Spirituality and Mental Health

The role of spirituality in mental health has been a much researched subject in recent years, with many books and journal articles published on the topic. In addition to religious beliefs, spirituality may include meditation, yoga, enjoying nature and creative activities, practices which help give a sense of meaning and hope to life.

Searching our book catalogue using the key word “Spirituality” brings up 99 titles. Here are some recent additions:

Creativity, spirituality and mental health : exploring connections (Ashgate : 2009) by our chaplain Dr Kelley Raab-Mayo looks at the connections between imagination, creativity and spirituality and their role in healing, specifically for mood, anxiety and eating disorders.

Spiritual resources in family therapy by Froma Walsh (Guildford Press : 2009)

Religious and spiritual issues in psychiatric diagnosis: a research agenda for DSM V edited by John Peteet (American Psychiatric Association : 2011)

Religions that heal, religions that harm: a guide for clinical practice by James L Griffith ( Guilford Press, 2010)


If you would like to join the discussion, the Association of Spirituality and Mental Health has a journal club which meets every second month from September to May here at the Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre. Details can be found on the web site.

Never-ending Book Sale

The never-ending book sale continues in the library! This is a great time to stop by and pick up some summer reading for the cottage. Books range in price between $0.50 - $1.00, and all proceeds go towards supporting your medical library service!

We are located in room 2100 - - 2nd floor, and are open between 8:00am-12:00; 1:00-4:00pm.

Updates from the Cochrane Library

Systematic Reviews from the Cochrane Library

This month there have been 11 newly published or updated reviews from the Cochrane Library:

Anticonvulsants for alcohol withdrawal
Antidepressants for depression in physically ill people
Benzodiazepines for alcohol withdrawal
Early psychological interventions to treat acute traumatic stress symptoms
Fluvoxamine versus other anti-depressive agents for depression
Group-based parent-training programmes for improving emotional and behavioural adjustment in children from birth to three years old
Olanzapine versus other atypical antipsychotics for schizophrenia
Pharmacological treatment of depression in patients with a primary brain tumour
Physical health care monitoring for people with serious mental illness
Preventive staff-support interventions for health workers
Reduction versus abrupt cessation in smokers who want to quit

PsychiatryOnline Trial

http://www.psychiatryonline.com

We are currently participating in a trial of PsychiatryOnline, the most comprehensive, sophisticated reference and research tool available for mental health professionals and students.

Here you will find online full-text access to 15 reference books, core journal titles, practice guidelines and information for patients. In addition to that, each month will feature a new textbook, in PDF format that you can download and save to your computer.

Click on the link above and try it out now! Please send me your feedback by February 22. Our free trial ends on March 1 2010. cathy.maclean@rohcg.on.ca

Check Your Spam Quarantine!

Please check your Spam Quarantine. Many of the Ebsco Auto-Alerts are being filtered out as spam. In addition to the Ebsco (epnet.com) emails, many outside e-newsletters and listserv emails are also being filtered.

The spam quarantine email you receive looks like: "EXG-SpamFirewall" and comes from barracuda@globalservercenter.ca This email will contain a list of emails that have been considered as spam. If you recognize any of the email, and it is not spam, then click on the "deliver" link.