Mental Health & Social care Bulletin No. 416

The big news this week was the Australian report in the BMJ which commented on the wider diagnostic parameters for ADHD which in the view of the authors is resulting in misdiagnosis and unnecessary prescribing of drugs such as Ritalin, worldwide. However other experts feel that the criteria for prescribing in the UK is too strict. Also figuring in the news is the the release by Public Health England of statistics for alcohol treatment in England from 2012 - 2013. There has been a small increase in instigations of treatment. All this and much more in Bulletin No. 416

Mental Health & Social Care Bulletin No. 399

An Alcohol Matrix has been developed to help commissioners and practitioners get easy access to research that will support them in their alcohol treatment services. The Substance Misuse Skills Consortium has been quoted as saying that this is a key resource. Bulletin 399 has access to this information and much much more, including news on social care provision.

Mental Health & Social Care Bulletin No. 395

In Bulletin No. 395 you can link to the new statistical report from the Health Social Care Infromation Centre: Statistics on Alcohol: England, 2013. The bulletin also has a large section this week on various addictions.

Mental Health & Social Care Bulletin No. 382

Matters concerning alcohol figure in Bulletin No. 382. A coalition of 70 alcohol groups have produced a report which includes a call for a  concensus across the UK for a minimum of 50p price per unit of acohol. The Welsh branches of Alcohol Concern and The Royal College of Psychiatrists have published a report on the links between problem gambling and alcohol. Following on from a report which showed a higher level of alcohol intake by children in Brighton than in other parts of the country, the local authority is considering implementing contracts where parents pledge not give their children alcohol. Also in this bulletin a new section on Child & Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS)

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

Teenage abstinence or economy of truth?

Figures released by by the NHS Information Centre reveal that there has been a decrease in smoking, drinking and drug taking by teenagers. The data for 2009-2011 was procured from a survey conducted on 7,264 11- 15 year olds from 246 schools


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Parents, teenagers and drinking

A survey carried out on behalf of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation has highlighted the influence of parental drinking habits on their offspring. It appears that even moderate parental overindulgence can affect teenage attitudes what is acceptable limits of intake

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Alcohol dependency increases prescriptions

Statistics released from the NHS Information Centre show that there was a 12% increase last year in prescriptions handed out to deal with alcohol dependency in England. The figures cited compared the prescribing of two particular drugs in 2009 with that in 2008. However, experts caution that it may be a matter of increased willingless of patients to face their addiction rather than an increase in alcoholism itself.

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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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