Kinsanity

This photo project stems from the lack of media representation of POC (people of color) and mental illness. There are tons of articles that list people with depression and other mental illnesses but you rarely see someone who looks like you. We need to change the way this is represented. This is not something to be ashamed about. We need to confront and end the stigma. This is a NOT a white person's disease. This is a reality for so many people in our community.

If you're interested in being part of this project, please submit a photo of yourself holding a sign saying "I'm [your name] and I have a mental illness (or the exact type)." Whatever you feel comfortable doing. 

• Angle (shoulders up, waist up etc): shoulders up
• Save the image as a JPEG and saved as your first and last name
• Send to: Dior dot Vargas at gmail dot com

So why would Grandma poison us? Well, for some time, my mother has postulated that Grandma has Munchausen syndrome by proxy, a condition that causes caregivers to poison or injure their charges. Me? I'm sure that Grandma wasn't trying to hurt anyone. If she slipped you a Mickey it was because she didn't want you to leave—she loved to make people miss their train. "Stay the night, stay the night," she'd coo.

Give therapists and psychiatrists information about the biology of a mental disorder, and they have less — not more — empathy for the patient, a new Yale study shows.

The findings, released Dec. 1 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, challenge the notion that biological explanations for mental illness boost compassion for the tens of millions of Americans who suffer from mental-health problems.  

Conventional wisdom suggests that biological explanations for psychiatric symptoms should reduce the blame patients receive for their behavior by making genes and brain cells the culprits. This, in turn, should increase feelings of compassion.

In a series of studies, U.S. clinicians read descriptions of patients whose symptoms were explained using information that focused on either genetics and neurobiology or on childhood experiences and stressful life circumstances. Among other questions, the clinicians were asked how much compassion they felt for the individual, an essential element of therapy.

The clinicians consistently expressed less empathy and compassion for the patient when his or her symptoms were explained using biological factors, the researchers found.

By Bill Hathaway

In 1985, Meng Weina set up China's first private special needs school in the southern city of Guangzhou.

A new study led by researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) and Rush University Medical Center, reveals how early changes in brain DNA methylation are involved in Alzheimer's disease.

Researchers have observed differences in cerebral blood flow during puberty between boys and girls, suggesting there are sex-specific susceptibilities to anxiety and schizophrenia.