Word: mental
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Once they were aware of the trend, Shiels and his colleagues analyzed the patients' medical records, finding consistent histories of self-injury and mental-health problems. There are numerous psychological and emotional factors that drive people to self-harm, but according to Harvard psychology professor Matthew Nock, who specializes in the study of self-injurious behavior and edited a book on the subject, Understanding Non-Suicidal Self-Injury (due March 2009), many do it for two broad reasons: to regulate their emotions and to communicate with others. "Self-injurers experience greater physiological arousal in response to stress, show poor ability...
...Nationwide team's findings sparked a frenzy on the Internet, with stories cropping up one after the other and chatter lighting up on blogs. But as the news spread, globally even, some mental-health professionals grew wary. Without discounting the severity of the problem - particularly among adolescent girls - some experts felt the headlines declaring self-embedding a new "disorder" went too far. Characterizing it as a disorder rather than a symptom of one may miss the mark, says Dr. John Campo, chief of child and adolescent psychiatry at Nationwide Children's and one of the specialists consulted by Shiels. "Young...
...other major concern among mental-health specialists is that publicizing the behavior could exacerbate the problem. In a study of self-injury among adolescents conducted earlier this year, Nock found that 38% of teens who injured themselves learned of the practice from friends, while 13% first heard about it through the media. It's a bit of a catch-22, says Nock. "On the one hand, it's very helpful and useful for health professionals to communicate with each other and learn how to proceed when they see [these cases]," he says, "but we know that media coverage of self...
...light up because you were behaviorally contaminated by smokers who convinced you of the coolness of the habit? Even more important, if such unhealthy behaviors are contagious, are healthy ones--like quitting smoking or exercising--equally so? And what if not only behaviors but also moods and mental states work the same way? Can you catch a case of happy...
...would not have happened without “tremendous effort from UC representatives and other hard-working students.” Staff said that the new calendar had “a number of key advantages,” which were not limited to students’ mental health. He noted that having a longer winter break would cut energy costs, as well as coordinate academic calendars throughout the University so that cross registration would be easier. Staff added that the new calendar would also allow athletes to be in sync with the rest of their league. Staff credited...