Published: December 19, 2011
A number of studies have found that just being around a dog or petting a dog can lower blood pressure. One study found the same with a pet goat. Another found that simply watching a Lassie movie was enough to lower stress.
Well we haven’t got a pet goat at our practice Tri-City Psychology Services, but we do have therapy dogs!
Over the years we have observed the special fondness and respect our clients develop for our dogs.
Many clients starting therapy are unsure and nervous on their first visit.
We want very much for our new clients to feel safe and comfortable, and aim to set them at their ease from the moment they first step through our door.
We have worked hard to achieve this by creating an inviting and calming office space, a dog picks up on any nervousness in a person, and our little greeters are there ready and eager to help clients through that first uncertain encounter.
Sadly in August we had to say goodbye to first therapy dog, Portia (a stalwart Scottish Terrier) who succumbed to kidney disease.
Mac our younger Scotty, missed her terribly. We knew it would just be a matter of time before we got another dog.
Lola & Kathy
And so this week little Lola has joined us. Lola is a cute as a button West Highland Terrier. She still has to learn the ropes ~ as therapy dogs must learn to ignore loud noises, stay calm and definitely not be
barking mad ;). They also have to learn not to bother any people who don’t want to be bothered. Above all they have to be friendly and comfortable socializing with strangers.
Published: December 16, 2011
istockphoto
rescriptions for second-generation antidepressants in older adults are associated with a modest increased risk of motor vehicle crashes, when combined with other medications that can impair cognition, finds a collaborative study by the
Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences, Ontario Ministries of Health and Transportation, and
Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, reported in the December
American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry.
Researchers reviewed databases for adults age 65 and older in Ontario, Canada, between January 1, 2000, and October 31, 2007. A total of 159,678 individuals had a crash during the study, of whom 7,393 (5 percent) received an antidepressant in the month prior to the crash, but antidepressants alone did not lead to a heightened risk of a motor vehicle crash. Rather, risk was associated with crashes in which the individual used another strong, centrally acting medication, such as a benzodiazepine or anticholinergic as well. Noted limitations to the study included a lack of information about the dose of the antidepressants and the possible effects of dementia. Much more research is needed on the effect of depression and antidepressants on driving, the researchers noted.
Source:Essentials of Geriatric Psychiatry, Second Edition
Published: December 13, 2011
Does she or doesn’t she . . .? Sexual cues are ambiguous, and confounding. We—especially men—often read them wrong. A new study hypothesizes that the men who get it wrong might be the ones that evolution has favored. “There are tons of studies showing that men think women are interested when they’re not,” says Williams College psychologist Carin Perilloux, who conducted the research with Judith A. Easton and David M. Buss of University of Texas at Austin. “Ours is the first to systematically examine individual differences.” The findings will appear in an upcoming issue of Psychological Science, a journal published by the Association for Psychological Science.
The research involved 96 male 103 female undergraduates, who were put through a “speed-meeting” exercise—talking for three minutes to each of five potential opposite-sex mates. Before the conversations, the participants rated themselves on their own attractiveness and were assessed for the level of their desire for a short-term sexual encounter. After each “meeting,” they rated the partner on a number of measures, including physical attractiveness and sexual interest in the participant. The model had the advantage of testing the participants in multiple interactions.
The results: Men looking for a quick hookup were more likely to overestimate the women’s desire for them. Men who thought they were hot also thought the women were hot for them—but men who were actually attractive, by the women’s ratings, did not make this mistake. The more attractive the woman was to the man, the more likely he was to overestimate her interest. And women tended to underestimate men’s desire. [continue reading…]
Published: December 13, 2011
Children who have a parent with bipolar disorder are more likely to display symptoms of affective and behavioral dysfunction than are children who do not have a parent with the condition, a study headed by Rasim Diler of the University of Pittsburgh and published in the November-December issue of Bipolar Disorders has found.
And another recent study has shown that these children are at risk for a variety of psychiatric illnesses—anxiety disorders, major depression, and schizoaffective disorder, bipolar type, among others. For more details about this study, see the December 2 Psychiatric News here.
The good news, however, is that even though bipolar disorder has a strong heritable component, a substantial number of children of parents with bipolar disorder do not experience the illness themselves.
Source: American Psychiatric Association
