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A new study has found that burning incense—as in frankincense, the resin from the Boswellia plant—
“activates poorly understood ion channels in the brain to alleviate anxiety or depression. This suggests that an entirely new class of depression and anxiety drugs might be right under our noses anxiety and causes other antidepressant activity in the […]
I never got around to making a list of last week’s top posts last week so here’s two weeks of “top posts” about autism. Rather than arrange them in chronological order, I’ve arranged them by topic:
My son Charlie turned 11 last Thursday, on May 15th. Life on the road with Charlie is my constant theme […]
Sunday’s New York Times had an article about “Mad Pride”: More people with “severe forms of mental illness such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder” are now speaking out about “their demons”:
About 5.7 million Americans over 18 have bipolar disorder, which is classified as a mood disorder, according to the National Institute of Mental Health. Another […]
“In psychology, I’m starting to get the weary feeling that everything gives you mental illness,” quips Williams Saletan in the May 7th Slate on Human Nature. Saletan references the recent study which found that parents who have psychiatric disorders are doubly at risk to have an autistic child (while also citing another study according to […]
The decision to put an autistic child on medication is never easy for a parent to think about. When the medications in question are antipsychotics (like Risperdal) and antidepressants (like Zoloft), and when the child is disabled and has little or no language to explain how he feels while on the meds, a parent has […]
The risk of having an autistic child is doubled if a parent has schizophrenia or if a mother has psychiatric problems (depression, personality disorders), according to a study published in Pediatrics. From Reuters via WNED.org:
The study of families in Sweden with children born between 1977 and 2003 involved 1,227 children diagnosed with autism. They were […]
There’s a list of 23 unidentified modern eccentrics over on Gawker today. From the descriptions, some of those mentioned are homeless, one is a paraplegic, and more than a few have possible diagnoses; whether those who need it are getting any treatment or even care is not at all clear. The list is part of […]
After a lot of hesitation about riding his new bike, Charlie hoisted himself up, put his left foot on the left pedal, put his right foot on, and zoomed off with Jim easily catching up—that’s the image in my mind after a full week here.
Parents Going Back to School
Some parents of autistic children are returning […]
A philosopher, a clinical linguist, and a psychiatrist working in collaboration have found that, while autistic persons have difficulties using language appropriately in social settings—with using what are called language “pragmatics”—their use and comprehension of pragmatics in some settings is higher than previously tought. In particular, understanding of pragmatics is greater in a literal […]
It’s April 15th, halfway through Autism Awareness Month 2008, and you’ve surely heard more than a few mentions about the supposed “autism epidemic” that we’re currently facing, and musings about what is causing the recent rise in the prevalence rate of autism: In the 1960s, autism was considered a rare disorder that occurred in only […]
Autism mother gets on her soapbox.
Written by Kristina Chew, PhD [email] for b5media.
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