What is a parent who has lost a child called? "Vilomah."

In my search for the right word, I discovered Karla F. C. Holloway, a professor of English at Duke University who herself lost a child. Holloway writes that she felt “punished by this empty space of language.” Noting that the word widow comes from Sanskrit, she decided to look for another word from that ancient language to name her tragic identity. She found vilomah, which means “against the natural order.” In response to Holloway, scholars pointed out that the original Sanskrit word does not connote the death of a child. But it does connote the inversion of what is right, the opposition of what is natural.

It is the inversion of what is right, the opposition of what is natural, that the child should die before the parent. Vilomah is legacy erased, a genetic line extinguished as if it had never existed, oblivion, a reversal of creation itself. Yet claiming a name provides a balm. As Holloway puts it, “the difference between today’s grief and tomorrow’s is that now there is a name. Vilomah. A parent whose child has died.”

For more click here.

Is vaccination good for your mental health?

In a recent report from the U.S. Census bureau on 02/02/22 it is stated that unvaccinated Americans show higher levels of depression and anxiety than vaccinated people.

It also found that frontline in-person workers had higher levels of depression and anxiety than in-person non frontline workers.

For more click here.

Reflecting on this data raises some interesting questions such as do higher levels of depression and anxiety interfere with people getting vaccinated or does the lack of vaccination contribute to higher levels of depression and anxiety?

How to pass on alcohol.

Therapy discussions - "Even if things get better they don't last."

Therapy discussions are composites and not a transcription of an actual conversation.

The 55 year old female client said, "My life has been just terrible. Bad things always happen to me. I'm on my third marriage and so many people in my life have died. I think my life is at an end. I can't take much more. It seems things are always terrible."

I said, "Golly, that sounds awful. It is amazing you've made it this far."

She said, "Yeah, I don't want to get up in the morning. Nothing ever goes right for me."

I said, "Never? Nothing has ever happened that's good in your life?"

"No," she said, "and even if things do go better they don't last."

I said, "I know what you mean. My brother told me one time, 'There's no such thing as gravity, the whole world sucks.'"

She looked at me as if she didn't believe I'd said this and laughed.

I laughed too. We laughed together at how bad things can be, and if you can laugh with someone, how bad can it be?

Hygiene Theater

This behavior had arisen in my consciousness and I have observed it multiple times but didn’t have a name for it until I read the article in the Washington Post by Marc Fisher about “hygiene theater.”

 

Hygiene theater is intended to lower anxiety about catching covid while the unintended side effects of the supposed hygienic practices can make the likelihood of catching Covid higher.

 

The same theatrical management of supposed terrorist threats leads to terrorist theater.

 

Community psychologists and Social Workers who study macro systems might be on to this phenomena. It might be a good thing if more people, especially the policy and procedure implementers were aware of it.

 

The concept of hygiene theater might also be helpful in clinical settings if psychotherapists discussed this drama with their clients and how the dramatic “precautions” instill needless anxiety.

Therapy discussions, "I like villains better than heroes."

I met with a client (23) who told me when I asked him who his heroes are "I don't have heroes. I like the villains better."

I said, "That's interesting. Who are your favorite villains."

He thought a moment and said, "The Green Goblin." 

He then told me he didn't want to meet any  heroes because he is afraid he would be disappointed. Then he said to me "Never meet your heroes, Dave. They're never what you think they are."

I said, "That's very wise. I'm getting more out of this session than you are." 

And so, life is full of disappointment and disillusionment. It's not healthy to get your hopes up with unrealistic expectations. It seems that my client already has learned this and it is an important lesson that he reminded me of..

Social Workers in Primary Care Practices Found to Increase Access to MH Care

Deploying behavioral health social workers in primary care settings can increase the likelihood that patients with depression or anxiety will receive treatment within 30 days of their diagnosis, a study published today in Psychiatric Services in Advance has found. 

****

In May 2018, changes were made to the electronic health record (EHR) system enabling physicians to more easily refer patients to the behavioral health social workers, who would then call patients within seven days of receiving the referral. 

The social workers screened patients using tools such as the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 and asked patients about current substance use and anxiety as well as any history of psychiatric disorders. The social workers also offered community resources or referred patients to mental health professionals such as a psychiatrist, psychologist, or licensed independent social worker. 

Compared with those diagnosed with depression or anxiety before the social workers began working with the primary care practices, patients diagnosed with depression or anxiety had the following: 4.35 times the odds and 4.27 times the odds, respectively, of having a behavioral health visit within 30 days of diagnosis. 5 times the odds of having a visit with a non-psychiatrist therapist. 1.82 times and 1.58 times the odds, respectively, of having a visit with a psychiatrist. 

“Other health systems that have advanced EHR systems should consider introducing social workers trained in behavioral health to triage patients receiving new diagnoses of depression, anxiety, or both and systematically link them to appropriate care,” Pfoh and colleagues concluded.

For more click here.

Editor's note:

This activity described above has been called "case finding" and "outreach." The Behavioral Health Social Workers help lower the barriers to access to MH services. These services are valuable and beneficial. The problem is who pays for them?