Psychiatry's pursuit of euthymia: another wild goose chase or an opportunity for principle-based facilitation?

The authors are encouraged that the field of psychiatry is moving towards including euthymia and its components (e.g., well-being, flourishing and resilience) as well as dysfunction (i.e., psychopathology and its symptoms) in its assessment and treatment. We are concerned, however, that to guide its pursuit of euthymia, psychiatry appears to be adopting the same 'outside-in' paradigm as positive psychology; that the positive must be 'put into' people via assisting them to adopt new positive beliefs and persistently practice psychotherapeutic techniques. We fear that if psychiatry continues to view the positive through this 'outside-in' lens, its pursuit of euthymia will bear small fruit. In this editorial, we posit that mental health and psychopathology can be viewed from the same basis because both are created in the same way; from the 'inside-out' via people's use of three psycho-spiritual Principles-Universal Mind, Consciousness and Thought. We posit that people can use these Principles in a way that either creates distressing symptoms or releases innate euthymia. We further posit that via awareness and sufficient insight-based understanding of how these Principles manifest within everyone, psychiatry can achieve a deeper understanding of the source of all psychological experience that will facilitate its pursuit of euthymia.

A survey study of occupational pain and injury in ophthalmic plastic surgeons.

PURPOSE: To determine factors associated with pain/injury related to practicing ophthalmic plastic and reconstructive surgery. METHODS: A 29-question electronic survey was sent to the American Society of Ophthalmic Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery's listserv. The Chi-Squared Automatic Interaction Detector technique was used to generate a decision tree using SPSS software. The levels of dendograms were limited to 8. Significance was pre-established at α = 0.05. RESULTS: One hundred thirty surveys were completed, and 72.5% reported pain associated with operating, 80.9% reported use of loupe magnification, 68.7% reported use of a headlight, 42.5% reported modification of their operating room practice, and 9.2% reported stopping operating due to pain or spine injury. Most respondents regularly exercise, with 55.7% characterizing the amount of exercise as less than necessary; 60.8% and 57.3% agreed that loupe use and headlamp use, respectively, can lead to spine problems.Chi-Squared Automatic Interaction Detector analysis found that 62.7% (n = 47) with neck pain had modified their operating room practice, compared with 13.5% (n = 7) without pain (χ = 30.42; df = 1; p < 0.001); All surgeons that had to stop operating (n = 9) had tried modifying their operating room practice; over half (57.6%, n = 38) of practicing surgeons had changed their operating room practice (χ = 6.09; df = 1; p = 0.014). The majority who exercised 5 hours or less had modified their operating room practice (70.2%, n = 33), compared with 26.3% (n = 5) who exercised more. CONCLUSIONS: Many oculoplastic surgeons experience discomfort due to operating, and an alarming minority have stopped operating due to pain or neck injury. Participants identified loupe and headlamp use as a special concern.

The effect of a Health Realization/Innate Health psychoeducational seminar on stress and anxiety in HIV-positive patients.

BACKGROUND: Chronic stress and depression have a negative impact on immune functioning and threaten the well-being of HIV-positive patients. Although therapy methods, such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, have been shown to reduce stress and depression in such patients, not all patients are willing or able to undergo therapy over time. The Health Realization/Innate Health (HR/IH) psychoeducational approach is a brief intervention alternative that can be presented in a classroom setting. It engages participants' innate capacity to realize peace of mind. MATERIAL/METHODS: Eight volunteer participants from patients in the Positive Health Clinic at West Virginia University School of Medicine attended a 1-1/2 day HR/IH seminar called "Finding Your Natural Peace of Mind". Shortly before the seminar started, the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI) was administered by a Clinic staff member. The BSI was administered again immediately following the seminar. The BSI was mailed to the participants four weeks following the seminar with a return envelope. Participants' confidentiality was maintained through a coded ID. Pre-, post- and follow-up results were compared. RESULTS: Each case was evaluated individually. The participant who pre-tested in the "psychiatric inpatient" range of the BSI showed no change after the seminar or at follow-up. The participants who tested in the non-patient normal range before the seminar showed some improvement after and at follow-up. The participants who scored in the "psychiatric outpatient" range entering the seminar all showed improvement that was sustained upon follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: The HR/IH psychoeducational approach deserves further study as a brief intervention for stress-reduction in HIV-positive patients.

Health Realization/Innate Health: can a quiet mind and a positive feeling state be accessible over the lifespan without stress-relief techniques?

Health Realization/Innate Health (HR/IH) questions long-held assumptions about chronic stress, and challenges current definitions of both stress and resiliency. HR/IH sets forth principles that explain why the experience of psychological stress is not an effect of causal factors beyond people's control, but is an artifact of the energetic potential of the mind. HR/IH describes the "cognitive factor" in stress not as the content of people's thinking in response to stressors, but rather as a quality of the way people hold and use their thinking, referred to as state of mind. HR/IH hypothesizes that understanding principles that explain the nature and origin of thinking and experience offers a means to access innate protective processes that are healing and antibiosenescent reliably and consistently, without techniques. HR/IH suggests that the primary effort of mental health care could be to initiate life-long prevention of the state of chronic stress. In addition, HR/IH suggests that addressing mental well-being would have a broad impact on the incidence and course of the many physical illnesses that are known to be stress-related. The brief therapeutic interactions of HR/IH draw upon people's innate wisdom and recognition of the healthy perspective available to everyone. Anecdotal results suggest that people who gain insight into the principles that explain the nature of thought and experience and who realize how to re-access a natural, positive state of mind can and do experience sustained day-to-day peace of mind, wisdom and well-being, regardless of circumstances. HR/IH deserves rigorous scientific evaluation.