Changing the future: An initial test of Future Specificity Training (FeST).

A range of psychiatric disorders are characterised by impairments in episodic future thinking (EFT), and particularly simulating specific, spatiotemporally-located future events. No study has examined whether training can lead to sustained improvement in specific EFT. In this study, participants (N = 60; M age = 31, SD = 13.2) were randomized to a two-session, group-based future thinking program (Future Specificity Training; FeST) or wait-list. At follow-up the training group, relative to wait-list, showed large, statistically-significant improvements in the ability to mentally simulate specific EFT (d = .82), increases in detail (d = 1.32), use of mental imagery (d = 1.32), anticipated (d = 1.78) and anticipatory pleasure (d = 1.07), perceived control (d = 1.20), and likelihood of occurrence (d = 1.09). Some effects were also observed on positive, generalised future self-states. In the context of inherent limitations of subjective reporting in trials, this study provides evidence that EFT specificity can be enhanced, and the effects of FeST indicate a possible avenue to disrupt psychopathological processes.

Menopause and hormone replacement therapy from holistic and medical perspectives.

Myths and other issues surrounding menopause are examined on the basis of historical and current literature from medicine, psychiatry, and psychiatric nursing, and on current research. Changes in the psychiatric view of menopause and mental illness reflect a more holistic view of menopause. Some effects of menopause during this normal transitional phase of a woman's life are explored with respect to the developmental, physiological, and cognitive/psychosocial domains. Concepts of menopause as disease or as normal development are discussed as well as issues related to "care or cure" interventions for menopausal women. Evidence supports the need for systematic longitudinal research studies on the use of hormone therapies to provide information on their long-term effects on the menopausal woman. The use of hormone therapies alone or in conjunction with other holistic interventions is discussed. Nurses have a professional responsibility to come to terms with the continuing conflict related to hormone therapies so that they may provide appropriate nursing interventions to celebrate this passage rather than deny it.