Posts Tagged ‘anxiety’

Be Part of the Mental Health Solution

March 29th, 2013

Students can’t be academically successful when they’re battling anxiety, depression, substance abuse and other common conditions.  Nearly 50% of lifetime mental disorders begin by the mid-teens.  That’s why we’ve launched a partnership with Kognito Interactive to educate middle and high-school teachers how to recognize signs of depression and other mental health disorders that have the potential to lead to low academic achievement, violence or even suicide. At Risk for Middle School Educators and At Risk for High School Teachers are hour-long, avatar-based online training programs where teachers, administrators and staff learn to recognize and help when a student’s behavior and appearance may be a sign of psychological distress, such as depression, anxiety or substance abuse. 

When equipped with the appropriate knowledge on how to handle sensitive situations, teachers and staff have a better chance of success in connecting the student with help.  At-Risk simulations are the first online trainings available to provide realistic and risk-free role-play exercises in identifying, speaking with, and referring troubled youth.  Developed with input from teachers and some of the country’s leading authorities on youth suicide prevention, At-Risk helps connect students to treatment early on- which is critical to improving mental health outcomes. 

This professional development opportunity is free and available to high schools and middle schools in Arizona.  It only takes an hour to complete, doesn’t need to take away from class time, and comes with a certificate of completion.  It can also be paused and restarted without having to start from the beginning.  To take the training…  sign in at the following links for Middle School and High School.

 

No comments »

Posted in Behavioral Health

Tags:

M2 Petition Decision

July 19th, 2012

The voter approved list of conditions that already qualify patients for an AZ Medical Marijuana Registration Card (with a doctor’s certification) includes any of the following: any chronic or debilitating disease or medical condition (or its treatment) that causes severe and chronic pain, severe nausea, severe and persistent muscle spasms, wasting, or seizures, cancer, glaucoma, HIV, Hepatitis C, ALS, Crohn’s disease, agitation of Alzheimer’s disease.  The AZ Medical Marijuana Act also requires us to periodically accept petitions to permanently add new medical conditions to the list of conditions that qualify folks for a card.  

We accepted petitions from the public to add new medical conditions back in January.  Folks submitted numerous articles as a part their petitions for PTSD 1; PTSD 2; Depression; Migraines; and Generalized Anxiety Disorder.  We also received lots of informal comments regarding adding PTSD; Depression; Migraines; Generalized Anxiety Disorder and General comments.  We also heard in person testimony from dozens of folks at our public hearing in May.

Because my guiding principle for making the decision was to use science and research, we contracted with the U of A College of Public Health to do an evidence review of published scientific studies to help us to make a more informed decision.  You can see the UA’s analyses for Depression; Generalized Anxiety Disorder; Migraine Headaches; and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) on our petition website.   The UA used the GRADE methodology to evaluate the quality of the studies looking at the benefits and harms of using Cannabis to treat or provide relief for the conditions that were petitioned to add to the list of qualifying conditions for a Medical Marijuana Registration card.  Also, our ADHS Medical Advisory Committee reviewed and analyzed the data and provided me with recommendations earlier this week.

We heard and received a host of moving stories from the public both on-line and during our a public hearing in May.  Many of the commenters and folks that testified self-reported that they believe Cannabis provided relief for the petitioned conditions.  However, our literature review found limited scientific evidence to document whether Cannabis is helpful or not for the petitioned conditions or that support permanently adding the petitioned conditions to the statutory list of qualifying debilitating conditions identified in the Act.  In short- I didn’t approve the petitions because of the lack of published data regarding the risks and benefits of using Cannabis to treat or provide relief for the petitioned conditions. 

However, some of the petitioned conditions (such as migraine headaches) already qualify patients for a medical marijuana registration card if they cause severe and chronic pain, severe nausea, severe and persistent muscle spasms, wasting, or seizures.

Whatever you think of the decision, just know that our team and I really took an objective and close look at the scientific evidence before making this decision.  And remember, the Act provides for a judicial review of this decision and a continuing petition process.  In fact, we’ll be accepting petitions again next week.

21 comments »

Posted in General

Tags:

What’s Debilitating?

April 20th, 2012

The voter approved language in the AZ Medical Marijuana Act directs us to periodically accept and evaluate petitions to add new debilitating medical conditions.  We’ve made it through the first phase of considering whether to add 4 new debilitating conditions… 1) Post Traumatic Stress Disorder; 2) Generalized Anxiety Disorder; 3) Migraines; and 4) Depression.  You’ll be able to give us your thoughts about these four conditions at a public hearing next month (May 25th from 1 – 4 p.m. at our State Lab).  You can read the information we already have about these four starting next week.

If we decide to add PTSD or any other debilitating conditions, we want to make sure we’re on solid medical ground.  I’m heading down to a conference in Tucson next weekend where physicians can get Continuing Medical Education credits for learning about medical cannabis.

10 comments »

Posted in Uncategorized

Tags:

Turning 50

November 3rd, 2011

Two things happen when you turn 50.  First, you start getting invitations to join the AARP in the mail every couple of weeks (until they give up).  Second, your doctor tells you it’s time for your colonoscopy screening.  That’s the one that puts a lump in your throat.  At 51, I finally bit the bullet and got my colonoscopy screen- and it may have saved my life.

Here’s what to expect.  If you have anxiety, rest assured that it’s not too bad and definitely worth it. You’ve probably heard that the preparation part is the worst, and that’s true.  But, it’s not all that bad especially now that they have a formula that you can’t taste.  You do need to drink lots of Gatorade or something like that (with the added laxative).  The last couple of glasses are the hardest to swallow because you’re saturated but it’s not that bad.  The purging part takes a total of 6 hours or so, but you can still get other things done around the house.  Since you’re drinking alot, heating it up to body temperature and then expelling it- you do get cold, so dress warm.

It’s best to schedule your appointment first thing in the morning so you don’t go hungry all day on the day of your screening.  They’ll take your vital signs and give you an IV for the medication you’ll get during the procedure when you arrive.  When they roll you back to the room, they’ll have a short conversation with you and then start the “twilight” medication, which kind of half-way knocks you out.  You’re awake for the procedure, but you can’t really tell what’s going on.  The actual procedure itself usually takes just a short time; mine lasted 11 minutes.  When you come out, they’ll tell you the results and then you can go home (someone has to drive you).

I turned out to have something called a polyp (1 cm), which is a benign growth.  If you have one, they’ll remove it during the procedure with this lasso tool.  Not every polyp turns into cancer, but every colon cancer starts as a polyp.  And since colon cancer is the 2nd leading cause of cancer death, it’s really important to find and remove polyps before they turn into cancer.

Anyway, this is an important screening and it’s not nearly as bad as you might think… so if you’re over 50 and you haven’t done it yet, get it over with.  Don’t fret.  It’s not that bad and it’s definitely worth it.

1 comment »

Posted in General, Prevention

Tags:

A New Best Practice for Suicide Prevention

March 22nd, 2011

SAMHSA’s Suicide Prevention Resource Center has added At-Risk for High School Educators to its Best Practice Registry for suicide prevention programs. At-Risk is an online interactive training simulation designed to prepare teachers to identify, approach, and refer students exhibiting signs psychological distress including depression, anxiety, and thoughts of suicide. Users assume the role of a high school teacher and engage in simulated role-play conversations with emotionally responsive student avatars exhibiting signs of depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation.

The virtual students are capable of visually and verbally expressing emotions in reaction to users’ decisions during the conversation, effectively replicating real life interactions. Users learn motivational interviewing techniques such as framing open-ended questions and using reflective listening to effectively broach the topic of psychological distress, motivate the at-risk student to seek help, and avoid common pitfalls, such as attempting to counsel the student or diagnose the problem. Texas and New York have already adopted this program to train over 70,000 educators in their states.  You can read more about this announcement here, and you can view a narrated walkthrough here.

1 comment »

Posted in Behavioral Health

Tags: