From the album, Whatever and Ever Amen
(c) 1997 Sony Music Entertainment
Official Web Site: Ben Folds
Available @: I-Tunes, Amazon, YouTube

Blue Jay’s Rating: 5 out of 5 Notes ♪♪♪♪♪

“Over the last 15 years, Ben Folds’ first-class melodic gifts, irony-laced lyrics, and punk-rock tendency to play piano as if it were a contact sport have earned the North Carolina native a legion of devoted fans of all ages,” (Ben Folds site). Under the same album as their highly popular single, “Brick,” the song “Evaporated“, this evening’s featured mental minute music, self reported as one of their most difficult pieces to date due to its outward simplicity, is a song “about loss.” ~Ben Folds Five.

Main Entry: evap·o·rate

Inflected Form(s): evap·o·rat·ed; evap·o·rat·ing

intransitive verb 1 a: to pass off in vapor or in minute particles b (1): to pass off or away : disappear <her ardor evaporated> (2): to diminish quickly

Music Copyright Information

Ben Folds. Biography. Retrieved June 30, 2009, from http://www.benfolds.com/biography.

Ben Folds Five. “Evaporated.” Whatever and Ever Amen. Sony Music Entertainment, 1997.
(c) 1997 Sony Music Entertainment

Ben Folds Five. “Evaporated.” Cover Art. Whatever and Ever Amen. Sony Music Entertainment, 1997.

Evaporate. (2009). In Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. Retrieved June 30, 2009, from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/evaporate

YouTube. “Evaporated - Ben Folds.” Online video clip, YouTube. Retrieved June 30, 2009, from Source Link.

From the album, The Fray 
(c) 2009 Sony Music Entertainment
Official Web Site: The Fray
Available @: I-Tunes, Amazon, YouTube

 Blue Jay’s Rating: 5 out of 5 Notes ♪♪♪♪♪

The Fray is a Grammy-award winning Denver-based band led by Isaac Slade, most recognized for their piano-infused song, “How to Safe a Life,” off of their 2005 debut album, (the top selling album on iTunes in 2006). The Fray recently released its second self-titled album, The Fray, on February 3, 2009, and its first single, “You Found Me” is the spotlight of today’s Mental Minute.

Describing the personal meaning behind the song, Slade posted on his blog, “You Found Me” is a tough song for me. It’s about the disappointment, the heartache, the let down that comes with life. Sometimes you’re let down, sometimes you’re the one who lets someone else down. It gets hard to know who you can trust, who you can count on. This song came out of a tough time, and I’m still right in the thick of it. There’s some difficult circumstances my family and friends have been going through over the past year or so and can be overwhelming. It wears on me. It demands so much of my faith to keep believing, keep hoping in the unseen. Sometimes the tunnel has a light at the end, but usually they just look black as night. This song is about that feeling, and the hope that I still have, buried deep in my chest.”

Acoustic Video

Music Copyright Information

ABC, Inc. “The Fray Studio Session - You Found Me.” Online video clip, ABC Television Network. Retrieved May 12, 2009, from Source Link. 

The Fray. “You Found Me.” The Fray. Sony Music Entertainment, 2009.
(c) 2009 Sony Music Entertainment

The Fray. “You Found Me.” Cover Art. The Fray. Sony Music Entertainment, 2009.

The Fray. You Found Me - Lost iTunes. Retrieved May 12, 2009, from http://blog.thefray.net/us/blog

A sincere thank you to all of today’s new blog visitors from Dr. Blue Jay and the behind-the-scenes birds. We appreciate you taking time out of your busy day to stop by the Inquiring Minds site dedicated to the college student population, “where minds, moods, and mental health matters meet!”

Please take a few moments to look around and make sure to check out our most recent blog posts regarding college mental health, as well as our neat new sections, including “Mental Notes,” “Ask Dr. Blue Jay,” and the “Mental Minute.”

Interested in volunteering with Inquiring Minds? Please visit: Want To Get Involved?  
(E-Mail us by Friday, June 5, 2009, for consideration!)

Good luck with any remaining finals and please join our RSS Feed, or follow us on Twitter or Facebook, so you can keep in touch and stay up to date over the summer!

“Even in the presence of others, he was completely alone.”
- Robert Pirsig

Alone in the Crowd by Olha Pryymak, 2009(c)

If you’re stressed, depressed, or just feeling quite overwhelmed in college, it’s important to know, that you’re not alone… 

Although young adulthood is often characterized by rapid intellectual and social development, college-aged individuals are also commonly exposed to circumstances that place them at risk for developing psychiatric disorders.
~ Blanco and colleagues, 2007

Psychiatric disorders are medical conditions that can dramatically affect a person’s thoughts, feelings, judgment and ability to function. These conditions can affect people of any age, but often first appear between the ages of 18 and 24.
~ The JED Foundation, 2009

The College Campus Crunch

• There are more than 4,300 degree-granting colleges and universities in the United States, enrolling 17.8 million students in the Fall of 2006.¹ Of those students, 85% were enrolled in undergraduate programs, 13% in graduate programs, and 2% in professional programs.²

• Although the age range of the college population varies widely, the American College Health Association estimates that the vast majority of college students (87.1%) are aged 18 to 24 years.³

• Among undergraduates nationwide, approximately 30% are minorities, 20% are foreign born or first generation U.S. citizens, and 55% are female.²

Mental Health: It’s Part of College Life

• An estimated 26.2 percent of Americans ages 18 and older - about one in four adults - suffers from a diagnosable mental disorder in a given year. (NIMH, 2009) 

• Epidemiological health surveys often fail to accurately gauge the extent of mental health problems among college students, both undergraduate and graduate, largely because college students straddle the conventional age-reporting categories for young adults (15-19, 20-24, 25-29 years of age).

• When we apply the “1 in 4 adults” statistic to the 2004 U.S. Census residential population estimate for ages 18 and older, this figure translates to 57.7 million people suffering from a diagnosable mental disorder in a given year.

57.7 Million? According to 2008 U.S. Census data, 57.7 million equates to the collective population of all individuals residing in the states of New York, (19.5 million), California, (36.8 million),  and Delaware, (870k), plus the District of Columbia, (592K). 

Mental Illness & The College Set

• Most mental illnesses first emerge between the ages of 15 and 24. (6)

• In a 2008 study published in the Archives of General Psychiatry, based upon results from the National Epidemiologic Study on Alcohol and Related Conditions, (N=43,093), almost one-half of the college students and their non-college-attending peers interviewed met DSM-IV criteria for at least 1 psychiatric disorder in the previous year. (7)
  • The most common disorders in college students were alcohol use disorders (20.37%) followed by personality disorders (17.68%).
  • Overall, fewer than 25% of individuals interviewed within the study with a mental disorder sought treatment in the year prior to the survey.

The American College Health Association-National conducted its bi-annual College Health Assessment Reference Group¹ Survey during the Spring 2008, from January through May 2008. According to the data collected from 80,121 students enrolled at 106 institutions of higher education, many college students reported experiencing mental health difficulties, as noted in the graph below, confirming, that you are not alone:

References (in order of appearance)        

1) American College Health Association (2009). The American College Health Association National College Health Assessment (ACHA-NCHA), Spring 2008 Reference Group Data Report. Journal of American College Health, 57(5), 477-488.

2) Choy, S. (2002). Access and persistence: Findings from 10 years of longitudinal research on students. Washington, D.C.: American Council on Education.

3) American College Health Association (2006). The American College Health Association National College Health Assessment (ACHA-NCHA), Spring 2008 Reference Group Data Report. Journal of American College Health, 57(5), 477-488.

3) American College Health Association. American College Health Association National College Health Assessment Spring 2006 Reference Group Executive Summary. Retrieved from:  http://tinyurl.com/c7ptac

4) National Institute of Mental Health. The Numbers Count: Mental Disorders in America. Retrieved from:  http://tinyurl.com/c7evb6

5) Patrick, K., Grace, T.W., and Lovato, CY. (1992). Health issues for college students. Annual Review of Public Health, 13, 253-268.

6) Kessler, R.., Berglund, P., Demler, O., Jin, R., Merikangas, K.R., & Walters, E.E. (2005). Lifetime prevalence and age-of-onset distributions of DSM-IV disorders in the National Comorbidity Survey Replication. Archives of General Psychiatry, 62, 593-602.

7) Blanco, C., Okuda, M., Wright, C., Hasin, D.S., Grant, B.F., Shang-Min, L., Olfson, M. (2008). Mental health of college students and their non-college attending peers. Archives of General Psychiatry, 65(12), 1429-1437.

~ Student Interested in Group Therapy

A. Group therapy, like individual therapy, is intended to help people who would like to gain support, increase self-awareness, and learn new ways to cope with personal or interpersonal challenges. Group therapy can be especially effective for people interested in exploring their interpersonal style and enhancing their approach to relationships in such areas as trust, intimacy, anger, conflict, assertiveness, taking risks, or improving self-esteem. Some groups are more theme-focused (e.g., Dissertation Support Group) with more of an exclusive emphasis on providing support and strategic problem-solving. The best way to learn about a specific group is to talk with the leader(s) of the group.

There are a variety of factors that make group therapy effective, and these factors will be emphasized to differing degrees depending on the group and/or the group leader(s).  Importantly, group therapy works on many levels. First, it provides a confidential space to be open about issues that are troubling you and to gain support. It is not uncommon for people to feel alone with their problems or circumstances. Discovering that other people can relate to your experiences can be very comforting. Group members can offer validation, as well as fresh ideas or viewpoints for looking at a particular situation.

Another advantage of group therapy is the opportunity to learn about oneself by listening to others. It can be very helpful when listening to other members to consider how what they are saying might apply to you. You will find that you have many things in common with other members and, as they work through their concerns, you can learn a great deal about yourself. It may also be the case that someone raises an issue that seems to really relate to you, but that you might not have been aware of or brought up yourself.

Another reason people join group therapy is to become more aware of patterns in their relationships that are problematic in some way. When people join group they usually begin to recreate the difficulties that brought them to group in the first place. Within the safety of the group, members are able to try out new ways of relating that can then be put into practice in other relationships outside the group.

Because unexpressed feelings are a major reason why people experience difficulties in relationships, sharing your feelings in the group affects how much you will be helped by it. Of course, you control what, how much, and when you share information with the group.

Members talk about whatever is troubling them or whatever brought them into therapy in the first place. Most people are anxious about beginning to talk in group. However, within a few sessions people typically find that they are able to talk in the group and that they get support from other members as they begin to share.

For process groups, the issues discussed each week arise from the members rather than being initiated by the group leader(s). Participants can discuss personal concerns or problems from everyday life; relationships with friends, family members, or significant others; or specific reactions, thoughts, or feelings to events within the group. Essentially, no topic is off limits in the group. In contrast, because theme groups (e.g., Dissertation Support Group) may have a strong didactic and/or problem-solving component, with greater homogeneity concerning member goals (e.g., finishing the dissertation), discussion and/or personal disclosures may be focused more around a specific topic area.

Some examples of Group Therapy offered during the Spring 2009 semester were:

1) Undergrad Therapy Group - Connecting on Campus

This is a weekly, unstructured, process-oriented group for undergraduate students. This group provides an opportunity for members to openly discuss the issues that concern them, such as unsatisfactory relationships (family, friendship or romantic), isolation, anxiety, depression, self-esteem and academic pressures. Group members will help each other better understand their difficulties and will support each other through the process of positive change.

2) Body Image Group

This is a group for undergraduate and graduate women who are struggling with body image concerns. Group members will learn skills to challenge negative beliefs about their bodies, while simultaneously working to develop a positive and accepting stance towards themselves. Group members will also be exposed to mindfulness techniques that will help them to develop a positive mind-body connection.

3) International Students Support Group

This is a support group for international students who are struggling with changes in cultural values, communication patterns, academic standards, and general life style differences. The group will provide our international students a supportive environment to explore their struggles and learn effective coping strategies.

Groups typically run for 75 to 90 minutes and meet once a week for anywhere from a few weeks to a semester or longer. And remember, All services are confidential and free of charge.

~ Guest Tweeted by the Johns Hopkins University Counseling Center

~ Signed, the Wanderer

A. Your problems with focusing could be due to a number of reasons. Stress, sleep deprivation, burnout, or an underlying disorder could be the cause.

First, it’s important to first look at your lifestyle. Are you getting enough sleep (7-8 hours) every night? According to recent research, college students who go to bed late are more likely to have poor quality sleep, which may affect their mental health and academic performance (American Academy of Sleep Medicine, 2007). If you feel your quality of sleep could use improvement, try getting to bed earlier, avoid caffeine in the evenings, and set aside a solid 7-8 hours for sleep each night.

If sleep isn’t the problem, your issue could be stress. If you have too much on your plate, this might be contributing to your level of concentration difficulties. Prioritize things in your life by making a “To-Do” list and taking each assignment and activity one step at a time. If you cannot remove items from your ‘To-Do” list, you can try to release some stress through exercise, stretching, or even just taking an hour our of each day to relax. Every other Monday during the academic year, Stressbusters give out free 5-7 minutes massages on Q-level in the library!

If you feel your problem could be more than stress or sleep, it may be time visit the Student Health and Wellness Center  @ (410) 516-8270, or the Counseling Center @ (410) 516-8278, and speak to a medical professional. Both offices are on campus, services are free and completely confidential. Furthermore, the staff can provide you with specific medical advice and help determine the specific problem that is plaguing you and your studies, as well as discuss methods to address and rectify your “wandering mind” issue.

~ Guest Replied by Dr. Chicky, affiliated with the JHU PEEPS Anonymous Blog & The Center for Health Education Wellness (CHEW)

Inquiring Minds is currently looking to fill a variety of student volunteer positions for the Summer 2009 semester.  This is a wonderful opportunity to dedicate your time and efforts to a highly important cause, the mental health of the Johns Hopkins (and national) college student population.

Note, you do not have to remain in the Baltimore area to volunteer with Inquiring Minds this summer. Time commitment varies by position, however, expect to spend no more than 2-3 hours per week planning, preparing, and conducting various blog-related activities. While we would prefer students from Johns Hopkins University, we will accept and review applications from undergraduate and graduate students from other colleges and universities across the country. Ideally we are looking for undergraduate or graduate students, however, we will accept applications from recent college graduates, professionals in related fields, or mental health advocates.

Inquiring Minds is currently looking for the following positions:

Resident Blogger
As a Resident Blogger, you would be responsible for submitting one to two blogs per week regarding a topic related to mental health, mental illness, psychiatry, psychology, or clinical research. The topics can be based upon your own interests, recent news headlines, research discoveries, etc., and the blog posts should be no longer than several paragraphs, maximum.

Part-Time Blogger
As a Part-Time resident blogger, you would be responsible for submitting one to two blogs every other week, regarding a topic related to mental health, mental illness, psychiatry, psychology, or clinical research. The topics can be based upon your own interests, recent news headlines, research discoveries, and the Blog posts should be no longer than several paragraphs, maximum.

Mental Health Reporter/Interviewer
As a Mental Health Reporter/Interviewer, you would be responsible for contacting professionals and advocates in the mental health field and conduct e-mail, telephone or in-person interviews regarding specific college mental health-related topics. This is a wonderful opportunity to establish connections with top leaders in the field and hone your writing skills. We would ideally like the Reporter/Interviewer to conduct one interview per week which will be posted on the web, if possible, although our schedule is quite flexible.

One-Time Guest Posts
We also welcome one-time only writing and artwork submissions from students which can be posted in either the “Blog” or “Mental Notes” sections - posts can be listed anonymously or can contain your name and information regarding your major, university affiliation, careers interests, etc.

CONTACT:

Please use the site Contact Form or send an e-mail to InquiringMindsMatter@gmail.com with the Subject Title: “Volunteer Position,” highlighting your interest in one of the above-mentioned positions. Please make sure to list your summer schedule, your class standing and major, and any personal interests you may have in mental health, if applicable. In addition, we strongly suggest submitting a writing sample(s) and a copy of your resume or CV, (as an attachment), although this is not necessary to apply or be considered for a position. 

Please contact Inquiring Minds by  Friday, June 5, 2009 in order to be considerd for a position.  

 (Early contact is recommended!)

If you want to join our Volunteer List Mailing List, please contact us with your name, contact information and a description of your preferred volunteer activities.

Thank you and we look forward to hearing from you! Have a wonderful summer! 

The Perspectives of Psychiatry, Second Edition
Paul R. McHugh, M.D. and Phillip R. Slavney, M.D
Johns Hopkins University Press; 2nd Edition
Paperback, 352 Pages

 Blue Jay’s Bookworm Rating: 5 out of 5 Worms 

Taken from Chapter 1: The Mind-Brain Problem and a Structure for Psychiatry

“Students of Psychiatry have two tasks to accomplish as they seek to master this discipline. They must become familiar with the features of mental disorders and their treatments […] and simultaneously must grasp implications embedded in the several methods of explaining mental disorders that, when unacknowledged and unordered, give this discipline denominationalist disarray inimical to progress. […] As our title implies, the purpose of this book is not to review the contemporary contents of psychiatry on which practice proceeds […] rather, our intention is to consider and render explicit the forms in which those contents are contained, that is, the basic pattern of thought and explanation by means of which psychiatrists arrive at the diagnostic and therapeutic assertions.”

In the highly regarded text, The Perspectives of Psychiatry, authors Dr. Paul McHugh and Dr. Phillip Slavney embark on a meticulous endeavor to transcend the fundamental limitations, divisive, fragmented divisions, and the operational and organizational challenges hinging upon the absolute elucidation and clinical management of mental illness, difficulties which have undoubtedly plagued and stunted the timely progression of contemporary psychiatry.  The authors present a comprehensive structural and instructive framework to be applied in psychiatric medicine, incorporating the application of four conceptual methods designed to clearly illustrate and cohesively facilitate the identification, understanding, study, and treatment of psychopathology.  Highlighting specific characteristics, components and elements of psychopathology through the lens of the “disease, dimensional, behavioral, and life-story” Perspectives of Psychiatry, these four interweaved “patterns of thought,” serve as complementary yet distinctive avenues possessing the simplistic yet remarkable utility of targeting specific realms of psychiatric afflictions. (For example, suicide methodically assessed as a disordered “behavior” with the goal of death, or the “disease” approach applied to highlight the neuropathology at the foundation of the cardinal hallucination symptoms frquently observed in Schizophrenia.)

Authors McHugh and Slavney take into consideration the inherent complexity of diagnosing mental illness and the heterogeneous nature of the psychiatric population, issues compounded by the narrow descriptive understanding of the “mind-brain” relationship and the methodical weakness of the one-dimensional, superficial classificatory scheme of psychopathology offered by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. They analytically equate the multi-faceted, pervasive foundations of psychiatric afflictions to four, interlocking pieces of a puzzle, that individually, carry significant meaning, yet when together, present and ‘assembled,’ offer clarity and a greater understanding of the larger puzzle picture, the patient and their clinical presentation of mental illness. 

A must-read for those with an interest in psychology, psychiatry, mental health, and mental illness - this text is incorporated into the medical student educational curriculum at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and is also discussed in greater length during Dr. Edwin’s Theory & Methods/Clinical Psychology course offered at the Homewood undergraduate campus at Johns Hopkins, for those Hopkins readers out there.

Editorial Reviews:

“This brilliant book illuminates psychiatry more clearly than any other work I know…. This is the best (and the shortest) single volume on psychiatry that anyone could read.” – New England Journal of Medicine

“Every psychiatry department, regardless of ideology, should build a course around this… work. Open—mindedness might become fashionable.” – Journal of Clinical Psychiatry

“A very informative text that does an excellent job of introducing to some and presenting to others effective approaches to psychiatric and neurological symptoms… Provides practical, time friendly, concepts that would be usable after only the first read.” — M. Ojinga Harrison, M.D., Journal of Psychosomatic Research

Paul R. McHugh, M.D., is Henry Phipps Professor and Director in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Phillip R. Slavney, M.D., is Eugene Meyer III Professor of Psychiatry and Medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

~ Curious Student

A. The leading federal agencies working to reduce the burden of mental disorders are the National Institute for Mental Health (NIMH) and the Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS). Both organizations have extensive Web sites that provide substantial information including statistics on mental disorders, reports and fact sheets on specific mental disorders in specific populations, and consensus conference reports on the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders. 

Below are Booklets regarding various mental disorders published by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), which can be viewed online, or downloaded and printed for easy reference:

National Institute of Mental Health* (NIMH) Booklets (Available for Download)

• Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder:  PDF
• Anxiety Disorders
  • Generalized Anxiety Disorder: PDF
  • Obssessive Compulsive Disorder: PDF
  • Panic Disorder: PDF
  • Post-Traumautic Stress Disorder: PDF
  • Social Phobia: PDF
• Bipolar Disorder: PDF
• Depression: PDF
• Eating Disorders: PDF
• Schizophrenia: PDF

* National Institute of Mental Health, 2009: Health & Outreach Publications

Furthermore, please view our Inquiring Minds Links section for information regarding national mental health related organizations, Johns Hopkins University resources, Baltimore area organizations, and informational sites dedicated to specific populations. 

And as always, the Johns Hokins University Student Health and Wellness Center  @ (410) 516-8270, or the Counseling Center @ (410) 516-8278, have medical professionals standing by ready to answer personal questions regarding specific disorders.

~ Guest Replied by the Flocks of the CDC and the National Institute of Mental Health

NIMH publications are in the public domain and may be reproduced or copied without the permission from the Institute (NIMH). NIMH encourages you to reproduce them and use them in your efforts to improve public health. 

NIMH, 2008, CDC, 2005 (c)

“Breathe Me,” by Sia Furler

From the album, Colour the Small One
(c) 2006 Universal Music Group
Available @: I-Tunes, Amazon, YouTube

 Blue Jay’s Rating: 5 out of 5 Notes ♪♪♪♪♪

In the interview “The Making of Colour the Small One,” artist Sia discusses the meaning behind the song: “Breathe Me is about feeling worried, generally anxious. Being overwhelmed by your own inner dialogue and having some sort of conniption fit and then potentially doing yourself some harm, and then asking for help.”

The original video is quite creative and perfectly conveys Sia’s personal story regarding anxiety and loneliness, however Universal Music doesn’t like embedding: Original Video

Breathe Me

Help, I have done it again
I have been here many times before
Hurt myself again today
And, the worst part is,
There’s no one else to blame

Be my friend
Hold me, wrap me up
Unfold me
I am small
and needy
Warm me up
And breathe me

Ouch I have lost myself again
Lost myself and I am nowhere to be found,
Yeah I think that I might break
Lost myself again and I feel unsafe

Be my friend
Hold me, wrap me up
Unfold me
I am small
and needy
Warm me up
And breathe me

Music Copyright Information

Furler, Sia. “Breathe Me.” Colour the Small One. Universal Music Group, 2006.
(c) 2004 Systemtactic Limited t/a Go! Beat Under Exclusive Licence to Universal-Island Records, Ltd.

Furler, Sia. “Breathe Me.” Lyrics & Cover Art. Colour the Small One. Universal Music Group, 2006. (c) 2004 Systemtactic Limited t/a Go! Beat Under Exclusive Licence to Universal-Island Records, Ltd.

YouTube. “Sia, Breathe Me Lyrics.” Online video clip, YouTube. Retrieved May 10, 2009, from Source Link.