Father Runs Marathons To Raise Awareness for Mental Illness
A father from New York, who is running 100 marathons across the country to raise awareness for mental illness, made an appearance in Carlsbad on Tuesday. Guy Fessenden, 54, of Hartsdale, N.Y., began his grueling 140-day journey on Tybee Island in Georgia on Oct. 2. He has been running 26.2 miles every day for three days in a row, then resting on the fourth day, said his videographer and photographer, Jeff Weiss. The goal is to end in Los Angeles, California, on Feb. 19, 2011.
(Note: Proceeds from Guy Fessenden’s run will come to NARSAD to support brain and behavior research)

Treating Women’s Depression Might Help Them Lose Weight
For many women coping with obesity and depression, new research finds that improving your mood might be the link to losing weight. The new study, which appears in the November/December issue of the journal General Hospital Psychiatry, cites past surveys that show having a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or more – classified as obese – increases a person’s risk of depression by 50 percent to 150 percent.

The Reality of Attention Deficit Disorder
In today’s 18 and Under column, Dr. Perri Klass, a pediatrician, explains that attention deficit problems are complex and often misunderstood. She writes: I’ve lately read a number of articles and essays that use attention (or its lack) as a marker and a metaphor for something larger in society.

Mindfulness Meditation Found To Be as Effective as Antidepressant Medication in Prevention of Depression Relapse: A new study from the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) in Toronto has found that mindfulness-based cognitive therapy – using meditation – provides equivalent protection against depressive relapse as traditional antidepressant medication.

Report: Growing Mental Health Problems in MilitaryMental problems send more men in the U.S. military to the hospital than any other cause, according to a new Pentagon report. And they are the second highest reason for hospitalization of women military personnel, behind conditions related to pregnancy.

by Barbara Wheeler, NARSAD manager of communications and media relations