Learning From The Past and Planning For The Future
MENTAL HEALTH MOMENT February 1, 2002 "It is never too late to become what you might have been." - George Eliot LINKS AND SHORT TOPICS
LINKS AND SHORT TOPICS
Poor and homeless battle the elements in Tajikistan
The shabby walls of their old mud huts were probably the last possessions of the inhabitants of the remote mountain village of Talkhak-Chashma, which means 'bitter spring'. Their jobs went ten years ago when construction ended on the Rogun hydroelectric power station - the biggest in Tajikistan - after the collapse of the USSR.
"The area was to be flooded with the completion of the dam and we were to be moved, but the local authorities did not encourage renovation and reconstruction here," says Umar Kasymov, sighing with regret. "When we had jobs and money we sincerely believed that we would soon move to another place and did not bother much about housing."
More at: http://www.ifrc.org/docs/news/02/012202/
FNyiragongo: Rwandan Red Cross airlift in full swing
The Rwandan Red Cross is now active in three of the temporary camps for people who fled last week's eruption of the Mount Nyiragongo volcano and has taken overall charge of one. With Federation support, it is providing first aid, food, health instruction and some non-food items in Mudende, Nkamira and Ruhengeri camps - between them holding about 11,500 people at last count.
Rwandan Red Cross volunteers, who were mobilized in the immediate aftermath of the eruption to provide basic assistance to people on the road, Tuesday carried out a distribution of blankets and cooking sets to all the estimated 4500 people in Mudende camp - actually a half- finished college building - where it has taken charge.
More at: http://www.ifrc.org/docs/news/02/012201/
Twelfth Annual Rotman Research Institute Conference: Emotions and the Brain March 25-26, 2002, Toronto, Ontario, Canada For Information, Contact: Education Department, Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care, 3560 Bathhurst Street, Toronto, Canada M6A 2E1 Telephone: (416) 785-2500 ext 2363 Fax: (416) 785-4215 Email: conference@rotman-baycrest.on.ca Web site: http://www.rotman-baycrest.on.ca/conf
Fourth Meeting of the International Academy of Family Psychology: "Families in Context: International Perspectives on Change" April 7-10, 2002, Heidelberg, Germany For information, Contact: Email: Sabine Walper at walper@edu.uni-muenchen.de or Florence Kaslow at kaslowfs@worldnet.att.net
RESEARCHERS INVESTIGATE ALTERNATIVE SURGICAL TREATMENT FOR PARKINSON'S PATIENTS
A researcher at Penn State Hershey Medical Center and Penn State College of Medicine is investigating an alternative surgical treatment that could rejuvenate patients suffering from Parkinson's Disease.
Peter A. Pahapill, M.D., Ph.D., director of Functional, Stereotactic and Restorative Neurosurgery, at Penn State Hershey Medical Center, is conducting the study, which calls for 20 Parkinson's patients to undergo Chronic deep brain stimulation or DBS treatment and observation over a period of three years. The study is approved by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration.
Parkinson's Disease (PD) is a progressive degenerative neurological disease that strikes men and women of all ethnicities, but is more prevalent among people over age 64. The disease affects roughly one million Americans, including such well-known individuals as actor Michael J. Fox and boxing legend Muhammad Ali.
DBS is an alternative therapy for Parkinson's disease. It involves the use of electronics - "a pacemaker for the brain" - to stimulate and modify brain activity. DBS is reversible, adjustable and may create less persistent adverse effects than conventional operations that involve the intentional scaring of brain tissue.
According to Dr. Pahapill, DBS involves the insertion of three mechanical components: an electrode lead; an extension; and an implantable pulse generator or IPG. The lead consists of small insulated wires connected to four electrode contacts. The lead is implanted in the brain, near the site where traditional surgical treatments would call for a permanent lesion to be made, and is connected to the extension cable that connects to the IPG. The IPG is implanted in the subcutaneous tissue below the clavicle (collar bone). The full story is at: http://www.hmc.psu.edu/news/pr/2001/Dec/Parkinsons.htm
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Cultural beliefs can be both resources and barriers in providing support for grieving families. Across cultures, people differ in what they believe and understand about life and death, what they feel, what elicits those feelings, the perceived implications of those feelings, the ways they express those feelings, the appropriateness of certain feelings, and the techniques for dealing with feelings that cannot be directly expressed (Rosenblatt, 1993). Historical studies have shown how individuals in western culture have mourned differently over time (Newnes, 1991; Kohn & Levav, 1990). A cross-cultural perspective shows an infinite variety in people's responses to death, in how they mourn, and in the nature of their internalization of the lost object. Rather than being process-oriented, mourning is seen as an adaptive response to specific task demands arising from loss that must be dealt with regardless of individual, culture, or historical era (Hagman, 1995). Americans report thinking significantly more about grief, religious feelings and death than do Japanese (Asai & Barnlund, 1998). Ancestor worship in Japan is ritual. It is supported by a sophisticated theory through which the living manage their bonds with the dead. It is a process similar to the resolution of grief in the modern west (Klass, 1996). Klass & Heath (1997) explored the grief of Japanese parents after abortion and the ritual by which the grief is resolved. The ritual is Mizuko Ruyo. Mizuko means child of the water. Ruyo is a Buddhist offering. In a ritual drama played out by Jizo, the bodhisattva who suffers for others, the parents' pain and the child's pain are connected. In that connection, the pain of each is resolved. The child is made part of the community and does not become a spirit bringing harm to the family. The parents can fulfill their obligation to care for the child and transform the sense of kurnon, sickness unto death, into a realization of Buddhism's first noble truth, that all life is suffering. In a slightly different cultural context, The Bardo Thodol (Tibetan Book of the Dead) together with its associated ritual provides a way to understand how Buddhism in Tibetan culture manages the issues associated with what is called grief in Western psychology. The resolution of grief in the survivors is intertwined with the journey to rebirth of the deceased (Goss & Klass,1997). The primary mental health benefits of ritual are closely tied to the relational aspects of the ritual process. These act to validate and encourage the healthy expression of a wide range of human emotions. Jacobs (1992) concludes that religious ceremony and ritual functions mitigate anxiety and deal effectively with other problematic emotional states. Religious rites have a cathartic effect as emotions are released and expressed through attachment and connection to significant others. Reeves (1989, 1990) suggests that ritual can be used to assist individuals to move from a maladaptive to an adaptive style of grieving. Rubin (1990) used social network theory to compare mourning behaviors in the United States with those in Israeli kibbutz. He found that, in a dense social network such as a small or medium-sized kibbutz, mourning is part of a wider circle of family, friends, neighbors, and co-workers. He suggests that the funerals in the United States may force loose social networks to generate an image of social support. Rubin suggests using social network theory as a basis for cross-cultural analysis of the range of participation in mourning rituals. Hagman (1995) reviewed the standard psychoanalytic model of mourning and suggests that the model may not be generally valid. The psychoanalytic literature and data from clinical practice fail to confirm basic components of mourning theory. Stroebe (1992,1993) challenges the belief in the importance of "grief work" for adjustment to bereavement (the grief work hypothesis). She examined claims made in theoretical formulations and principles of grief counseling and therapy concerning the necessity of working through loss. Reviews of empirical evidence and cross-cultural findings document alternative patterns of coping with grief. Stroebe argues that there are grounds for questioning the hypothesis: Existing definitions and operationalizations are problematic; the few empirical studies that have examined the impact of grief work have yielded equivocal results; grief work is not a universal concept. She proposes a revision of the definition of grief work, which overcomes the confounding of the process with symptomatology and should facilitate future empirical testing, and suggests a differential approach. Teams of counselors dispatched to mass casualty disaster sites can at times be an overwhelming presence. Sensitivity to cultural needs and desires are necessary to provide appropriate and desired services. Newell (1998) in a cross-cultural study of privacy found that the majority of students (aged 17 -45) from Ireland, Senegal and the United States in their study believed that not being disturbed was the most important element of privacy and grief. Fatigue and need to focus were the main affective sets associated with seeking privacy. The affect associated with a desire for privacy, the definition of privacy as a condition of the person, the duration of the average privacy experience, and the change in affect at the completion of the experience suggested that privacy has a therapeutic effect. In summary, sensitivity to the culturally appropriate needs for ritual in responding to grief and providing for privacy and personal needs are paramount. Imposing a "one size fits all" grief model on people, however well intentioned, may cause more harm and ill feeling than good. Respect for the beliefs, rituals and desires of those affected can accomplish far more than unwanted attention and interventions. ************************************************************************************************************************
GRIEF: A BRIEF CROSS-CULTURAL PERSPECTIVE REFERENCES Asai, A. & Barnlund, D. C. (1998). Boundaries of the unconscious private, and public self in Japanese and Americans: A cross-cultural comparison. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 22: 431-452. Goss, R. E. & Klass, D. (1997). Tibetan Buddhism and the resolution of grief: The Bardo-thodo for the dying and the grieving. Death Studies, 21: 377-395. Hagman, G. (1995). Mourning: A review and reconsideration. International Journal of Psycho Analysis, 76: 909-925. Jacobs, J. L. (1992). Relgious ritual and mental health. In Schumaker, John F. (Ed); et al. Religion and mental health. (pp. 291-299). New York, NY, USA: Oxford University Press. viii, 320 pp. Klass, D. (1996). Ancestor worship in Japan: Dependence and the resolution of grief. Omega: Journal of Death and Dying; 33: 279-302. Klass, D. & Heath, A. O. (1997). Grief and abortion: Mizuko Kuyo, the Japanese ritual resolution. Omega: Journal of Death and Dying; 34: 1-14. Kohn, R. & Levav, I. (1990). Bereavement in disaster: An overview of the research. International Journal of Mental Health, 19: 61-76. Newell, P. B. (1998). A cross-cultural comparison of privacy definitions and functions: A systems approach. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 18: 357-371. Newnes, C. (Ed) (1991). Death, dying, and society. Changes: An International Journal of psychology and psychotherapy. Hove, England UK: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc. (1991). vi, 177 pp. Reeves, N. C.& Boersma, F. J. (1989,1990). The therapeutic use of ritual in maladaptive grieving. Omega: Journal of Death and Dying; 20: 281-291. Rosenblatt, P. C. (1993). Cross-cultural variation in the experience, expression, and understanding of grief. In Irish, Donald P. (Ed); Lundquist, Kathleen F. (Ed); et-al. Ethnic variations in dying, death, and grief: Diversity in universality. Series in death education, aging, and health care. (pp. 13-19). Washington, DC, USA: Taylor & Francis. xxii, 226 pp. Rubin, N. (1990). Social networks and mourning: A comparative approach. Omega: Journal of Death and Dying; 21: 113-127. Stroebe, M. S. (1992,1993). Coping with bereavement: A review of the grief work hypothesis. Omega: Journal of Death and Dying; 26: 19-42. To search for books on disasters and disaster mental health topics, children and disasters and purchase them online, go to the following url: https://www.angelfire.com/biz/odochartaigh/searchbooks.html ********************************************************************** ********************************************************************** Contact your local Mental Health Center or check the yellow pages for counselors, psychologists, therapists, and other Mental health Professionals in your area for further information. ********************************************************************** George W. Doherty O'Dochartaigh Associates Box 786 Laramie, WY 82073-0786 MENTAL HEALTH MOMENT Online: https://www.angelfire.com/biz3/news
