Rules-Based Medicine, Inc. announces commercial release of VeriPsych™, diagnostic aid for recent onset schizophrenia

An October 6th media release form Rules-Based Medicine, Inc.:

Announcement coincides with Mental Illness Awareness Week, October 3 – 9, 2010

AUSTIN, Texas — October 6, 2010 /PRNewswire/ — Rules-Based Medicine, Inc. (RBM), today announced the widespread commercial availability of VeriPsych™, the first and only blood-based diagnostic test to aid in confirming the diagnosis of recent onset schizophrenia, a potentially devastating and costly mental illness that affects about 24 million people worldwide. VeriPsych is an innovative molecular diagnostic tool designed to complement the healthcare provider’s clinical impression.

VeriPsych, based on the simultaneous measurement of 51 different protein and hormone biomarkers with an associated mathematical decision rule, compares the biomarker profile of a patient with suspected schizophrenia to that of patients with a confirmed diagnosis of schizophrenia. VeriPsych was developed by RBM to aid in the confirmation of the diagnosis of recent-onset schizophrenia, as reported in a study published in the May 2010 edition of Biomarker Insights.

“Schizophrenia is commonly associated with an inevitable disabling decline in mental and overall health, but we are understanding more and more that early therapeutic intervention can alter that prognosis,” said Prof. Sabine Bahn, (Sa-bee-neh Baa – hn) Director of the Cambridge Center for Neuropsychiatric Research in the United Kingdom and an RBM collaborator. “Ultimately, clearer and earlier diagnosis may lead to reduced disability, more effective treatment, improved patient outcomes and enhanced quality of life for patients.”

Each year 1.3 million patients in the United States and 2 million patients in Europe present with early signs that could be schizophrenia. Signs of schizophrenia, which include hallucinations, confusion, delusions and cognitive deficits, are often indistinguishable from those of other mental health or central nervous system disorders, presenting frequent diagnostic challenges.

Diagnosis of schizophrenia is typically accomplished through the clinician’s evaluation of symptoms. If left untreated or improperly treated, schizophrenia can lead to worsening patient conditions and ultimately poor outcomes. Neuropsychiatric conditions, including schizophrenia, are a leading cause of disability, accounting for approximately one third of years lost to disability among people aged 15 years and over.

“VeriPsych was developed through targeted research combining RBM’s proprietary multiplexing technology and unique biomarker discovery capabilities, specifically in the area of mental illness,” said RBM Chief Executive Officer Craig Benson. “We believe this test will be useful to mental healthcare providers seeking to confirm diagnostic decisions that can help patients and families living with mental illness. We are pleased to make this announcement during Mental Illness Awareness Week. VeriPsych is an important step in RBM’s ongoing efforts to develop and provide quantitative diagnostic tools for healthcare providers treating patients with neuropsychiatric disorders.”

About VeriPsych

VeriPsych is an objective blood-based molecular diagnostic tool that utilizes a proprietary set of 51 biomarker immunoassays. These biomarkers are associated with specific biochemical pathways, including inflammation, metabolism, and cell-to-cell signaling.

VeriPsych is a Laboratory Developed Test (LDT) that uses a decision rule to evaluate the similarity of a patient's biomarker pattern to that of patients with a medically confirmed diagnosis of schizophrenia. Its intended use is as an aid in the confirmation of the diagnosis of schizophrenia in patients with recent onset of symptoms and without co-morbidities such as diabetes, severe inflammation or autoimmune disease. It is not intended to provide a definitive diagnosis of schizophrenia.

VeriPsych was developed and its performance characteristics were determined by RBM. The test is performed by RBM in compliance with CLIA (Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments) regulations.

More information about the test can be found at www.veripsych.com.

About Rules-Based Medicine, Inc.

Rules-Based Medicine's biomarker testing service provides clinical researchers, physicians and healthcare providers with reproducible, quantitative, multiplexed data for hundreds of proteins to advance drug development and patient care. The Company's proprietary Multi Analyte Profiling (MAP) technology offers pre-clinical and clinical researchers broad, cost-effective protein analyses in multiple species from a small sample volume. MAP technology also supports RBM's program for development of molecular diagnostics that aid in the detection of complex diseases and conditions in areas of unmet medical need such as neuropsychiatry, nephrology, immunology and cardiology. RBM's first molecular diagnostic test, VeriPsych™, is a blood-based test that aids in the confirmation of diagnosis of recent-onset schizophrenia by evaluating a proprietary set of 51 protein biomarkers. RBM also offers innovative and proprietary ex vivo testing systems such as TruCulture™, the first fully-closed, reproducible whole blood culture system. More information about RBM may be found at www.rulesbasedmedicine.com.

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VeriPsych is a trademark of Rules-Based Medicine, Inc.

Company Contact:

Christopher Martin
Managing Director, Communications
512-275-2623
512-627-9058 (mobile)
chris.martin@veripsych.com

New Website for Families Marks Mental Illness Awareness Week

An October 6th media release from the Ontario Federation of Community Mental Health and Addiction Programs:

Three key provincial [Ontario] mental health and addictions organizations form partnership to offer families support online

TORONTO, Oct 6 /CNW/ - To mark Mental Illness Awareness Week, the Mood Disorders Association of Ontario, the Ontario Federation of Community Mental Health and Addictions Programs (OFCMHAP) and the Schizophrenia Society of Ontario (SSO) have come together to better meet the needs of families facing addiction and mental health challenges. Together, the three organizations have built an evolving web resource for families - www.familymattersresourcecentre.ca - which addresses the overlapping interests of family members affected by mental illness and/or addictions

"Pooling our resources to create this 'one stop shop' website allows us to get our messages and information out to many more families than if we worked in isolation from each other," says Karen Liberman, Executive Director of the Mood Disorders Association of Ontario.

The website covers a wide range of topics, including events and groups for family members, articles of interest, coping tools and strategies and also treatment and support programs available for their loved ones.

"When a close family friend or family member has a mental health or addiction issue, the first thing people look for is practical information on what they are dealing with and how to get help. This website will help families navigate the complex mental health system by providing them with just that," says Mary Alberti, CEO of the Schizophrenia Society of Ontario.

Mental illness affects one in five Canadians in their lifetime and the remaining four will have a friend, family member or colleague who will experience it. One in 10 Canadians 15 years of age and over are dependent on alcohol and/or illicit drugs, and at least 20% of people with a mental illness also have a substance use problem. Families and friends are an essential and enduring support to people with mental health and addiction issues, but they too need their own supports, and access to timely, accurate and current information.

"Families are at the forefront in coping with addiction and mental illnesses. Their involvement can be crucial to recovery and they need to be supported in taking on that kind of role," says David Kelly, Executive Director of OFCMHAP.

Visit the Family Matters website at www.familymattersresourcecentre.ca

For further information:

For more information, or to arrange interviews, please contact:

Jennifer Foulds, Mood Disorders Association of Ontario, (416) 486-8046 ext. 232; (647) 771-5815 (cell)

David Kelly, Ontario Federation of Community Mental Health and Addiction Programs, (416) 490-8900

Vani Jain, Schizophrenia Society of Ontario, (416) 449-6830 ext. 253

Evidence That Familial Liability for Psychosis Is Expressed as Differential Sensitivity to Cannabis

The abstract of a paper posted online on October 4th by the journal Archives of General Psychiatry:

An Analysis of Patient-Sibling and Sibling-Control Pairs

By Genetic Risk and Outcome in Psychosis (GROUP) Investigators

Context

Individual differences in cannabis sensitivity may be associated with genetic risk for psychotic disorder.

Objectives

To demonstrate and replicate, using 2 conceptually different genetic epidemiological designs, that (familial) liability to psychosis is associated with sensitivity to cannabis.

Design, Setting, and Participants

Sibling-control and cross-sibling comparisons using samples of patients with a psychotic disorder (n = 1120), their siblings (n = 1057), and community controls (n = 590) in the Netherlands and Flanders.

Main Outcome Measures

Positive and negative schizotypy using the Structured Interview for Schizotypy–Revised (for siblings and controls) and self-reported positive and negative psychotic experiences using the Community Assessment of Psychic Experiences (for siblings and patients). Cannabis use was assessed as current use (by urinalysis) and lifetime frequency of use (by Composite International Diagnostic Interview).

Results

In the sibling-control comparison, siblings displayed more than 15 times greater sensitivity to positive schizotypy associated with particularly current cannabis use by urinalysis (adjusted B = 0.197, P < .001) than controls (adjusted B = 0.013, P = .86) (P interaction = .04) and a similar difference in sensitivity to its effect on negative schizotypy (siblings: adjusted B = 0.120, P < .001; controls: B = –0.008, P = .87; P interaction = .03). Similarly, siblings exposed to cannabis resembled their patient relative nearly 10 times more closely in the positive psychotic dimension of the Community Assessment of Psychic Experiences (adjusted B = 0.278, P < .001) compared with nonexposed siblings (adjusted B = 0.025, P = .12) (P interaction < .001). No significant effect was apparent for the Community Assessment of Psychic Experiences negative domain, although the association was directionally similar (2 times more resemblance; P interaction = .17). Cross-sibling, cross-trait analyses suggested that the mechanism underlying these findings was moderation (familial risk increasing sensitivity to cannabis) rather than mediation (familial risk increasing use of cannabis).

Conclusions

Genetic risk for psychotic disorder may be expressed in part as sensitivity to the psychotomimetic effect of cannabis. Cannabis use may synergistically combine with preexisting psychosis liability to cause positive and negative symptoms of psychosis.

Author Affiliations:

René S. Kahn MD, PhD, Department of Psychiatry, Rudolf Magnus Institute of Neuroscience, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, the Netherlands; Don H.Linszen MD, PhD, Department of Psychiatry, Academic Medical Centre, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Jim van Os MD, PhD, South Limburg Mental Health Research and Teaching Network, EURON, Maastricht University Medical Centre, Maastricht, the Netherlands, and King's College London, King's Health Partners, Department of Psychosis Studies, Institute of Psychiatry, London, United Kingdom; Durk Wiersma PhD, Department of Psychiatry, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Groningen, the Netherlands; Richard Bruggeman MD, PhD, Department of Psychiatry, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen; Wiepke Cahn MD, PhD, Department of Psychiatry, Rudolf Magnus Institute of Neuroscience, University Medical Center Utrecht; Lieuwe de Haan MD, PhD, Department of Psychiatry, Academic Medical Centre, University of Amsterdam; Lydia Krabbendam PhD, South Limburg Mental Health Research and Teaching Network, EURON, Maastricht University Medical Centre; and Inez Myin-Germeys PhD, South Limburg Mental Health Research and Teaching Network, EURON, Maastricht University Medical Centre.

Posting of this abstract is for the purposes of research into psychosis and schizophrenia.

Training Faulty Brains to Work Better

An article posted on August 18, 2009, by Newsweek:

New treatments may help people with schizophrenia.

By Sharon Begley

Whenever I speak to educators and interested laypeople about neuroplasticity — the ability of the adult brain to change in function and structure — one of the questions I often get is whether neuroplasticity can be tapped to treat truly devastating brain diseases such as Alzheimer's or schizophrenia. After all, neuroplasticity has been used to treat stroke, depression, dyslexia, and other diseases or injuries of the brain. The jury is still out on Alzheimer's (though since this disease involves massive neuronal death, my bet is that the answer will, sadly, be no). But to my surprise, the answer to schizophrenia might just be yes.

In schizophrenia, which affects about 1.1 percent of American adults, patients suffer from visual and auditory hallucinations, delusions, an absence of emotion, and cognitive deficits. All told, that seemed to be just too much for an approach based on neuroplasticity, which involves retraining the brain, to handle.

But it turns out that at least some of the symptoms of schizophrenia can be lifted with brain training. In a study published in the July [2009] issue of the American Journal of Psychiatry, scientists led by Sophia Vinogradov [pictured] of the University of California, San Francisco, describe what they call "neuroplasticity-based auditory training" to improve memory in people with schizophrenia. Basically, what they did was assign 55 patients with schizophrenia to receive a cognitive-training program developed by Posit Science or to play a computer game that required just as much time and concentration. The Posit program, similar to one the company developed to improve memory in the elderly, emphasizes basic auditory and speech perception; participants used it one hour a day, five days a week, for 10 weeks. The better they got, the harder the program got: it automatically adjusts the level of difficulty to keep the patients' performance at a constant level so they stay engaged.

Fisher and her colleagues found that the brain-trained group showed noticeably bigger improvements in cognition and verbal working memory than the game-playing control group. A better memory would give people with schizophrenia a better chance of doing the little tasks of daily life—remembering what and when to eat, how to dress, how to behave in public—that make them more likely to hold a job and live independently.

The emphasis on auditory training reflects the belief of UCSF's Michael Merzenich, a pioneer in neuroplasticity and cofounder of Posit, that this is the portal to improved memory and, possibly, cognition. The idea is that if you hear more clearly, then your brain makes fewer errors in encoding the information contained in speech. As Michael Green of UCLA put it in an editorial in the American Journal of Psychiatry the Posit Science approach "is unusual in that it rests heavily on neuroplasticity models ... that emphasize the consequences of a poor signal-to-noise ratio" in hearing, "which leads to errors and poor performance as they are fed forward for cognitive … operations."

It's hard to argue with even preliminary success, odd as it seems that merely hearing better could bring about such improvements in memory (and not just memory for heard words; it improves memory for seen words as well). "This emphasis on perceptual processes is a critical insight of the Posit Science approach and a clear distinction from other cognitive-training programs," says Green. The significance of the new study, he says, is that "it addresses cognitive training at a more basic neurobiological level than any previous strategy. We can hope that the dramatic effects they have reported will prove to be replicable and durable and that they will extend to meaningful effects for patients' lives."

Hope is all well and good. But schizophrenia is notable not only for its severity, but for the yawning gap between what's known to be effective and what treatments patients actually receive. Green asks rhetorically, "if cognitive training [for schizophrenia] worked, would we not all know it by now?" In fact, researchers do know it, and some clinicians know it, but by one estimate fewer than 15 percent of schizophrenics get it (or other treatments, rehabilitation and support that would let them live independently). In fact, in a paper earlier this year in Schizophrenia Bulletin, scientists led by Robert S. Kern of the Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles, were quite upbeat in their assessment of treatments for schizophrenia—none of them the problematic antipsychotic medications that in too many cases are all that people with schizophrenia receive.

Take cognitive-behavior therapy. Its basic premise is that people can be taught to think about their thoughts differently. It is effective in depression (where people are taught to think about their tendency to catastrophize—"I had a bad date; no one will ever love me because I am worthless and unlovable"). But in something as serious as schizophrenia? Yes, Kern and his colleagues find. It turns out that, with cognitive-behavior therapy, patients who hear voices and feel persecuted can learn to see these symptoms as almost normal (in that many people experience them when, say, they are sleep deprived, under extreme stress, drunk or stoned) or as "just" the manifestations of a neurobiological glitch and not real. The approach is surprisingly effective, a 2008 review found.

Similarly, exercises to improve attention, learning and memory, reasoning and problem solving—which 90 percent of people with schizophrenia have problems with—also help, as this study found, and make a meaningful difference in whether the person can live independently and hold a job. The tragedy is that—due to an overburdened medical system, inadequate insurance and an inability to pay, as well as simply ignorance about how to find help—few patients with schizophrenia receive what works. The upside is that even schizophrenia might be treated by approaches that exploit the brain's ability to change in fundamental ways.

Also see:

Changing Your Mind (The Nature of Things)

Dr. Sophia Vinogradov's Lecture on Schizophrenia from Putnam Clubhouse on Vimeo.

Neuroplasticity-Based Cognitive Training in Schizophrenia: An Interim Report on the Effects 6 Months Later

A Randomized, Controlled Trial of Computer-Assisted Cognitive Remediation for Schizophrenia

Sources of Revenue for Nonprofit Mental Health and Addictions Organizations in Canada

The abstract of an article published in the October 2010 edition of Psychiatric Services:

By Carissa Escober-Doran, B.S.N., M.P.A., Philip Jacobs, D.Phil., C.M.A. and Carolyn Dewa, M.P.H., Ph.D.

Ms. Escober-Doran and Dr. Jacobs are affiliated with the Institute of Health Economics, 10405 Jasper Ave., Suite 1200, Edmonton, Alberta T5J 3N4, Canada (e-mail: escober@ualberta.ca). Dr. Dewa is with the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Ontario.


OBJECTIVE:

In Canada charitable or nonprofit organizations provide government-contracted mental health and addictions services, and they augment government funding by raising charitable revenues. This study estimated by source the revenues of nonprofit mental health and addictions organizations in Canada.

METHODS:

A list of nonprofit, service-providing organizations in Canada was developed, financial returns to the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) in 2007 were obtained, and data were analyzed in aggregate.

RESULTS:

Information was obtained from 369 Canadian organizations, which had $915.4 million (Canadian dollars [CAD]) in total revenues: 85% were from the government, 4% were from charitable giving, and 11% were from other sources.

CONCLUSIONS:

The ratio of charitable giving to government funding of mental health care was about 0.55% ($35 million to $6.3 billion CAD). This charitable giving level cannot compensate for the relatively low levels of total government mental health spending identified in government reports.

Posting of this abstract is for the purposes of research into funding of nonprofit mental health organizations.

Laura Burke named a 2010 Champion of Mental Health

From the 2010 Mental Illness Awareness Week website:

Champion - Youth

Laura Burke
Concordia University, Master's in Drama Therapy student



Ms. Burke [pictured above] has made outstanding contributions to the field of mental health in Canada, working to raise awareness, fight biases and stigma, and contribute to community organizations. She has given talks on recovery for the Nova Scotia Early Psychosis Program and acted as a peer support worker at Laing House, a drop-in centre for youth living with mental illness. When at Laing, she also ran a drama group and a writer’s circle, and was constantly inspired by the courage, resilience and determination of the youth she worked with.

In 2008 she recorded an album of her spoken word poetry about her journey through schizophrenia and recovery, and in 2009, she began her role at the Schizophrenia Society of Nova Scotia as a peer support facilitator. Ms. Burke has showed continued dedication to the field of mental health, and has bravely drawn on her own experience with schizophrenia to positively impact her community.

Ms. Burke strongly believes that social inclusion, unconditional acceptance, and the opportunity to use creativity as a force of healing are invaluable, too often overlooked components of recovery. After graduation, Ms. Burke hopes to research and practice drama therapy to improve negative and cognitive symptoms in youth experiencing first episode psychosis.

Also see:

2010 Mental Illness Awareness Week (October 3rd to 9th)

2010 Champions of Mental Health

About the Champions of Mental Health Awards

Superhero - A Visual Poem

Members of Mental Health Strategy Advisory Committee Named

A media advisory released today by the Nova Scotia Department of Health:

People struggling with mental health and addiction issues are another step closer to getting the care they need in every region of the province.

Health experts, researchers, mental health clinicians and people living with or affected by mental illness are among the 12 members appointed today, Sept. 29, to Nova Scotia's Mental Health Strategy Advisory Committee.

They will join co-chairs Michael Ungar and Joyce McDonald who were announced in June.

"This diverse group of people bring a wealth of professional, clinical and personal experience to this opportunity to create a mental health strategy for Nova Scotia," said Health Minister Maureen MacDonald. "Their work will help us ensure better health care for you and your family."

The mental health strategy was announced in the March Throne Speech and helps fulfill a commitment by government to revamp mental health and addiction services across the province. The advisory committee will develop a consultation process and recommendations for a Mental Health Strategy.

Ms. MacDonald also announced the Nova Scotia Health Research Foundation will work closely with the advisory committee on the development of the strategy. It will gather evidence and support extensive consultation to ensure informed development of the strategy.

"Given its scientific expertise and methodology, the foundation is well-equipped to help the advisory committee ensure the strategy includes the best evidence available," said Ms. MacDonald.

"We are pleased to contribute our knowledge and expertise to the development of the strategy," said Krista Connell, chief executive officer of the Nova Scotia Health Research Foundation. "The combination of our consultative approach and our expertise in gathering the best knowledge available will help the advisory committee develop a strategy that addresses Nova Scotia's needs."

The foundation will also provide administrative and logistical support, offer project management and help oversee the development of the strategy.

The advisory committee is expected to meet with Ms. MacDonald and the foundation in October to review the terms of reference and to develop a meeting schedule. Ms. MacDonald anticipates receiving the advisory committee's recommendations by the summer.

The members of the advisory committee are:

• Frank Beazley, Halifax, Chief of Police, Halifax Regional Police

• Dr. Simon Brooks, Bridgewater, chief of psychiatry, South Shore District Health Authority

• Andy Cox, Halifax, mental health advocate, IWK Health Centre,

• Paul d'Entremont, West Pubnico,Yarmouth Co., founding member and executive director of Réseau Santé – Nouvelle-Écosse

• Daphne Hutt-MacLeod, Eskasoni, Cape Breton, director of Eskasoni Mental Health Services

• Jessica Inkpen, a young woman from Halifax who has struggled with anorexia for many years

• Lana MacLean, Halifax, a social work clinician who works extensively with the African Nova Scotian community

• Cecilia McRae, Merigomish, Pictou Co., president of the Schizophrenia Society of Nova Scotia

• Patti Melanson, Halifax, co-ordinator of the North End Clinic's Mobile Outreach Street Health Program

• Dr. Paige Moorhouse, Halifax, principal investigator for several provincial and national grants on geriatric mental health

• Kathleen Thompson, Halifax, mother of a young woman who is battling an eating disorder, Halifax

• Catherine Thurston, Tidnish Bridge, Cumberland Co., former director of Mental Health Services for the Cumberland Health Authority.
  

Additional biographical information on committee members is available at gov.ns.ca/health/mhs/mental-health-strategy.asp.


FOR BROADCAST USE:

People struggling with mental health and addiction issues are another step closer to getting the care they need in every region of the province.

Health Minister Maureen MacDonald announced the 12 members of the advisory committee working on recommendations for the province's new mental health strategy today (September 29th).

The strategy will revamp mental health and addiction services in the province.

The committee members include health experts, researchers, mental health clinicians and people affected by mental illness.

The advisory committee is expected to report back to the minister with its recommendations next summer.

-30-

Media Contact:

Brett Loney
Department of Health
902-424-303
E-mail: brett.loney@gov.ns.ca

Also see:

Area resident appointed to province’s Mental Health Strategy Advisory Committee

Unveiling of the architectural drawings for the new Community Living Initiative

Photographs taken during today's barbeque to unveil the architectural drawings for the new Community Living Initiative.

Please click on any photograph to enlarge it.










Danny Chedrawe (left), Vice-Chair, Board of Trustees, Mental Health Foundation of Nova Scotia, with Mary-Lou Crawley, Executive Director, Mental Health Foundation of Nova Scotia, and Dr. Nick Delva, Head, Department of Psychiatry, Dalhousie University, and Chief of Psychiatry, Capital District Health Authority.


Vince Daigle (far left), a peer support worker with the Healthy Minds Cooperative, stands with staff from William Nycum & Associates Limited and Shauna Blundon-Price (centre), an employee of the Capital District Mental Health Program.


Dr. Ian Slayter, Clinical Director, General Psychiatric Services, Capital Health District Health Authority.


Barbara Hall, Vice-President, Person-Centred Health, Capital District Health Authority, talks with a reporter.




Susan Hare, an employee of the Capital District Mental Health Program, enjoying the beautiful weather.


Peter Croxall (left), director of the Capital District Mental Health Program, cooking hamburgers.


Denyse Sibley, on-air host of the FX101.9 Country Breakfast cooks alongside Robert G. Zed, Chair, Zed Group.


Laura Ankcorn (left) and Amanda Crabtree, two employees of the Captial District Mental Health Program, enjoying the barbeque.

An SSNS office window is located in the upper right of the above photograph (i.e., the window partially hidden by Denyse Sibley).

Also see:

Initiative aims to ease patients’ transition time

Capital Health staff invest in Community Living Initiative


All photographs by Stephen Ayer.

Canada Post Foundation for Mental Health, 2010 Grant Recipients, National Launch

Held on September 21st at the Canada Post Halifax Mail Processing Plant:


Dominique Forest, General Manager, Regional Atlantic Operations, Canada Post.


Dominique Forest (left) and Wayne Stremel, Canada Post employee, unveil the 2010 Mental Health Stamp.


Wayne Stremel speaks about the 2010 Out of the Shadows Tour.




Tana Woodward, Member, Grants Advisory Committee, Canada Post Foundation for Mental Health.




Tana Woodward is also a social worker with the Mood Disorders Program in Halifax. Directly over Ms. Woodward's right shoulder is Donna Methot, President, HRM Chapter of the Schizophrenia Society of Nova Scotia.


Myra Donnelly-Gay, Executive Director, Healthy Minds Cooperative.


Stephen Ayer, Executive Director, Schizophrenia Society of Nova Scotia.


Funding provided to the Schizophrenia Society of Nova Scotia will be used for a project entitled Expansion of Community-Based Volunteer Support Network and Strengthening of Mental Health System Advice/Connection Services. This project will include eight rural communities in Nova Scotia, incuding Cape Breton.


Please click on any photograph to enlarge it.


Also see:

Canada Post delivers $1.5 million to mental health organizations across Canada

Mental health care receives boost from Canada Post, Bell Canada

Schizophrenia: Personal confrontations and a philosophical investigation

Audio from the September 18th broadcast of AllInTheMind (ABC National Radio, Australia):

Listen Now | Download Audio

Philosopher, poet and writer Dr. Paul Fearne [pictured] had his first psychotic episode as a young university student, and continues to take medication. 'To live is to take a leap into a sea of daggers, each one stabbing the fabric of your being,' he wrote in his diary at the time, now published. From Freud to Wittgenstein, his experience inspired a unique PhD investigation into the philosophical questions posed by schizophrenia.

Show Transcript

Also see:

The sea of daggers - A philosophical & personal interrogation of psychosis

The Continuum of Psychotic Symptoms in the General Population: A Cross-National Study

The abstract of an article published online on September 13th by Schizophrenia Bulletin:

By Roberto Nuevo (1,2), Somnath Chatterji* (3), Emese Verdes (3), Nirmala Naidoo (3), Celso Arango1 (4), and José Luis Ayuso-Mateos (1,2)

Author Affiliations

1. Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental, CIBERSAM, Spain
2. Department of Psychiatry, Universidad Autonoma de Madrid, Hospital Universitario de la Princesa, Madrid, Spain
3. Department of Health Statistics and Informatics, World Health Organization, Avebue Appia 20, Geneva 27, CH 1211, Switzerland
4. Adolescent Unit, Department of Psychiatry, Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Marañón, Madrid, Spain
   

* To whom correspondence should be addressed; tel: +41-227913609/3202, fax: +41-227914328, e-mail: chatterjis@who.int.

Abstract

Objective:

To identify the cross-national prevalence of psychotic symptoms in the general population and to analyze their impact on health status.

Method:

The sample was composed of 256,445 subjects (55.9% women), from nationally representative samples of 52 countries worldwide participating in the World Health Organization's World Health Survey. Standardized and weighted prevalence of psychotic symptoms were calculated in addition to the impact on health status as assessed by functioning in multiple domains.

Results:

Overall prevalences for specific symptoms ranged from 4.80% (SE = 0.14) for delusions of control to 8.37% (SE = 0.20) for delusions of reference and persecution. Prevalence figures varied greatly across countries. All symptoms of psychosis produced a significant decline in health status after controlling for potential confounders. There was a clear change in health impact between subjects not reporting any symptom and those reporting at least one symptom (effect size of 0.55).

Conclusions:

The prevalence of the presence of at least one psychotic symptom has a wide range worldwide varying as much as from 0.8% to 31.4%. Psychotic symptoms signal a problem of potential public health concern, independent of the presence of a full diagnosis of psychosis, as they are common and are related to a significant decrement in health status. The presence of at least one psychotic symptom is related to a significant poorer health status, with a regular linear decrement in health depending on the number of symptoms.

Keywords: World Health Survey, extended phenotype, schizophrenia

Posting of this abstract is for the purposes of research into psychosis and schizophrenia.

"A Disease Like Any Other"? A Decade of Change in Public Reactions to Schizophrenia, Depression, and Alcohol Dependence

The abstract of an article published in the September 15th edition of The American Journal of Psychiatry:

By Bernice A. Pescosolido [pictured], Ph.D., Jack K. Martin, Ph.D., J. Scott Long, Ph.D., Tait R. Medina, M.A., Jo C. Phelan, Ph.D., and Bruce G. Link, Ph.D.

From the Schuessler Institute for Social Research and the Department of Sociology, Indiana University; and the Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York.

Objective:

Clinicians, advocates, and policy makers have presented mental illnesses as medical diseases in efforts to overcome low service use, poor adherence rates, and stigma. The authors examined the impact of this approach with a 10-year comparison of public endorsement of treatment and prejudice.

Method:

The authors analyzed responses to vignettes in the mental health modules of the 1996 and 2006 General Social Survey describing individuals meeting DSM-IV criteria for schizophrenia, major depression, and alcohol dependence to explore whether more of the public 1) embraces neurobiological understandings of mental illness; 2) endorses treatment from providers, including psychiatrists; and 3) reports community acceptance or rejection of people with these disorders. Multivariate analyses examined whether acceptance of neurobiological causes increased treatment support and lessened stigma.

Results:

In 2006, 67% of the public attributed major depression to neurobiological causes, compared with 54% in 1996. High proportions of respondents endorsed treatment, with general increases in the proportion endorsing treatment from doctors and specific increases in the proportions endorsing psychiatrists for treatment of alcohol dependence (from 61% in 1996 to 79% in 2006) and major depression (from 75% in 1996 to 85% in 2006). Social distance and perceived danger associated with people with these disorders did not decrease significantly. Holding a neurobiological conception of these disorders increased the likelihood of support for treatment but was generally unrelated to stigma. Where associated, the effect was to increase, not decrease, community rejection.

Conclusions:

More of the public embraces a neurobiological understanding of mental illness. This view translates into support for services but not into a decrease in stigma. Reconfiguring stigma reduction strategies may require providers and advocates to shift to an emphasis on competence and inclusion.

Posting of this abstract is for the purposes of research into social predudice and stigma.

Also see:

Study: Mental illness stigma entrenched in American culture; new strategies needed

Americans still not tolerant of the mentally ill

Mental Illness Stigma Entrenched in American Culture; New Strategies Needed, Study Finds


Photo credit

The Voices of Schizophrenia

An article posted yesterday by The New York Times:

By Tara Parker-Pope

Few mental illnesses are as complex and confusing as schizophrenia, a mental disorder in which people may experience hallucinations or delusions, hear voices or have confused thinking and behavior.

Although the word “schizophrenia” means “split mind,” the disorder does not cause a split personality, as is commonly believed.

The latest Patient Voices segment by Karen Barrow, a Web producer, offers rare insights into schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder, a related condition that combines thinking and mood problems, as seven men and women share their experiences.

“It disrupted my education, my relationships, it disrupted friendships,” explains Alita Van Hee, 32, of Santa Cruz, Calif. “I was so bombarded by voices. They would tell me things like ‘Don’t trust these people,’ ‘Don’t talk to your friends,’ ‘They’re not real friends,’ things like that. It’s kind of like having a TV or radio on blasting inside your head just all the time that you can’t turn off no matter what you do.”

You’ll also meet Michael Runningwolf, 40, of Tempe, Ariz., who wants to change people’s perceptions and fears about schizophrenia.

“I wish I could get a T-shirt that says, ‘We’re more afraid of you than you are of us,’ ” he says. “There are people with schizophrenia every day that are doing things to break down the stigma. They hold down jobs, and they’re out there every day giving it everything they’ve got. Even though schizophrenia is a disabling illness, it’s not the end. There is recovery.”

Susan Weinreich, 54, of Mount Kisco, N.Y., says that although her illness has made life difficult, it also has become part of her art. “I believe my art was a vehicle for me to be able to express some things that were very deep, deep down inside and that were trapped and difficult to get out and communicate,” she says.

Another artist, John Cadigan, 40, who is Ms. Van Hee’s partner, says the challenges of his illness have also played a role in his art. “The difficulty is I’m not always cognizant of what reality is,” he says. “I can’t trust my own brain…. When you have a brain disorder it unlocks parts of the brain I think normal people don’t have any knowledge of. I think I translate that into my woodcuts.”

To hear these and other stories of schizophrenia, click on the Patient Voices audio link. And then please join the discussion below.

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Third Mental Health Stamp Raises Funds for Community Mental Health Organizations

A September 13th media release from Canada Post:

Nearly $600,000 in funding provided to non-profit, community based programming

OTTAWA, ONTARIO - Canada Post has issued its third annual fundraising stamp {pictured] in support of mental health. Canada Post's two previous Mental Health fundraising stamps have generated nearly $600,000 in funding for non-profit, community based programming that supports individuals and families coping with mental illness. The 2010 stamp features a mental health patient on the path towards recovery. A tree—the universal symbol of growth, healing and renewal—stands at the summit of a mountain.

As with the previous mental health stamps, a dollar from every booklet sold supports the Canada Post Foundation for Mental Health. Over the last two years the Foundation has distributed $2.5 million in grants to community groups in every region of Canada that provide front-line help to people living with mental illness.

"Mental illness can be far-reaching, but there is hope of recovery," says Jim Phillips, Canada Post's director of stamp services. "We're incredibly proud of what this stamp is accomplishing. The goal of this year's campaign is to raise $2 million and we're sure this new stamp will contribute a good portion to the cause."

Canada Post made mental health its cause of choice in 2007. Since then, customers, employees, suppliers and the public have raised more than $2.5 million for the Foundation. Nearly $600,000 of that was from sales of the 2008 and 2009 mental health stamps.

Lowe-Martin is printing 4 million of the 2010 stamps, which will be sold in booklets of 10 stamps. Measuring 24.75 mm x 35.25 mm (vertical), the stamps will be printed using seven-colour lithography on Tullis Russell paper and tagged on all sides. The Official First Day Cover will bear an Ottawa, Ontario cancel to note the location of the Foundation's headquarters.


For more information, please contact:

Canada Post
Media Relations
613-734-8888
medias@canadapost.ca

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Also visit:

Mental Health - Booklet of 10

The SSNS's 2010 Annual General Meeting

Photographs taken during the SSNS's 2010 Annual General Meeting held on September 11th at Acadia University in Wolfville, Nova Scotia.
























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All photographs by Stephen Ayer.

Early warning signs of schizophrenia

An article published today by the Boston Globe:

By Emily Anthes

These symptoms, alone or in combination, do not necessarily mean that a child has psychosis or psychosis risk syndrome. But they may indicate a need for evaluation.

• Mild hallucinations or delusions, often accompanied by the awareness that the experience is not real. Teens may feel as though they are being followed, for instance, even though they know that’s probably not true.

• Strange bodily sensations, such as the feeling that one’s brain is bouncing back and forth inside the skull.

• Difficulty focusing mentally, especially if this is a new problem. A sudden diagnosis of attention deficit disorder in an older teen or young adult can be a red flag.

• Other cognitive difficulties, such as trouble remembering. People with psychosis risk syndrome often complain that their minds aren’t “working right.’’

• Social withdrawal and isolation.

• Trouble sleeping.

• Blunted facial expressions or a blank gaze.

• Any other sudden changes in interest, activity, or functioning.

Screening children for mental illness

In 2008, Massachusetts began requiring doctors to offer mental health screening to all children on MassHealth, the state’s Medicaid program, during checkups. The number of children screened has been steadily increasing, reaching more than 60 percent of those who had checkups in the first quarter of this year. Of those screened, 8 percent to 10 percent might need further attention, says Emily Sherwood, director of the state Children’s Behavioral Health Initiative.



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Also see:

Getting ahead of trouble


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A special issue of Current Directions in Psychological Science devoted entirely to schizophrenia

Due to the widespread attention it is getting, the August 2010 issue of Current Directions in Psychological Science, devoted entirely to schizophrenia, has been made freely accessible online. The articles (all available by clicking here) are:

• Editors’ Introduction: Special Issue on Schizophrenia

• Neurodevelopment and Schizophrenia: Broadening the Focus by Elaine Walker, Dan Shapiro, Michelle Esterberg, and Hanan Trotman

• Prenatal Factors in Schizophrenia by Suzanne King, Annie St-Hilaire, and David Heidkamp

• Current Research on the Genetic Contributors to Schizophrenia by Michael F. Pogue-Geile, and Jessica L.Yokley

• Schizophrenia Course, Long-Term Outcome, Recovery, and Prognosis by Thomas H. Jobe and Martin Harrow

• Structural and Functional Brain Abnormalities in Schizophrenia by Katherine H. Karlsgodt, Daqiang Sun, and Tyrone D. Cannon

• Ventral Hippocampus, Interneurons, and Schizophrenia: A New Understanding of the Pathophysiology of Schizophrenia and Its Implications for Treatment and Prevention by Anthony A. Grace

• Social Factors in Schizophrenia by Jill M. Hooley

• Social Cognition in Schizophrenia by Michael F. Green and William P. Horan

• Cognitive Functioning and Disability in Schizophrenia by Philip D. Harvey

• Emotion in Schizophrenia: Where Feeling Meets Thinking by Ann M. Kring and Janelle M. Caponigro

• Psychosocial Treatments for Schizophrenia by Jean Addington, Danijela Piskulic, and Catherine Marshall

• New Opportunities in the Treatment of Cognitive Impairments Associated with Schizophrenia by Mark A. Geyer

Also view:

The Cost of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services in Canada

From the Institute of Health Economics, Edmonton, Alberta:



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To download the entire report (PDF), please click here.

Committee Recommends the Creation of Mental Health and Addictions Ontario

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An August 26th media release from the Select Committee on Mental Health and Addictions of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

The Select Committee on Mental Health and Addictions of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario today released its final report, "Navigating the Journey to Wellness: The Comprehensive Mental Health and Addictions Action Plan for Ontarians". This follows the release of an interim report (March 2010) that provided an overview of the hearings and activities of the Committee to that date.

Key Recommendations

The final report includes 23 recommendations. The main recommendation is the creation of an umbrella agency, Mental Health and Addictions Ontario, to design, manage, and coordinate the mental health and addictions system, and to ensure the consistent delivery of programs and services across Ontario.

The Committee's other recommendations include:

• The consolidation of all mental health and addictions programs and services in the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care
  

• The availability of a core basket of services in all regions of Ontario
  

• Access to system "navigators" who can connect people with the appropriate treatment and community support services
  

• The provision of additional affordable and safe housing units

• Increased respite care to provide more support for families and caregivers
  

• The creation of a task force to examine Ontario's mental health legislation
  

Each member of the Committee, regardless of their political convictions, recognized that all Ontarians must get the mental health and addictions care they deserve.

Members' Statements

"We have been privileged to work collaboratively with our fellow Members of Provincial Parliament, mental health and addictions experts and, most importantly, individuals and their families, to develop this comprehensive plan for mental health and addictions services in Ontario," said Christine Elliott (PC) and Sylvia Jones (PC). "It is our sincere hope that these recommendations will result in wellness, dignity, and opportunity for all Ontarians."

"As a Committee we were challenged by the people whose lives have been so completely altered by mental illness and addiction to be creative and innovative," said Maria Van Bommel (LIB) on behalf of the Liberal Members of the Committee. "Their stories forged the determination of Committee members from all political parties to develop a plan that will better the lives of so many deserving Ontarians. We are hopeful and proud to recommend the creation of a provincial agency that will change our approach to mental wellness and addictions recovery."

"I agreed to join the Select Committee because I knew we needed to do better," said France Gélinas (NDP). "Listening to all the testimony was very difficult. Our existing system has failed so many people, often with catastrophic consequences. Our recommendations will make Ontario an example of excellence for people facing mental health and addictions issues. I look forward to the implementation of the report."

The release of the final report marks the conclusion of the Committee's work. The report now moves forward to await debate by Members in the Legislative Assembly, and implementation of the recommendations by the Government of Ontario.

Background on the Select Committee

The Select Committee was struck on February 24, 2009 with a mandate to consider and report "its observations and recommendations concerning a comprehensive provincial mental health and addictions strategy". Over the intervening 18 months, the Committee heard over 230 presenters from all regions of Ontario and received more than 300 written submissions. The Committee also conducted site visits to mental health and addictions facilities as well as First Nations communities.

Each of the province's three political parties was represented on the Committee. The members of the Committee were: Kevin Flynn, Chair (LIB), Christine Elliott, Vice-Chair (PC), Bas Balkissoon (LIB), France Gélinas (NDP), Helena Jaczek (LIB), Sylvia Jones (PC), Jeff Leal (LIB), Liz Sandals (LIB), and Maria Van Bommel (LIB).

Copies of the report are posted on the web site of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario at www.ontla.on.ca under "Committees" - "Committee Reports".

For further information:

Office of Kevin Daniel Flynn, MPP, Chair of the Committee, Tel. (416) 325-1856, kflynn.mpp@liberal.ola.org; Susan Sourial, Clerk of the Committee, Tel. (416) 325-7352, susan_sourial@ontla.ola.org

Also see:

The right to refuse wellness

Three Provincial Umbrella Organizations Applaud Newly Released Select Committee Report on Mental Health and Addictions

Coyle: Mental health ‘crisis has arrived’ say MPPs

Next step is funding for mental health

Overhaul mental health relief and services, says Sandals

Report urges changes to mental health care in Ont.

Province, psychiatrists sign two-year contract

An article published in today's edition of The Chronicle Herald:

Specialists to get $147.99 an hour

By DAVID JACKSON, Provincial Reporter

Halifax-area psychiatrists have reached a new funding deal with the Health Department, one the government hopes will help keep the specialists in Nova Scotia.

The province just signed off on the two-year deal, called an academic funding plan, this month. It will help ensure that doctors are actually getting paid for the hours they work, said Victoria Goldring, director of physician services for the Health Department.

Psychiatrists had complained that they were working a combined 20,000 hours more a year than what the previous contract would pay them for, she said.

Goldring said the new contract focuses on hours of service, for both clinical work and teaching. It says the department will cover 156,000 hours a year, with 80 per cent for clinical work and 20 per cent for teaching, research and administration.

That number of hours is the equivalent of 75 doctors working 40 hours a week for the 52 weeks in a year.

The hourly rate increases to $147.99, a 2.9 per cent increase from $143.78. The ballpark salary for a psychiatrist, depending on whether they’re a full professor and other factors, is about $300,000 [per year], Goldring said.

The deal adds about $3 million to the $20-million budget under the previous interim agreement.

Goldring said the new agreement would cover up to 75 psychiatrists, but they are currently several doctors short of a full complement. They work at the Queen Elizabeth II Health Sciences Centre and the IWK Health Centre and teach at Dalhousie University.

She said recruiting and retaining psychiatrists, who are in demand across the country, was top of mind during contract negotiations. She said the province aimed for the new deal to put psychiatrists’ pay here in the middle of the pack nationally.

"They are now at a more competitive rate compared to their counterparts across the country," Goldring said.

"There are shortages of psychiatrists all across the country, but this will help in providing a bit of stability to their numbers here."

A spokesperson for the psychiatrists could not be reached Friday.

Last November, they had threatened to withhold services from the new mental health court after they said the province missed an Oct. 31 deadline for a new deal.

It wasn’t clear Friday whether they had followed through.

The psychiatrists’ last contract expired in 2007, but there was an interim agreement to 2009. This new deal is effective from April 1, 2009 to March 31, 2011.

(djackson@herald.ca)