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Seniors and Substance Use
After her husband died, Sandra began having trouble sleeping. She tried many over- the-counter remedies to help her sleep, but nothing worked. Sandra was hesitant to speak with her doctor about it as she knew that many prescription sleep aides were addictive, and she was concerned about becoming...
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Reaching Out to Meet the Mental Health Needs of the Aging
There are more than with 3.7 million individuals aged 60 and older in New York State. It’s expected that this number will increase to 4.63 million by 2040. At the same time, the number of older adults with mental illness will increase by 80 percent, to 900,000. Studies have shown that the...
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The Mental Health Needs of Older Adults
Our society continues to age, and it is estimated that by 2030 there will be more than 75 million Americans over the age of 65. The population of older adults (60 YO+) is growing faster than any other age group. According to Institute of Medicine, 1 in 5 older adults will experience at least one...
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Addressing the Growing Problem of School Refusal
Anxiety disorders have been plaguing America’s children to a significant degree and are now one of the most common behavior health disorders of today’s school age children. Anxiety, often in conjunction with depression, is found to be a key determinant of school refusal (historically diagnosed...
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Social Isolation: A Solution-Focused Approach
Doris has been living in her studio apartment in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn for the past 15 years. She obtained this apartment after finding herself homeless following the breakup of her marriage and other stressors she was experiencing. Doris is quite humble as she describes how her...
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Cyberbullying Studied at Four Winds
While experiences of victimization are more common in clinical populations, and adolescent psychiatric patients have often been the objects of various forms of bullying, there is reason to believe that bullying via the internet may be particularly harmful for contemporary youths. The nature of...
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Co-Occurring Conditions in Mild Autism Spectrum Disorder: Integrated Treatment Approaches
Co-occurring mental health conditions are the rule rather than the exception in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). A full 70% of individuals with ASD have one co-occurring condition and 40% have two or more (Siminoff et al, 2008). Living with autism is a journey, and in talking to families, I often...
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From the Publisher’s Desk “The Handshake of Hope”
With the holiday’s only a month or so away, I recall a true story I wrote about several years ago in this publication. It began with, “Let me tell you a story about a simple handshake that saved the life of a man from New York suffering with mental illness.” The year was 1987 and he was 38...
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Introducing Collaborative Care in the Workplace
Depression in the workplace affects 10 million people each year (Value Options, How Depression Affects the Workplace) with 6-8% of the population having a major depressive episode each year (Kessler RC et al., The Prevalence and Correlates of Workplace Depression in the National Comorbidity Survey...
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New, Work-focused Approach Helps Employees with Depression Do Better at Work and Feel Better, Too
When employees injure their spine, they often receive physical therapy for this common condition. They learn how to strengthen weak muscles, lift properly and sit ergonomically. Essentially, they are taught proven strategies to get them back on their feet and back on the job. But it’s been a...
