Questionnaire tool for young mental health service users

King's College, London is developing a questionnaire to be used as a tool to measure the experiences of 9 - 17 year olds who have used mental health services. The Children and Adolescent Service Experience (ChASE) will put 15 questions to the children and their carers about therapy received. The tool is considered to be an effective way to evaluate the views of young users who have in the past been ignored. However it is felt that the tool must not become a substitute for talking to young people.

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Mentally ill children leaving Care lack support

A new report published by the Local Government Association (LGA) finds that children leaving care who have mental health issues are not receiving the support they need. The care leavers support teams do not have the experience needed to deal with mental illness or have enough knowledge of the different Child (CAMHS) and Adult services provision for mental health.
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Therapy not money makes you happy

British research has concluded that psychological therapy is 32 times more effective in restoring happiness than a quick fix of money. Data on the well being of thousands of people was examined and the results of the study can be read in the journal Health Economics Policy and Law

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Anxiety good for you?

Depression is as deadly as smoking for the effect on a person's life expectancy according to collaborative research between universities in Norway and London. However the study published in the British Journal of Psychiatry found that when depression was combined with anxiety the increased risk of mortality was negated.

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Age and addiction

Research to be published by the Scottish Drugs Forum indicates that drug addicts over the age of 35 are more likely to commit suicide. A survey of over 70 users and their professionals involved in their care showed that they were likely to feel overwhelmed by their past experiences and a feeling of being neglected.

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Talking Therapies could be victim to the recession

There are fears that the programme Improving Access to Psychological Therapies could be put at risk due to the recession. Leaders of the Royal Society of Psychiatrists and the Mental Health Network are concerned that job losses will result in reduced services. The report voicing these concerns will be published today at the Mental Health Network’s annual conference

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Alzheimer's test

The diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease can be delayed due to its symptoms being confused with those of depression. A new multi-tasking test which avoids this problem has been developed by Edinburgh researchers. The research, published in the Journal of Neurology, compared 89 people who were either healthy, suffered from Alzheimer's, or depression.

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Pot and PTSD

Research carried out at the University of Haifa suggests that cannabis (marujana) could help tackle the problem of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). 10 - 30% of people who suffer traumatic events go on to develop PTSD and can suffer from months to years with the condition. The study published in the Journal of Neuroscience used a rat model for the research as their responses to stress are similar to humans.

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Nature versus nurture in PTSD

The combination of adverse events in childhood and traumatic experiences in adulthood raises the chances of developing Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) according to a study in the Archives of General Psychiatry journal. Furthermore the risk increases if there is a genetic mutation present. The American study was conducted on 1,252 people between the ages of 17 and 79.

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Depression and nutrition

The first study to look at the UK diet and depression has concluded that processed food is linked to depression. The British Journal of Psychiatry compared the the diet of 3,500 civil servants with their levels of depression five years later.

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CBT to beat the winter blues

Research has shown that treating seasonal affective disorder (SAD) with tailor-made cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is more effective than using the traditional treatment of light therapy. The randomised study published in Behavior Therapy also found inexplicably that light therapy coupled with CBT was not as effective as CBT on its own.

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Gambling with your family

Treatment models for gambling addiction mainly centres on the gamblers themselves. New research has concentrated on the effects of problem gambling on the families of the gamblers. The paper published in the Journal of Marital and Family Therapy aims to raise awareness of this issue.

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Bipolar disorder and cognitive decline

A study published in the journal Bipolar Disorders has found that older adults with bipolar disorder have a greater cognitive decline than their counterparts without mental health problems. A cohort of thirty three bipolar disorder sufferers was assessed with a comparison group of thirty six.

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Alcoholic epileptic seizures and calcium

Researchers have found that by blocking the flow of calcium ions into brain cells, epileptic seizures that commonly ocurr after withdrawl from alcohol abuse can be prevented. This research from the Georgetown University Medical Center was presented at the 39th annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience.

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Suicidal thoughts and Nortriptyline in men

A study carried out on 811 people with moderate to severe unipolar depression has found that the use of the common antidepressant Nortriptyline, whilst decreasing syptoms across the whole study group, increased suicidal thoughts in men by nearly 10% , compared to it counterpart escitalopram. The British study is published in BMC Medicine

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Its all in the mind?

Experts in the field of mental health have declared that the true extent of mental illness has not been appreciated as it manifests itself as physical ailments. Psychiatrist Dr Peter Jones cites, as an example, obesity as a condition caused by compulsion. The Research Mental Health initiative is lobbying Downing Street to help increase funding for research by £200 million.

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FRANK cocaine adverts

The drugs information and advice service, Frank is targeting 15- 18 year olds with a series of adverts that spell out the dangers to the heart and nose from taking cocaine. The adverts are being shown at cinemas and on television, and with posters at a cost £1.5 million.

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Mental health employment stigma

Fears of unreliabilty would influence four out of ten people not to employ a person with a history of mental illness, according to a survey carried out by St Patrick's University Hospital in Ireland. This level of stigma contributes to mentally ill persons not accessing the help they need

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Depression therapy by the phone

A randomised controlled trial (RCT) published in the October edition of the Archives of General Psychiatry has concluded that over the phone therapy delivered to patients who are already receiving antidepressant medication is cost effective over two years. This builds on an earlier study published in the the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).

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Down's and dementia

A leading Cambridge professor of the psychiatry of learning disabilities has highlighted the lack of provision in the government's dementia strategy for the dual condition of dementia and Down's syndrome. It is thought that as many as 50% of Down's sufferers in their 50's also have dementia. Furthermore a person with Down' s is likely to contract dementia at an earlier age.

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Nuffield report calls for better dementia support

A new report: Dementia : ethical issues published by the Nuffield Council on Bioethics calls for better expert support for dementia sufferers and their carers. Present services were likened to the cancer provision of twenty years ago.

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Adolescents' needs on mental health wards

A mental health self audit of twenty six wards has shown that there is still the need to address the appropriate care of under 18 patients. Obstacles to achieving this legal requirement by 2010 are numbers of staffing and training levels.

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Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder college study begins

According to researchers at University of Rhode Island and Lehigh University, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is one of the most under researched conditions. To address this, a first-ever double blind placebo study will test the effectiveness of a drug on college students who suffer from ADHD.

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Mental Health inpatient disatisfaction

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has published the results of a survey examining the experiences of mental health inpatients. Although 45% of patients always felt safe on the wards, 16% never felt safe. Furthermore, only one third felt that they had had any involvement in the decisions concerning their treatment.

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MMR & autism statistics revisited

The latest statistics on the prevalance of autism in adults further dispels the theory of a link to the MMR immunisation of children. The NHS Information Centre data found that there would be a higher number of children compared to adults suffering if the vaccine had any influence.

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2009 World Alzheimer's Report

The 2009 report from Alzheimer's Disease International has been published today (World Alzheimer's Day). Researchers at King's College London prepared the report which states that globally the number of Alzheimer's and dementia sufferers will double every twenty years.

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Brush up your Kafka

According to psychologists at the University of British Columbia, reading surreal literature such as Kafka can impove the cognitive functioning of the brain that is responsible for learning. The study has been published in the September issue of Psychological Science.

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Online gambling ten times more addictive

Researchers at Nottingham Trent University have presented a study at the British Psychological Society’s Social Psychology Conference in Sheffield which concludes that online gambling is up to 10 time s more addictive than offline forms. Most affected are single young males who drink and smoke heavily.

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Prozac's Successor?

Research being presented at the European Congress of Neuropsychopharmacology in Istanbul has presented results that indicates a new antidepressant is more effective than fluoxetine (Prozac). Agomelatine to be marketed as Valdoxan has also fewer side effects according to the authors of the study

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World Suicide Prevention Day

Today September 10th is World Suicide Prevention Day


Check out the International Association for Suicide Prevention website for for the official page (official logo pictured)

Psychosis and drug abuse

A UK study published in the British Journal of Psychiatry has examined the role of substance abuse in the severity of first-episode psychosis. 272 patients were assessed and the researchers concluded that persistant substance abuse caused higher levels of relapse, than for those who had no misuse of drugs.
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Two Alzheimer's genes discovered

UK Scientists have discovered two genes that are potentially key to understanding the causes of Alzheimer's Disease. It is hoped that the study of 16,000 DNA samples published in Nature Genetics will lead to new treatments. Spokespersons for the Alzheimer's Society and the Alzheimer's Research Trust have expressed positive reactions to the news.

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Over the counter addiction

It takes just three days to become addicted to some of the most common over-the-counter pain killers which contain high doses of codeine, according to the government's drug watchdog the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). This warning comes in the wake of the parliamentary report which reported the dangers of addiction. Stronger warnings on packets are to be introduced and only small packets available without a prescription.

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The future of Depression

As the first Global Mental Health Summit commences in Athens the World Health Organization (WHO) has said that it expects depression to become the major economic and social health problem worldwide within the next twenty years. Furthermore, WHO says it will be the developing countries who only spend 2% of their national budgets on mental health that will bear the brunt of this increase.

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The genetics of Down's Syndrome

American scientists, using mice have shed light on the causes of genetic conditions such as Down's Syndrome and pregnancy loss. The study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that a mutation of the Bub1 gene in an egg of a mouse was an factor in producing an abnormal number of chromosomes.

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Breast Cancer and Schizophrenia

A systematic review covering studies published between 1986 and 2008 has found schizophrenic women seem to have a higher chance of getting breast cancer than those who do not suffer from psychosis. However there was no indication of what the risk factor or factors might be that leads to the higher prevalence. The study is an online ahead of print publication the journal Schizophrenia Research.

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Seven year review of family CBT for childhood OCD

Thirty eight children who received cognitive behavioural family-based therapy (CBFT) seven years ago have been reassessed to measure the long term effectiveness of their treatment. The Australian study published in the Jounal of Anxiety Disorders concluded that CBFT was still effective for childhood Obsessive Compulsive Disorders after seven years.

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More cocaine statistics

Statistics released yesterday give further information on cocaine addiction. Previous research had indicted a rise in hospital admissions due to cocaine abuse; now the newest data indicates a rise by 20% in deaths attributable to cocaine. This figure is the highest for eight years.

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Alzheimer's and Sunscreen

A new study is investigating whether suncreen lotions and oils play any part in the development of Alzheimer's Disease. The European Union has funded researchers at The University of Ulster to investigate whether human engineered nanoparticles found in sunscreens can induce dementias and Parkinsons. The research project has been awarded £350,000 and is likely to run for three years.

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Depression and Pregnancy

A new report published by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the American Psychiatric Association has recommended new guidelines for treating pregnant women who are suffering from depression. The report based on research findings will be published in both the September issue of the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology and the September issue of General Hospital Psychiatry.

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CBT on your computer

A new study on depression and the delivery of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) has been published in The Lancet. Researchers from the University of Bristol studied 297 depression sufferers, of whom half received conventional CBT and half received online CBT. Their findings showed that the online therapy was more beneficial than the face-to-face option.

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Mental Health and well being of NHS staff

The interim report of the The Boorman review into the health and wellbeing of NHS staff has just been published. It has warned that staff are being bullied and harrassed in the workplace which is resulting in high levels of distress.

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Emotional awareness in schizophrenia

A study published in the journal Psychiatry Research has found that schizophrenics have problems dealing with fearful emotions. Researchers studied and compared results from sixty people, half who were suffering from schizophrenia.

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Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery

A study published in Science magazine observed the behaviour of Capuchin monkeys and consequently how social bonds are formed. Researchers found that the monkeys prefered the company of the scientists who, when interacting with them, mimicked their own actions.

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Eye tests for Down's Syndrome

The European Council for Optometry and Optics has advised that Down's Syndrome patients should have regular eye tests. New research published in Optometry and Vision Science has found that the structure of the eyes of people with Down's Syndrome differs significantly from people who do not have the syndrome.

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Psychological consequences of heart attacks

A leading charity, the British Heart Foundation, has responded to a study published in the British Journal of Health Psychology which investigated the prevalence of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in patients who had suffered heart attacks. The charity's spokesmen said it was vital that rehabilitation programmes were better funded to ensure both mental and physical recovery could be achieved.

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WHO surveys and suicide

Data from World Health Organization (WHO) surveys covering 100,000 people from twenty one countries has been analysed by US researchers from Harvard University. The authors looked at how mental disorders affected the occurances of suicidal thoughts and suicide attempts.

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Suffering in silence

A survey conducted at St Patrick's University Hospital in Ireland has concluded that 1 out of 10 people who have a mental illness do so in silence for up to a year before they ask for help. Feelings of shame and fear of the stigma attached to mental illnesses meant that sufferers would not even discuss their problems with their closest friends.

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Depression after Stroke treatment

An American study to be published in the August 9th online edition of the journal Stroke says that using a combination of antidepressants with cognitive behavioural therapy improves the recovery from clinical depression for patients who have suffered a stroke. The research found that after eight weeks, within a cohort of 101 patients, the decrease in depression scores was 47% for those on combined treatment compared to 32% for those who had received standard care.
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Heart disease risk and mental health disorders

A Danish study in the Archives of General Psychiatry has found that whilst the instances of myocardial infarction for patients with severe psychiatric problems is comparable with the rest of the population, mortality rates are much higher for these patients.

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