SOVA Blog

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Current Studies by Dr. Forbes

November 18, 2016 in LINKS

Photo Credit: steeljam Flickr via Compfight cc

Photo Credit: steeljam Flickr via Compfight cc

Recently, we did a spotlight on Dr. Erika Forbes, a Professor of Psychiatry, Pediatrics, and Psychology at the University of Pittsburgh. Now that you know a little bit about her, we want to tell you about some of the awesome studies Dr. Forbes and her team are conducting!

Dr. Forbes is running one study titled Depression and Cytokines. The goal of this study is to answer an important question about mental health: do inflammatory processes lead to anhedonia and depression in young people? Anhedonia is a lack of interest or pleasure in daily life and activities. Anhedonia is a symptom of depression, although Dr. Forbes emphasized that people can experience anhedonia without being depressed and not all people with depression have this symptom. If you’re interested in learning more about this study, please visit the site.

A second study Dr. Forbes directs is titled Cognitive Inflexibility in Eating Disorders. This study aims to better understand if cognitive inflexibility is related to differences in eating disorder presentation. The two aspects of cognitive inflexibility Dr. Forbes is investigating are attentional set-shifting and reversal learning. In other words, Dr. Forbes is observing the flexibility of learning and thinking for people with and without eating disorders. To learn more about the study and the other studies Dr. Forbes is conducting, please visit the study site.
Do you have any thoughts or questions for Dr. Forbes or the SOVA team about these studies? Please comment below!

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How to Block on Social Media

November 17, 2016 in Social Media Guide

When people are spreading negativity online, sometimes the only solution is to block them. By blocking people, on most sites you will no longer be able to see their content and they won’t be able to see yours. In most cases, they also won’t be able to contact you on your feed or through direct message on the site. If someone is bothering you or saying things that make you feel bad, it might be time to remove them from your social media feed. The following links are guides to blocking people:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/help/168009843260943?helpref=faq_content

Twitter: https://support.twitter.com/articles/117063

Instagram: https://help.instagram.com/426700567389543

iPhone: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201229

Photo Credit: Visual Content Flickr via Compfight cc

Photo Credit: Visual Content Flickr via Compfight cc

 

Did we miss any sites? Let us know if you need help navigating the blocking process!

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Professional Spotlight: Dr. Erika Forbes

November 16, 2016 in Educate Yourself

Photo Credit: mghresearchinstitute Flickr via Compfight cc

Photo Credit: mghresearchinstitute Flickr via Compfight cc

Three team members of the SOVA Project recently sat down to interview Dr. Erika Forbes.  Dr. Forbes is a Professor of Psychiatry, Pediatrics, and Psychology at the University of Pittsburgh.  Dr. Forbes is also the Principal Investigator for the University of Pittsburgh’s Affective Neuroscience and Development Psychopathology Laboratory (ADNP Lab).  The purpose of the ADNP Lab is to investigate neural, behavioral, and subjective aspects of reward function in order to explain the development and the physiological processes of adolescent depression and substance use.

Dr. Forbes received her undergraduate degree in humanities, but she has always had an interest in people.  After receiving her undergraduate degree, Dr. Forbes volunteered with a children’s hotline in the Washington DC area.  It was during this volunteer work, that Dr. Forbes became interested in children and their mental health.  Dr. Forbes is mainly interested in emotion research and trying to understand how emotional processes are different based on age.  Adolescence is an important age, and if emotions can be understood from a biological perspective then this information can be used to inform interactions with adolescents.

To find out more about Dr. Erika Forbes visit: http://www.psychiatry.pitt.edu/node/7827 or http://www.andp.pitt.edu/.

Why do you think it’s important to understand the neuroscience of emotion? Please let us know by commenting below!

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Seasonal Affective Disorder

November 15, 2016 in Educate Yourself

As the days get shorter this time of year, some have trouble maintaining a positive mood. One type of depression is known as Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). SAD typically sets in at the beginning of late fall and early winter and lasts through the beginning of spring and summer. Many often experience decreased mood from the fall through the winter, and then an elevated, more positive mood in the spring and summer.  This type of depression usually effects individuals more as the days become shorter, meaning there’s less sunlight. Because SAD is a category of depression, the symptoms are the same. The thing that makes SAD a specific type of depression is the way the disorder matches with the changing seasons.

Photo Credit: EJP Photo Flickr via Compfight cc

Photo Credit: EJP Photo Flickr via Compfight cc

Some great forms of treatment exist to help those with symptoms of SAD. These treatments are outlined by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). One example NIMH mentions is light therapy, which recommends individuals experiencing SAD sit in front of a light box for 20-60 minutes for extra exposure to light during the seasons with shorter days.

 

Any thoughts to add about Seasonal Affective Disorder? Comment below!

 

References: National Institute of Mental health

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Celebrity Quotes about Mental Health

November 14, 2016 in Be Positive

Photo Credit: Glyn Lowe Photoworks. Flickr via Compfight cc

Photo Credit: Glyn Lowe Photoworks. Flickr via Compfight cc

A very effective way to get rid of the stigma surrounding mental illness is to simply talk about it. Because our culture puts a big emphasis on pop culture, when celebrities open up about mental health it goes a long way. Buzzfeed recently posted an article compiling celebrity mental health quotes. While there is still a ways to go in normalizing mental illness, these celebrities are helping to take steps in the right direction by opening up and sharing personal experiences. It’s great that some celebrities are helping to get the conversation started about the importance of mental health. Read through the list and let us know what you think!

 

Does one quote stand out to you as particularly powerful? Why?

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Mental Health Resources

November 11, 2016 in LINKS

Photo Credit: keepps via Compfight cc

Photo Credit: keepps via Compfight cc

Big changes can happen during adolescence and young adulthood. NAMI recently stated that one in four college-aged students have a diagnosable mental illness, but less than half seek professional help. This gap happens for a number of reasons including stigma, fear of being labeled, and not being aware of the help that’s out there.

An organization called Best Colleges recently provided some great mental health resources to SOVA that might be of some help, even if you’re not in college. The first resource outlines suicide prevention. They also have a page that describes some important mental health challenges that many people face- including anxiety and depression. There are some great tips in there for recognizing the signs and symptoms of these mental health problems. Finally, here is their general resources page. Check out the links and let us know what you think!

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Being and Becoming

November 7, 2016 in Be Positive

“Life is not a having and a getting, but a being and a becoming.”

-Matthew Arnold

Photo Credit: Brian Digital via Compfight cc

Photo Credit: Brian Digital via Compfight cc

What does this quote mean to you?

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Active Minds

November 4, 2016 in LINKS

Photo Credit: A Health Blog via Compfight cc

Active Minds is an organization dedicated to raising awareness about mental illness. There are over 400 chapters located  at many colleges in most states of the US, and Canada and Puerto Rico. If you are in or off to college, click here to find a chapter near you.

Here is a video about how active minds started:

 

Let us know if you checked out the site and what you thought.

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What Is CBT? Here’s Comic Example

November 1, 2016 in Educate Yourself

When you feel depressed or anxious, it can feel like you are just lost in your thoughts. A type of therapy called cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) helps to teach you how to change your thoughts. The idea is that by changing your thoughts, you can change your mood and how you deal with day-to-day events. CBT is one of the most effective therapies for depression and anxiety in young people.

  • CBT describes a cycle starting with an Event.
  • A person responds to the Event with a Thought.
  • This Thought leads to an Emotion.
  • Then that Emotion leads to further Action.

Out of all of these responses, the easiest to change in the cycle are the Thoughts, because they can come from an underlying belief system: one example of such an underlying belief system is, “I’m not good at anything.” This belief system is overly negative. CBT helps train you to think more rationally by using evidence, rather than feelings or beliefs.

Like in this comic strip:

comic01 comic02 comic03

 

After reading this, imagine that Jude talks to his doctor and realizes he has been feeling depressed. He starts seeing a therapist who teaches him about CBT. Jude realizes there is evidence that some people do like him and there are some people he doesn’t get along with as well.

After CBT, the same scenario might happen a little like this:

 

comic04 comic05 comic06

How did Jude manage to change his thinking? What are the differences between the two comic strips? Let us know your thoughts below!

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Taking a break

October 28, 2016 in LINKS

You might have heard that taking a pause in the day to recenter yourself and let yourself just be without judgment can be a way to de-stress. There is a website that can turn your computer or phone into a relaxation zone. Check out this beautiful website: calm.com or download the app. 

If you tried it, let us know what you thought about it below!

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