Premenstrual troubles and bipolar disorder
Researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston have been studying the interaction between premenstrual symptoms and bipolar disorder. They studied 293 women over a year and found that the...
View ArticleOne in seven U.K. mental-health workers attacked
A new survey of staff working in the U.K.'s National Health Service has shown that one in seven mental health workers suffered physical violence from service users or members of the public last year....
View ArticleComputer systems cut down medication errors
The psychiatric unit at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore has significantly reduced medication errors by using a computerised prescription system and a new computer system for recording drug side...
View ArticleScotland - a nation drinking itself to death
NHS Health Scotland, the state-funded body responsible for trying to promote healthy living in Scotland, has produced an alarming report about the scale of Scotland's drinking problem. Since 1994 sales...
View ArticleNICE issues new Alzheimer's guidelines
The U.K.'s National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has changed its policy on the Alzheimer's drugs Aricept, Exelon and Reminyl. Previously the drugs could only be prescribed to...
View ArticleSickies - skiving or strategic problem avoidance?
The same levels of illness can lead different people - or the same person at different times - to either take a sickie or struggle into work. A team of researchers, led by Hanna Hultin from the...
View ArticleHippocampal size and PTSD
The hippocampus is a region of the brain involved in memory and how we interpret the world around us. MRIÂ (magnetic resonance imaging)Â studies have shown that the hippocampus shrinks in people with...
View ArticlePrematurity, poverty and child development
In 2006 12.8% of births in the U.S. were premature. Premature births are linked to delays in motor/neurologic function, intellectual and academic development, language problems, poorer executive...
View ArticleChildhood epilepsy and mental-health problems
Children with epilepsy are more likely to have mental-health problems. A team of researchers led by Dr Kristin Alfstad from the National Centre for Epilepsy at Oslo University Hospital in Norway,...
View ArticleEven 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...
View ArticleNeglectful 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...
View ArticleElder 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...
View ArticleImmigration 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...
View ArticleFor 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...
View ArticleChildhood 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...
View ArticleGenetic 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...
View ArticleAnxiety 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...
View ArticlePsychosis, 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...
View ArticleNew 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...
View ArticleWhy 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...
View ArticleEcstasy 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...
View ArticleBody 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....
View ArticleADHD 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...
View ArticleAntipsychotics 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...
View ArticleFarewell!
Dear Blog followers, I am moving to a new job on the 11th of April and will no longer be able to keep up my work on the Mental Health Update blog. I have really enjoyed writing for the blog over the...
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