January 2011 - Mental Health Update

Greater involvement leads to greater workplace stress

Workers who feel themselves to be more central to, or involved in, their organisation are more likely to suffer from workplace stress. Researchers from the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto surveyed 2,737 people, 18% of whom said that...

Published Wed, Jan 26 2011 3:28 AM by Mental Health Update

Filed under: Stress

Migraines change brain but don't affect cognition

People who suffer from migraines and severe headaches do show changes to their brain over time but don't show symptoms of cognitive decline. Researchers from Inserm and the Universite Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris studied 780 people over 65. They studied...

Published Wed, Jan 26 2011 2:53 AM by Mental Health Update

Filed under: Neuroscience, Migraine

Parents' divorce linked to increased risk of suicidal thoughts in men

Boys whose parents divorce could be more likely to think about killing themselves when they become adults. Researchers from the University of Toronto studied 6,647 adults of whom 695 had experienced their parents getting divorced while they were children...

Published Wed, Jan 26 2011 2:34 AM by Mental Health Update

Filed under: Suicide

NICE updates anxiety guidelines

The U.K.'s National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) has updated its guidance on the treatment of generalised anxiety disorder (GAD). It says that patients should not be offered benzodiazepines or antipsychotics but should be educated about...

Published Wed, Jan 26 2011 2:19 AM by Mental Health Update

Filed under: Anxiety Disorders

Brief intervention offers hope to insomnia sufferers

Researchers from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine have been looking into the effectiveness of a very brief therapy for adults with insomnia. They studied 79 older adults, with an average age of 72. Half received printed educational material...

Published Tue, Jan 25 2011 7:34 AM by Mental Health Update

Filed under: Sleep Disorders

Toddler tantrums, self-control and adult problems

Children who are badly behaved and impatient at three are already at risk of having problems as adults. Researchers from Duke University in North Carolina studied 1,000 people in New Zealand in a long-term study which followed them from early childhood...

Published Tue, Jan 25 2011 7:12 AM by Mental Health Update

Filed under: Child Development

Parent-training programmes for autism

Parents of children with autism often attend training programmes to help them cope and with the hope that they will improve their child's symptoms and behaviour. A programme called Early Bird is aimed at pre-school children and a programme called...

Published Fri, Jan 21 2011 4:10 AM by Mental Health Update

Filed under: Autism

Family support and depression

High levels of support from one's family are associated with a more rapid recovery from depression while low levels are linked to people being ill for longer. However, there have been few long-term studies into this issue. Researchers from Stanford...

Published Fri, Jan 21 2011 3:47 AM by Mental Health Update

Filed under: Depression, Social Support, Service Users' Families

Which kids get hooked on tobacco?

Many children have a quick puff on a cigarette from time to time but not all of them go on to get hooked on tobacco. Researchers from Columbia University in New York studied 660 children, all of whom had smoked a cigarette when they were first interviewed...

Published Fri, Jan 21 2011 3:33 AM by Mental Health Update

Filed under: Smoking

Escitalopram and hot flushes

The antidepressant escitalopram could reduce hot flushes in menopausal women. Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine studied 205 women over an 8-week period. Half were given escalitopram and half were given a placebo. After...

Published Wed, Jan 19 2011 2:33 AM by Mental Health Update

Filed under: Escitalopram

Video games and mental health - II

Following an earlier study of problematic gaming in young children in Singapore researchers from Yale School of Medicine have been looking into the effects of video games in older children. They surveyed 4,028 adolescents about their gaming and behaviour...

Published Wed, Jan 19 2011 2:16 AM by Mental Health Update

Filed under: Child Development, Video Game Addiction

Child abuse and false confessions

Compliance involves people responding favourably to requests. In some cases this can be a good thing but in other instances it can lead to people making false confessions when pressure by the police, people being pressurised by their peers to commit crimes...

Published Wed, Jan 19 2011 1:42 AM by Mental Health Update

Filed under: Child Abuse, Forensic Psychology

Remind me who you are again ...

For people like me, on the wrong side of 40 and hopeless at remembering faces, researchers at Harvard University and Dartmouth College in New Hampshire have got bad news - things aren't likely to get any better as we get older. The researchers tested...

Published Tue, Jan 18 2011 2:36 AM by Mental Health Update

Mum's iron puts kids on their mettle

Iron deficiency is the most common and widespread nutritional disorder in the world, affecting around 2 billion people. Iron is essential for the development of the central nervous system and early iron deficiency can interfere with nerve development...

Published Tue, Jan 18 2011 2:21 AM by Mental Health Update

Filed under: Child Development, Iron, Folic Acid

Video games and mental health

Researchers from the University of Iowa have been studying the effects of video games on children in Singapore. The researchers surveyed 3,034 children between years 3 and 8 every year between 2007 and 2009. 83% of the children in the study played video...

Published Tue, Jan 18 2011 1:58 AM by Mental Health Update