March 2011 - Mental Health Update

Antipsychotics and older people - new evidence on health risks

There has been much criticism in the past about the overuse of newer, atypical antipsychotic drugs to manage problem behaviour in elderly people with dementia. However, a new study by researchers from Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston has suggested...

Published Thu, Mar 31 2011 3:28 AM by Mental Health Update

Filed under: Antidepressants, Alzheimer's Disease, Antipsychotics - side effects, Benzodiazepines, Older People

ADHD and creativity

Adults with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) could be more creative than other people. Holly A. White from the University of Memphis and Priti Shah from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor studied 60 people, 30 of whom had ADHD. They...

Published Thu, Mar 31 2011 2:40 AM by Mental Health Update

Filed under: ADHD, Creativity

Body acceptance and social support

Women's acceptance of their bodies could have more to do with how other people see them than their actual weight. Researchers from Ohio State University studied 801 women between the ages of 18 and 65. They found that the most important influence...

Published Thu, Mar 31 2011 2:25 AM by Mental Health Update

Filed under: Social Networks, Body Image

Ecstasy research moves into the real world

Studies into the effects of ecstasy tend to be carried out in the laboratory and don't always reflect what goes on in real life. A team of researchers led by Dr Rod Irvine from the University of Adelaide tried to get round this by sending researchers...

Published Thu, Mar 31 2011 1:58 AM by Mental Health Update

Filed under: Ecstasy

Why goody two-shoes isn't always top of the class

Better-behaved children don't always get better marks at school and naughtier ones don't always do worse. A team of researchers from the University of North Carolina studied 350 children in seven schools over a five-year period. They looked at...

Published Wed, Mar 30 2011 2:35 AM by Mental Health Update

New research shows how violence spreads through society

Being exposed to violence, either watching it on TV, seeing it in the flesh or suffering it oneself is more likely to make children think it is normal and could lead to them behaving violently themselves. A team of researchers, led by Izaskun Orue from...

Published Wed, Mar 30 2011 2:23 AM by Mental Health Update

Filed under: Child Development, Violence

Psychosis, insight and hearing voices

People with psychosis are said to lack insight when they have a poor awareness that they are mentally ill and don't think they need to get help. Lack of insight is associated with poorer outcomes and worse adherence to treatment while improved insight...

Published Wed, Mar 30 2011 1:49 AM by Mental Health Update

Filed under: Psychosis, Hallucinations, Insight

Anxiety sensitivity and cannabis use

Anxiety sensitivity can be defined as being anxious about being anxious. People with anxiety sensitivity are anxious about the physical symptoms of being anxious (an upset tummy, sweaty palms, pounding heart), mental incapacitation (losing control and...

Published Wed, Mar 30 2011 1:30 AM by Mental Health Update

Filed under: Anxiety Disorders, Cannabis

Genetic link to suicide risk

Researchers from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore have identified a gene that could be linked to an increased risk of attempting suicide. The researchers studied 2,698 people with bipolar disorder, 1,201 of whom had a history of suicide attempts...

Published Tue, Mar 29 2011 2:32 AM by Mental Health Update

Filed under: Suicide, Bipolar Disorder, Genetics

Childhood problems and adult happiness

Psychological problems in people's childhoods could reduce their earnings later in life and their chances of forming a lasting relationship. A team of researchers led by Alissa Goodman from the U.K.'s Institute for Fiscal Studies looked at data...

Published Tue, Mar 29 2011 2:15 AM by Mental Health Update

For the very paranoid everyone is a threat

Previous research has shown that even neutral social contact can trigger paranoid thinking in people with paranoia. Social contact can have a wide variety of different contexts from complete strangers to friends and family and a team of researchers led...

Published Tue, Mar 29 2011 1:52 AM by Mental Health Update

Filed under: Psychosis, Paranoia

Immigration and psychosis

Migration is an accepted risk factor for schizophrenia but the level of risk in second-generation immigrants in unclear. A team of researchers from McGill University in Canada reviewed 21 studies into psychosis among immigrants. They found that while...

Published Tue, Mar 29 2011 1:36 AM by Mental Health Update

Filed under: Psychosis, Immigrants

Elder abuse - who suffers most?

Researchers from the University of Illinois at Chicago have been looking into the issue of older abuse. They used data from two trauma units in Chicago to compare people over 60 admitted after suffering from elder abuse to people of the same age admitted...

Published Mon, Mar 28 2011 2:11 AM by Mental Health Update

Filed under: Violence, Older People

Neglectful parents and mental-health problems

Emotional neglect can be defined as 'emotional unresponsiveness, unavailability and neglect characterised by a lack of interaction between parent and child.' It has been linked to children developing more mental-health problems but most research...

Published Mon, Mar 28 2011 1:45 AM by Mental Health Update

Filed under: Child Development, Child Psychology, Parenting

Even moderate stress can cause long-term problems

A study of more than 17,000 working adults by researchers from the University of Bristol and the Karolinska Institute in Sweden has found that even mild psychological stress can have an effect on people's health. The study followed the participants...

Published Fri, Mar 25 2011 4:38 AM by Mental Health Update

Filed under: Stress