Rather than spread the news in an interview or through a press release, "Girls" creator Lena Dunham took to her Instagram account Wednesday to announce the return date for her acclaimed HBO dramedy. Along with the phrase "We're comin' right back #GIRLS," Dunham posted a selfie photo that reads "1/12/14 10 p.m. EST" scrawled (possibly in lipstick) on a mirror.
Cringe Your Way Through the Biggest WTF Moments of Girls' Season Two
The show's third season has been highly anticipated for months, partially due to shake-ups within the cast. Christopher Abbott (who played Marnie's on-again, off-again love interest, Charlie) left the series back in April following creative struggles with Dunham. Michael Zegen ("Boardwalk Empire", "The Walking Dead") signed on back in June and — perhaps in response to criticism of the show's almost entirely white cast — Danielle Brooks ("Orange Is the New Black") will join the season as well. "I will be the first black woman to be on 'Girls,'" Brooks said in an interview with Ebony, "so that's exciting for me."
Despite its many controversies, "Girls" has earned consistently strong reviews in its first two seasons. The series earned five Emmy nominations at this year's ceremony, including nods for outstanding directing for a comedy series (for Dunham) and outstanding comedy series.
Though the show won't be back on TV until January, HBO recently gave fans a taste of the third season with this promotional teaser.
Taking care of a family member can be a life-extending experience, a study finds.
iStockphoto.com
The stereotype of caring for a family member is that it's so stressful it harms the caregiver's health. But that's not necessarily so.
Studies are conflicted, finding that caregiving can harm or help the caregiver. Here's one on the plus side. A study finds that people who care for a family member live longer than similar people who aren't caregiving.
The scientists didn't ask the caregivers why they might be healthier and presumably happier than similar people who weren't caring for someone. But the 3,503 people who participated represented a broad swath of the American public, and may be a better representation of the caregiving experience overall.
Just 17 percent of the people surveyed said they had high levels of caregiving strain, and the majority put in less than 14 hours of care a week.
"The burden of caregiving certainly can be overwhelming and negative to health," says David Roth, director of the Center on Aging and Health at Johns Hopkins University and lead author of the study, which was published in the American Journal of Epidemiology. "But those are not necessarily the typical experience."
The study data was originally gathered for a big multiyear study on stroke risk, but the people being cared for in this study had broad range of health problems. The caregivers themselves were age 64 on average, more likely to be female and either white or African American.
Family caregivers were 18 percent less likely to die than non-caregivers over six years, the researchers found.
Something must have made life better for the caregivers. But what? To help find out, we called up Leah Eskinazi, director of operations for the Family Caregiver Alliance in San Francisco.
"There are people who find caregiving very rewarding," Eskinazi told Shots. "They feel really good that they can give back to Mom, for example, because Mom was really there for them when they were growing up. Maybe they weren't the best kid, but as they've aged they can have a more balanced healthier relationship and heal some of those wounds."
Context is everything, Eskinazi says. Caring for someone with dementia can be more stressful and depressing, because the person is facing a long inevitable decline. "You're caring for someone who can't voice their preferences," she says. "You're making decisions for another person and for yourself, and that can last for a long time. It's tough."
But only about 10 percent of family caregivers are tending someone with dementia, other studies have found.
Caring for someone after a stroke, by contrast, can be very positive. "There's a lot of energy going into helping that person recover," Eskinazi says.
And in many cases the person being cared for is in a position to be grateful. "To have someone stick by you, or a group of people stick by you, that's pretty cool," Eskinazi says. "It gives you an opportunity to say thank you."
Spouses typically expect to be taking care of their mate in old age, but adult children don't always prepare for that possibility — or try not to think about it.
People tend to avoid the Family Caregiver Alliance's booth at health fairs, Eskinazi admits. "People don't really want to think about it. It's time, it's emotion and it takes energy."
But this latest study points out that caregiving isn't all a big minus for the caregiver — something to prepare for, perhaps, but a normal, often rewarding part of life.
Contact: Alexander Brown alexander.brown@springer.com 212-620-8063 Springer Science+Business Media
Review article looks at recent research about insomnia among military personnel and veterans
Various behavioral treatment options are helping to treat the sleeplessness experienced by one in every two American soldiers who have been deployed in recent military operations. So says Dr. Adam Bramoweth of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Pittsburgh Healthcare System, and Dr. Anne Germain of the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine in the US. This review of research on deployment-related insomnia among military personnel and veterans, conducted since 2010, is published in Springer's journal Current Psychiatry Reports.
Insomnia is reported by up to 54 percent of the two million men and women who have served in various American combat efforts since 11 September 2001, compared to up to 22 percent of civilian adults. Although it is possible that a person's insomnia may develop prior to joining the military, it can also occur during the service period, or post-deployment when the soldier returns to civilian life. Studies have found that deployment-related stressors like combat exposure, mild traumatic brain injury, irregular sleep/wake schedules and the adjustment of returning home, all contribute to sleeplessness. Soldiers who suffer from insomnia while being deployed have a bigger chance of developing traumatic stress reactions such as depression and posttraumatic stress disorders, and even committing suicide. Also, it contributes to physical war-related injuries.
The research duo highlighted the need for additional research to better understand the underlying psychological, socio-environmental, physiological and neural reasons that cause chronic insomnia among military personnel. All of this is recommended in an effort to help further develop effective treatment options in the process.
If researchers are able to identify individual characteristics and biomarkers of people who are more vulnerable to chronic insomnia, this information could help inform strategies for prevention and early detection, as well as interventions to enhance sleep resilience within the military context. Early identification and timely interventions are important in order to reduce the impact of deployment on sleep, to improve recovery from insomnia and to ultimately help prevent the onset of related psychiatric conditions.
Behavioral interventions such as cognitive-behavioral therapy and imagery rehearsal therapy often yield positive results in trying to reduce the effects of insomnia and nightmares, respectively. These treatments can be delivered during in-person sessions with clinicians, brief follow up sessions via telephone, or online and mobile resources. Training was recently rolled out to prepare providers in the Veterans Health Administration to use cognitive behavioral treatment of insomnia. The goal is to eventually educate 1,000 clinicians in an effort to bridge the gap between veterans who need treatment, and available providers. Training of clinicians in military settings and other non-VA clinics is equally important to meet the needs of our service members and veterans.
"Training providers to be knowledgeable about insomnia and behavioral treatment options is a vital component to the treatment of chronic insomnia and managing its impact on other disorders," say the authors, who believe more research is needed on methods to increase access to care. "In addition to research and clinical efforts specifically for service members and veterans, research and clinical efforts directed at military family members are also important components in providing the care needed and promoting health and recovery among service members and their families."
###
Reference:
Bramoweth, A.D & Germain, A. (2013). Deployment-Related Insomnia in Military Personnel and Veterans. Current Psychiatry Reports. DOI 10.1007/s11920-013-0401-4.
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Taking stock of research on sleepless soldiers
Public release date: 16-Oct-2013 [
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Contact: Alexander Brown alexander.brown@springer.com 212-620-8063 Springer Science+Business Media
Review article looks at recent research about insomnia among military personnel and veterans
Various behavioral treatment options are helping to treat the sleeplessness experienced by one in every two American soldiers who have been deployed in recent military operations. So says Dr. Adam Bramoweth of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Pittsburgh Healthcare System, and Dr. Anne Germain of the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine in the US. This review of research on deployment-related insomnia among military personnel and veterans, conducted since 2010, is published in Springer's journal Current Psychiatry Reports.
Insomnia is reported by up to 54 percent of the two million men and women who have served in various American combat efforts since 11 September 2001, compared to up to 22 percent of civilian adults. Although it is possible that a person's insomnia may develop prior to joining the military, it can also occur during the service period, or post-deployment when the soldier returns to civilian life. Studies have found that deployment-related stressors like combat exposure, mild traumatic brain injury, irregular sleep/wake schedules and the adjustment of returning home, all contribute to sleeplessness. Soldiers who suffer from insomnia while being deployed have a bigger chance of developing traumatic stress reactions such as depression and posttraumatic stress disorders, and even committing suicide. Also, it contributes to physical war-related injuries.
The research duo highlighted the need for additional research to better understand the underlying psychological, socio-environmental, physiological and neural reasons that cause chronic insomnia among military personnel. All of this is recommended in an effort to help further develop effective treatment options in the process.
If researchers are able to identify individual characteristics and biomarkers of people who are more vulnerable to chronic insomnia, this information could help inform strategies for prevention and early detection, as well as interventions to enhance sleep resilience within the military context. Early identification and timely interventions are important in order to reduce the impact of deployment on sleep, to improve recovery from insomnia and to ultimately help prevent the onset of related psychiatric conditions.
Behavioral interventions such as cognitive-behavioral therapy and imagery rehearsal therapy often yield positive results in trying to reduce the effects of insomnia and nightmares, respectively. These treatments can be delivered during in-person sessions with clinicians, brief follow up sessions via telephone, or online and mobile resources. Training was recently rolled out to prepare providers in the Veterans Health Administration to use cognitive behavioral treatment of insomnia. The goal is to eventually educate 1,000 clinicians in an effort to bridge the gap between veterans who need treatment, and available providers. Training of clinicians in military settings and other non-VA clinics is equally important to meet the needs of our service members and veterans.
"Training providers to be knowledgeable about insomnia and behavioral treatment options is a vital component to the treatment of chronic insomnia and managing its impact on other disorders," say the authors, who believe more research is needed on methods to increase access to care. "In addition to research and clinical efforts specifically for service members and veterans, research and clinical efforts directed at military family members are also important components in providing the care needed and promoting health and recovery among service members and their families."
###
Reference:
Bramoweth, A.D & Germain, A. (2013). Deployment-Related Insomnia in Military Personnel and Veterans. Current Psychiatry Reports. DOI 10.1007/s11920-013-0401-4.
[
| E-mail
| Share
]
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Troubled BlackBerry started the smartphone marathon race ahead of the pack years ago, but has fallen well behind as it faces 4,500 worker layoffs, a $1 billion write-off for unsold smartphones and the likelihood of being sold off in parts.
To push that metaphor, BlackBerry is still in the race, but only barely, as its running shoes have worn down to shreds during its grueling climb up Heartbreak Hill.
The latest demonstration of BlackBerry's resolve in the face of improbable odds was revealed Tuesday in an open letter the phone maker posted online and that also ran in many newspapers. It's addressed to "customers, partners and fans" and assures them: "You can continue to count on BlackBerry."
The letter recounts BlackBerry's "substantial cash on hand and a balance sheet that is debt free" and describes its "best in class" security and mobile management software while calling its BlackBerry Messenger mobile messaging platform the "most engaging."
BlackBerry also admits "these are no doubt challenging times for us and we don't underestimate the situation or ignore the challenges we are facing...there is a lot of competition out there and we know that BlackBerry is not for everyone. That's OK."
The letter concludes: "We believe in BlackBerry -- our people, our technology, and our ability to adapt. More importantly, we believe in you. We focus every day on what it takes to make sure that you can take care of business."
Aside from winning the blue ribbon for "best rhetoric from a downcast technology vendor in the face of disaster," the letter doesn't reveal anything that is new about BlackBerry's recent plight.
The letter is clearly addressed to customers and not investors, or even potential investors, who are aware that BlackBerry says it lost $1 billion mostly for unsold Z10 smartphones in the third quarter and faces laying off 4,500 of its 12,500 workers.
Potential investors include Fairfax Financial Holdings of Toronto, which has a preliminary deal to buy BlackBerry for $4.7 billion and take it private. Last week, the company's original founders Mike Lazaridis and Doug Fregin also revealed in Security and Exchange Commission documents that they are exploring buying all or part of BlackBerry.
That those two men might consider buying just a part of BlackBerry might sound like a shame, but it is also what is reportedly on the minds of others.
While BlackBerry does have $3 billion in cash and investments and no debt, as it reported in its third-quarter earnings report, there are also reports -- which BlackBerry has neither confirmed nor denied -- that it still has more losses to come from slack-selling smartphones.
Tina Fey and Amy Poehler go together like chocolate and peanut butter. And they'll be making more sweet moments together — on Tuesday, it was announced that they'll be co-hosting the Golden Globe Awards both in 2014 and 2015.
What can viewers expect from the comedic chemistry of the two ex-"Saturday Night Live" pals? These classic Fey-Poehler moments might give a few hints.
Golden girls at the 2013 Globes Hosts Fey and Poehler managed to get in some deft jibes without leaving the audience feeling like they'd turned into the "Mean Girls" from Fey's 2005 movie. They even poked fun at the event's sponsor, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, with Poehler pretending to confuse it with HPV, saying, "When left untreated, HFPA can lead to cervical cancer."
Channeling their inner Sarah Palin and Hillary Clinton on 'SNL' Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin didn't actually say, "I can see Russia from my house," (she said: "you can actually see Russia from land here in Alaska"), but Fey delivered that "SNL" line so perfectly in an iconic 2008 skit that some are actually confused about who said what. Poehler was equally memorable as Sen. Hillary Clinton, eventually blowing up at the very idea that Palin was closer to the White House than she was.
Behind the Weekend Update desk In 2004, Fey and Poehler became the first all-female team to anchor fake newscast Weekend Update on "SNL." (On their first broadcast, Horatio Sanz as Elton John referred to Poehler as "the other girl.") They fell into the swing of things just as anyone would expect from two old friends, whether it was one-upping each other's Ray Charles impression or "interviewing" old clips of actor Robert Blake after his 2005 acquittal on murder charges. ("He's free, but he's still mad!" cracked Poehler.)
NBC
Fey and Poehler made history as the first all-female anchor team on Weekend Update.
Hangin' at the Jersey Floor Jimmy Fallon's show has a mysterious elevator with a button labeled "Jersey Floor" that turns elevator occupants into tanned-and-moussed "Jersey Shore" residents. And when Fey and Poehler visited in 2011, the elevator transformed them as well, hiking their hair and their hemlines and turning them into nightclub stalkers of Fallon and crew. "I wanna make babies with you!" a mega-made-up Fey shouts at Fallon on the dance floor. The ensuing bleep-filled fight was all too real for anyone who ever watched Snooki and crew.
Crying with laughter at 'Baby Mama' In 2008, Fey and Poehler co-starred in the big-screen comedy "Baby Mama," with Poehler playing an obnoxious surrogate mother carrying a child for Fey's character. Poehler is stumped by Fey's child-proofed toilet, appalled by her healthy dietary suggestions, and horrified as labor approaches. They feud, they fight, but in the end, they end up friends, just as the actors are.
What's your favorite Fey-Poehler moment? Vote in our poll.
TALLAHASSEE, Florida (Reuters) - Floridaprison officials on Tuesday carried out what they described as the first execution in the United States using the sedative midazolam hydrochloride in a lethal injection.
Midazolam was pumped into William Happ, 51, as the first of three drugs in a lethal injection cocktail designed to induce unconsciousness, paralysis and death by cardiac arrest, the Florida Department of Corrections said.
He was pronounced dead at 6:16 p.m. EDT in the execution chamber at the Florida State Prison in Starke and there appeared to be no suffering or unusual reaction stemming from the use of the new drug, department spokeswoman Misty Cash said.
In a hand-written final statement, Happ confessed to killing 21-year-old Angie Crowley, who was raped and murdered in 1986. He also apologized to those who believed in his innocence.
"It is to my to agonizing shame that I must confess to this terrible crime," he wrote.
Like many other death penalty states across the country Florida is running out of pentobarbital, a barbiturate that has long been the first of three drugs administered in a lethal injection "protocol" for executions.
Supplies of pentobarbital are low because its manufacturer has clamped down on sales of the drug for executions, prison officials said. Just last week, Missouri postponed an execution set for October 23 due to uncertainty about using a different drug, propofol, as a pentobarbital substitute.
Legal experts had voiced concern over whether midazolam, commercially known as Versed, would spare Happ from suffering extreme pain when the second and third drugs were administered.
Richard Dieter, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center in Washington, called the use of the drug in an execution "an experiment on a living human being."
No late appeals were filed on behalf of Happ, who was sentenced to death in 1989 and abandoned his appeals in September.
Another Florida death row inmate, Etheria Jackson, has a hearing scheduled in Jacksonville federal court November 6, contending that the use of midazolam might violate the U.S. Constitution's ban on "cruel and unusual punishment" by allowing inmates to suffer in their final minutes.
Cash told Reuters state authorities had been satisfied that the new drug represented a humane replacement for pentobarbital, however, and would not open the door to "unnecessary or wanton infliction of pain and suffering."
"The department was required to develop a new protocol because we have limited supplies of pentobarbital sodium that will expire at the end of November 2013," Cash said.
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