Leslie Glass's Blog, page 360

US District Court Says Opioid Addiction Is A Disability

From Gene Johnson @ ABC:  In a novel case that could have national implications, the Washington state chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union sued a county sheriff’s office to force it to provide opiate-withdrawal medication to prisoners, rather than requiring them to go cold turkey.

The lawsuit, filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Seattle, says the Whatcom County Jail’s refusal to provide the medicine violates the Americans with Disability Act, because opioid addiction qualifies as a disability under the law. Prisoners suffering from opioid addiction are as entitled to medication as those with any other condition requiring medical treatment, the lawsuit says.

The lawsuit also says the jail’s policy is counterproductive because inmates who go cold turkey risk severe relapse upon release — increasing the likelihood they’ll commit new crimes to satisfy their cravings and that they’ll overdose.

The Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office, which runs the jail and was named in the lawsuit, said it did not have any immediate response.

“If a person in the Jail suffered from a heart condition and needed medication the Jail would provide it, but it denies access to Medication-Assisted Treatment, which reduces the risk of overdose and death,” ACLU attorney Jessica Wolfe said in a written statement. “This is unsafe and discriminatory.”

The medicines at issue include methadone and buprenorphine, which is also sold under the brand names Suboxone and Subutex. They work by inhibiting opioid receptors in the brain, counteracting the euphoric effects and physiological cravings.

While the Whatcom County Jail does provide the medicine to pregnant women suffering from opioid withdrawal, it does not provide them otherwise, the lawsuit says. Meanwhile, the county — like places across the country — has seen more and more opioid overdoses over the past 15 years. According to the lawsuit, at least 18 people died of overdoses in Whatcom County in 2016, a year the jail saw at least 253 prisoners self-report as abusers of heroin and other opiates.

Despite the effectiveness of the medicines, jails that provide them remain the exception nationwide, said Sally Friedman, legal director of the New York-based Legal Action Center, a nonprofit which has advocated for correctional systems to offer such treatments. Friedman said the lawsuit appears to be the first of its kind and could help alert officials that the ADA requires them to provide the drugs.

“The word is getting out that people — the judges, the police, the prosecutors, all the players in the criminal justice system who have prevented people from accessing these lifesaving medications — aren’t going to be able to get away with that anymore,” she said.

The Justice Department last month entered a settlement with a skilled nursing facility in Norwood, Massachusetts, that requires it to begin providing the medications to those suffering from opioid use disorder under the ADA. The Boston Globe has also reported that the DOJ is investigating whether Massachusetts prison officials are violating the ADA by forcing incoming inmates who had been taking the addiction medications to stop while they’re behind bars.

Some in law enforcement have argued that allowing such medications, which are opiates themselves, enable users to replace one addition with another, or that the medications themselves can be abused in high doses.

But Leo Beletsky, a professor of law and health sciences at Northeastern University in Boston, said “maintenance treatment” with the drugs cuts the risk of overdose by up to 80 percent while allowing people to get their lives back on track. He noted that after Rhode Island began offering the drugs in its prison system, the state’s total number of fatal overdoses fell 12 percent.

“This effort is not only timely, but is long overdue,” he said. “There is no empirical or public safety rationale for the existing barbaric standard of care.”

The ACLU filed the lawsuit on behalf of two prisoners: Sy Eubanks, 46, and Gabriel Kortlever, 24, both of whom have been addicted to opioids since their teens. The lawsuit seeks class-action status.

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CNN’s Anthony Bourdain Is Gone

From New York (CNN):  Anthony Bourdain, a gifted storyteller and writer who took CNN viewers around the world, has died. He was 61. CNN confirmed Bourdain’s death on Friday and said the cause of death was suicide.

“It is with extraordinary sadness we can confirm the death of our friend and colleague, Anthony Bourdain,” the network said in a statement Friday morning. “His love of great adventure, new friends, fine food and drink and the remarkable stories of the world made him a unique storyteller. His talents never ceased to amaze us and we will miss him very much. Our thoughts and prayers are with his daughter and family at this incredibly difficult time.”

Bourdain was in France working on an upcoming episode of his award-winning CNN series “Parts Unknown.” His close friend Eric Ripert, the French chef, found Bourdain unresponsive in his hotel room Friday morning.

“Tony was an exceptional talent,” CNN President Jeff Zucker said in an email to employees. “Tony will be greatly missed not only for his work but also for the passion with which he did it.”

Stunned reactions to his death from viewers, fellow chefs, celebrities and others swept through social media Friday morning. Author and humorist John Hodgman recalled eating with Bourdain some 14 years ago.

“He was big even then, but he took time to sit with me in Chinatown to talk ‘weird’ food for a magazine piece I was writing. He taught me that our ‘weird’ is the world’s delicious,” Hodgman wrote on Twitter. “We ate chicken feet. The afternoon vibrated with life. RIP.”

“I am shocked and deeply saddened,” chef and “Queer Eye” star Antoni Porowski wrote on Twitter. “RIP to a father, partner, chef, writer, and incredibly talented man. … Prayers for his loved ones.”

The Elvis Of Bad Boy Chefs

Bourdain was a master of his crafts — first in the kitchen and then in the media. Through his TV shows and books, he explored the human condition and helped audiences think differently about food, travel and themselves. He advocated for marginalized populations and campaigned for safer working conditions for restaurant staffs.

Along the way, he received practically every award the industry has to offer. In 2013, Peabody Award judges honored Bourdain and “Parts Unknown” for “expanding our palates and horizons in equal measure.”

“He’s irreverent, honest, curious, never condescending, never obsequious,” the judges said. “People open up to him and, in doing so, often reveal more about their hometowns or homelands than a traditional reporter could hope to document.”

The Smithsonian once called him “the original rock star” of the culinary world, “the Elvis of bad boy chefs.”In 1999, he wrote a New Yorker article, “Don’t Eat Before Reading This,” that became a best-selling book in 2000, “Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly.” The book set him on a path to international stardom.

First, he hosted “A Cook’s Tour” on the Food Network, then moved to “Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations” on the Travel Channel. “No Reservations” was a breakout hit, earning two Emmy Awards and more than a dozen nominations.

In 2013 both Bourdain and CNN took a risk by bringing him to the news network still best known for breaking news and headlines. Bourdain quickly became one of the principal faces of the network and one of the linchpins of the prime-time schedule. Season 11 of “Parts Unknown” premiered on CNN last month.

While accepting the Peabody award in 2013, Bourdain described how he approached his work.

“We ask very simple questions: What makes you happy? What do you eat? What do you like to cook? And everywhere in the world we go and ask these very simple questions,” he said, “we tend to get some really astonishing answers.”

Bourdain’s death happened after fashion designer Kate Spade hanged herself in an apparent suicide at her Manhattan apartment on Tuesday.

Suicide is a growing problem in the United States. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published a survey Thursday showing suicide rates increased by 25% across the United States over nearly two decades ending in 2016. Twenty-five states experienced a rise in suicides by more than 30%, the government report finds.

How To Get Help

Call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255.

The suicide rate in the United States has seen sharp increases in recent years. It’s now the 10th leading cause of death in the country, according to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. Studies have shown that the risk of suicide declines sharply when people call the national suicide hotline: 1-800-273-TALK

There is also a crisis text line.

The lines are staffed by a mix of paid professionals and unpaid volunteers trained in crisis and suicide intervention. The confidential environment, the 24-hour accessibility, a caller’s ability to hang up at any time and the person-centered care have helped its success, advocates say.

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7 Types Of Mental Illness

7 types of mental illness contribute to the rising suicide rates that are so much in the news these days. For millions of people who use substances, to feel better, mental illness is also the underlying cause drug use, both legal and illegal. Why are some people happy and well adjusted, and others have multiple difficulties coping?  When considering substance use and misuse, it’s important to know the underlying psychiatric diagnoses that need treatment and can lead to suicidal thoughts and actions. We’ve unpacked the psychiatric suitcase to give you an overview of the types of mental illnesses.

In examining the DSM -5, the Fifth Edition of The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, which is the professional guidebook for clinicians, there are a number of diagnoses that cover a range of illnesses. One must meet certain criteria to be diagnosed with a mental illness. Also, each category of illness usually has at least 3-5 varying types of that specific mental illness and often times, a person may have more than one mental illness or also have a substance-use disorder such as alcoholism. Here we examine some of the more common mental illnesses.

7 Most Common Types of Mental Illness

Depressive Disorders

There are a number of depressive disorders and the most common symptoms include “the presence of sad, empty, or irritable mood, accompanied by somatic [physical health] and cognitive [thought] changes that significantly affect the individual’s capacity to function.” Depression is common and is estimated to affect 1 in 4 people.

Bipolar and Related Disorders

Common symptoms for the varying types of bipolar disorders include depression and mania (elevated mood, expansiveness, possible irritability, grandiosity, and high energy) or a hypomanic episode (symptoms similar to mania, but on a lesser scale).

Anxiety Disorders

Anxiety disorders such as phobias, social anxiety disorders, panic disorders, and generalized anxiety disorders are also fairly common. These disorders “share features of excessive fear and anxiety and related behavioral disturbances.” Also, the “anxiety disorders differ from developmentally normative fear or anxiety by being excessive” and ongoing.

Obsessive-compulsive Disorder (OCD) and Related Disorders

With other disorders such as hoarding and hair and skin-picking disorders, OCD is “characterized by the presence of obsessions [intrusive thoughts/urges] and compulsions [repetitive behaviors].” For example, you cannot let go of thoughts which are intrusive and/or you use behaviors such as compulsive hand washing – perhaps as much as 50 times a day – or you have to count each step you take no matter how long the walk.

Trauma and Stress-related Disorders

Like the other categories, there are a number of trauma-related disorders with the most common being adjustment disorder and post-traumatic-stress disorder (PTSD). These are disorders “in which exposure to a traumatic or stressful event” are seen as the cause. While there are commonalities to anxiety disorders, these disorders include the exposure to difficult events. For an adjustment disorder, these are more common stressors such as a divorce or losing a job, with the emotional and behavioral symptoms being short-lived. However with PTSD, the stressful event is one that doesn’t commonly exist for everyone such as trauma from being in a war zone or being raped or being in a school where there was a shooting. With PTSD, the symptoms may be debilitating such as having flashbacks to the events, numbing out feelings or increased startle response (such as if someone touches you, your reaction may be to hit them), and not being able to cope effectively with everyday life.

Schizophrenia and Other Psychotic Disorders

This spectrum of disorders include abnormalities such as: hallucinations (seeing and/or hearing things others don’t see or hear), delusions (thinking you are Jesus Christ or other past well-know figures, that you have special powers such as thinking you can fly, or believing that others are out to harm you [paranoia] and disorganized thinking/speech (non-sensical speech or jumbled thoughts). Others include unusual presentation (inappropriate laughter, odd physical movements or not moving at all), and negative symptoms such as difficulty in feeling emotions, poor eye contact, and struggles in feeling pleasure.

Personality Disorders

There are 10 personality disorders and the common symptoms include:

“an enduring pattern of inner experience and behavior” that are significantly different from the person’s family and culture, is ongoing, inflexible and rigid, and leads to significant problems in functioning.

Symptoms of personality disorders include:

Paranoia,

Lack of attachment to others

Odd perceptions,

Lack of morality,

Impulsiveness,

Perfectionism and control,

Lack of empathy.

Most Common Personality Disorders include

Antisocial Personality Disorder (lack of morality, violation of others’ rights and values),

Borderline Personality Disorder (struggles with relationships, impulsivity, poor sense of self, self-harm behaviors),

Narcissistic Personality Disorder (being grandiose about self and abilities, lack of empathy for others, and the need for others to adore you).

While there are more categories of disorders and significantly more mental illness diagnoses, these are the most common. To learn more, contact NAMI at www.nami.org, SAMHSA at www.samhsa.gov, and Mental Health.Gov at www.mentalhealth.gov. For help options and professionals near you.

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Forever Loved A Lasting Memorial

Have you lost a loved one? ROR wants to lift the stigma and keep your memory alive on our Memorial page.

Hurt Can Inspire Action That Makes a Difference

We were inspired to create ROR because substance use in our families hurt and changed us forever. Now friends of ROR fans are inspiring us by their actions. A few months ago two ROR fans in Illinois lost their father, a retired policeman. Although their family didn’t suffer from substance abuse disorder, because of his line of work, they daily saw how addiction affects everyone in a family. At his funeral, his daughters asked for donations to Reach Out Recovery. In the midst of their pain, they thought of us and wanted their whole community to benefit from ROR’s unique efforts to educate about addiction and the hope of recovery.

A Small Donation That Makes A Big Difference

Adding your loved one to our new memorial page has a powerful dual impact.

1. By sharing your loved one with us, we can see their beautiful faces and pray for you. A large memorial gallery will show how many ROR visitors are struggling with grief and how much more we need to do.

2. The small donation of $15 will help sustain ROR, which receives no government or special interest funding. We are viewer supported. Show your enduring love with a picture and a message and support an organization whose only purpose is to serve you. Click here to begin.

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Don’t Make A Permanent Decision Based On Temporary Emotions

From Brainline:

If there is one thing we’ve learned through this journey, and in life in general, it’s THIS. 

“Don’t make a permanent decision based on temporary emotions.”

Here is the short summary of what this means to me:

Even when you are convinced that you are absolutely right and justified, it doesn’t give you the right or justification to create more harm to those around you. Just wait. Work on yourself, your reactions, and pick up some coping skills while you are at it. Living and dwelling inside your head and closing everyone off makes your thoughts fester. Learn to talk about it. Sometimes time will open your eyes if you keep your mind open in the process.

CONFESSION:  I used to be an incredibly impulsive person when it came to my overwhelming emotions. It’s what contributed to our bitter divorce in 2003. It’s what led me to make a long string of choices that weren’t good for me or those around me. At the time I was absolutely CONVINCED I was right. Well, I wasn’t right every single time. I wasn’t even close. It was actually my sense of being right fueled by confusing emotions coming into play. I still pay a residual price for those choices. I have to live with that, and it’s not easy.

Then there were times I was absolutely, positively right. And justified. But how I handled it needed to change.

When my husband became the one who responded emotionally to everything around him after his injury, I had two choices: keep reacting the way I always did and join into the downward spiral with both of us doing it, or break the cycle and hold on tight for the ride.

For the first part of this journey, I chose to keep reacting the same way. I’d take everything personally. I let my insecurities run unchecked. I bottled it up inside and became resentful. I focused on my justifications instead of putting that energy into doing something different.

Then, one day, I made a very permanent decision that, in my mind, was the only option I had left. After all was said and done, I had my own “come to Jesus” moment. Divine intervention? Probably. But my eyes needed to be open right along with my mind to pick up the shattered pieces and glue them back together again.

 

I chose to learn to transfer my own emotions and reactions with deliberate and thoughtful responses. Talk about a major change within my own self! The end result? It transferred back to Dan (by setting the example) and we learned to cope together. Many years later, I am still trying to teach this to my own children. I am trying to undo all the years of damage from doing it in the first place.

And that is not easy.

If I had only learned this earlier, I would have saved myself (and those around me) a great deal of heartache.

But, the good news is this: I have a new and empowered outlook on my future, my prospects, my control over the choices I make, and which direction my life will go. I don’t fear loss any more. My marriage is strong and fulfilling. My children really will be okay.

My advice? Do what I had to do.

Stop. Breathe. Give yourself time and space. Work on you. React deliberately instead of impulsively. Talk about it. Keep your mind open. Be willing to open your eyes and see through the eyes of others. Be kind to yourself. Be willing to change. Be willing to ask for help. Be willing to let go of those who are doing more harm than good with their version of ‘helping’. It’s one thing to get validation from people around you to fuel your justified sense of self, but it’s another thing to find friends who are going to be honest with you and help you fix the problem AND yourself along the way. Create boundaries from the infiltration of toxicity. Stand up for yourself, but don’t forget to stand up for the ones around you too. Believe it or not, they may feel like your worst enemy right now — but they likely become your ally the moment you stop becoming your ownworst enemy.

Putting in the hard work is uncomfortable. You may question yourself. You may think the short and easy answer is a viable long-term solution.

 

 

You may want to file for divorce.

You may want to find love in other places.

You may want to consider suicide.

You may want to uproot and chase an elusive gossamer.

You may want to do the easy wrong instead of doing the hard right.

You may want to hole up inside yourself and shut everyone around you out.

You may want to run away every time things get hard.

You may want to stay stuck inside your toxic thoughts and remain a victim.

There is a difference between being right and being righteous. Don’t confuse the two. The lines may be blurred at first, but with time and practice, you’ll be able to know for a fact that you are stronger than you give yourself credit for.

I’ll be honest with you… If anything on the list above is running through your mind, I don’t have all the words to make you feel better right now. I may not be able to give you a hug. but I do have the heart and it’s aching to see you smile again. The best thing I can do is tell you I’ve been in your shoes and I am here to say I finally made it through and I am better for it.

You can do this, I promise. If I can do it, I bet you can too. I have absolute faith in you.

 

 

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Why There’s A High Rate Of SUDs Among LGBTQs

If you are a member of the LGBT (lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgender) community or are a loved one of someone who is, then you know the numerous issues facing this population. Related to these issues are the statistics that reveal that the LGBT community has a significant rate of substance use disorders (SUDs) – much higher than the heterosexual/cisgender population.

A 2015 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (age 18 and older), indicated that for the LGB community, any illicit drug use was 39.1% vs. 17.1 % for heterosexual individuals; 30.7 % for LGB and 12.9% for heterosexuals regarding marijuana use; as well as specific high numbers in all the categories of illicit use including the misuse of prescription pain medications, tranquilizers, stimulants, and sedatives; cocaine; hallucinogens; inhalants; methamphetamines, and heroin. Also, alcohol use was higher with the LGB population with 63.6% vs. 56.2 % of heterosexual use. Likewise, the National Institute on Drug Abuse reported on a study regarding LGB adolescents revealing that they were 90% more likely to use substances than their straight counterparts. In one study of transgender individuals, in the Journal of Addictions & Offender Counseling (2017), it’s shown that the SUDS rate is quite high – approximately between 25-28% for this population.

Why is there a high rate of substance use disorders in the LGBT Community?

Prejudice and discrimination: The LGBT community continues to struggle with acceptance and copes with such issues as being denied housing, work, being kicked out of the family, and homophobia/bi-phobia, transphobia, and sometimes, outright hate with harassment and violence.
Internalized homophobia/transphobia where the LGBT person takes on the negatives of a majority culture and struggles with acceptance of self.
Heterosexism and cisgenderism: We live in a world where most everything revolves around being heterosexual and of male or female gender. From the time we are born until death, we are bombarded with a straight/cisgender culture that is seen as the most natural and “normal” – to be different is to be feared, pitied, hated, and at best, tolerated. The media constantly influences this as do political/religious/educational/social systems that also push their beliefs.
Some people may not want to out themselves for a variety of reasons and are fearful that they may be outed by someone else.
While this is more accurate for the older community, the gay bar has been the historical meeting place for this population as it offered a safer place to meet others, have fun, and be their true self.
There is stress regarding “coming out” – heterosexual/cisgender people do not have to do so.
There may be even more prejudice and hate if you are a minority of another group such as a racial minority.
There is a significant lack of legal protection for the LGBT community – local/state/national/worldwide.
There may be fear of getting substance abuse treatment help due to prejudice (or perceived prejudice) of caregivers or other clients in treatment.
A lack of family/ friends/sponsors who are supportive leading to trying to do recovery alone.
Prejudice by educational communities.
Prejudice by spiritual communities.
Prejudice by social systems.
Prejudice by legal systems.
Lack of counselor training and acceptance may be an issue for the therapist/treatment provider and makes treatment ineffective.
There are often no policies or procedures in an agency to help guide the process.
There are few SUDS programs that specialize in the population making treatment difficult for you may feel you have to lie about your status, therefore, negating the entire premise of getting clean and sober. There also may be fear of confidentiality violations for those who are not out. Another problem is housing considerations in treatment especially for the transgender person.
There is often a lack of a continuum of care after treatment especially in small communities.

While these are not excuses for substance use, they are leading factors in why an LGBT person – either yourself or a loved one – may turn to using substances, both illicit and legal, and/or not seeking help. Please know that there are many providers who are either LGBT themselves or are LGBT friendly who can offer services not only for the SUDS, but for the unique situation of being LGBT and helping one to embrace this in themselves. For in the end, we all need to be accepted.

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Opioid Use May Affect Treatment For Alcohol Dependence

From Science Daily:

New research indicates that opioid misuse and the use of cannabis and other drugs may compromise the effectiveness of treatments for alcohol use disorder. In an Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research study, individuals with alcohol dependence who misused opioids and those who used cannabis and other drugs were more likely to drink heavily and frequently during and following treatment.

On average, individuals with opioid misuse engaged in heavy drinking 48 days earlier in treatment, drank heavily on approximately 8% and 13% more days in the last month of treatment and one year following treatment, respectively, and consumed 4 more drinks per peak drinking occasion than individuals without opioid misuse and no other drug use.

“This study provides evidence that we cannot ignore alcohol and other drug use when discussing potential impacts of the opioid epidemic,” said lead author Dr. Katie Witkiewitz, of the University of New Mexico. Individuals who misuse opioids have poorer outcomes in multiple domains, and the current study identified a much higher risk of alcohol relapse among those with opioid misuse in alcohol treatment.”

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Honor Dad with A Recovery Tribute

Hope is necessary for those who don’t yet believe that recovery works. That’s the reason ROR has begun its campaign for Recovery Tributes. Here’s an exciting new way you can help lift the stigma from Substance Use Disorder (addiction) and change the dialogue from despair to celebration.

ROR has just begun collecting real tributes to honor those in recovery and the people who love and support them. There’s nothing like a Gallery Of Hope to show how many people are saved by recovery. Won’t you help us send more hope out into the world by adding a tribute in a loved one’s name.

It’s a great Idea for Father’s Day, or any day. With your $15 donation you can add someone to our gallery of hope and support the nonprofit ROR at the same time.

You don’t have to add a last name or even a photo if you want to keep anonymity. You can use any image of celebration and love. You can also can encourage other family members and friends to donate to the Gallery Of Hope Cause in your loved one’s name.

Help us fill our Gallery of Hope and bring more great recovery content to the millions of people who need hope and support. Click here to start.

 

 

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Fight Depression By Lifting Light Weights

From Gretchen Reynolds @ The New York Times: Lifting weights might also lift moods, according to an important new review of dozens of studies about strength training and depression. It finds that resistance exercise often substantially reduces people’s gloom, no matter how melancholy they feel at first, or how often — or seldom — they actually get to the gym and lift.

There already is considerable evidence that exercise, in general, can help to both stave off and treat depression. A large-scale 2016 review that involved more than a million people, for instance, concluded that being physically fit substantially reduces the risk that someone will develop clinical depression. Other studies and reviews have found that exercise also can reduce symptoms of depression in people who have been given diagnoses of the condition.

But most of these past studies and reviews have focused on aerobic exercise, such as walking or jogging.

Far less has been known about the possible benefits, if any, of strength training for mental health. One 2017 analysis of past research had found that strength training can help people feel less anxious and nervous.

But Anxiety Is Not Depression

So for the new study, which was published in May in JAMA Psychiatry, the same researchers who earlier had examined anxiety and resistance exercise now turned their attention to depression.

They wanted to see whether the available research could tell us if lifting weights meaningfully affects the onset and severity of depression. They also sought to determine if the amount of the exercise and the age, health or gender of the exercisers would matter.

The researchers began by gathering all of the best past studies related to resistance exercise and depression. They were interested only in randomized experiments with a control group, meaning that some people had been assigned to start exercising while others had not. These experiments are the gold standard for testing the effects of exercise and other interventions.

The experiments also had to include testing for depression before and after the training.

The researchers ultimately found 33 experiments of weight training and depression that met their criteria. The studies involved almost 2,000 men and women of various ages, some of whom had been diagnosed with depression, while others had not.

The researchers aggregated the results from all of these studies and then began digging through the data.

What they found was that resistance training consistently reduced the symptoms of depression, whether someone was formally depressed at the start of the study or not. In other words, if people began the study with depression, they usually felt better after taking up weight training. And if they started out with normal mental health, they ended the experiment with less chance of having become morose and sad than people who did not train.

Perhaps most interesting, the amount of weight training did not seem to matter. The benefits essentially were the same, whether people went to the gym twice a week or five times a week and whether they were completing lots of repetitions of each exercise or only a few.

The mental health impacts were similar, too, for men and women and for younger lifters (often college students) and people who were middle-aged or elderly.

And people did not need to pack on mass or might to reduce their depression. More strength after the experiment did not correlate with less depression, the researchers found.

All That Mattered Was Showing Up And Completing The Workouts

Only a few of the studies had also included a separate group who tried aerobic exercise, making it difficult to compare the effects of that kind of workout with those of lifting weights.

But while the number of people involved was small, the combined results suggest that weight training and aerobic exercise have similar impacts on depression, the authors of the new review conclude.

Both types of exercise reduced symptoms, and to about the same extent.

This kind of review cannot tell us, though, how strength training might be influencing mental health.

The exercise probably has both physiological and psychological consequences, says Brett Gordon, a graduate student at the University of Limerick in Ireland, who led the new review. The weight training could be changing aspects of the brain, including the levels of various neurochemicals that influence moods, he says.

“Expectancy could also be at work,” he says. People expect the workouts to make them feel more cheerful, and they do. (It’s impossible to blind people about whether they are lifting weights or not, he points out. So some of the psychological benefits might be the result of a biological placebo effect, which nonetheless produces real benefits.)

The review’s results do not indicate that resistance training is better for combating depression than other kinds of exercise, Mr. Gordon says. Nor do the results suggest that exercise can, or should, replace traditional therapies, including medication.

But as a whole, he says, the data do suggest that visiting the gym and lifting weights a few times a week might be an effective way to buoy mental health.

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What Leads To Suicide?

From American Foundation For Suicide Prevention: There’s no single cause for suicide. Suicide most often occurs when stressors and health issues converge to create an experience of hopelessness and despair. Depression is the most common condition associated with suicide, and it is often undiagnosed or untreated. Conditions like depression, anxiety and substance problems, especially when unaddressed, increase risk for suicide. Yet it’s important to note that most people who actively manage their mental health conditions go on to engage in life.

Suicide Warning Signs

Something to look out for when concerned that a person may be suicidal is a change in behavior or the presence of entirely new behaviors. This is of sharpest concern if the new or changed behavior is related to a painful event, loss, or change. Most people who take their lives exhibit one or more warning signs, either through what they say or what they do.

Talk

If a person talks about:

Killing themselves
Feeling hopeless
Having no reason to live
Being a burden to others
Feeling trapped
Unbearable pain


Behaviors

Behaviors that may signal risk, especially if related to a painful event, loss or change:

Increased use of alcohol or drugs
Looking for a way to end their lives, such as searching online for methods
Withdrawing from activities
Isolating from family and friends
Sleeping too much or too little
Visiting or calling people to say goodbye
Giving away prized possessions
Aggression
Fatigue

Mood

People who are considering suicide often display one or more of the following moods:

Depression
Anxiety
Loss of interest
Irritability
Humiliation/Shame
Agitation/Anger
Relief/Sudden Improvement

If you are in crisis, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255) or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting TALK to 741741.

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