Health Expert Christina Bruni shares health management news and commentary at HealthCentral.com. HealthCentral.com is one of the top health destinations on the Web, with more than 35 condition-specific, wellness and general health Web properties. http://www.healthcentral.com/profiles/c/120/index http://www.healthcentral.com/profiles/c/120/rss self application/xml en-us 15 120 19 http://www.healthcentral.com/images/hc_logo_sm.gif http://www.healthcentral.com/profiles/c/120/index http://www.healthcentral.com/schizophrenia/c/120/160929/reclaiming-recovery Sun, 19 May 2013 14:04:00 -0400 Christina Bruni The term "illness identity" was coined to refer to how individuals diagnosed with mental health conditions define themselves by their illness and its symptoms.   The New York Times recently featured an article written by a woman diagnosed with bipolar about how she faced the loss of her self in private and no psychiatrist or therapist ever talked about this significant turnaround in treatment with her.   I submit we can reclaim... http://www.healthcentral.com/schizophrenia/c/120/160929/reclaiming-recovery http://www.healthcentral.com/schizophrenia/c/120/160853/cognitive-schizophrenia Tue, 14 May 2013 09:36:00 -0400 Christina Bruni Cognitive Enhancement Therapy (CET) or cognitive remediation therapy can be considered an evidence-based intervention used to improve cognitive and social functioning in individuals with schizophrenia.   Medication helps control positive symptoms like paranoia, hallucinations and delusions yet is largely ineffective on its own against a negative symptom like cognition.   Impaired cognition takes the form of deficits in paying... http://www.healthcentral.com/schizophrenia/c/120/160853/cognitive-schizophrenia http://www.healthcentral.com/schizophrenia/c/120/160800/national-awareness-month Thu, 09 May 2013 16:31:20 -0400 Christina Bruni May is Mental Health Awareness Month.   It remains to be seen exactly the number of people who change their minds about people diagnosed with mental health conditions. It remains to be seen exactly the number of outsiders who learn about the signs and symptoms so as to get immediate or early treatment.   I would like to believe the word gets out to at least tens of thousands of people living in America. It's a flip-flop as to... http://www.healthcentral.com/schizophrenia/c/120/160800/national-awareness-month http://www.healthcentral.com/schizophrenia/c/120/160573/cleaning-revisited Sun, 28 Apr 2013 00:02:00 -0400 Christina Bruni I want to revisit the idea of spring cleaning or cleaning house: getting all your ducks in a row and clearing out the old outdated stuff and making room for the new.    You can achieve an improved version of yourself when you let go of the clutter in your house and your head that ties you to the past.   It might not happen overnight.  Who among us hasn't regretted something that happened 10 or 20 years ago as if it happened... http://www.healthcentral.com/schizophrenia/c/120/160573/cleaning-revisited http://www.healthcentral.com/schizophrenia/c/120/160527/strategies-journaling Thu, 25 Apr 2013 17:23:00 -0400 Christina Bruni Of all the strategies I've used in my recovery: keeping a journal has to be the number-one technique.  I started out in college with a Journal course where we kept a journal and read our entries in class and at the end of the semester the professor took the books and graded them.   His words circa 1986 were prophetic when he critiqued me:   "And so you have learned, earlier than most, that life is not all of a piece, and some... http://www.healthcentral.com/schizophrenia/c/120/160527/strategies-journaling http://www.healthcentral.com/schizophrenia/c/120/160458/schizophrenia-news-april Mon, 22 Apr 2013 14:16:00 -0400 Christina Bruni The Independent, a UK newspaper, reports that "tens of thousands" of people with schizophrenia are discriminated from obtaining employment in that country.   A report by the Work Foundation indicates only eight percent of the people diagnosed with schizophrenia are in paid employment compared with 71 percent of the general population.   Seven out of 10 people with this illness felt they were stigmatized because of a lack of... http://www.healthcentral.com/schizophrenia/c/120/160458/schizophrenia-news-april http://www.healthcentral.com/schizophrenia/c/120/160300/imho-adl-skills-matter Sun, 14 Apr 2013 11:31:00 -0400 Christina Bruni ADL skills or activities of daily living are the foundation that  a successful recovery is built on.   The rocket shooters among us might sneer at these basic elements.  Yet as far as I've come: I will give credit to a person's ability to master simple things like doing laundry and cooking.   In my family, my Italian mamma cooked, cleaned and did laundry.  My father in their 56 years of marriage has done none of this... http://www.healthcentral.com/schizophrenia/c/120/160300/imho-adl-skills-matter http://www.healthcentral.com/schizophrenia/c/120/160001/recovery-strategies Tue, 26 Mar 2013 19:50:00 -0400 Christina Bruni "Can I get this pot?" I asked the counselor who had driven the residents to the supermarket for our weekly grocery shopping.  I waved a 2 qt saucepan wildly in the air.   "Isn't that illegal?" he joked.   "I was able to buy everything else.  I have five dollars left."   "Okay," he smiled.   We were glad the order totaled exactly $70 dollars: the limit each resident had for one week's purchases.  I carted off my... http://www.healthcentral.com/schizophrenia/c/120/160001/recovery-strategies http://www.healthcentral.com/schizophrenia/c/120/159955/schizophrenia-news-march Sun, 24 Mar 2013 09:47:00 -0400 Christina Bruni In recent news:   Estrogen is thought to have a protective role in schizophrenia for women.  Researchers discovered morphological differences between pre-and postmenopausal women with this illness.   The magnetic resonance imaging study showed postmenopausal women had more gray matter volume reduction than premenopausal women.  This occurred at the left middle frontal gyrus.   According to Yoshiro Okubo (Nippon Medical... http://www.healthcentral.com/schizophrenia/c/120/159955/schizophrenia-news-march http://www.healthcentral.com/schizophrenia/c/120/159686/individuals-continued Mon, 11 Mar 2013 18:06:00 -0400 Christina Bruni CB: You use an interesting device: the "patient self" tells her life story to her "therapist self."  Talk about this.   CD: I always wanted to tell someone my story and, for the longest, I knew it had to be a therapist. I had to keep it quiet, which I will explain later in this interview. That is rather ironic, seeing as how I published my story! (Things change.) I wanted a therapist who would listen, encourage me and not set limits on... http://www.healthcentral.com/schizophrenia/c/120/159686/individuals-continued