VCU news

By Frances Dumenci

Virginia Commonwealth University is offering story ideas to media for Mental Health Awareness Month. Additionally, May 6-12 marks Children’s Mental Health Awareness Week. Experts are available to speak with the media about a variety of topics related to mental health.

Overcoming post-traumatic stress disorder
At some point in time, up to half the population could be exposed to a traumatic event such as a car accident, a natural disaster, military exposure or an assault. For some, it will result in post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, according to experts.

Joel Silverman, M.D., who serves as chair of the VCU Department of Psychiatry, specializes in emotional problems secondary to medical disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder and can speak about the signs, symptoms and treatment involved.

In other work, Silverman has been actively involved in patient advocacy and protecting the rights of individuals with mental illness. He can discuss the need for mental health services, research and access.

In 1988, he founded Virginians for Mental Health Advocacy, a multidisciplinary advocacy group that was responsible for writing Virginia parity legislation. As a member of the American Psychiatric Association, Silverman has served as vice chair on its Council on Advocacy and Public Policy. He is a member of the Board of Regents of the American College of Psychiatrists. In 1990, he received a Psychiatric Society of Virginia Distinguished Service Award from the American Psychiatric Association district branch.

Inside the brains of drug and alcohol addicted individuals
Researchers at VCU, led by F. Gerard Moeller, M.D., division chair of addiction psychiatry in the VCU School of Medicine and director of the Institute for Drug and Alcohol Studies (IDAS), are working to understand the neural differences that influence addiction and the impact drugs have on the brain.

Moeller’s research uses brain-imaging technology to visualize how drugs change the brain and to find medications to treat addiction. Moeller oversees a functional MRI research facility and plays a key role shaping the overarching vision of addiction psychiatry at VCU by fostering the link between clinical research and ongoing preclinical and genetic addiction research currently taking place at VCU. Read more: http://www.spectrum.vcu.edu/inside-research/inside-the-brains-of-addicts/#.U1EhoPldWvQ

Crisis in child mental health/Reducing stigma
In the United States, approximately 15 million children suffer from mental illness, and only 20 percent receive treatment. Unfortunately, it’s a topic rarely discussed between young people and adults, and the stigma attached to mental illness still prevails. Research is opening doors to explore novel and effective treatments for mental disorders and supports a growing knowledge of the neurobiological and genetic basis of behavior, putting mental illness on par with physical illness. Other challenges include a limited capacity to deliver care and a lack of professionals trained in children's mental health.

Aradhana “Bela” Sood, M.D., a nationally recognized expert in children and adolescents with mental health problems, and professor and chair of theDivision of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry in the VCUSchool of Medicine, is available to discuss this topic. Sood, medical director of the Virginia Treatment Center for Children at the Children’s Hospital of Richmond at VCU, served on the panel reviewing the Virginia Tech shootings as a mental health expert.

Read more about one local family’s fight to shed the stigma of mental health: http://www.news.vcu.edu/article/Who_I_Am

Advances in treatment for severe depression
Transcranial magnetic stimulation therapy, or TMS therapy, is an FDA-approved treatment option (relatively recent) for patients with major depression who have not benefited from initial antidepressant medication. However, few consumers/patients know about it. It is offered at the VCU Medical Center.

Ananda Pandurangi, M.D., professor of psychiatry, oversees the TMS program at the VCU Medical Center and can discuss the therapy, what it is, how it is performed and how it could potentially help patients. TMS has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of patients who have been diagnosed with major depression and have not responded well to antidepressant drugs.

In 2012, the VCU Medical Center became one of approximately 20 institutions taking part in a national clinical trial evaluating a medical device that provides focused stimulation to the brain and may offer an effective therapy for people with severe depression. Pandurangi leads the study at the VCU site together with Kathryn Holloway, M.D., professor in the VCU Department of Neurosurgery.

Pandurangi is also chair of the State Board of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services and psychiatrist-member of the Governor’s Task Force on Improving Mental Services and Crisis Responses in Virginia. He can discuss both public, academic and private systems of care for mental illnesses in Virginia and current challenges and opportunities.

Genes, environment and alcoholism: Is it really nature vs. nurture?
Danielle M. Dick, Ph.D., associate professor, of psychiatry, psychology, and human and molecular genetics in the VCU School of Medicine, can comment on how genetic and environmental factors influence alcohol dependence, other drug dependence and related disorders such as childhood behavior problems.

Dick examines how genetic and environmental factors come together to impact the development of alcohol dependence and related problems. Since 2000, she has been working with a multi-disciplinary, multi-site team of researchers through the Collaborative Study on the Genetics of Alcoholism, to identify specific genes involved in the predisposition to alcohol dependence.

In other work, through Finnish twin studies, Dick is examining how environmental risk factors, such as lifestyle, family, friends, can influence and interact with genetic predispositions for potential problems.

According to Dick, there is no single gene responsible for alcoholism – rather, there is a collection of genes, each with a small effect, that come together and contribute to an individual’s risk of developing problems.

Through her research, she hopes to enhance our understanding of the genes involved in different disorders and the environments that are critical in reducing (and/or exacerbating) risk among those who are susceptible. Ultimately, this information could be used to one day develop more targeted and informed preventions and interventions.

Read more: http://www.spectrum.vcu.edu/road-to-discovery/social-dimensions-of-addiction/#.U1FU6vldWvQ

Women’s mental health
Susan G. Kornstein, M.D., is a nationally recognized researcher and thought leader with expertise in women’s mental health and depression. Kornstein has been a principal investigator on more than 70 research studies in the areas of depression, anxiety disorders and premenstrual syndrome. She has authored or coauthored more than 200 articles, chapters and abstracts, and has given many national and international presentations on topics related to depression and women’s health.

She is editor-in-chief of the Journal of Women’s Health and editor of “Women's Mental Health: A Comprehensive Textbook.” She is also president of the Academy of Women's Health, past president of the North American Society for Psychosocial Obstetrics and Gynecology and past president of the International Association for Women's Mental Health.

Kornstein can address issues related to depression and gender differences; premenstrual, perinatal and perimenopausal depression; and  broader issues in women's mental health.

Moving forward: Self-forgiveness
Forgiveness of others has been found to be related to better physical health, mental health, relationships and spiritual health for the forgiver. Everett Worthington, Ph.D., professor in the Department of Psychology in the VCU College of Humanities and Sciences, is one of the country’s foremost experts in the scientific study of forgiveness and reconciliation.

Worthington has found that while the stresses produced by regret, remorse and self-blame are slightly different physically and significantly different psychologically than the stresses produced by anger, bitterness, resentment, hatred and anxiety, they operate basically the same in terms of elevating our stress response. Self-forgiveness calms that stress and reduces the physical, mental, relational and spiritual fallout.

Worthington’s own self-discovery and research culminated in his latest book, “Moving Forward: Six Steps to Forgiving Yourself and Breaking Free from the Past.” (For a “Moving Forward” excerpt, visit http://forgiveself.com/.

Life skills: Enhancing positive development
Through his research and clinical practice, Steven Danish, Ph.D., emeritus professor of psychology, has developed, implemented and evaluated community-based life skills programs for the purpose of enhancing positive development and promoting behavioral health. Life skills are defined as the skills that help us succeed in the different environments in which we live, including school, home and neighborhood.

Danish can discuss the psychological challenges that remain after active military service ends and can offer tips for family and friends who want to help. He can also discuss teaching life skills through sport to youth.

A fellow with the American Psychological Association, American Psychological Society and Association for Applied Sport Psychology, Danish is a licensed psychologist and a diplomate in counseling psychology of the American Board of Professional Psychology. He is also a registered sport psychologist of the Sports Medicine Division of the United States Olympic Committee. He has written more than 120 articles and 10 books on counseling, community and lifespan developmental psychology; health and nutrition; substance abuse prevention; and sport psychology.

Benefits of human-animal interaction
Step into the VCU Medical Center and you may find a different kind of caregiver roaming the halls: the therapy dog. There are approximately 30 dogs that comprise the VCU Dogs on Call program. On any given day, these loyal and trusted volunteers can be found spending time with patients who may be enduring difficultor painful hospital stays, and offering them good cheer and comfort.

Sandra “Sandy” Barker, Ph.D., professor of psychiatry and director of the VCU Center for Human-Animal Interaction, which coordinates the Dogs on Call Program with the VCU Health System Volunteer Services, has been conducting research to better understand the benefits of human-animal bond.

In a 2012 study published in the International Journal of Workplace Health Management, Barker, a nationally recognized expert in the field, and her husband, Randolph “Randy” T. Barker, Ph.D., professor of management in the VCU School of Business, found that dogs in the workplace may buffer the impact of stress during the workday for their owners and make the job more satisfying for those with whom they come into contact. Stress is a major contributor to employee absenteeism, morale and burnout and results in significant loss of productivity and resources.

Read more: http://www.spectrum.vcu.edu/2012/03/#.U1FSG_ldWvQ

Social media and mental health
Michael Mason, Ph.D., associate professor of psychiatry and director of the VCU Commonwealth Institute for Child and Family Studies, the research arm of the Virginia Treatment Center for Children at VCU, is an expert in teens and mental health issues.

In 2012, Mason and his VCU colleagues launched a $2.9 million National Institute on Drug Abuse-funded study to examine how a teenager’s network of friends, favorite hangouts and feelings and moods interact to influence substance use.

The research is an important example of translational research – the findings could potentially help teens in the Richmond community and beyond with preventative interventions for substance use. The study of substance use is a key focus of VCU’s Clinical and Translational Science Award, which VCU received in 2010 from the National Institutes of Health.

In another study, Mason is examining a text-messaging intervention for adolescent smokers utilizing a motivational interviewing and social network counseling model. The research team also tested the relationship between distance from home and tobacco retail outlets and readiness to stop smoking. They found a significant interaction with distance to tobacco outlets and treatment effectiveness. Treatment was effective for teens with greater distance from their home to tobacco outlets, but was not effective for teens who are exposed to greater availability of tobacco products.