People with eating disorders often refuse treatment for many reasons including fear of weight gain and the stigma of being hospitalized. But if eating disorders go untreated, they can have serious medical consequences -- death being one of them.

If an adult refuses treatment for a life-threatening illness, he or she can be legally required to enter a treatment program. But involuntary treatment of eating disorders, including anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa, is controversial, mostly because some experts suggest that it is counterproductive if the patient isn't willing to cooperate.

Now new research suggests that such involuntary treatment may be just as effective as voluntary treatment -- at least in the short run. The findings appear in the November issue of the American Journal of Psychiatry.

Of nearly 400 patients admitted to an eating disorders program during a seven-year period, the 66 patients who were involuntarily committed were hospitalized for an average of more than two weeks longer than the voluntary patients, mostly because they were in worse shape and weighed less. However, both groups gained weight at the same rate on a weekly basis.

The study did not assess how patients did in the long term, but a new study is now under way looking at how such patients fare five to 20 years after treatment.

"The short-term response of the legally committed patients was just as good as the response of the patients admitted for voluntary treatment," concludes Tureka L. Watson, MS, a psychiatry researcher the University of Iowa in Iowa City, and colleagues. "Further, the majority of those involuntarily treated later affirmed the necessity of their treatment and showed goodwill toward the treatment process."

Craig Johnson, PhD, says that he has no difficulty admitting adolescents, or even adults, involuntarily if they have had previous intensive treatment. "If their anorexia is severe ... their ability to think clearly is compromised, and they don't have the skills to make good judgments." Johnson is the director of the eating disorder program at the Laureate Clinic and Hospital in Tulsa, Okla.

In these cases, one should intervene as aggressively as possible, he says. "The courts, of course, view this differently ... they are far less prepared to commit people over not eating," he adds.

"There is tremendous resistance even in people who are ... eager to get better," says Abigail H. Natenshon, an eating disorder psychotherapist in private practice in Highland Park, Ill., and founder and director of Eating Disorder Specialists of Illinois.

"In a sense, the eating disorder makes them feel better than being healed because the eating disorder gives them a sense of control and power over their lives," says Natensohn, author of When Your Child Has an Eating Disorder: A Step-by-Step Workbook for Parents and Other Caregivers.

Even a patient who voluntarily gets treatment is afraid to give up this disease, she says. Some may be afraid that they will lose control over all of their life if they gain weight and/or get better.

But the first step in any eating disorder recovery is to get the patient's weight back into the healthy range, she says "Even medications will not have an effect on a person who is malnourished because their brain is malnourished and their perceptions are distorted," she says.

A hospital will force feed if it has to, Natenshon says. "Once hospitalized, a patient has no choice but to restore enough body weight so they are no longer in danger of dying." She explains that because patients are being fed, they eventually become more accepting of treatment willing patients.

About 10 million adolescent females and one million males struggle with eating disorders and conditions that border on eating disorders, according to Eating Disorders Awareness and Prevention Inc. of Seattle.

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Parent shares personal experience with tyrosine supplement for treating ADHD.

Catherine writes.......

"One of my favorite supplements for ADHD/ADD is tyrosine. it helps to improve the dopamine levels in the brain which is what the stimulant meds do. Depending on the severity of the ADHD/ADD, you may still need to have stimulant meds but with both my kids I was able to cut the meds by half and cut the side effects by at least half.

Having taken the stimulant meds and tyrosine myself, I can tell you how much better I feel with tyrosine rather than the stimulant medications. I would much rather be on tyrosine you feel much more alert and able to think even first thing in the morning.

Been on it for 5 year and still believe in it benefits.

It should not be combined with antidepressants without doctor's understanding.

And for a small handfull of people, it makes them anxious or cranky... be aware and if it occures simply stop the tyrosine for a week and try again. Might have been a bad day... if it happens again, it may not be for you or your child.

When it works, it is wonderful."

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Ed. Note: Please remember we do not endorse any treatments and strongly advise you to check with your doctor before using, stopping or changing a treatment.

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Interview with Dr. Stephen Palmquist, Department of Religion and Philosophy, Hong Kong Baptist University

Tammie: What led you to study and teach philosophy?

Stephen: A complete answer to this question would occupy a whole book--or at least a lengthy chapter. I'll give you an abbreviated version, but I warn you, even in the form of a "nutshell" it's not going to be short!

Before going to college, I had never thought of studying or teaching philosophy. During the first year of my B.A., many new friends told me they thought I would make a good pastor. With this in mind, I decided to major in Religious Studies. From the middle of my junior year until the end of my senior year, I also served as a part-time youth minister in a local church. Seeing how churches work from the inside made me think twice about my original plan. After graduating, I realized that there were only a handful of occasions when I really enjoyed being a youth minister and those were the few times when one of the youth had an "aha" experience while talking with me. It then struck me that learning about and encouraging others to have such experiences was (is) my true calling. On the assumption that university students are much more open to having such experiences than the average church-goer, and knowing that in any case "church politics" can often work against those who tend to stimulate such experiences, I decided to set a new goal of becoming a university professor.

While I was serving as youth minister, I also took two classes, called "Contemporary Marriage" and "Love and Sex in Contemporary Society", which aroused my interest in this topic. The fact that I was newly married when I took these classes made them especially relevant. Due to my utter disagreement with the theories of love endorsed by the teacher of the former class, I failed the first test. But after an exchange of lengthy letters debating the quality of my (essay) answer to the main test question, the teacher agreed to allow me to skip all further tests in his class, including the final exam, and to write one long (40-page) paper instead. I ended up extending that project through the following summer and writing over 100 pages on the topic "Understanding Love".

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My college education was so fulfilling that I felt ready to live a life of learning without going through any additional formal education. However, I knew I could not get a job as a university teacher without having a higher degree, so I applied to do a doctorate at Oxford. I chose Oxford not because of its reputation (which I think is largely over-rated), but for three very specific reasons: students can go directly from a B.A. to a doctorate without first obtaining a Masters; students are not required to attend any classes, do any coursework, or take any written exams; and one's degree is based entirely on the quality of a written dissertation. I wanted to develop and perfect my ideas on love without being distracted by other requirements, so when I found out about the Oxford system, I thought "I might as well get a degree while I'm at it!" Fortunately, I was accepted by the Faculty of Theology.

I chose Theology because I had been a Religious Studies major in college and because the only philosophy class I had taken as an undergraduate was a required Introduction class that was extremely unenlightening--so much so that I had not yet realized that my own interest in what I now call "insight" was slowly transforming me into a philosopher. No sooner had my first supervisor read the paper I had previously written on love than he informed me of a major problem: my theory of love was based on a specific theory of human nature, yet I had largely ignored a 2500 year tradition of writing on the latter subject. When I asked what that tradition was, my supervisor answered: "philosophy".

In response to this revelation, I spent my first year at Oxford reading the original writings of 25 major western philosophers from Plato and Aristotle to Heidegger and Wittgenstein. Of all the philosophers I read, only Kant seemed to express the kind of balanced and humble point of view I believed was correct. But when I began reading the secondary literature on Kant, I was shocked to discover that other readers did not think Kant was saying what I understood him to be saying. By the end of my third year, when my thesis was already two-thirds written, I decided the issues relating to Kant were so important that they had to be dealt with first. So, much to my supervisor's surprise, I changed my topic to Kant, and put love-and-human-nature on the back burner indefinitely.

By the end of my seven years in Oxford, I was convinced (thanks to my studies of Kant) that I am a philosopher and that teaching philosophy would be the best way for me to fulfill my calling to encourage others to learn to have insights for themselves. Ironically, I had no degree in philosophy and had only ever taken one philosophy class. The odds were against me. But Providence smiled upon me at just the right time, and I was offered an ideal position teaching in a Religion and Philosophy Department at a university in Hong Kong, where I still am twelve years later.

Tammie: You coined a new term, "philopsychy." What does this mean and how might it better serve us?

Stephen: The word "philopsychy" is simply a combination of the first half of the words "philosophy" and "psychology". The word "philo" means "love" in Greek, and "psychy" means "soul". So "philopsychy" means "love of the soul" or "soul-loving".

I coined the word for two reasons. First, I noticed a significant degree of overlap between the interests of some philosophers and some psychologists--namely, those in both disciplines who view their scholarship as a means of increasing self-knowledge. The second reason is that many philosophers and psychologists practice their discipline in ways that actually work against the ancient "know thyself" maxim. In the twentieth century we have witnessed the strange phenomenon of philosophers (literally "wisdom-lovers") who no longer believe in "wisdom" and psychologists (literally "ones who study the soul") who no longer believe human beings have a "soul". Instead, the former see their task as nothing more than (for example) performing logical analysis on word usage, while the latter see their task as nothing more than (for example) observing people's behavior and assessing it in terms of empirical principles such as stimulus-and-response.

The new word is needed to enable the former type of philosophers and psychologists to distinguish themselves from those who do not believe in ideals such as wisdom-loving or soul-studying. It also has two secondary implications.

First, the word will prove to be especially useful to people like me, who find themselves interested in both philosophical and psychological methods of gaining self-awareness. Second, it can also be put to use by anyone who wishes to gain self-knowledge, even if they are not professional philosophers or psychologists.

Many (if not most) members of the Philopsychy Society, for example, fall into this category. There are scientists, scholars of religion, poets--you name it. Anyone who believes the path to self-awareness requires "care for the soul" (one's own and others') and is committed to developing a deeper understanding of how this works can be referred to as a "philopsycher".

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Tammie: You've asserted that the work of both philosopher, Immanuel Kant, and psychologist, Carl Jung, are in many respects Philospychic, I'm hoping you might elaborate on that.

Stephen: I first became aware of and interested in Jung's psychology while I was studying in Oxford. I became good friends with a priest who had studied Jung's writings in depth. As I shared with him my growing interest in Kant, he shared Jung's ideas with me. We both soon realized that the two systems have many deep values in common, even though they deal with very different aspects of human life. In his youth Jung actually read a considerable amount of Kant's writing and accepted Kant's basic metaphysical principles as the philosophical foundations of his own psychology. There is plenty of evidence for this; but the relevant passages are scattered so evenly throughout Jung's voluminous writings that they are easily overlooked by most readers.

In a nutshell, Kant and Jung are both philopsychers because they both have (1) a deep interest in both philosophy and psychology and (2) a desire to apply their insights in these fields to the task of self-knowledge. They both exhibit "soul- loving" tendencies in so many ways that I couldn't hope to give an exhaustive summary here. But a few examples should suffice to clarify the sort of thing I'm thinking of.

Kant's philosophical project was motivated to a large extent, I have argued, by his interest in the phenomenon of "spirit-seeing". He saw a direct analogy between a mystic's cla rel="nofollow" href="http: to have an objective experience of a spiritual world and a philosopher's cla rel="nofollow" href="http: to construct a system of metaphysical knowledge. Kant believed human beings have souls, but thought it is a dangerous illusion to think this can be proved. Kant's first Critique, where he develops this view in most detail, is sometimes interpreted as a rejection of metaphysics; but in fact, it is an attempt to save metaphysics from an overly logical (unloving) approach that cla rel="nofollow" href="http:s to establish scientific knowledge of God, freedom, and the immortality of the soul. By demonstrating that we cannot know the reality of these three "ideas of reason" with absolute certainty, Kant was not rejecting their reality; rather, as his second Critique makes clear, he was attempting to transform metaphysics from a head-centered discipline to a heart-centered discipline. In this sense, the overall character of Kant's philosophy can be seen to be soul-loving.

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Jung says he read Kant's 1766 book, Dreams of a Spirit-Seer, at "just the right time" in his own development. He was training to be a psychiatrist at a time when medical students were indoctrinated into a reductionistic, deterministic, and naturalistic way of understanding disease. Yet he had a firm belief in the soul. Kant's philosophy helped Jung to maintain an intellectually honest (heart- centered) belief in metaphysical ideas that were being rejected by many of his colleagues. As a result, he developed a psychology that did not seek to reduce the soul to something non-metaphysical, such as sex (as in Freud's psychology).

Jung's psychology is more philosophically-informed than Freud's (and the systems developed by many other psychologists, such as Skinner). Like Kant, he is a philopsycher because his scholarly research and the system he developed honor the mystery of the human soul. Love thrives on mystery, but is vanquished by cla rel="nofollow" href="http:s to absolute, scientific knowledge.

Tammie: You've written that, "first, wisdom requires us to recognize that there is a boundary between our knowledge and our ignorance...Second, wisdom requires us to believe it is possible, despite our necessary ignorance, to find a way to break through this very boundary line. ..Finally, then, the new lesson is that we only really begin to understand what wisdom is when we recognize that, even after we succeed in breaking through our former limits, we must return to our original home. However, there is a crucial difference between our original state and our state when we return: for we now have some awareness (even if we cannot call it "knowledge") of both sides of the boundary..." Your observations really resonated with me and I thought of Joseph Campbell's myth of the "hero's Journey" as I read. I was hoping you could elaborate a bit more on the journey that might lead one to a greater awareness of "both sides of the boundary."

The passage you quote is from the opening chapter of Part Three in The Tree of Philosophy. In that chapter I am trying to provide the reader with some insight into what it means to pursue (or "love") wisdom. The key is to recognize that wisdom is not something predictable, something we can know in advance like the outcome of a mathematical calculation or of a simple scientific experiment. Socrates went to great pains to emphasize that the wisest stance human beings can take is to admit that we do not know what wisdom entails in any given situation. His point (in part) is that if we already possessed wisdom, we would not need to love it. Philosophers who cla rel="nofollow" href="http: to possess wisdom are actually not philosophers (wisdom-lovers) at all, but "sophists" ("wisdom"-sellers, where "wisdom" must remain in quotes).

Because wisdom isn't predictable, I'm reluctant to say much about how my conception of wisdom can lead a person to greater awareness. What I can say is that in The Tree I give three extended examples of how this might work: scientific knowledge, moral action, and political agreement. In each case there is a "traditional" interpretation that sets up a "boundary", giving us genuine assistance in understanding the topic in question; but it is transcended by another philosopher who believes the boundary, if made absolute, does more harm than good. My argument is that the wisdom-lover will take the risk of going beyond the boundary in search of wisdom, but will not regard limitless wandering as an end in itself. Returning to the boundary with the new insights obtained is, I argue, the most reliable way to search for wisdom.

You may have noticed that in Part Three I never actually explain *how* to "return to the boundary" in each case. When I come to this part in my lectures, I tell my students that I have deliberately left out such an explanation, because each of us has to work this out for ourselves. Wisdom-loving is not something that can be put into "kit" form. Neither is insight. We can prepare ourselves for it; but when it hits us, insight often comes in a form we never would have expected beforehand.

Respecting boundaries while at the same time being willing to risk going beyond them when necessary is a key concept of philopsychy as I understand it. Philopsychers (soul-lovers) will therefore not only be scholars, but will be people who attempt to put their ideas into practice. Kant and Jung both did this, in their own very different ways. So do I. But just how each philopsycher does this is not something that can be generalized.

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Tammie: From your perspective, how do you define wholeness as it relates to human beings?

Stephen: Wholeness is not something that can be defined. Or at least, a definition would end up looking so paradoxical that nobody could possibly make sense out of it. That's because the definition would have to include all opposites (all conceivable human qualities) within it. Instead of talking about how wholeness can be defined, I prefer to talk about how wholeness can be achieved--or perhaps more accurately, "approached".

As a philopsycher, I see wholeness (the goal of all wisdom-seeking) as a three-step process of self-knowledge. The first step is intellectual and corresponds to the kind of self-awareness philosophy can help us to obtain; the second step is volitional and corresponds to the kind of self-awareness psychology can help us to obtain; and the third step is spiritual (or "relational") and corresponds to the kind of self-awareness we can only obtain by reaching out to others and sharing ourselves in acts of loving communion. Two of my books, The Tree of Philosophy and Dreams of Wholeness, are based on the lectures I used to give for two classes I regularly teach that a rel="nofollow" href="http: to help students to learn the first two steps. I plan to write a third book, probably to be entitled The Elements of Love, that will be based on the lectures I am giving in a course I am now teaching for the first time on the four philopsychic issues of "Love, Sex, Marriage, and Friendship".

Erich Fromm expressed a basic philopsychic principle when he said: "Only the idea which has materialized in the flesh can influence man; the idea which remains a word only changes words." In the same way, human beings cannot achieve or even approach wholeness merely by reading books. Philopsychers are scholars (or any thoughtful human beings) who are keenly aware of the need to put their words into practice and to draw their words from their practice. This suggests a good metaphorical way of answering your question: for a person who is genuinely on the path to wholeness, the "word" will be "made flesh".

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Stephen Palmquist is an Associate Professor in the Department of Religion and Philosophy at Hong Kong Baptist University in Kowloon, Hong Kong, where he has taught since earning his doctorate from Oxford University in 1987. Prior to that he completed a B.A. at Westmont College in Santa Barbara, California. In addition to compiling various computerized reference works and publishing approximately forty journal articles (mostly on Kant's philosophy), he is author of Kant's System of Perspectives: An architectonic interpretation of the Critical philosophy (University Press of America, 1993) and the first of three projected sequels, Kant's Critical Religion (forthcoming). In 1993, Palmquist set up a publishing company, Philopsychy Press, with the a rel="nofollow" href="http: of "spreading the truth in love" through the support of scholarly self-publishing. In addition to assisting other scholars in publishing their work, he has used this imprint to publish four of his own books: The Tree of Philosophy: A course of introductory lectures for beginning students of philosophy (three editions: 1992, 1993, and 1995), Biblical Theocracy: A vision of the biblical foundations for a Christian political philosophy (1993), Four Neglected Essays by Immanuel Kant (1994), and Dreams of Wholeness: A course of introductory lectures on religion, psychology, and personal growth (1997). Palmquist is also the architect of an award winning web site, featuring special sections on Kant and self-publishing, in addition to etexts for most of his writings and a more detailed biography . The site supports an internet-based organization for author-publishers, the Philopsychy Society, as well as a page describing Palmquist's books in more detail and an online order form.

next:Interviews: Tracy Cochran on Transformations

October 5, 1999 -- A group of U.S. researchers, led by University Hospitals of Cleveland and Case Western Reserve University psychiatrist Katherine L. Wisner, M.D., has compiled a review of new studies on antidepressant use among pregnant women. The review is designed to guide general physicians and obstetricians who treat pregnant women with depression.

The article appears in the October 6, 1999 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

The risk for depression among all women of childbearing age is as high as 25 percent for women 25- through 44-years-old. Physicians traditionally have been reluctant to treat major depression with drug therapy in pregnant women because of safety concerns. Therefore, many pregnant women have been forced to choose between the debilitating effects of untreated depression and the unknown effects of antidepressant drug therapy on their pregnancy.

Dr. Wisner and her group (from the American Psychiatric Association's Committee on Research on Psychiatric Treatments) compiled and evaluated data from four drug-specific studies that were published since 1993. They organized data into five categories of reproductive toxicity: intrauterine fetal death, physical malformations, growth impairment, behavioral abnormalities and neonatal toxicity.

They found that tricyclic antidepressants, fluoxetine (Prozac), and newer selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI) did not increase the risk for intrauterine fetal death or major birth defects.

They also found that exposure to tricyclic antidepressants and newer SSRI's did not increase the risk for growth impairment. However, there were no solid conclusions on the risk that fluoxetine posed on prenatal growth and birth weights of infants.

Dr. Wisner explains, "We know that major depression commonly causes women to lose weight anyway. So it is possible that an undertreated mood disorder, and not the drug itself, could affect the weight of both mom and baby. We recommend that doctors monitor the weight gain carefully in pregnant women being treated with antidepressants."

Dr. Wisner and her group found reassuring news in that children who were prenatally exposed to tricyclic antidepressants and fluoxetine showed no differences in cognitive function, temperament and general behavior compared with children who were not exposed. No information about newer SSRI's and behavior was available.

With this knowledge, Dr. Wisner says physicians should become more comfortable prescribing antidepressants during pregnancy. And that will help women like Rose Kreidler.

Two weeks after conceiving her first child, Mrs. Kreidler, of Brook Park, began undergoing a drastic personality change; anxiety attacks, uncontrolled fits of crying and depression, and the inability to sleep and eat to the point of losing weight. After several doctors recommended therapies which didn't work, and refusing to prescribe antidepressants without a signed waiver, Mrs. Kreidler turned to Dr. Wisner, who prescribed Nortriptyline.

"I was concerned about any kind of effect on the fetus and whether it would prohibit breastfeeding, but I was in a terrible emotional state," says Mrs. Kreidler. "I was concerned that the extreme stress I was under would be more harmful than a drug. If I couldn't eat, I couldn't nurture my child. I wanted to carry my child safely, but I couldn't do anything for her if I couldn't care for myself."

Mrs. Kreidler's daughter, Shannon Gabrielle, was born March 26, 1997, perfectly healthy.

The one area of concern, cited by Wisner in her JAMA review, involves withdrawal symptoms in some newborns whose mothers were treated with antidepressants near the end of the pregnancy. The symptoms included transient jerky movements and seizures, rapid heartbeat, irritability, feeding difficulties, and profuse sweating. The Wisner group recommends that physicians consider tapering to a lower dosage or discontinuing the antidepressants 10 to 14 days before the due date.

"When women and their physicians are weighing the benefits versus the risks of drug therapy, they need to look at just how severe the depressive symptoms are," says Dr. Wisner. "Being suicidal, not eating properly or enough can do more harm to a pregnancy or fetus than an antidepressant. We share the hope that our paper will be a catalyst for improvements in the care of pregnant women with depression."

Note: There's another class of antidepressants, these are called MAOIs. MAOInhibitors are effective antidepressants but are not safe to use during pregnancy. They may cause birth defects.

Detailed information on treatments for Alzheimer's disease, including Cholinesterase Inhibitors, Namenda, Vitamin E.

Currently, there is no cure for Alzheimer's disease, however, drug and non-drug treatments may help with both cognitive and behavioral symptoms and slow the progression of the disease. Researchers are looking for new treatments to alter the course of the disease and improve the quality of life for people with dementia.

Standard Prescriptions for Alzheimer's

Introduction

The primary symptoms of Alzheimer's disease include memory loss, disorientation, confusion, and problems with reasoning and thinking. These symptoms worsen as brain cells die and the connections between cells are lost. Although current drugs cannot alter the progressive loss of cells, they may help minimize or stabilize symptoms. These medications may also delay the need for nursing home care.

Alzheimer's and Cholinesterase Inhibitors

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved two classes of drugs to treat cognitive symptoms of Alzheimer's disease. The first Alzheimer medications to be approved were cholinesterase (KOH luh NES ter ays) inhibitors. Three of these drugs are commonly prescribed: donepezil (Aricept^®), approved in 1996; rivastigmine (Exelon^®), approved in 2000; and galantamine (approved in 2001 under the trade name Reminyl^® and renamed Razadyne^® in 2005). Tacrine (Cognex^®), the first cholinesterase inhibitor, was approved in 1993 but is rarely prescribed today because of associated side effects, including possible liver damage.

All of these drugs are designed to prevent the breakdown of acetylcholine (pronounced a SEA til KOH lean), a chemical messenger in the brain that is important for memory and other thinking skills. The drugs work to keep levels of the chemical messenger high, even while the cells that produce the messenger continue to become damaged or die. About half of the people who take cholinesterase inhibitors experience a modest improvement in cognitive symptoms.

For more information, see the Cholineterase Inhibitors Fact Sheet.

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Alzheimer's and Namenda

Memantine (Namenda^®) is a drug approved in October 2003 by the FDA for treatment of moderate to severe Alzheimer's disease.

Memantine is classified as an uncompetitive low-to-moderate affinity N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist, the first Alzheimer drug of this type approved in the United States. It appears to work by regulating the activity of glutamate, one of the brain's specialized messenger chemicals involved in information processing, storage and retrieval. Glutamate plays an essential role in learning and memory by triggering NMDA receptors to allow a controlled amount of calcium to flow into a nerve cell, creating the chemical environment required for information storage.

Excess glutamate, on the other hand, overstimulates NMDA receptors to allow too much calcium into nerve cells, leading to disruption and death of cells. Memantine may protect cells against excess glutamate by partially blocking NMDA receptors.

For more information, see the Namenda Fact Sheet.

Alzheimer's and Vitamin E

Vitamin E supplements are often prescribed as a treatment for Alzheimer's disease, because they may help brain cells defend themselves from "attacks". Normal cell functions create a byproduct a called free radical, a kind of oxygen molecule that can damage cell structures and genetic material. This damage, called oxidative stress, may play a role in Alzheimer's disease.

Cells have natural defenses against this damage, including the antioxidants vitamins C and E, but with age some of these natural defenses decline. Research has shown that taking vitamin E supplements may offer some benefit to people with Alzheimer's.

Most people can take vitamin E without side effects. However, any change in medications should first be discussed with a primary care physician because all medication can cause side effects or interactions with other medications. A person taking "blood-thinners," for example, may not be able to take Vitamin E or will need to be monitored closely by a physician.

Sources:

• Alzheimer's Disease and Related Disorders Association
• Alzheimer's Association

next: Treating Behavioral and Psychiatric Symptoms of Alzheimer's

SagePlace Interviews

SagePlace very proudly presents interviews with individuals who are committed to either emotional, spiritual, physical, or environmental well-being on a global scale. While not every interview will necessarily reflect the views of SagePlace, each will offer the reader significant food for thought.

• An Interview With Tammie Fowles and Dru Hamilton at Book Talk
• On Transformation, Medicine, and Shape Shifting
• On Psychology, Philosophy, Wisdom and more with Stephen Palmquist
• Tracy Cochran on Transformations
• Anthony Spina: On 'Voluntary Simplicity' and 'Intentional Conscious Living.'
• GrayWolf: On Psychotherapy, Consciousness, Healing, and Change
• On Rainbows...
• Michael Lindfield on: Life, Meaning, Findhorn and Transformation
• Mike Cohen on "Connecting with Nature"
• Flemming Funch on the "New Civilization"
• K.j. Reynolds on "The Spirit"
• Cliff Bostock on "Soul Work"
• Kris Raphael on "Soul Urges"
• Marlene Blaszczyk - "The Heart of Motivating Moments"
• Joel Metzger from the Online Noetic Network
• Bruce Elkin on "Simple Living"
• Judy Harper on "The Death of a Child"
• Tom Daly on "The Shadow"
• Therapeutic Spiral: An interview with Kate Hudgins, Ph.D,
• On Humor and Healing: An interview with Jo Lee Dibert-Fitko
• To a Wounded Angel
• An Interview with Judith Orloff, M.D.

 

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next: An Interview With Tammie Fowles and Dru Hamilton at Book Talk

Learn about Hellerwork, an alternative treatment for anxiety, stress, pain, and headaches.

Before engaging in any complementary medical technique, you should be aware that many of these techniques have not been evaluated in scientific studies. Often, only limited information is available about their safety and effectiveness. Each state and each discipline has its own rules about whether practitioners are required to be professionally licensed. If you plan to visit a practitioner, it is recommended that you choose one who is licensed by a recognized national organization and who abides by the organization's standards. It is always best to speak with your primary health care provider before starting any new therapeutic technique.

• Background
• Theory
• Evidence
• Unproven Uses
• Potential Dangers
• Summary
• Resources

Background

Joseph Heller, a practitioner of Rolfing® structural integration (manipulation of the muscles), developed Hellerwork in 1979. Hellerwork is a form of structural integration that uses multiple techniques including deep-tissue bodywork, movement education and verbal interaction to improve posture. Each session may last from 30 to 90 minutes, and a patient usually does multiple sessions. Hellerwork certification involves a 1,250-hour program.

Theory

In general, Hellerwork practitioners believe that memory is held in the muscles and tissues of the body, as well as in the brain. Treating a patient at the structural level is thought to alter the psychological or neurologic state. Hellerwork is aimed at improving or restoring the body's natural balance and posture. There are numerous anecdotes about successful treatment with Hellerwork, although effectiveness and safety have not been thoroughly studied scientifically.

Evidence

There is no evidence for this technique.

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Unproven Uses

Hellerwork has been suggested for several uses. However, these uses have not been thoroughly studied in humans, and there is limited scientific evidence about safety or effectiveness. Some of these suggested uses are for conditions that are potentially life-threatening. Consult with a health care provider before using Hellerwork for any use.

Anxiety Carpal tunnel syndrome Headache Musculoskeletal conditions Pain

Respiratory problems Sports injuries Stress Tennis elbow

Potential Dangers

The safety of Hellerwork has not been thoroughly studied scientifically. In theory, Hellerwork may make some existing symptoms worse. Deep-tissue massage is not advisable in some conditions. Speak with a qualified health care provider before starting treatment.

Summary

There are numerous anecdotes about successful treatment with Hellerwork, although effectiveness and safety have not been thoroughly studied scientifically. You should consult a qualified health care provider before starting Hellerwork therapy to assure that no potentially dangerous medical condition is causing your symptoms.

The information in this monograph was prepared by the professional staff at Natural Standard, based on thorough systematic review of scientific evidence. The material was reviewed by the Faculty of the Harvard Medical School with final editing approved by Natural Standard.

Resources

1. Natural Standard: An organization that produces scientifically based reviews of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) topics
2. National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM): A division of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services dedicated to research

Selected Scientific Studies: Applied Hellerwork

Natural Standard reviewed more than 25 articles to prepare the professional monograph from which this version was created.

One review is listed below:

1. Hornung S. An ABC of alternative medicine: Hellerwork. Health Visit 1986;59(12):387-388.

back to: Alternative Medicine Home ~ Alternative Medicine Treatments

From the book Self-Help Stuff That Works

by Adam Khan:

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Chapter 3	When bad happens: Assume it won't last long, look to see what isn't affected, and don't indulge in self-blame.
Chapter 3	When good happens: Consider its effects permanent, see how much of your life is affected, and look to see how much you can take credit for.
Chapter 4	Become more optimistic.
Chapter 5	Talk to yourself in a confident, reassuring, positive way.
Chapter 6	Do some honest good in the world.
Chapter 7	Come up with alternative ways of interpreting an event.
Chapter 8	Change the details of your thoughts.
Chapter 9	Tell yourself you can handle it.
Chapter 10	No matter what happens, assume it's good.
Chapter 11	Keep persisting until the change you want happens.
Chapter 12	Describe upsetting situations to yourself in emotionally neutral words
Chapter 13	Control what is your responsibility.
Chapter 14	Direct your thoughts to what you appreciate and say it.
Chapter 15	If your own greed is making you discontent, quit cramming so much into your days.
Chapter 16	Direct your mind by asking yourself a good question.
Chapter 17	When something bad happens, say to yourself, That's good!
Chapter 18	Relieve negative feelings by turning your attention to purposeful activities.
Chapter 19	Let go of an idea that causes you needless stress.
Chapter 20	Find a way to turn your problems into an advantage.
Chapter 21	Interpret events in a way that helps you.
Chapter 22	Wonder about what good things might be happening.
Chapter 23	Be skeptical of your feelings of certainty.
Chapter 24	When you hit a setback in life: Assume the problem or its consequences won't last long, see how you can prevent the same problem in the future, and don't jump to the conclusion that this setback will ruin everything.
Chapter 25	To improve your self-esteem: Gain more ability, become more honest, do something worthwhile, and acknowledge people.
Chapter 26	Make up your mind you will succeed.

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Chapter 27 Think thoughts that give you strength and make you tough. Chapter 28 Exercise regularly. Chapter 29 Act as though you already feel the way you want to feel. Chapter 30 Remind yourself you don't need much to be happy. Chapter 31 Fortify your integrity. Chapter 32 Breathe deeply, loosen tensed muscles, and say to yourself, Chapter 33 Pursue the interests that make you come alive. Chapter 34 Criticize the assumptions behind your negative feelings. Chapter 35 To turn good ideas into real change, use repetition. Chapter 36 Improve yourself, but also relax and enjoy the ride. Chapter 37 Reminisce about the best times. Chapter 38 Ask yourself, "How is this like an adventure? Chapter 39 Find a purpose that enthralls you and then actively pursue it. Chapter 40 When you're angry, argue with yourself first. Chapter 41 Clear your head and relax by going for a long walk. Chapter 42 Instead of asking why you have a problem, ask how you can get what you want. Chapter 43 To become happier:
Strengthen your integrity, get better control of your time, become more optimistic, and practice good human relations. Chapter 44 Ask yourself and keep asking, "Given my upbringing and circumstances, what Good am I especially qualified to do?

Choose only one principle to practice for now. Pick one that excites you to contemplate. Then write it on a card and carry it with you for a week or so, actively trying to practice that principle at every opportunity. Then stop practicing it consciously. It will now be a skill you'll have more available to you when you need it.

Here's how to create a spirit of willing cooperation in the people you work with and live with.
How to Get What You Want From Others

Being able to express your feelings is an important part of intimate communication. But there are times and places where the ability to mask your feelings is important too.
The Power of a Poker Face

Close friends are probably the most important contributor to your lifetime's happiness and your health.
How to Be Close to Your Friends

If you have hard feelings between you and another person, you ought to read this.
How to Melt Hard Feelings

Is it necessary to criticize people? Is there a way to avoid the pain involved?
Take the Sting Out

Would you like to improve your ability to connect with people? Would you like to be a more complete listener? Check this out.

To Zip or Not to Zip

next: Zoning Out

Hello, and Welcome. The Apocalypse Suicide site is to help people who are planning suicide and those who are trying to help a suicidal person to live. This is not a professional page and is not here to exploit anyone. There are no promises and no guarantees here. What is here is my own message to those in trouble. These pages will always deal honestly with both the subject of suicide and the ideas presented. My qualifications are that I am, and have been, a depressed person most of my life and am very familiar with the illness. I also lost my only son to suicide in 1995. These are things that I would have told him if I had known his plans.

Let's suppose that you are the person planning your own death. Ok, you know how, when, where, and have the means to kill yourself. All that was easy. You may have persuaded yourself that death is the only answer for you. The truth is that there are always other choices. Do you feel that no one cares about you and what you are going through? You are wrong. Many people care, many more people than you know.

As you see, depression is a killer. It takes away all the enthusiasm and fun from peoples lives, and makes suicide seem a viable choice. If this is where you are, please get professional help (talk to your doctor or someone at a suicide hotline now). The most common cause of suicide in the USA is Undiagnosed Depression. You must get help. No one can read your mind and subtle hints will not save you. The reason that hints do not work is because those close to you do not want to believe you would kill yourself, and because they can't know how desperate you are. You must take an active role in saving your own life. Do something! Your life will be better for it, but you must act. I take antidepressants every day. I now enjoy my life and know that I have to take the pills to function better and to have a good life. The doctors and medicine can't "cure" you without you doing anything to make yourself better. You have to work on helping yourself. These things can help.

Here are things that took me years to understand:

1. You and I must not interpret the present based on things of the past. Let each thing that is said or done be on it's own. Live in the "now" only. Put the past behind you and keep it there. Dreaming of what might have been will keep you from living the in the "now", and it incorrectly colors the present. If someone says something, accept the meaning without allowing the past to change it in your mind.

2. Stand up for yourself. Don't let others get away with trying to make you a victim. This is not a "get even" thought, it is a "stand up for yourself at all costs and all of the time" thought. Some people will walk on you if they can - don't let them. If they get away with it they will do it again and again, and you will despise yourself for letting them do that to you. You deserve better.

3. Forgive yourself. We all make mistakes and almost all mistakes are fixable. Learn from the mistake, forgive yourself and get on with living.

4. Learn to choose and to make your own decisions. By not choosing or deciding, we feel much less "in control" and we are that much more the victim. Get rid of "anything, doesn't matter, and whatever" those are not constructive choices. Many times, the lack of making decisions cause us to lose control of our lives, and that can lead to self hate.

5. Watch out for idealistic thinking, try to stay real, we are not in a perfect world and you and I must not try to be martyrs. We can't show others by our willingness to suffer or die for our ideals. Other people probably won't understand the reason for our pain anyway, and our subtlety will be wasted.

6. Much of the hostility and/or hate you are directing inward to yourself should have been and should be directed away from yourself and toward those who deserve it - but, don't direct it toward people who don't deserve it.

These are things that you can do to help yourself:

A- Know your enemy. Learn to recognize the symptoms of depression.

B- Take responsibility for your illness and be active in the treatment of it. If you know you're depressed, get help and do not wait. If your doctor or therapist isn't helping you, change to a different one (they work for you).

C- Get guilt out of your life. Guilt is what parents used to control you as a child. You are not a child anymore, so don't carry guilt around. (Also if you are doing things that make you feel bad about yourself, stop doing them).

D- If your depression is "out of control," talk to at least five people about it or until someone sees your desperation. Most people are not able to understand if they aren't trained professionals, but most anyone would help you if they knew how.

E- If you use alcohol or drugs stop. When they say "alcohol is a depressant" they aren't kidding. I can't stress this enough! I couldn't get my depression and my life under control until after I stopped drinking - totally. This fact took me years to finally understand. You also don't need the turmoil that comes with drinkers. (See "Where do we go from here?" link).

F- When you most feel like hibernating and avoiding people, force yourself to get dressed and be with others. There are also links here on listening, on conversation, and on assertiveness that can help you be more comfortable and effective when communicating with others.

G- Start an exercise program. Exercise combats depression. Exercise twice a day - it really helps. To make it easier do it every day. Make it a routine, and don't stop if you have a few bad days. If you are having a bad time, tell your therapist.

H- Put a card on your bathroom mirror and read it aloud five times in the morning and same at night. The card says: "I am a very worthwhile person". You are. We always remember more of the bad things in life than the good, and this reinforces our sense of worth. If you are feeling worthless do it now.

I- Most importantly get help from professionals. See your doctor (Md.), call a hotline, call 911, You can also check into any emergency room anywhere - It's sure better than trying suicide, and people there are trained to get you help. They will understand, but act. "Just do it."

Apocalypse means a revelation. Please use these things I have suggested. Depression will do it's worst to keep you from acting and using these suggestions, but you must act! Using only one probably won't help much, so try to put some of them into effect as soon as you can. You are a total package and Apocalypse is here to help you get your total package back together. The web has other good resources, but I don't think they spell out a program for you with the why's. I sincerely hope and pray you understand, and that this helps you.

You don't have to be miserable!

You don't have to die!

There is hope!

The National Hopeline Network 1-800-SUICIDE provides access to trained telephone counselors, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Or for a crisis center in your area, visit the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline.

Contents:

• About Roger: The Apocalypse Suicide Page
• Antidepressant Medications: Sample Directions For Taking Antidepressants
• Assertiveness, Non-Assertiveness, and Assertive Techniques
• Depression and Suicide Crisis Centers and Hotlines
• Conversation Techniques
• A Depressed Person's Letter
• For Depressed and Suicidal People
• Listening Skills: A Powerful Key To Successful Negotiating

next: About Roger: The Apocalypse Suicide Page
~ depression library articles
~ all articles on depression

Chapter 12

The emotional supra-programs that automatically divert the emotional experience from its "natural" course, are called in this book "Cover-Programs"(17). This seems to be the best name for them, as the main purpose of each of these emotional supra-programs is to suppress (cover up) a certain internal message from the emotional subsystem, and prevent (if needed) contents related to it from entering the awareness.

The professionals provide names such as "Cognitive Sets", "Perceptual Sets", "Defenses", etc. Choosing the descriptive name of "cover-programs", and not the more common name "defenses" was done on purpose, the main reason being that the conscious and purposeful connotation of the name "defense" implies responsibility and even guilt. ("Don't be so defensive!!!").

The more sophisticated programs of this kind are mainly aimed at the weakening of extreme intensities of emotional experiences, mostly "negative" ones. They are also used to prevent "threatening emotional contents" (forbidden according to social norms or personal tastes and meaning) from reaching the awareness. They suppress them altogether or just change their quality, intensity or other aspect, to less threatening ones.

The unsophisticated cover-programs rigidly prevent emotional qualities and the felt sensations related to them from reaching the awareness at all (and they are the easiest to "capture" and rehabilitate). The most sophisticated ones selectively prevent, modulate or divert specific emotional qualities in specific circumstances, and are often hard to "diagnose".

The cover-programs do not meddle with our emotional experiences solely for internal aims. Nor do they do it just to break the chain of behavior that seems to get out of control. They also protect us from dangers and pain involved in the detection of true feelings, ours by others, and those of others by us. The cover-programs of this censorial type are an expression of the first rule of all spies which says: "What you do not know, you cannot disclose" - what you do not feel, you are not going to reveal by a facial expression, a slip of the tongue, or the intonation of your voice.

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The most dramatic expressions of cover-programs are observed when they are on the verge of failure. In some occurrences, an extreme intensity of fear is recruited to divert the "awful secret" and emotional quality involved from reaching the awareness, "Anxiety Attacks" are the common name for their extreme intensities. These responses and other extreme responses that use other than the appropriate emotions try to prevent the appropriate ones from entering the awareness "with no regard to cost". In fact, they usually cost more than one can afford and lead one towards emotional bankruptcy.

The collection of the main types of cover-programs (or defenses) and their common usage are similar in people of the same culture. Consequently, the inhabitants of the industrialized countries of the western culture are very similar in this respect.

However, individuals of the same culture differ widely as to the actual versions of the cover-programs they possess and the types they use the most. They differ mainly in the subtle details of the programs resulting from the uniqueness of each personal history. They differ too with regard to their efficiency, flexibility, discriminatory power and a wide variety of inter- personal differences.

The direct flow of the emotional experience to the awareness is not the only victim of the cover-programs. External communications of emotion are also censored by the cover-programs. This measure is taken because the mechanisms of spontaneous external communication of emotions are intimately connected with the awareness system. For instance, our emotionally loaded vocal communication is heard by us too; the activity of the facial and other muscles of non-vocal communication is felt by us and not only seen by the others, etc.

As both functions of covering - from ourselves and from the others - are intimately interwoven, both can supply reasons for the building of a cover program that deals with a certain thing, and each of them can be the reason for the activation of a certain cover-program. As a result, both the awareness of emotion and the communication of emotion can suffer from distortions initiated in order to serve the other.

However, the various kinds of supra-programs of distortion - cover programs, cognitive sets and defenses - cannot banish, dissolve, or cause the complete annihilation of the activity of the innate activation programs of the basic emotion.

These programs cannot render the innate programs entirely inactive and stop them from reaching the specific verdicts of each of the basic emotions, even for the shortest time. It seems that the various supra- programs only contain the ability to shorten, diminish and push to a subliminal level certain parts of the innate programs in a wide spectrum of circumstances.

Therefore, at each moment and in each aspect, the ongoing activity of the emotional system is a combination of both the innate activation programs and the acquired supra-programs, with a greater weight given to the more emotional supra-programs, and among these especially to the cover-programs.

It is worth mentioning here that, in principle, the cover-programs are not a "bad" thing. They are part of the precious body of activation programs of the mind and brain system. They join the various mechanisms of the brain - physiological ones and various activation routines and programs - that do the immense work of filtering the plethora of inputs of body and mind processes to each other.

Usually the cover-programs serve the subsystems of emotion faithfully. Like other emotional supra-programs they are based on innate programs that are changed, mended, updated, etc. Their faults are mainly those of most other activation programs - insufficient updating, and too weak discerning power.

At birth, and more so later in life, the cover-programs have the responsibility of passively and actively filtering the huge quantity of information, inputs, feedbacks, etc. They have to decide, each moment anew, which content should be distorted and to what extent. They have to intervene in the allocation of the limited amount of resources of the brain and mind to the various tasks (mostly done by the various allocation mechanisms of attention but only a minority by the conscious ones).

These programs are involved especially in the filtering of the inputs of those programs contending for the limited capacity of conscious awareness. To some extent, they decide which will be denied entrance and which will receive a split second chance to plead its case, which will receive only marginal attention, which will enter the focus of attention for a short time and which will be given full audience in the center of awareness with a prolonged and focused attention.

For instance, the cover programs of the person who is caring for a young baby have the responsibility of trimming down and delegating to the background the hunger cry of the baby, while he prepares the food.

next: The Trash-Programs