October 2009 - Mental Health Update

Communication takes the weight off Alzheimer's carers

Working with people with dementia can be very tiring, not least the physical strain of moving, or helping to move, people around care homes. Researchers from the Sahlgrenska Academy in Gothenburg surveyed health-care assistants at three homes in western...

Published Mon, Oct 05 2009 5:50 AM by Mental Health Update

Filed under: Alzheimer's Disease

Loneliness and mental illness - guest post by Amy S. Cook

Loneliness and Mental Illness – The Connection There’s a woman who lives alone in my apartment block – she keeps to herself and rarely ventures out. And when she does, she is hostile and cantankerous. The other residents of the building don’t treat her...

Published Tue, Oct 27 2009 3:07 AM by Mental Health Update

Grey matter and OCD - reviewing the evidence

There has been a lot of research recently using brain scanning to look at differences in the brains of people with mental-health problems. Because brain scanning is an expensive and time-consuming business studies are often quite small meaning that samples...

Published Fri, Oct 30 2009 2:43 AM by Mental Health Update

Everyday tasks and developing dementia

Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is often seen as an intermediate phase between normal cognition and dementia. However, not everyone with MCI goes on to develop dementia so it is important to try and work out who is most at risk so they can be helped as...

Published Mon, Oct 05 2009 6:53 AM by Mental Health Update

Filed under: Alzheimer's Disease

Growing up and out of substance abuse

Many young people behave in a delinquent fashion including using illegal drugs and committing minor offences such as shoplifting and vandalism but most grow out of this as they leave home, set up with a partner and get a job. Few studies have looked into...

Published Mon, Oct 12 2009 2:24 AM by Mental Health Update

Filed under: Substance Abuse

Cannabis and schizophrenia: has the U.K. Government over-reacted?

The idea that there is a link between cannabis and schizophrenia is a controversial one. Last year the U.K. Government reclassified cannabis as a class B drug, partly, at least, because they thought there was a link between the drug and mental illness...

Published Fri, Oct 23 2009 5:53 AM by Mental Health Update

Filed under: Cannabis, Schizophrenia

Depressed mums in U.S. fail to get adequate help

Depression in mothers can have a major impact on the entire family, especially on the health and wellbeing of children, and treating depression in mothers can improve the long-term health of their families. However, a study of 2,130 mothers by researchers...

Published Wed, Oct 28 2009 7:22 AM by Mental Health Update

Filed under: Depression

Deep brain stimulation and Tourette's

Deep brain stimulation has been used to treat people with depression and now new research from Birmingham University in the U.K. suggests that it might also be helpful for people with Tourette's syndrome too. People with Tourette's have uncontrolled...

Published Wed, Oct 28 2009 4:17 AM by Mental Health Update

Filed under: Tourette's Syndrome, Deep-Brain Stimulation

ADHD and crime

Children with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) are more likely to become criminals as they get older. Researchers from Yale School of Public Health studied more than 10,000 people and found that children with ADHD were twice as likely to...

Published Thu, Oct 29 2009 8:17 AM by Mental Health Update

Filed under: ADHD

Mothers, daughters and OCD

Scientists still do not really know what causes obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) but there is some evidence that it runs in families. Most studies into this have looked at an overall diagnosis of OCD but OCD is made up of a number of different symptoms...

Published Fri, Oct 16 2009 3:46 AM by Mental Health Update

Filed under: Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

Mental illness and unhealthy lifestyles

The Scottish Association for Mental Health has conducted a survey of 320 people looking into the links between mental illness and unhealthy lifestyles. People with mental-health problems were more likely to feel embarrassed (9% vs 1%) and that they were...

Published Fri, Oct 23 2009 7:01 AM by Mental Health Update

Filed under: Service Users' Health

U.K. Government launches new talking-therapy services

52 new sites offering talking therapy for people suffering from depression and anxiety have opened in the U.K. The Care Services Minister, Phil Hope, announced the new sites which will provide cognitive-behavioural therapy, counselling and guided self...

Published Wed, Oct 14 2009 3:31 AM by Mental Health Update

Depression, anxiety and obesity

A 19-year survey of 4,363 British civil servants by researchers at University College London has found that those who suffered from anxiety and depression were more likely to become obese. The participants were screeened four times over the course of...

Published Thu, Oct 08 2009 7:29 AM by Mental Health Update

Filed under: Depression - causes, Anxiety Disorders, Obesity

Genes, environment and self-control: looking more closely at nature and nurture

Most scientists now accept that the nature/nurture debate is not a case of either/or but of genes and environment working together in a complex pattern to influence people's mental health. Researchers from the University of Iowa looked into one example...

Published Thu, Oct 29 2009 6:51 AM by Mental Health Update

Filed under: Child Development, Child Psychology

The psychology of torture

Researchers at Harvard's Faculty of Arts and Sciences have been conducting (pain-free) research into the psychology of torture. In the study one of the research team was 'tortured' (although in reality she was acting) by having her hand submerged...

Published Wed, Oct 28 2009 3:36 AM by Mental Health Update