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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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 needA 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).
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.
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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