Mental Health & Social Care Bulletin No. 375

This week's bulletin, no 375, is a meagre offering as it's author has suffered from flu all week! So I shall just wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Mental Health & Social Care Bulletin No. 374

Winterbourne is in the news again, and in the pre Christmas bulletin, no 374,  you can read the government's  final report on the Winterbourne View abuse scandal. Transforming Care: a national response to Winterbourne View Hospital includes a foreward from Norman Lamb the Minister of State for Care and Support which outlines the way forward to better care

Mental Health & Social Care Bulletin No. 373

The Autumn Statement has mental health charities and agencies discussing the financial repercussions for people with mental health issues. Bulletin No. 373 has all this and more

Mental Health & Social Care Current Awareness Bulletin No. 372

Bulletin No. 372 has a larger than usual section on dementia which is topical given that this week the Secretary of State for Health, Jeremy Hunt, stated in his blog, according to the Evening Standard, that dementia was one of his four key priorities for the NHS. This follows on from his promise last month of £50 million for specialised care homes and wards for dementia sufferers.

Mental Health & Social Care Bulletin No. 371

There is much discussion amongst the various mental health charities in response to the 3rd review by Professor Malcolm Harrington of the government's Work Capacity Assessment. Rethink have continued to highlight the plight of mentally ill people trying to deal with the present system. You can read this report  in this bulletin, no. 371. Meanwhile the Quality Care Commission have produded their annual social care report

Mental Health & Social Care Bulletin No. 370

Schizophrenia at the forefront of news this week after the publication of the Schizophrenia Commission's report: The Abandoned Illness. Every mental health charity including MIND has had an opinion on its findings. Bulletin no.370 includes these findings and information on the new Department of Health learning disabilities consultation

Mental Health & Social care Bulletin No. 369

Bulletin No. 369 has several reports again. There are two on learning disabilities; from the NHS Confederation and the Learning Disabilities Observatory. The Joseph Rowntree Foundation's report is on advocacy for dementia and there are further reports on liasion psychiatry and the mental health ward

Mental Health & Social Care Bulletin No. 368

Bulletin 368 is packed as usual with all the disciplines of the mental health sphere. There are several communications from the Department of Health and items referring to the Winterbourne scandal

Mental Health & Social Care Bulletin No. 367

The Publication section in Bulletin No. 367  has seven reports this week, ranging from information on self harm, dementia, care homes to drug use

Mental Health & Social Bulletin No. 366

All the usual sections in Bulletin no. 366  including the publications section where a new report from the Centre for Mental Health on effective family interventions can be found.   A chance to change: delivering effective famiily programmes to transform lives "sets out the findings of a project on the implementation of evidence-based parenting programmes for children with, or at risk of developing, serious behavioural problems"

Mental Health & Social Care Bulletin No. 365

Bulletin 365, as well as all the usual sections, contains two reports on the effects of high alcohol intake. The first report: Over the Limit: The Truth about Families and Alcohol from the charity 4Children highlights the drinking habits of middle class parents behind closed doors. The second report from Alcohol Concern is in the form of an interactive map: Alcohol Harm Map, which allows you to see the statistics for alcohol usage in different parts of the country

Mental Health & Social Care Bulletin No. 364

In Bulletin 364 you can find information from the National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse regarding illegal drug use in England. Among other statistics included is: the number of 18 -25 adults seeking treatment has dropped; which is taken to mean that the number of addicts is in this age group is decreasing

Mental Health & Social Care Bulletin No. 363

Today is Worldwide Alzheimer's Awareness Day and in Bulletin No. 363  you will find links to Alzheimer's Disease International's: World Alzheimer Report 2012: Overcoming the stigma of dementia. Also the Department of Health has published its Dementia Campaign in conjunction with the Alzheimer's Society to coincide with the awareness day

Mental Health & Social Care Bulletin No. 362

In Bulletin 362 there is a link to the in depth assessment of the results from the Care Quality Commission's survey of mental health users. 1500 users over 18 years old were asked about their experiences of using community mental health services

Mental Health Bulletin No. 361

Today is worldwide Suicide prevention day. For more information follow the IASP link in bulletin no. 361 . Meanwhile here at home as a consequence of the Winterbourne scandal the Care Quality Commission plans to regulate homes acccording to the level of risk to their service users

Mental Health Bulletin No. 360

Bulletin No 360 includes a report: reducing the cost of assessments and reviews: an adult social care briefing for councils published by the Audit Commission. and indicates that better assessment methods will lead to major savings

Mental Health Bulletin No. 359

Bulletin No. 359 is another large edition with all the usual sections. In the publications section is a new report from the Department for Communities and Local Government: Making every contact count: a joint approach to preventing homelessness  which will be of interest to everyone in both mental health and social care

Mental Health Bulletin No. 358

Bulletin No. 358 is a bumper issue and includes no less than three NICE consultations: dementia, looked after children and conduct disorders in children. Also large sections on all the usual specialities

Mental Health Bulletin No. 357

Reports abound this week following the investigation of Winterbourne View. South Gloucestershire council initiated an independent serious case review. Hot on it's heels Mencap has published a report Out of Sight on the abuse and neglect of people with learning disabilities. Read all this and more in this week's bulletin, no. 357

Mental Health Bulletin No. 356

All quiet on the Department of Health front this week. Quite a few interesting news items on children's mental health and services. For all this and all aspects of mental health and social care download bulletin no. 356

Mental Health Bulletin No. 355

In the news last week: the government published its mental health implementation framework which aims to give organisations the basis to put into effect the six key objectives of it's strategy: No Health without Mental Health a reality. Read about this and much more in bulletin No. 355

Mental Health Bulletin No. 354

Mental Health Bulletin No. 354 has a large section on learning disabilities. There is also an interesting commentary from the King's Fund on the future of social care in The National News section

Mental Health Bulletin No. 353

One year on from the Dilnot report it appears that nothing much has changed in the provision of Social Care. Read more in the News section of Bulletin No. 353

Mental Health Bulletin No. 352

Numerous research articles on dementia, depression, schizophrenia and many other aspects of mental health included in this week's bulletim. No. 352 is available to download now

Mental Health Bulletin No. 351

Back to a weekly bulletin and no. 351 has all the usual sections covering every aspect of mental health and social care

Mental Health Bulletin No. 350

Bulletin No. 350 is a bumper edition, packed with two weeks worth of news, research and publications

Mental Health Bulletin No. 349

This week's bulletin will be the last until ePH evidence (formerly EPHRU) completes its move to Public Health, County Hall, Chelmsford. Hopefully the next bulletin will appear on June 18th

Mental Health Bulletin No. 348

Due to technical diffculties, a delay in posting last week's bulletin, no. 348. Appologies!

Mental Health Bulletin No. 347

May 21st -27th will be Mental Health Awareness Week and Dementia Awareness Week. This week's bulletin No. 347 is packed with research on dementia nad other mental health aspects

Mental Health Bulletin No. 346

Mental Health Bulletin No. 346 is ready to download. Alzheimer's and Dementia research dominating this week.

Mental Health Bulletin No. 345

Another bulletin, no. 345, packed with news and research. Again social care is at the forefront of the news

Mental Health Bulletin No. 344

This week's bulletin, no. 344 is ready to download

Mental Health Bulletin No. 343

Bulletin no. 343 is available to download. Go to the New Publications page for up to date book releases

Depressive Fairy Cakes and Doughnuts

We all know that too many sweet treats can lead to obesity, but you would be forgiven for thinking that eating a fairy cake (cupcake) or a doughnut would lift the spirits. However, a Spanish study published in the journal Public Health Nutrition debunks this myth and presents the evidence that links an over indulgence in commercially produced sweet cake treats and fast food, such as hamburgers, to depression.

Mental Health & Social Care Bulletin No. 342

Ahead of schedule due to the Easter Break, no. 342, of the mental health bulletin is ready to download

Mental Health Bulletin No. 341

Social Care news is at the forefront of this week's edition, no. 341. Extensive research on dementia, depression and and schizophrenia as well.

Mental Health & Social Care Bulletin No. 340

This week's bulletin, no. 340, now available to download, has social care in the forefront of the news

Damned if you do, damned if you don't - if you are a woman

In the wake of recent research that confirms too much red meat, particularly processed, is bad for our health and raises the population incidence of cancer, comes a new study. This time it concentrates on the interplay between red meat and mental health. The Australian study in the journal Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics concluded that too little red meat increased the occurence of anxiety and depression - but only if you are a woman.

Read the full article

Mental Health Bulletin No. 339 in Down's Syndrome Awareness Week

This week is Down's Syndrome Awareness Week. Go to the Association's website for more information. Download no. 339 of the mental health bulletin

Mental Health Bulletin No. 338

Ahead of schedule, bulletin no. 338 can be downloaded now. More journal TOCs added since last week.

Mental Health Bulletin No. 337

A bumper issue of the bulletin, no 377, packed with research. The TOC page has been updated and new journal titles added.

Mental Health Bulletin No. 336

Yet another bulletin packed with news, research, publications and conferences. You can download bulletin 336 now

DSM-5 causes controversy

With the publication of the DSM-5, the psychiatrists' "bible", imminent, controversy is raging amongst UK mental health professionals. The new edition of the American diagnostic manual has introduced categories of illness that were not listed in the previous edition. Psychiatrists and Psychologists here feel it will be giving labels of mental health illness to conditions that were considered to be normal before.

Read the full article

Mental Health Bulletin No. 335

This week is Eating Disorders Awareness Week.
Download this week's mental health bulletin, no. 335, to view articles on this subject

Mental Health Bulletin No. 334

Another bulletin packed with the latest news, research, publications, conferences on every aspect of mental health and social care. You can download no. 334 now

Long-term conditions and mental health

A new report, jointly published by the King's Fund and the Centre for Mental Health gives new insight into the consequences of long term conditions.
The publication Long-term Mental Health Conditions: the Cost of Co-morbidities concludes that these conditions, such as heart disease, can increase the likelihood of mental health problems by 30 - 50%. Furthermore the failure to address these co-existing health problems adds billions of pounds to the NHS bill.

Read the full King's Fund news article

Mental Health Bulletin No. 333

Available now the latest edition of the mental health bulletin. Many articles on depression including bipolar disorder. Also a large section on learning disabilities. Download no. 333 now

Defeating Dementia?

A report Defeating Dementia is about to be presented to the House of Commons. One of the presenters and an advisor to Alzheimer's Research UK, Professor Julie Williams from Cardiff University, is backing the main thrust of the report. She reiterates that if dementia is to be tackled properly there must be adequate funding to provide the necessary scientific expertise.

Read the full article

Mental Health Bulletin No. 332

This week's edition, no. 332, of the mental health bulletin is available to download now

Mental Health Bulletin No. 331

The latest edition, no. 331, of the mental health and social care bulletin is now available to download

Pregnancy and SSRIs

A Swedish study has found that depressed pregnant women who are prescribed antidepressants called SSRIs (selective serotonin-reuptake inhibitors) such as Prozac have a slightly elevated risk of a newborn having raised blood pressure in its lungs. The research which analysed data of 1 million births from five Nordic countries was published online in the BMJ.

Read the full article
Read the original research