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Tuesday, 4 June 2013

5 CONTROVERSIAL MENTAL HEALTH TREATMENTS

5 Controversial Mental Health Treatments
By Rachael Rettner, Live Science, 3 June 2013.

Introduction

Psychiatric disorders are usually treated with talk therapy or medications, but when these treatments don't work, doctors and patients sometimes turn to less common, controversial procedures.

While these treatments, which include sending electric "shocks" through the brain, may sound extreme, some studies suggest that in certain patients, they can be very effective.

Here are five unconventional treatments for mental health disorders.

5. "Electroshock" Therapy

Credit: Robert Adrian Hillman | shutterstock

Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), first used in the 1930s, involves placing electrodes on the forehead and passing electrical currents through the brain in order to induce a seizure lasting 30 to 60 seconds.

The treatment is controversial, and in the early years of the therapy, patients were not given anaesthesia, and high levels of electricity were used.

Today, the therapy is safer, because patients receive anaesthesia and electricity doses are much more controlled, according to the Mayo Clinic. Still, the treatment can impair short-term memory and, in rare cases, cause heart problems.

Because of these potential side effects, ECT should never be used as a first line therapy. But, for people who have tried other treatments and have seen no improvement in their symptoms, the treatment can be very effective: 75 to 85 percent of patients who receive ECT recover from their symptoms, experts say.

ECT is used to treat patients who are severely depressed and at risk for suicide, and in some cases, it is used to treat schizophrenia and severe mania.

4. Deep Brain Stimulation

Deep brain stimulation, which involves implanting a device that sends electrical impulses into the brain, is being investigated as a treatment for severe obsessive compulsive disorder, depression and drug addiction.

The therapy is already approved for treatment for tremors in Parkinson's disease and dystonia. In 2009, the Food and Drug Administration approved deep brain stimulation for treatment of obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), although patients are required to have tried other treatments for at least five years before they can qualify for the procedure.

After deep brain stimulation, some patients with OCD show improvements in mood, such as a decrease in anxiety, and have a better response to behaviour therapies that weren't working before.

However, experts caution that the treatment is not a cure.

"What DBS really does is make you into an average OCD patient," Dr. Benjamin Greenberg, a psychiatrist at Brown University and at Butler Hospital in Providence, R.I., told Live Science in a 2010 interview.

3. Transcranial magnetic stimulation

Credit: Alex Mit | Shutterstock

Another unconventional treatment for depression is transcranial magnetic stimulation. The treatment uses magnetic fields to change the activity in certain regions of the brain. It involves placing an electromagnetic coil on the forehead, and does not require surgery, according to the Mayo Clinic.

Researchers don't know how the treatment works, but it's thought that the magnetic fields stimulate regions of the brain involved in mood control, the Mayo Clinic says.

In 2008, the procedure was approved as a treatment for depression in those who haven't responded to other therapies.

Side effects include headaches, facial twitching, light-headedness, and less commonly, seizures and hearing loss.

2. Psychosurgery

Brain surgery for mental disorders, called psychosurgery, has been practiced since the 1930s, although it is very controversial. Early surgeries, such as lobotomies practiced in the 1940s and 50s, had serious side effects, including personality changes.

The practice of psychosurgery declined after psychiatric medications became available, although a small number of centres today continue to perform psychosurgery procedures.

A study published in June 2013 looked at the effects of a type of psychosurgery called bilateral capsulotomy, which damages the tissue in a part of the brain called the internal capsule, as a treatment for a small number of patients with obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). Nearly half of patients showed some improvement in their OCD symptoms, although 10 percent experienced serious side effects, including paralysis.

1. Magic mushrooms

The hallucinogen found in magic mushrooms, called psilocybin, may help treat psychiatric disorders such as depression, anxiety and addiction.

In a small 2011 study, more than half of people who received a moderate dose of psilocybin reported a "mystical" experience, the type believed to have the greatest long-term psychiatric benefits. Just 5 percent reported experiencing side effects, such as extreme fear (paranoia) or anxiety.

Even a year later, 83 percent of participants said the mystical experiences had increased their well-being.

Psilocybin is being studied as a treatment for terminally ill patients who experience depression and anxiety, and for those with hard-to-treat addictions, including alcoholism, researchers say. A 2010 study suggested that psilocybin could reduce anxiety and improve mood in people with terminal cancer.

[Source: Live Science. Edited. Some links added.]

INFOGRAPHIC: 8 OF THE WORLD'S DIRTIEST JOBS

The World's Dirtiest Jobs
By Master Cleaners Ltd, 28 May 2013.

Whether it’s cleaning a smelly animal cage or a bloody crime scene, there are many dirty jobs in the world and somebody's got to do them. Check out the infographic below that illustrates some of the world’s dirtiest jobs.

The World's Dirtiest Jobs by Master Cleaners

Top image via Kiwi Commons.

[Source: Master Cleaners Ltd. Edited. Top image added.]

13 OF THE WORLD'S CUTEST TREE-DWELLING ANIMALS

13 of the cutest tree-dwelling animals in the world
By Mother Nature Network, 3 June 2013.

Just hanging around

You can find cute animals in most of nature's habitats, but there's just something about living in trees that makes arboreal creatures particularly Ewok-like. Common biological adaptations found in tree-dwelling animals help to explain their charm: those bushy tails, fluffy ears and agile bodies. Or maybe it's just that living in trees really is as much fun as it looks.

Here's our list of 13 of the world's cutest, most charismatic tree-dwelling animals. You're guaranteed to leave here with a smile. (Text: Bryan Nelson)

Related Links: (1) 13 animals of the Arctic, (2) 6 animals with pets of their own

1. Koala

Photo: covenant/Shutterstock

Few faces rival the cuteness of the koala, and the way they hug those branches just adds to their snugliness. They're also a rather sleepy animal, since their low-nutrition diet of eucalyptus leaves makes them sluggish. In fact, they typically sleep for almost 20 hours a day. Like most of the world's marsupials, koalas hail from Australia. Although they aren't officially considered endangered, wild koala populations are under constant threat due to habitat loss from deforestation and development, and their numbers have dropped by as much as 90 percent in the last decade.

2. Squirrel monkey

Photo: Tambako The Jaguar/Flickr

There are a lot of cute monkeys to choose from, but squirrel monkeys might be the most memorable of them all. Hailing from Central and South America, these primates offer more than just looks: They're also smart. In fact, they're known to have the largest brain-to-body-mass ratio of all the monkey species. That intelligence explains their endless curiosity, and helps them keep track of their intricate social relationships. Troops of squirrel monkeys are known to reach as many as 500 members.

Unfortunately, their charismatic nature also makes them a popular species in the illegal pet trade.

3. Greater glider

Photo: David Cook/Flickr

Similar to flying squirrels and flying phalangers (like the sugar glider), the greater glider can glide from tree to tree by spreading a specialized membrane that stretches between its elbows and ankles. But its most charming traits might be those big floppy ears and bushy tail. Greater gliders come in two shades, a sooty brown or a grey-to-white form. (You can decide which is more adorable.)

They are marsupials and hail from Australia and eat mostly eucalyptus leaves, much like the koala. Though they are not listed as a threatened species, habitat loss is a growing concern.

Related Link: 7 unique pet shows and conventions

4. Gecko

Usually it takes a reptile-lover to appreciate the cuteness of a lizard, but geckos might be the universal exception. Who wouldn't be enamoured with that sly little smile?

Of course, it helps that many species of gecko are insectivorous, a diet that includes mosquitoes. So wherever they're plentiful, geckos are rarely considered pests; they're a welcome sight in many tropical households.

But the trait that geckos might be best known for is their incredible Spider-Man-like climbing ability, which is due to the adhesive qualities of their toes. How they manage their gravity-defying feats remained a mystery to science until relatively recently, when it was discovered that they take advantage of weak molecular attractive forces.

5. Tarsier

Photo: yeowatzup/Flickr

With their big eyes and curious ears, tarsiers might be the closest thing to a real-life mogwai. Found on the islands of Southeast Asia, these fluffy arboreal creatures are believed to be the last living examples of an ancient branch on the evolutionary tree of primates. In other words, they're relatively close cousins to us.

Their large eyes are an adaptation to being nocturnal. Their bat-like ears also help them to navigate in the dark, and they use both these skills to track down their favourite food: insects. In fact, tarsiers are the only extant primates that are entirely carnivorous. They're also known to feast on small birds, lizards and even bats!

6. Kinkajou

Photo: Animal Kingdom Pet Hospital/Flickr

This ridiculously adorable critter might look like a type of ferret or, perhaps, a primate, but it is actually neither. In fact, kinkajous are related to raccoons. Found in Central and South America, these little-known animals have several unusual traits, including a prehensile tail (which means it can grasp things with its tail) and feet that can turn around to run as easily backward as forward! Of course, all of these traits make them especially adept for life in the trees.

Though they are technically classified as carnivores due to their sharp teeth, 90 percent of the kinkajou diet is actually fruit. They're also relatively long-lived, capable of living 40-plus years.

Related Link: 6 varmints that we should embrace

7. Tree kangaroo

Photo: Johnathan Nightingale/Flickr

When most people think of kangaroos, they think of the springy, land-based variety that gets around by hopping. But can you imagine a kangaroo that lives almost entirely in the trees?

Tree kangaroos might seem counterintuitive, but they're actually remarkably well-adapted for their environment. Found in the rain forests of Australia and Papua New Guinea, they climb trees by wrapping their forelimbs around the back of a tree and hopping against the tree with their powerful hind legs. This allows the forelimbs to slide upward.

Like their land-based brethren, they are also incredible leapers. In fact, "incredible" doesn't even begin to describe it: They have been recorded jumping from the trees to the ground from as high as 60 feet without being hurt.

Above is a video of a tree kangaroo and joey hopping among trees and platforms.

8. Gibbon

Photo: Agnieszka Guzowska/Shutterstock

Gibbons are perhaps most recognizable for their iconic form of locomotion, called "brachiation." Though they aren't the only primates to use this form of locomotion, they are probably the most adept at it. Their long arms, agile bodies and reduced thumbs (which better allows them to cup branches) allow them to swing among the trees like no other. In fact, they are the fastest and most agile of all tree-dwelling, non-flying mammals.

They're also pretty cute, and often sweet-natured to boot. In fact, most gibbons form monogamous pair bonds and share many of the same duties between males and females.

It can be easy to confuse gibbons for monkeys, but they're actually apes - more closely related to the great apes, such as chimpanzees, gorillas, and orangutans.

The short video above shows a gibbon brachiating as only it can.

9. Tree frog

Photo: Stephen Michael Barnett/Flickr

Arguably the cutest of all amphibians, tree frogs are ideally adapted to life in the canopy. Though there are many different species of tree frog, most of them share some common traits. For instance, they're typically more slender than their pudgy, land-based brethren. They're also usually much smaller, which makes them all the more adorable. Long fingers and toes help them to grasp limbs, and the ends of their digits are often disc-shaped for added suction capabilities.

Unfortunately, tree frogs - like most of the world's amphibians - are in steep decline worldwide due to chytridiomycosis, a deadly fungal disease.

10. Brushtail possum

Photo: Bryce McQuillan/Wiki Common

Adding to the list of adorable arboreal mammals from Australia, the brushtail possum is the epitome of cute. These charismatic nocturnal marsupials are actually the largest of all possums - about the size of a house cat.

Unlike many other forest animals, brushtail possums have adapted remarkably well to life in the urban environment, and are regularly encountered by humans, especially in suburban neighbourhoods. They can occasionally be viewed as pests for this reason, but allowing a possum to take up residence on your property could also be a boon. Because they are largely solitary animals, encouraging a possum to claim your yard as its territory could help to keep other possums away. And besides, who could turn away such an adorable face?

11. Genet

Photo: Guérin Nicolas/Wiki Commons

Closely related to civets, these little tree-climbers hail from Africa, Europe and the Middle East. Because they are feliforms, they are also distant relatives to cats, and carry many of the same behavioural characteristics you might recognize from your pet feline. Also like cats, they have retractable claws, a wily intelligence, and hunt for small rodents, birds and reptiles. If it's small and moves quickly, they like to chase it.

Due to many of these similarities with cats, genets have become popular in the exotic pet trade. But remember: These are wild animals, and are far more aggressive when compared to the typical house cat. Make sure you know what you're getting into before you ever take a genet on as a pet.

12. Silky anteater

Photo: Mary Sue Rose/Flickr

Sometimes also called the pygmy anteater, these animals are much different from terrestrial anteaters. They're tiny by comparison, for one. Plus they have prehensile tails, which helps them to navigate life in the trees. They're also ridiculously cute. Found in Central and South America, silky anteaters are most often found in ceiba (silkcotton) trees, which also could explain why their golden coats are so silken and beautiful.

Though it has some intimidating claws, the silky anteater only really uses them for climbing and self-defense. The animal is quite harmless when it's not being directly threatened.

AUGUST SMART LOCK: THE SMARTPHONE-CONTROLLED TECHNOLOGY THAT DIGITIZES YOUR HOME SECURITY

Smartphone Controlled Smart Lock Digitizes Your Home Security
By Richard Darell, Bit Rebels, 2 June 2013.

One of the most important aspects of your safety is your home security. Not only is it vital for you, but it also keeps your stuff safe when you’re not at home to look after it. There is no way to know when a thief will strike, and we’d do good in making sure they can’t break in, but that is not always easy. For a long time, people have fantasized about unlocking their door with their smartphones. By the looks of things, that is about to happen with a new smart lock.

There have been a few other concepts when it comes to this particular smartphone feature. A lot of people have wondered if it would be of any use or if it would complicate things too much. The argument is that it’s real easy to lose your smartphone, and then what? Well, it’s really easy to use your keys as well, so the argument is pretty much broken before it starts.

Then there is the thing about hackers. If a smart lock is controlled by your smartphone, then for sure hackers can hack your smart lock and gain access to your house, right? Well, that is what innovators are trying to patch up. There are several different approaches to the system, but a good encryption could make it virtually impossible for someone to break the code sequence and make their way inside your home.

This smart lock designed and innovated by Yves Bahar is a little bit different form the other concepts. Instead of switching out the lock entirely, it adds the smartphone connection device on top of the lock itself making it even more secure. It also has a bunch of useful features that could make it a huge success.

This particular smart lock can be set to unlock itself once your smartphone is within a pre-set range of the lock itself. Not only that, but you can send out invitations to your friends and loved ones to grant them access to your house within a certain time frame, which means you don’t have to be home before they can get into your house. It also keeps a log of every event that it carries out, which makes it a perfect addition to your home security. The August smart lock (as it is called) will go on the market for US$199.00 later this year.

Video: August Smart Lock

All images and video courtesy of August.

[Source: Bit Rebels. Edited. Video and some images added.]

THE ROHINGYA: THE DESPERATE PLIGHT OF MYANMAR 'S HOMELESS AND UNWANTED MUSLIMS

Homeless and Unwanted: The Desperate Plight of Burma's Rohingya People
By Yohani Kamarudin, Environmental Graffiti, 3 June 2013.

Conditions in these refugee camps are desperate. The cobbled-together huts that pass as housing have no electricity and limited access to water. Disease is rife under such squalid conditions, as is violence against the vulnerable, and little aid comes in from the outside world.

A Rohingya girl living in one of the Bangladeshi camps. Photo: Artur Gutowski.

This is the home of the Rohingya, one of the most persecuted minorities in the world. Landless and poverty-stricken, they are unwanted by both the country of their birth and the states to which they have fled.

A man and child overlooking the area. Photo: Artur Gutowski.

Photographer Artur Gutowski captured these touching images of Rohingya refugees in the Kutupalong and Shaplapour camps on the Burmese-Bangladeshi border. “According to Human Rights Watch, the conditions in the camp are more desperate than in any other area where the organization is active,” says Gutowski. “Illiteracy is widespread. Due to their unofficial refugee status these people have no medical care, which means that even minor illnesses can cause death. Disease is common, mortality is high.”

Refugee children play in a nearby forest. Photo: Artur Gutowski.

It’s hard to imagine a life terrible enough to compel people to come to camps like this. To understand why they are here, we have to look at the recent past of the Rohingya.

The Rohingya are a Muslim ethnic group believed to originate from Arakan in Burma. There is contention surrounding their origins, but they are linguistically tied to the Indo-Aryans from India and Bangladesh. This separates them through both religion and language from the Buddhist majority in Burma, who speak Sino-Tibetan languages.

A girl clings to the Koran. Photo: Artur Gutowski.

Regardless of their historical origins, the modern-day Rohingya consider Arakan their home. There has been conflict over the years between the Muslim minority and the Burmese junta who ruled the country. Amnesty International and other human rights groups allege that official discrimination against the Rohingya goes back decades. There has also been violence on both sides of the conflict. Some Rohingya joined Islamic militias, and the Burmese military have been accused of inciting riots against minorities.

Water is a scarce resource at the camps. Photo: Artur Gutowski.

In 1982, the Burmese government declared the Rohingya non-citizens and aliens within their own country. Restrictions were put on their travel, they were not allowed to own land and were even limited to two children. "The Nasaka [Burmese border guards] used to come and take away the men and boys," 70-year-old Rohingya refugee Nozir Hossain told The Guardian in June 2012. "They forced us to work as labourers without pay. This was only done to us, not to Rakhine [a Buddhist minority group] or anybody else.” Hossain saw his two sons murdered by the Nasaka and Rakhine.

A boy tends to a tiny, allotted piece of field. Photo: Artur Gutowski.

According to Amnesty International, the Rohingya “are also subjected to various forms of extortion and arbitrary taxation; land confiscation; forced eviction and house destruction; and financial restrictions on marriage. Rohingyas continue to be used as forced labourers on roads and at military camps, although the amount of forced labour in northern Rakhine State has decreased over the last decade.”

Refugees at the Kutupalong camp. Photo: Artur Gutowski.

In 2012, a series of riots erupted between the Rohingya and the Rakhine Buddhists in Rakhine State. The exact cause of the riots is not certain. Some pinpoint the rape and murder of a Rakhine woman - allegedly by a group of Rohingya - and the reprisal killings of 10 Muslims. However, there had been tension between the two peoples for a while before this.

A young refugee girl poses in front of a makeshift background. Photo: Artur Gutowski.

The Rakhine State riots ended with at least 168 fatalities, damage to property, and an estimated 100,000 displaced people. The Burmese government’s response of the riots has been criticized by human rights organizations. They say that Rohingya people were arrested, placed in camps, brutally treated and denied aid. Even Burmese Buddhist monks have called for a campaign against the Rohingya, and threatened those who traded with the Muslim minority.

A Rohingya carries a load of branches. Photo: Artur Gutowski.

Since 1978, the Rohingya have been fleeing Burma, when officially sanctioned violence led to killings, rapes and religious persecution. More than 200,000 Rohingya people fled to Bangladesh. Thousands have also headed to Thailand over the years, where they have received little sympathy. There are tales of shiploads of refugees, sometimes with their hands bound, being towed out to sea and left to the mercy of the ocean.

A young Rohingya refugee. Photo: Artur Gutowski.

There are currently around 230,000 Rohingya people living in Bangladesh, with 30,000 of them in the official government refugee camps in Kutupalong and Nayapara. Most of the registered refugees have never seen their homeland because 70 percent of them were either born in the camps or arrived as young children. They are the lucky ones, assured food, water, healthcare and primary schooling by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Since 1992, the Bangladesh government has not allowed the UNHCR to register any new Rohingya refugees.

A camp resident carries wood. Photo: Artur Gutowski.

Most Rohingya in Bangladesh live outside the official government refugee camps as illegal migrants. Since they are not official refugees, they get little help, if any, from the UNHCR. However, the Bangladeshi government tries to make conditions as unappealing as possible for any would-be refugees. They have even rejected a proposal by the UN to help fund a health and education initiative in the Cox’s Bazar region, even though impoverished Bangladeshis would also have benefited. Also, as in Thailand, there are reports of refugee boats being sent back out to sea by Bangladeshi coast guards.

Another young refugee poses for Gutowski. Photo: Artur Gutowski.

Those living in the official camps may have better access to basic needs, but things are still far from easy, and some feel that they are living without hope. “This is no life,” says Shaufiq Alam, a 30-year-old refugee at the Kutupalong camp. “I've been living here for 20 years. If I'd stayed in my village, I would at least have had access to education. The situation in the camp has had a destructive influence on our lives.”

A group of refugees on their tiny patch of field. Photo: Artur Gutowski.

There are no secondary schools at the camps, and refugee children are barred from local schools - although a lucky few manage to sneak in. "There is nothing for us here," Nozir Hossain says. "We would like to go back home…back to farming our land. I hope the government will be fair and give us our rights."

A Rohingya man prays at his son's grave. Photo: Artur Gutowski.

Recently, the plight of the Rohingya has attracted more international attention. Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been noticeably silent in the past about the situation, has recently condemned the compulsory two-child policy. "It is not good to have such discrimination. And it is not in line with human rights either," she said. However, despite the attention, things do not seem to be improving for the Rohingya. It doesn’t help that both radical Buddhists and Muslims in Burma have been involved in communal violence against each other.

70 percent of Rohingya at the camps were either born there or arrived as small children.

Photo: Artur Gutowski.

For those in the camps, there is little hope. “UNHCR tries to teach the refugees crafts they might find useful in later life - carpentry, tailoring and making soap,” says Gutowski. “Some of the refugees can make money by distributing food rations among the other inhabitants of the camp. However, they earn only US$22, which is not enough to feed a family.”

Article Sources:
1. Rohingya - stateless and unwanted (Bēhance)
2. Bangladesh: The Silent Crisis
3. Bangladesh
4. Rohingya - stateless and unwanted (Social Documentary)
5. Rohingya people
6. 2012 Rakhine State riots
7. Burma's Rohingya refugees find little respite in Bangladesh
8. The Rohingya Minority: Fundamental Rights Denied
9. Who Are the Rohingya?
10. Thai Navy Commits Atrocities against Boatpeople
11. BANGLADESH: Rohingya refugees face more restrictions
12. The young and the hopeless in Bangladesh's camps
13. Myanmar's displaced Rohingyas face severe health risks in camps
14. Aung San Suu Kyi condemns Rohingya 'two-child policy'
15. Myanmar Struggles to Put Down Buddhist Attack on Muslims

Top image via AK Rockefeller

[Post Source: Environmental Graffiti. Edited. Top image added.]