The Relationship Between Physical Illness, Mental Illness and Chemical Dependency

There is a dearth of scholarship on the notion that chronic or severe physical illness can be the threshold issue in the development of mental illness and chemical dependency. In a random sample of 300 participants in a hospital based mental health clinic, research was conducted to determine whether relationships exist among the three domains: physical illness, mental illness, and chemical dependency. Research found strong relationships among chronic illnesses, such as Hepatitis C, substance use disorders (SUDs), and various Axis I and Axis II mental health diagnoses. Research further suggests that pain, whether due to a general medical condition, or to an accident or injury is related to opioid use disorders and Axis I mental health disorders. Finally, research suggests that stomach and intestinal issues have a strong relationship to alcohol use disorders and Axis I and Axis II mental health disorders. The research suggests that counselors should pay close attention to Axis III medical conditions as developmental issues that may be related to the onset of mental illness and SUDs

Creative Problem Solving with the RYG Awareness Indicator

The purpose of this project is to show how Creative Problem Solving can be introduced into everyday processes and challenges through the use of business and project management monitoring tools. The project will review CPS facilitation experiences which explain how to integrate the CPS process alongside monitoring, controlling, and risk assessment methods in order to optimize existing processes. As a part of this integration process the idea of why Creative Problem Solving facilitation could use tools and tactics which will provide awareness and motivation to keep the process on track until the goal is attained and success is met. The project will also explain awareness indicator tools such as survey questions and visual color coding and how they are effective in measuring success or failure based on driving momentum and monitoring risk. The finished product includes a 15 minute presentation on the RYG visual indicator tool, Pre and Post facilitation survey questions, as well as specific questions that are asked to heighten awareness around approach and process

“Israel is drying, again”: constructing resilience discourses in televised water conservation campaigns

Water conservation campaigns (WCC) are a common tool for mitigating droughts and water scarcity by encouraging reductions in household consumption. This paper moves beyond examining the impact of WCCs on consumption to look at the ways in which these campaigns discursively construct notions of water resilience. By analyzing eight televised WCCs produced by the Israel Water Authority from 2008 to 2018 in response to recurring droughts, this paper shows how discourses of resilience are audio-visually and symbolically constructed and represented to the public. The results indicate that a variety of opposite and competing discursive strategies were used in these campaigns: motivational, instructive or informative, fear/hope, nationalistic/individualistic and eco-centric/anthropocentric. The longitudinal comparison reveals how the discourse of water resilience evolved over the years from resilience by resistance to transformation and adaptation, confined to depolitical ethical-individual behavioral change while ignoring government responsibility, systemic social-environmental causes of the problem, and climate change

Raised erythrocyte creatine in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension – Evidence for subclinical hemolysis

SummaryBackgroundPulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) has been associated with hemolytic conditions such as sickle cell disease but the possible role of hemolysis in the pathogenesis or pathophysiology of other forms of PAH has not been studied. Erythrocyte lifespan is the gold-standard test of hemolysis and may be measured by assaying erythrocyte creatine (EC) levels. EC decreases as the erythrocyte ages, so patients with hemolysis have high EC levels.MethodsWe measured EC and other parameters of hemolysis in patients with idiopathic and connective tissue associated PAH and normal controls.ResultsIn patients with PAH (n = 40), EC levels were higher than in controls n = 30 (patients EC 1.72 mcmol/g HgB 95%CI[1.51, 1.96], controls EC 1.05 mcmol/g HgB [0.93, 1.19], p < 0.0001). High levels of EC correlated with worse 6 min walk (r = −0.42, p < 0.0001) and worse functional class (p = 0.002). Other indirect indices of hemolysis (total lactate dehydrogenase, red cell distribution width) were also increased in patients with PAH relative to controls.ConclusionsThere is evidence of subclinical hemolysis in patients with PAH, and higher levels of hemolysis are associated with poorer exercise capacity