May 2010 - Mental Health Update - The Network of Care

Britain - the land that sleep forgot

Britain's sleep deprivation crisis is getting worse with serious effects for the economy and the workplace. Researchers surveyed the sleep patterns of 6,000 adults on behalf of the hotel chain Travelodge. They found that 28% of workers said they had...

Published Thu, May 27 2010 4:00 AM by Mental Health Update

Filed under: Sleep Disorders

Occasional tipple might cut Alzheimer's risk

A Spanish study by researchers from the University of Valencia has found that a moderate consumption of alcohol could lower the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease. The study compared 176 people with Alzheimer's and 246 healthy people. The...

Published Tue, May 25 2010 2:23 AM by Mental Health Update

Filed under: Alzheimer's Disease

What makes stalkers keep on stalking?

One of the most important factors in dealing with stalkers and protecting their victims is the likelihood of stalkers persisting in their behaviour. A team of researchers led by David V. James from the North London Forensic Service studied 275 people...

Published Thu, May 13 2010 2:31 AM by Mental Health Update

Filed under: Forensic Psychology, Stalking

Duration of psychosis and negative symptoms

Early interventions for people with psychosis is increasingly recognised as important. Psychologists call the time between people first developing symptoms of psychosis and the start of their treatment duration of untreated psychosis (DUP). The evidence...

Published Thu, May 13 2010 3:35 AM by Mental Health Update

Filed under: Psychosis

Want to get cracking at work? Start with a coffee break

A coffee break really does keep you going at work. Researchers from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine reviewed 13 separate studies from around the world involving shift workers in simulated working conditions. Participants in the studies...

Published Wed, May 12 2010 2:18 AM by Mental Health Update

Art therapy, anxiety and asthma

Children with asthma can often also suffer from anxiety; something that tends to make their condition worse. Anya Beebe, an art therapist at the National Jewish Health in Denver led a study into whether art therapy could help children with asthma feel...

Published Mon, May 24 2010 3:47 AM by Mental Health Update

Filed under: Asthma, Anxiety, Art Therapy

Legal highs still available

Just weeks after the UK government banned the party drug mephedrone new 'legal highs' are cropping up on the Internet. An investigation by researchers from BBC Wales found 400 other drugs available on the Internet being sold as 'research chemicals'...

Published Mon, May 24 2010 1:38 AM by Mental Health Update

STAIR helps patients climb out of reoffending

The Service for Treatment and Abatement of Interpersonal Risk (STAIR) is a cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) programme originally designed for prisoners and adapted for offenders with chronic mental illness. A team of researchers led by Kathy F. Yates...

Published Thu, May 13 2010 2:02 AM by Mental Health Update

Filed under: Forensic Psychology

Expanding waistlines and shrinking brains

Having a pot belly in middle age could raise people's risk of developing Alzheimer's disease. Dr Sudha Seshadri from Boston University School of Medicine led a study of over 700 people with an average age of 60. The participants had their body...

Published Mon, May 24 2010 2:12 AM by Mental Health Update

Sickle-cell disease and brain function

Sickle-cell disease is a blood condition that affects people's red blood cells. The cells are less able to carry oxygen, become stiff and sticky and can clump together blocking blood flow, causing severe pain and potential organ damage. A new study...

Published Wed, May 12 2010 3:03 AM by Mental Health Update

Filed under: Sickle-Cell Disease

Weekend course tackles fear of blushing

One of the symptoms of social anxiety can be a fear of blushing. A fear of blushing develops when people feel self-conscious, this makes them blush and feel even more self-conscious leading to a vicious circle developing. Researchers from Dresden Technical...

Published Wed, May 19 2010 3:05 AM by Mental Health Update

Filed under: Social Anxiety

How genes affect Alzheimer's symptoms

Variations in a gene called APOE are known to affect people's chances of developing Alzheimer's disease. Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School studied 91 people...

Published Wed, May 19 2010 3:54 AM by Mental Health Update

Filed under: Alzheimer's Disease

Early intervention for bipolar disorder - reviewing the evidence

Treating people early, as soon as they start to show signs of distress, is now seen as the best way of dealing with mental-health problems. A team of researchers, led by Michael Berk from the University of Melbourne in Australia, has been reviewing the...

Published Tue, May 04 2010 3:31 AM by Mental Health Update

Filed under: Bipolar Disorder

More evidence for antipsychotic risk in older people

Despite growing evidence of side effects antipsychotic drugs (originally developed to deal with the symptoms of schizophrenia, psychois and bipolar disorder) are still prescribed to older people without these conditions. The American company Prescription...

Published Mon, May 17 2010 7:26 AM by Mental Health Update

Filed under: Antipsychotics - side effects, Older People

Learning disabilities, amygdalas and schizophrenia

People with schizophrenia often have cognitive impairment as well and this is evident before, during and after their illness. At the same time people with a mild learning disability - an IQ of between 50 and 70 - are between three and five times as likely...

Published Fri, May 21 2010 6:50 AM by Mental Health Update

May 2010 - Mental Health Update

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