attributes of the
experience, such as behaviors, feelings (affect), and sensations. It is
important to re-experience as many of these threads of the experience
as possible.
There is no single technique for summoning up such an experience. Some
people can just think back and remember, and everything that needs to
happen, does happen. Some need to "get in the mood" first by looking at
an object, a picture, or a written description of the experience. Some
need to verbalize the experience during the EMDR process itself,
walking through the experience in narrative form. What matters is doing
what works, where "works" means that the patient summons up some of the
feeling, sensations, and memory of actions that went with the traumatic
experience.
EMDR is usually performed in many sessions, not just one. One reason is
that multiple sessions may be required to treat a single traumatic
experience. Another is that several such experiences may need to be
addressed. A patient will typically visit whatever events he can recall
that seem relevant, and repeat EMDR multiple times for each. When the
emotional 'charge' has been drained from a particular experience
through repeated EMDR sessions, he moves on to another. He is done when
he has exhausted his list of traumatic events, or no longer feels the
need for more EMDR, because he has achieved his goal.
What
EMDR Feels Like
The emotions that a patient experiences may range from mild to
overwhelming. In some people, the feelings can be too strong to bear,
and the therapy must either be terminated, or broken into shorter
segments.
Typically, one can espect to feel some degree of emotional distress
during the EMDR session. (This is not only typical, but a requirement
for the process to work.) Over the course of repeated EMDR sessions,
the emotional reactions usually decrease, and the impairment of the
patient's life fades.
However, nothing is guaranteed, and EMDR is no more a foolproof
technique than any other. Some patients who have experienced severe
trauma, and severe psychological consequences, may find that EMDR is
ineffective, unbearable, or worsens their symptoms.
Why
EMDR Works
In the deepest sense, no one knows why EMDR works. In the practical
sense, it often reduces the effect of past trauma. Depending on the
age, duration, and severity of the trauma, anywhere from a few sessions
to dozens of sessions may be required to produce the desired results.
People who have experienced severe trauma manifest a variety of
symptoms and disorders, but these manifestations share the common
problem that they improve slowly, or not at all, with time. The patient
is "stuck" in a state that he wants to leave, but cannot.
EMDR manages to "un-stick" people who are stuck in a traumatized state.
Just why this is so is not known, but explanations usually focus on the
notion that the brain's ability to process (experience and record)
events malfunctions when an event is traumatic. Instead of storing away
the various attributes in the usual fashion, some aspects of the
experience literally "get stuck" in parts of the brain where they do
not belong. As a result, the patient cannot experience memories of the
event in the usual fashion. (This means he cannot move on from them, as
he would other, unpleasant experiences.) Instead, the different
attributes of the traumatic event are dissociated from each other. amd
cause permanent changes in the way the patient's thoughts, emotions,
and reactions work.
Why
a Trained Professional is Important
There are two main reasons.
1) Success is much more likely if EMDR is done by someone who has
training and a lot of experience, and thus knows how best to set up the
most productive EMDR sessions. This is very important, as someone who
lacks this training may have no idea of how and when to employ the
technique, no matter how simple the technique itself is. Also,
important issues can arise as a result of successful EMDR sessions, and
a good therapist will have a much better idea of what to do about the
issues.
2) EMDR can re-traumatize the patient (exacerbate the trauma), by
producing a traumatic experience that reprises the original one.
Significant re-traumatization has the potential to cause serious
deterioration of the patient's emotional health, possibly leading to
suicide or violence. A trained therapist is more likely to avoid
serious re-traumatization, and better able to deal with it if it comes
up, than someone who lacks experience in the field.
Can
EMDR be Done on a Self-Help Basis?
Some types of therapy can be done without a therapist, by someone who
is sufficiently motivated and knowledgeable. Others cannot. As for
EMDR, the answer is both "Yes," and "No."
"No" because the EMDR process as taught in certification classes
requires a therapist and a patient.
"Yes" because anyone can look back and forth while thinking about
unpleasant experiences.
A better question is probably whether it is a good idea to try EMDR by
oneself, but I have not found any guidelines on the subject. My
suspicion (which is not a recommendation), is that self-administered
EMDR might be a harmless way to speed recovery from a bad day at work,
but is not wise for someone who is suffering from life-changing trauma.
How
to Learn about EMDR
Many books about EMDR are available, including some from Dr. Shapiro
herself. The EMDR Institute, whose Web site may be found at
www.emdr.com, provides
useful information about the technique.
Kevin Thompson,
Ph.D. is the author of
Medicines for Mental Health: The
Ultimate Guide to Psychiatric Medication.
You can find information about treatments for depression, bipolar
disorder, schizophrenia, and sexual problems on his Web site at
www.MentalMeds.org.
Book
News
I will soon be working with a Public Relations consultant to notify
major periodicals, distributors, and other interested parties that
Medicines for Mental Health
is available in online bookstores. While this kind of PR effort is a
first for the book, it is not a first for me. I have written and
distributed press releases in past positions, to good effect. However,
I have not worked with a PR consultant before, so this part will be a
new experience. I am looking forward to it, and will let you know what
happens.
In the last newsletter, I announced that my book
was available in electronic form for Amazon.com's
new Kindle reader. (Click the title to
find a Kindle version of
Medicines
for Mental Health.)
I was very curious to know just how many copies would sell as Kindle
titles. While I think that electronic books will only grow in
popularity over time, Kindle has yet to take the world by storm.
The answer is in, and exactly two Kindle versions of the book have sold
since the announcement. This is approximately two more than I expected,
so I take this as a good sign.
Spotlight
on Resources: BellaOnline
BellaOnline
is a Web site oriented towards issues of interest to women. Their
mission statement reads
BellaOnline provides an
encouraging,
supportive publishing community for women. We provide free training,
support and promotion so writers may reach their personal and business
goals. Overall, BellaOnline aims to provide high-quality, helpful,
trustworthy content, at no cost, in a low advertisement environment for
our millions of visitors.
The site is friendly towards male writers as well, and has lots of good
content of general interest (from Autos to Television). The
mental
health section
has numerous articles, including some of my contributions. Check it
out, and feel free to give the editor, Carissa Vaughn, a hand, if you
feel like contributing.
Are
You Looking for Writers?
If you are looking for articles on mental-health and medication issues,
for an online or printed publication, send me a note. I write for
various publications, and can probably help.
MentalMeds News --
Copyright © 2008 by Kevin Thompson
May be freely distributed in whole or in part, provided material is
attributed to Kevin Thompson, Ph.D. at
www.MentalMeds.org
