January 2010 - Mental Health Update

The pushchair pill poppers

Toddlers in the U.S. are being prescribed powerful antipsychotic drugs and the number has doubled over the past decade. Mark Olfson from Columbia University in New York studied the records of children with private medical insurance between 2000 and 2007...

Published Fri, Jan 15 2010 7:20 AM by Mental Health Update

Filed under: Child Psychology, Antipsychotics

Burnout, nursing and trauma

Burnout syndrome is characterized by feeling overwhelmed by work, having impersonal feelings towards those one is providing services or care to, negative self-evaluation and a perception of reduced achievement. Burnout syndrome and post-traumatic stress...

Published Tue, Jan 05 2010 8:18 AM by Mental Health Update

Filed under: PTSD, Stress

Cocaine and sudden death

More than 3% of sudden deaths in Europe are caused by cocaine use. Researchers at the Institute of Legal Medicine in Seville studied sudden deaths in South-West Spain between 2003 and 2006 and found that 3.1% of them were related to taking cocaine which...

Published Wed, Jan 13 2010 2:32 AM by Mental Health Update

Filed under: Cocaine

Drug therapy for borderline personality disorder

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is characterised by persistently unstable moods, inability to control one's impulses, problems getting on with other people and a poor self image. People with BPD have difficulty forming relationships, can be...

Published Mon, Jan 18 2010 6:42 AM by Mental Health Update

Filed under: Borderline Personality Disorder

Leafy suburbs and later literacy

Where you live when you go to nursery school could affect your reading comprehension years later - even if you've moved somewhere completely different in the meantime. Researchers from the University of British Columbia followed 2,648 children from...

Published Mon, Jan 18 2010 7:48 AM by Mental Health Update

Filed under: Child Development

Thrill-seeking, disruptive behaviour and cannabis use

High-intensity pleasure seeking refers to a tendency in teenagers to look for physical and social thrills. Broadly speaking it's what makes some kids go for raves and snowboarding while others go for hanging around in shopping centres and watching...

Published Thu, Jan 07 2010 7:01 AM by Mental Health Update

Filed under: Cannabis

What works for PTSD?

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is characterized by symptoms such as repeated, intrusive upsetting memories of the trauma; avoidance of similar situations and things which might remind one of them; a feeling of detachment from others; hypervigilance...

Published Tue, Jan 05 2010 7:51 AM by Mental Health Update

Filed under: PTSD

How effective are antidepressants?

Antidepressants could be little better than a placebo for all but the most severe depression. Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia carried out a data analysis combining information from six different trials covering a total...

Published Fri, Jan 08 2010 7:39 AM by Mental Health Update

Filed under: Antidepressants, Depression - medication

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

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

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

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

Comments on the Mental Health Update blog

I am changing the settings on my blog so that I can approve comments before they are added. This is to stop a number of people posting links to Viagra, car insurance, mobile phones and hot chicks etc. I am still very happy to receive comments about the...

Published Fri, Jan 08 2010 1:33 AM by Mental Health Update

Mini people with mini bipolar disorder?

Bipolar disorder in children is a controversial topic. It has traditionally been thought to be very rare but the rate of diagnosis has increased dramatically over the last decade. There is a lot of heated debate as to whether this increase reflects past...

Published Tue, Jan 05 2010 8:43 AM by Mental Health Update

Filed under: Bipolar Disorder

Little people hearing voices

Although hearing voices is one of the main symptoms of psychosis there are thought to be many more people who hear voices than who suffer from psychosis. This is particularly true of children and adolescents and the great majority of children who hear...

Published Mon, Jan 18 2010 7:10 AM by Mental Health Update

Filed under: Psychosis, Hallucinations