February 2010 - Mental Health Update

Depressed mothers and violent teenagers

Mothers who are depressed during their pregnancy may have children who are more aggressive than others and may also have been more aggressive as teenagers themselves. Researchers from Cardiff University, King's College London and the University of...

Published Mon, Feb 08 2010 8:24 AM by Mental Health Update

Filed under: Depression, Violence

Personality and post-natal depression

There are well established links between people's personality, the way they think about the world and their vulnerability to depression but it is less clear whether these factors have the same influence on people's tendency to develop postnatal...

Published Fri, Feb 26 2010 2:16 AM by Mental Health Update

Filed under: Postnatal Depression

Twist or stick? Why it might all be down to the amygdala

Most people are reluctant to gamble if the potential losses outweigh the gains; something psychologists call loss aversion. Scientists think a part of the brain called the amygdala might play an important part in loss aversion and researchers at the California...

Published Tue, Feb 09 2010 3:46 AM by Mental Health Update

EMDR for traumatised children

Trauma-focused cognitive therapy has been shown to be effective in treating post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in children and adolescents after physical and sexual abuse but there are fewer treatments for children who have suffered a single, severe...

Published Tue, Feb 02 2010 6:30 AM by Mental Health Update

Obesity and ADHD

Recent research has suggested that there is a link between mothers who are obese before they become pregnant and their children's risk of developing ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). This could be down to a number of factors. Mothers...

Published Fri, Feb 05 2010 7:40 AM by Mental Health Update

Filed under: Obesity, ADHD

Yes, you can be bored to death

Being bored might make life seem longer but it can actually shorten it in the long run. Researchers at University College London have been monitoring over 7,000 civil servants over 25 years as part of a long-term study of lifestyle and health. The civil...

Published Tue, Feb 09 2010 4:29 AM by Mental Health Update

Military veterans still not getting PTSD care

Many military veterans in the U.S. are still not getting the treatment they need for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Dr Karen Seal from the San Franciscon Veteran Affairs Medical Centre lead a team studying this issue. They found that between 2002...

Published Thu, Feb 18 2010 7:33 AM by Mental Health Update

Borderline personality disorder and sleep problems in prison

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is characterized by impulsiveness, unstable moods, relationship difficulties and low self-esteem. People with BPD are more likely to take drugs, behave antisocially and self-harm and are at much greater risk of getting...

Published Mon, Feb 15 2010 6:28 AM by Mental Health Update

Filed under: Sleep Disorders, Borderline Personality Disorder

PTSD and shame

The main emotion associated with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is fear but researchers are now starting to look at the way in which other emotions can play a part in maintaining the condition. One such emotion is shame caused when, rather than...

Published Tue, Feb 16 2010 6:35 AM by Mental Health Update

Filed under: PTSD

Exercise, schizophrenia and growing your hippocampus

Neural plasticity is the brain's ability to change and adapt over time. People with schizophrenia show changes in their brains and it could be the case that they have less neural plasticity than other people. People with schizophrenia also have smaller...

Published Tue, Feb 23 2010 7:48 AM by Mental Health Update

Filed under: Schizophrenia, Neuroscience, Exercise and Mental Health

ADHD and time perception

People with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) often have problems with their perception of time but it is unclear whether this is due to difficulties in estimating how much time has elapsed or by the fact that they become distracted by other...

Published Thu, Feb 25 2010 6:27 AM by Mental Health Update

Filed under: ADHD

How to tell and what to do if clients go downhill

About 5-10% of people actually get worse after starting psychotherapy. Studies comparing therapists who got feedback when their clients worsened showed that their clients did better than those people with therapists who were left to carry on regardless...

Published Tue, Feb 16 2010 7:06 AM by Mental Health Update

Filed under: Psychotherapy

Genes, bullying and depression

Scientists are discovering more and more information about the way in which people's genes and environment interact to affect their health. A study of 78 girls by researchers at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California looked into the links between...

Published Fri, Feb 05 2010 8:13 AM by Mental Health Update

Filed under: Depression, Bullying, Genetics

Binge drinking and the military: abstinence makes the will grow stronger

In 2008 nearly 185,000 new members were recruited to the U.S. armed forces. Navy and air-force personnel are forbidden to drink alcohol and smoke during their basic training and researchers from RTI international in North Carolina looked at how much people...

Published Thu, Feb 25 2010 8:14 AM by Mental Health Update

Filed under: Alcohol Problems

Tobacco, drug use and genetics

Around 60% of adolescents have smoked a cigarette at some point in their lives and around a third have smoked during the last month. Tobacco is often seen as a gateway to cannabis and other drugs but some scientists dispute this 'gateway' theory...

Published Thu, Feb 25 2010 7:44 AM by Mental Health Update

Filed under: Substance Abuse, Genetics