Counselling Preferred Over Medication - British Association For Counselling And Psychotherapy

People suffering from anxiety and depression prefer to receive counselling over medication because they feel it addresses their underlying problems and not just their symptoms.
This is one of the key findings in a review of UK and international research studies into the clinical-effectiveness, cost-effectiveness and acceptability of counselling. The review, Counselling Read more…

Drug-Free Prevention Of Postnatal Depression

A heart-to-heart chat with a peer has proven an effective way to prevent postnatal depression in high risk women, cutting the risk of depression by 50%, according to a University of Toronto nursing study published in BMJ Online.
Generic cialis pills no prescription Dr. Cindy-Lee Dennis, an associate professor at the Read more…

American Heart Association Scientific Statement: Heart Patients Should Be Screened, Treated For Depression

Heart patients should be
screened for depression — a common condition that can profoundly affect
both prognosis and quality of life — according to the American Heart
Association’s first scientific statement on depression and coronary heart
disease. The statement was published in Circulation: Journal of the
American Heart Association.
The recommendations, which are endorsed by the American Psychiatric
Association, Read more…

Michael Jellinek, M.D. Receives AACAP Irving Philips Award For Prevention

The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP), is pleased to announce that Michael Jellinek, M.D., is the recipient of the AACAP Irving Philips Award for Prevention. The annual award is given to a child and adolescent psychiatrist who has made significant contributions to the field of prevention of mental illnesses in children and adolescents.
Dr. Jellinek was Read more…

Improving Mood And Serious Mental Illness With Physical Activity

A new study from Indiana University suggests that even meager levels of physical activity can improve the mood of people with serious mental illnesses (SMI) such as bipolar disorder, major depression and schizophrenia.
The study, published in the November issue of the International Journal of Social Psychiatry, both reinforces earlier findings that people with SMI Read more…

Depression Common In Sarcoidosis Patients, Small Study Finds

New Italian research adds to evidence that people with the immune condition called sarcoidosis often suffer from mental health problems, especially depression.
In the new study, researchers led by Arianna Goracci, M.D., examined 80 consecutive sarcoidosis patients who sought treatment at the University of Siena from November 2004 to September 2005. They found that 44 percent of the 80 sarcoidosis patients showed Read more…

Pregnant Women With Bulimia Have More Anxiety And Depression

Women who have bulimia in pregnancy have more symptoms of anxiety and depression compared to pregnant women without eating disorders. A new study from the Norwegian Institute of Public Health (NIPH) shows that they also have lower self-esteem and are more dissatisfied with life and their relationship with their partner.
The findings come from the world’s first major population study of psychosocial Read more…

Brain Disorder Suggests Common Mechanism May Underlie Many Neurodegenerative Diseases

A Mayo Clinic-led international consortium has found a mechanism that may help explain Parkinson’s and other neurological disorders.
Studying just eight families worldwide, the international team of researchers have discovered a genetic defect that results in profound depression and parkinsonism in a disorder known as Perry syndrome. Although this syndrome is exceedingly rare, the mechanism implicated in it may help explain the Read more…

Depressed Mothers Who Fight With Partners Much More Likely To Smack Children

According to research published in the Archives of Disease in
Childhood, mother’s are more that twice
as likely to use smacking to discipline her child if they face a mix of
depression and violent arguments with a partner compared to women who
only deal with one of the two factors.
Researcher Michael Silverstein (Boston University School of Medicine,
Boston, MA) and colleagues from the United States studied about 13,000
mother Read more…

Depressed College Students Benefit From Study

A pilot program called the College Screening Project, a suicide prevention outreach program, was successful in identifying and treating college students with severe depression and feelings of desperation that may have led to suicide. The study, supported by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP), was conducted with Emory University students over six college semesters from 2002-2005.
Depression Read more…

Yerkes Researchers Create Animal Model Of Chronic Stress

In an effort to better understand how chronic stress affects the human body, researchers at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center and the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Emory University, have created an animal model that shows how chronic stress affects behavior, physiology and reproduction.
Developing the animal model better positions the researchers to understand the neurohormonal causes of such stress Read more…

Family Therapy With Medication Improves Depression In Bipolar Teens

In combination with medication, family-focused therapy appears to help
curb depression symptoms in teens with bipolar disorder, according to a
report released on September 1, 2008 in the Archives
of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives
journals.
Bipolar disorders are characterized by occasional periods of elevated
mood, known as mania. A large portion Read more…

Americans Show Little Tolerance For Mental Illness Despite Growing Belief In Genetic Cause

A new study by University of Pennsylvania sociology professor Jason Schnittker shows that, while more Americans believe that mental illness has genetic causes, the nation is no more tolerant of the mentally ill than it was 10 years ago.
The study published online in the journal
Social Science
and Medicine uses a 2006 replication of the 1996 General Social Survey Mental Health Module to explore trends in public Read more…

Using Chronic Care Model Helps To Improve People’s Health And Care

Ed Wagner, MD, MPH, knew there had to be a better way. He and Group Health colleagues set out 15 years ago to explore how best to engage patients with chronic diseases in effective care. With Robert Wood Johnson Foundation support, they developed the Chronic Care Model. More than 1,500 U.S. and international medical practices have adopted the Model. Now the largest roundup of evidence on how the Model performs Read more…

FDA Requires Additional Data For Seroquel XR Supplemental New Drug Application

The U.S. Buy propecia pills FDA (Food and Drug Administration) has asked AstraZeneca, the makers of Seroquel XR (quetiapine fumarate), for additional information for its extended release tablets for the treatment of MDD (Major Depressive Disorder) in adult patients.
The FDA’s CRL (Complete Response Letter) Read more…

Largest Gathering Of Neuromodulation Experts Explores Breaking Developments In Neurodevice Technologies

Leading researchers and clinicians from the field of neuromodulation assembled today at the 12th annual meeting of the North American Neuromodulation Society (NANS), continuing until December 7 in Las Vegas, NV. Through scientific oral and poster presentations, as well as tradeshow exhibits, participants in the NANS Conference will explore the latest research in Read more…

Is Happiness Infectious?

A 20 year study by American scientists suggests that happiness may spread from person to person because they found that people surrounded by
happy people in their friends and family network were more likely to remain happy in the future.
The study was published online in the British Medical Journal, BMJ on 4 December by authors James H Fowler, associate professor in the
Department of Political Science at the University of California in San Diego, and Nicholas Read more…

Study Finds Depression In Adults 100 Years Old And Over Is Poorly Understood, Under Diagnosed

For many of the elderly, the golden years are anything but. Faced with health problems, financial issues and the death of a spouse or loved one, many adults 65 years and older suffer from depression. While research is emerging to help this group understand and treat the problem, another group - centenarians - has been left Read more…

Welsh Action Plan To Reduce Suicide And Self-Harm

A new action plan to reduce suicide and self-harm in Wales was published today by the Welsh Assembly Government. The plan establishes a number of new initiatives and pulls together existing programmes to provide a strategic approach to suicide prevention in Wales.
Statistics show that almost three-quarters of people in Wales who complete suicide are unknown to mental health services in the year prior to their death.
Key aims therefore Read more…

Maryland Receives Youth Suicide Prevention Grant

Governor Martin O’Malley today announced that Maryland has been awarded three-year, $1.5 million federal grant to combat the tragedy of youth suicide in local schools, communities and on campuses statewide. The federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has provided the funding to the departments of Read more…

Link Between Depression And Higher Death Rates From All Causes Among Elderly With Diabetes

In a large group of Medicare beneficiaries with diabetes, depression was associated with a higher death rate from all causes during a two-year study period. The findings are published in the October 2008 Journal of General Internal Medicine.
Lead author Dr. Wayne Katon, professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the University of Washington (UW), noted Read more…

Connection Between A Mother’s Mood And Her Baby’s Sleep

If there’s one thing that everyone knows about newborn babies, it’s that they don’t sleep through the night, and neither do their parents. But in fact, those first six months of life are crucial to developing the regular sleeping and waking patterns, known as circadian rhythms, that a child will need for a healthy future.
Some children may start life with the sleep odds stacked against them, though, say University of Michigan sleep experts who study the issue. Read more…

Panic Attacks Linked To Higher Risk Of Heart Attacks And Heart Disease, Especially In Younger People

People who have been diagnosed with panic attacks or panic disorder have a greater risk of subsequently developing heart disease or suffering a heart attack than the normal population, with higher rates occurring in younger people, according to research published in Europe’s leading cardiology journal, the European Heart Journal [1] today (Thursday 11 December).
The study found that people who were younger than 50 when first diagnosed had a significantly Read more…

Novel Antidepressant Valdoxan(R), Receives EMEA CHMP Positive Opinion For Major Depressive Episodes

Valdoxan® today received a positive opinion from the European Medicines Agency’s (EMEA) Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) for its use in the treatment of adult patients with Major Depressive Episodes (MDE).1
Valdoxan is an innovative approach to the treatment of MDE and has demonstrated convincing efficacy in depressed patients with Read more…

UK Teen Suicide Rates Falling

Suicide rates in those aged 10-19 in the UK declined by 28% in the seven year period from 1997-2003, shows a study published today in The Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry. The study, carried out by researchers at the University of Manchester, showed that the decline was particularly marked in young males, where rates declined by 35%.
Despite the decline, however, suicide remains Read more…