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.
The pre-Christmas edition, no. 327, of the mental health and social care bulletin is available to download now. There will be a mini bulletin on Friday 23rd
In the report "A nation living on the never-never" by The Smith Institute on the state of the nation's debt, a chapter by Sean Duggan, chief executive of the Mental Health Centre, is devoted to the interplay between debt and mental health. Duggan states that mental health services should acknowledge the need for financial advice and likewise financial services should be aware of the mental health problems aligned to debt.
Having an abortion does not increase the chances of becoming depressed when a woman is experiencing an unwanted pregnancy. Giving birth in these circumstances produced the same numbers of depressed women according to figures published by the National Collaborating Centre for Mental Health (NCCMH) on behalf of the Department of Health. NCCMH analysed 44 studies but commented that it was unclear whether all the women included in the studies became depressed as a result of unwanted pregnancy or whether some had mental health problems to begin with.
No. 326 of the mental health bulletin is now available to view on the website. Packed with new research, news, publications and conferences
A study by Spanish researchers published in Comprehensive Psychiatry suggests that mentally ill patients who suffer from psychosis are more likely to have an addiction to gambling compared to those suffering from other conditions. Pathological gambling has always been linked to conditions such as alcoholism but little research has been done in the past on its comorbidity with psychosis.
