January 2010 - Mental Health Update

Drivers deluding themselves

Most drivers think that they are better than average despite the fact that this is statistically impossible. Researchers from Ottawa University polled nearly 400 drivers who were asked to rate how they would cope with different driving conditions such...

Published Thu, Jan 28 2010 7:42 AM by Mental Health Update

At last, an excuse for the student coffee break

Scientists know that sleep plays an important part in memory but new research from New York University suggests that even a short break can help people remember things. The researchers showed the participants in the study images of faces, followed by...

Published Thu, Jan 28 2010 7:23 AM by Mental Health Update

Prosody and empathy

Prosody refers to the intonation - the up and down quality - of people's speech and is distinct from, though usually related to, speech's content. Researchers from the Pacific Graduate School of Psychology looked into prosody by playing and getting...

Published Thu, Jan 28 2010 7:00 AM by Mental Health Update

Figures show scale of alcohol abuse in U.K.

The number of alcohol-related deaths in the U.K. rose to 9,031 in 2008, up from 8,724 the year before although the amount being drunk has fallen slightly. Middle-class professionals drink more (13.8 units per week) than those on lower incomes (10.6 units...

Published Thu, Jan 28 2010 6:39 AM by Mental Health Update

Filed under: Alcohol Problems

Review of the evidence backs psychodynamic psychotherapy

Psychodynamic psychotherapy (PP) has lost out to cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) and medication over the last few years but a review of the research by Jonathan Shedler of the University of Colorado suggests that it may be just as effective and have...

Published Wed, Jan 27 2010 4:48 AM by Mental Health Update

Filed under: Psychoanalysis, Psychotherapy

Ambidextrousness - why mixed hands are a mixed blessing in the classroom

Ambidextrous children are more likely to have mental-health, language and schoolwork problems than those who are left- or right-handed. One would have thought being able to use both hands equally well would be an advantage but a study of 7,871 children...

Published Wed, Jan 27 2010 4:12 AM by Mental Health Update

Time flies when you're having fun - or is it the other way around?

Time flies when you're having fun is a tried and tested proverb but it could work in the other direction too according to researchers from the University of St Thomas in Minneapolis. They got students to carry out a mundane task and told them it would...

Published Wed, Jan 27 2010 3:52 AM by Mental Health Update

Prevention programmes for eating disorders

Many schools use prevention programmes aimed at stopping children from developing eating disorders. Some target children considered to be most at risk of developing eating problems while others are aimed at all children. A team of researchers from Barcelona...

Published Tue, Jan 26 2010 7:57 AM by Mental Health Update

Filed under: Eating Disorders

Antipsychotics for anorexia

Admissions to U.K. NHS hospitals with a diagnosis of anorexia have risen by 80% in the last 10 years. Anorexia is notoriously difficult to treat and there is no evidence that antidepressants are effective for it. Antipsychotic drugs are sometimes used...

Published Tue, Jan 26 2010 6:42 AM by Mental Health Update

Family mental illness and schizophrenia

A family history of schizophrenia is the strongest single indicator of individual schizophrenia risk. Bipolar affective disorder and schizoaffective disorders have been found to occur more frequently in the parents and siblings of schizophrenia patients...

Published Tue, Jan 26 2010 3:23 AM by Mental Health Update

Weight gain and antipsychotics

Weight gain has long been recognised as one of the side effects of antipsychotic drugs. Weight gain can lead to other illnesses or health problems, such as glucose intolerance, diabetes, metabolic syndrome, sleep apnoea and cardiovascular diseases. At...

Published Tue, Jan 26 2010 2:38 AM by Mental Health Update

Early learning problems and schizophrenia

People who develop schizophrenia have often had cognitive problems in their childhood. Researchers from Duke University in North Carolina used data from a long-term study of 1,000 New Zealanders, born between 1972 and 1973. By the time they had reached...

Published Fri, Jan 22 2010 7:39 AM by Mental Health Update

Filed under: Schizophrenia

Blueberry juice is latest memory booster

Last year researchers from the University of Cincinnati found that purple grace juice could help with memory loss and now they have found evidence that blueberry juice could do the same. The researchers studied a small group of people who were in their...

Published Fri, Jan 22 2010 7:03 AM by Mental Health Update

Filed under: Alzheimer's Disease, Memory Problems

Early birds really do catch the worms

Early risers are more likely to grab life by the scruff of the neck than night owls. Christoph Randler from the University of Leipzig studied 367 students and found that early risers were more likely to identify long-range goals and feel responsibility...

Published Fri, Jan 22 2010 6:45 AM by Mental Health Update

Filed under: Sleep Disorders

Count Me In report shows continuing inequality in U.K.

In the U.K. the Healthcare Commission has produced its fifth Count Me In census of mental-health inpatients in England and Wales. It shows that people from a black and minority ethnic background are still three times more likely to be detained under the...

Published Fri, Jan 22 2010 6:32 AM by Mental Health Update