EDIV

The National Board of Health and Welfare has sent out new socialstyrelsen_2017_remiss_depressionangest (December 2016) for consultation. This has been widely debated during the beginning of 2017 and hopefully it will continue to do so.A completed document is due in the autumn. The document deals with which forms of treatment are considered to have "evidence", and for what. Psychodynamic therapies (PDT) are set against cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), above all, it is the usual. Other treatments recommended for certain conditions are EMDR and IPT. And then something called "rTMS", i.e. "Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation". To describe rTMS in the document:
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An alternative to drug therapy or ECT is repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS). The treatment method is relatively new and in recent years there has been research that shows that rTMS has a good effect in moderate to severe major depression and for people who have not had an effect of antidepressant treatment. The method appears to have mainly mild side effects and unlike in ECT, the patient may be awake during treatment. rTMS could be relevant for significantly more patients than the approximately 50 treated annually in Sweden today. This would require more clinics to invest in the technology or for more to be referred to the clinics that currently carry out rTMS. This will affect the allocation of resources for health care, p8

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Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) is a method developed in the mid-1980s, but has only been used in individual clinics in Sweden. In recent years, however, scientific support has been strengthened and treatment has started to be used more, if only in some county councils.

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Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) means that an electromagnetic coil generates a magnetic field over the scalp, creating a current in the brain cells that are near the coil. This leads to brain cells being activated or inhibited in the left and right frontal lobe respectively. During the treatments, the person is awake. The treatment takes about an hour to complete and is usually given daily for four weeks, in total on 20 occasions. rTMS has mostly mild side effects, such as local scalp pain during treatment and transient headaches. Dizziness and fainting occur, but are much more uncommon. The most serious side effect is epileptic seizure, which is very rare.

Wikipedia has a detailed article on this relatively new form of treatment.
 


To those interested in religion, this may sound familiar?  
Wikipedia also has a great article about Stanley Koren's "The God Helmet":

The God Helmet is an experimental apparatus originally called the Koren helmet after its inventor Stanley Koren. It was developed by Koren and neuroscientist Michael Persinger to study creativity, religious experience and the effects of subtle stimulation of the temporal lobes. Reports by participants of a "sensed presence" while wearing the God helmet brought public attention and resulted in several TV documentaries. The device has been used in Persinger's research in the field of neurotheology, the study of the neural correlations of religion and spirituality. The apparatus, placed on the head of an experimental subject, generates very weak magnetic fields, that Persinger refers to as "complex." Like other neural stimulation with low-intensity magnetic fields, these fields are approximately as strong as those generated by a land line telephone handset or an ordinary hair dryer, but far weaker than that of an ordinary refrigerator magnet and approximately a million times weaker than transcranial magnetic stimulation.

 

Here is another detailed website about the researcher Stanley Koren and his research because it wants to deepen.

Barbro Westerholm, Member of Parliament for the Liberals, was initiator of the inquiry "In good faith – society and newness" in1998. In 2010, together with a couple of other members, she wrote a motion: "Children in sects." In 2015, she filed a motion: "Support for people who have lived under authoritarian, destructive and manipulative leadership." In the autumn of 2016, she and her party colleague, Lars Tysklind, have submitted a new motion: "Help for children and young people in sects". They argue in this, among other things, that specialized care units should be set up for individuals, both young and adults, who feel bad because they have been involved in closed movements.

In the fifties, psychiatry was largely dominated by psychoanalytic/psychodynamic and behaviorist thinking, respectively. Many perceived that these were too deterministic and interested in "the sick". Maslow and Rogers. Although Maslow in particular moved in the borderlands, the step was transferred to a more spiritual psychologist with Stanislav Grof, and others. Another track was Assagioli and Jung, who both broke with Sigmund Freud and founded their own psychology and treatment methods based on these. Jung "Analytical Psychology" and Assagioli "Psychosynthesis". This was already at the beginning of the 20th century, and in fact it does not have much relevance, if it were not for the fact that certain parts of the new age have good control of these pioneers and often compare the usual psychiatry with them. Assagioli's influence is evident, for example, on the alternative therapy models, and trainings, given, among others, by HumaNova and the Psychosynthesis Academy. Treatments, as well as an education in Transpersonal Psychotherapy at Step1 level,have for many years been given by the Delphi Institute in Stockholm. The Delphi Institute writes on its website that it offers psychotherapy on a "transpersonal/spiritual basis". Huma Nova writes on its website that their 1-year undergraduate education is "an education for intellect, soul and heart". You can also read on the website (January 2017, link):

HumaNova has once again become one of the few suppliers that has received a framework agreement with Stockholm County Council 2015-2018 within Manager and Employee Development. HumaNova has previously had agreements with SLL and when they renewed their agreements and went out in new procurement, we once again gained continued confidence to carry out assignments in Management and Leadership Training, Management Team Development, Team/Group Development, and Personal Manager and Employee Development.

So even if the "soul", for good reason, will hardly get a place in care programs and treatment offerings, individual employees and managers within Stockholm County Council may well be sent on a course or rehabilitation where such things are talked about.

This is an attempt to categorize individuals who in one way or another can come into contact with psychiatry and where their “cult” involvement can be part of what needs to be mapped, understood and treated. It’s a draft, a thought experiment. For the vast majority of people who come into contact with psychiatry, this is not relevant, there are a few.

However, the image should be read as: “Individuals who have left or are still under the influence of …”, etc…

In the upper left field we have the well-known sects, such as the Church of Scientology, Hare Krishna, the Moon Movement/Unification Church. The most famous “Swedish” example is Jehovah’s Witnesses. In that box, some political organizations also belong, such as ISIS. It is likely that you can find counterparts in Sweden. They are united by precisely a “utopian” view of how society and the world should be set up. Some of them resort to violence, let the “ends sanctify the means”, because it is so important that the goals are achieved and the pure ideals are honored.

In the top right is criminal organizations, like the Hells Angels or Bandidos. They are closed, characterized by strong cohesion, but rarely have any utopian visions. Their focus is more on making the most of their presence in society. There are examples of commercial cults as well. Sometimes you hear about them in the media. Companies (often in the sales industry) that are run in a charismatic way, with employee meetings similar to revival meetings, but where the vision is to do as well as possible in the market (i.e. make money). The fact that I put honor cultures in this box may seem strange. Aren’t they often religious? No, I think it’s less important. Most often, these rest on cultural patterns and customs, which existed before nowaday religion came into the picture.

The bottom left corner requires a little more explanation. Here you will normally find no “cults” or even membership. They are disorganized (or at most weakly organized) movements or communities of interest. This category pretones in (superficial, bad) self-help literature, common superstition and various TV shows on (in Sweden) TV4/Kanal 7, about medium, obsessed houses, and the like. Most often it is completely harmless, or even an asset (we need to play and dream too!), but for some individuals this way of looking at life becomes a problem. It is utopian, idealized, but an interest one cultivates more or less on your own.

The box at the bottom right houses people with very firm oversteds about various forms of conspiracy theories. Examples of this are “chem trails” (that is, there is a spraying of the atmosphere for more or less malicious reasons), that the world is ruled by a secret, hugely powerful Elite, sometimes referred to as the New World Order or “Illuminati”. Instead, here you can see the opposite of utopia: “dystopia.” With beliefs that can be so enchanting and hard to shake of. It is distrust of those in power or criticism of civilization that has crossed the line into the fantastic.

Of course, each box in the chart also has its completely unproblematic side. For the treatment of these individuals, the religious (or whatever it is) is not relevant. Their problems have little or little to do with this. If you go through the boxes in the same order: Belonging to a religious congregation can of course be something strengthening and nice. There is a lot of research, especially from the US, that shows this. Of course, working for a company, or being part of one “host” organization, with strong same-scale and a common vision, is not automatically a bad thing. Nor to take an interest in astrology, reincarnation, séances, to be convinced that telepathy works, etc.

What will room in the last box? In the religious field, I am tempted to write the Church of Sweden and Friskis & Svettis-yoga. Although it has a spiritual origin, it is neither utopian nor characterized by much peer pressure in its present form.

Today page:
"Mindfulness makes you aware of your behavior"
http://www.svd.se/mindfulness-gor-dig-medveten-om-ditt-beteende
Brushing teeth or messing with conscious presence
http://www.svd.se/borsta-tander-eller-braka-med-medveten-narvaro
How does mindfulness affect children?
http://www.svd.se/borsta-tander-eller-braka-med-medveten-narvaro/om/mindfulness-z7c7

http://io9.gizmodo.com/the-greatest-fake-religion-of-all-time-1622095459 Jesse Walker, 8/15/14

http://www.gizmodo.co.uk/2016/12/the-untold-story-of-napoleon-hill-the-greatest-self-help-scammer-of-all-time/ By Matt Novak on 08 Dec 2016