September 2010 - Mental Health Update

Antidepressants and diabetes risk

Long-term use of antidepressants could be linked to an increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Researchers from University College London studied more than 150,000 Finnish adults over an average of five years. 1.1% of the participants who were not...

Published Thu, Sep 30 2010 5:37 AM by Mental Health Update

Filed under: Antidepressants, Diabetes

Why are Indian children better behaved than White ones?

Previous research has shown that, on average, British Indian children are better behaved than White ones but no one knows why. A team of researchers from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine tried to get to the bottom of this in a study...

Published Thu, Sep 30 2010 3:56 AM by Mental Health Update

Filed under: Child Development, Child Psychology

Postnatal depression and exam results - boys suffer but not girls

It is estimated that around 15% of mothers suffer from postnatal depression. Postnatal depression is associated with significant difficulties in mothers' communication with their children including reduced responsiveness and sensitivity and more withdrawn...

Published Thu, Sep 30 2010 3:41 AM by Mental Health Update

Weight loss surgery and suicide risk

Very fat people sometimes have surgery to make their stomachs smaller and stop them eating so much. Researchers from the University of Pittsburgh studied 16,683 people who had had weight-loss surgery between 1995 and 2004. By 2006 31 of these people had...

Published Wed, Sep 29 2010 3:43 AM by Mental Health Update

Filed under: Obesity, Suicide

Dealing with rows and preventing divorce

How couples resolve their rows can have an impact on how long their relationships last. Researchers already know that destructive patterns, such as yelling at one another or calling one another names, lead to a higher chance of divorce but researchers...

Published Wed, Sep 29 2010 3:28 AM by Mental Health Update

35-44 is gloomiest decade

35-44 has emerged as the unhappiest decade in a survey carried out by the U.K. relationship charity Relate. More people between the ages of 35 and 44 said they felt lonely or depressed than in any other age group. 21% of people in this age group said...

Published Wed, Sep 29 2010 1:21 AM by Mental Health Update

U.K. Government clamps down on chemical cosh for dementia

Over the years the Mental Health Update blog has featured a number of posts about the damaging effects of antipsychotic drugs prescribed as a 'chemical cosh' for people with dementia and now the U.K. Government (probably not, to be honest, influenced...

Published Tue, Sep 28 2010 3:23 AM by Mental Health Update

Filed under: Alzheimer's Disease, Antipsychotics - side effects

Study points to benefits of increasing alcohol taxes

Increasing taxes on alcohol is often seen as a way in which Governments can limit its damaging effects. But does it work? Researchers at the University of Florida have been reviewing a number of studies into this issue. They looked at 50 published research...

Published Tue, Sep 28 2010 3:07 AM by Mental Health Update

Filed under: Alcohol Problems

Friends and family better than tests at spotting Alzheimer's

Researchers devote a lot of time to developing screening tests for Alzheimer's disease but a new study by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St Louis suggests that it might actually be more effective to ask people's friends...

Published Tue, Sep 28 2010 2:28 AM by Mental Health Update

Filed under: Alzheimer's Disease

Why people think they are depressed and what do they want to do about it

Over the years researchers have devoted a lot of time to working out the causes of depression. However, there has been a lot less research into what sufferers themselves think causes their depression and whether this influences what kind of treatment...

Published Tue, Sep 28 2010 2:01 AM by Mental Health Update

Filed under: Depression - causes

101 blogs for people with depression

The Nursing Schools.net web site has compiled a useful list of '101 blogs to help you deal with depression.' The site features a number of different sites and resources and you can visit it at http://www.nursingschools.net/blog/2010/09/101-blogs...

Published Mon, Sep 27 2010 3:49 AM by Mental Health Update

Childhood trauma, cannabis use and psychosis

Although it is still a controversial topic some research has shown that using cannabis in adolescence is associated with an increased risk of developing psychosis. At the same time suffering childhood trauma is associated both with an increased risk of...

Published Mon, Sep 27 2010 3:18 AM by Mental Health Update

Filed under: Cannabis, Psychosis

Cognitive problems and schizophrenia - which comes first?

Cognitive problems are considered to be one of the main features of schizophrenia. However, it is unclear whether the problems are already there before people's first experience of psychosis or whether developing psychosis has a deleterious effect...

Published Mon, Sep 27 2010 2:34 AM by Mental Health Update

Filed under: Schizophrenia, Cognition

Pro-eating disorder web sites can damage healthy women too

Pro-eating disorder (Pro-ED) web sites are designed to convey the idea that eating disorders are a 'lifestyle choice' rather than a mental-health problem. They contain pro-eating disorder statements, tips and tricks on unhealthy eating behaviours...

Published Mon, Sep 27 2010 2:10 AM by Mental Health Update

Filed under: Eating Disorders

Who recovers best from eating disorders?

Eating disorders have the highest death rate of any mental-health problem and can have long-lasting psychological, social and medical consequences. Patients often resist care as recovery threatens some of the things that they believe the eating disorder...

Published Mon, Sep 27 2010 1:41 AM by Mental Health Update