August 2007 Archives

There is a sickening story on the Mother Jones website about a US institution that uses electric shocks to try to change the behaviour of children with mental health problems, autism or learning disabilities.

There have been lots of stories recently about the impact of war on the mental health of soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Children who get mumps with complications of brain inflammation or brain infections before the age of 12 have more chance of developing later schizophrenia, according to research reported in New Scientist.

Mental health courts can reduce re-offending and violence, according to a new study in the American Journal of Psychiatry.

The Japanese Morita Therapy could be a useful alternative to the Western way of looking at mental health, according to the Todo Institute.

Too much choice is not good for your mental health, say psychologists, so why on earth is the government so keen to import it into our public services?

Even the highest of high flyers (literally) need to think about their mental health. The mental health of NASA astronauts is to be investigated by the US Congress amid fears over alcohol use and behaviour.

Damp and mouldy housing is associated with a higher risk of depression, according to a survey.

Here's some good news. Researchers in Australia have developed a new programme which has halved the number of relapses experienced by people with bipolar disorder..

The Growing Up With a Disability blog is holding the 21st disability blog carnival - and it features something close to my heart - lists.

Researchers have discovered mice that groom their faces until they bleed and are afraid to venture out of the corner of their cages.

What do you think of VNS - vagus nerve stimulation?

Researchers have found that the academic and behavioural problems associated with ADHD can be treated in children without using drugs.

If you've not been following the really interesting debate about the role of pychologists in military interrogations and torture, here is a really good summary of where things stand now, in the Everyday Citizen blog. Where the US starts the rest of the world often follows.

There's already enough negativity in the world so I've decided to add to the general pool of positivity this afternoon instead.

Hot on the heels of Iceland, Japan now plans to beef up its child mental health services.

Now winter has arrived in earnest here in the UK it's time to start thinking about seasonal affective disorder.

US psychologists have decided not to cease their involvement in any interrogations in military prisons "in which detainees are deprived of adequate protection of their human rights."

England's anti-stigma campaign, Moving People , backed by the National Lottery and co-ordinated by Mind amongst others, has appointed an interim director to help get the whole show on the road.

The American Psychological Association is likely to issue a formal condemnation of many CIA interrogation techniques, although it seems a loophole might mean they fall short of an outright ban.

Here's a nice idea - "a planned intergenerational community" - set up in the US to bring together families with foster children with older adults who can act as de facto grandparents.

The UK's psychiatric wards are at breaking point, according to an unnamed psychiatrist reported in today's Daily Telegraph. There have been lots of stories about awful in-patient facilities over the years but things were generally thought to have been getting better. Obviously last year's financial crisis has been having a big impact.

The romanticised link between genius and madness is not all it's cracked up to be.
According to a story in Psychology Today, creativity is more down to perspiration than inspiration and while artists might be more likely to suffer from depression, it's because they are reflective thinkers rather than creative types.

I can't believe this one. It seems financial planners in the US are referring their customers to psychologists and therapists if they are having difficulties investing their money.

Apparently "apart from helping people to make more sensible investment decisions, therapy can leave people feeling better about parting with their money."

Social workers are pretty clever but doctors are even more brainy. Well that's what this IQ chart featuring different professions seems to say anyway.

A growing number of police departments in the US are deploying Crisis Intervention Teams, specifically trained to deal with people with mental health problems.

We focus far too much on negative mental health and not enough on happiness and joy. Well that's probably the prevailing opinion at the Positive Psychology Summit in Washington, DC.

This week a charity which helps ex-servicemen and women spoke out in the press to reveal that as many as ten per cent of homeless people are ex-Armed Forces personnel.

Scientists have found yet more evidence of the benefits of exercise on mental health.

Dementia is this week's hot topic in the mental health world (in the UK at least).
The condition - long seen as one of social care and health's seemingly endless list of Cinderella areas - has been at the forefront of government policy and a media storm, while a long running court battle on the issue will be settled on Friday.

Is it possible to slow down time? The author of a new book reckons you can.

A new study suggests that a drug previously used to treat patients with sleep disorders could be effective in tackling bi-polar disorder. The "wake-up pill" which helps treat people suffering from excessive sleepiness in conditions such as narcolepsy could relieve the depressive symptoms of bi-polar disorder.

Scientists have now proved that high stress jobs have a bad impact on your mental health. Reseachers from the Institute of Psychiatry found stressed-out workers were twice as likely to develop depression or anxiety.
Top of the stress league were construction workers under pressure to complete a project and head chefs.

I always assumed that hot weather made everyone feel happier, especially in a sun-starved summer like the one we've been having in the UK. Not for the first time, I am completely wrong. However improbable it may sound, research published in the British Journal of Psychiatry has found that suicide risk increases in hot weather.