Psychology/Psychiatry
Total Antidepressant Prescriptions Rise By 16 Million, USA - Prescriptions filled for antidepressant drugs increased from 154 million in 2002 to 170 million in 2005, according to the latest News and Numbers from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Among the prescriptions (not including refills) which were written after patients talked with doctors in-person or over the phone.
Mental Health Could Be Improved By Three-Point Plan In Wake Of Healthcare Commission Report, UK - A three-point plan to improve mental health services in England has been proposed today by Unite, the country’s largest union. The template for action follows stinging criticism of the mental health system by the Healthcare Commission. One finding revealed that 45% of psychiatric nurses and 15% of patients had been physically attacked in the last year.
Celebrity Designer And ADHD Spokesperson Ty Pennington Partners With Shire To Announce The Launch Of VYVANSE™ For Adult ADHD Treatment - Shire Limited (LSE: SHP, NASDAQ: SHPGY), the global specialty biopharmaceutical company, today announced that it has launched VYVANSE™ (lisdexamfetamine dimesylate) for the treatment of adults with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). This launch follows the recent FDA approval of VYVANSE to treat ADHD in the adult population. VYVANSE is now available in U.S. pharmacies nationwide in six once-daily dosage strengths.
Reflecting On Values Promotes Love, Acceptance - No one enjoys being told that their behavior is harmful to themselves or others. In fact, most people respond defensively when confronted with evidence that their behavior is irrational, irresponsible, or unhealthy. Fortunately, research has shown that just a few minutes of writing about an important value can reduce defensiveness.
Health Professions Council Launches Call For Ideas On The Statutory Regulation Of Psychotherapists And Counsellors, UK - HPC has launched its ‘call for ideas’ seeking the views of stakeholders on the potential statutory regulation of psychotherapists and counsellors. In February 2007, the government published a White Paper on the future of regulation, ‘Trust, Assurance and Safety - The Regulation of Health Professionals in the 21st Century’.
End Of Life Physician-Patient Communication: Ensuring Final Chapter Is Enacted With The Greatest Skill And Compassion Possible - Although a growing body of research supports a link between effective communication and patient, family and physician satisfaction, doctors, including oncologists and other specialists who frequently care for terminal patients, do not routinely receive training in end-of-life conversations during medical school, residency training, or after they start to practice medicine.
Royal College Of Psychiatrists Responds To The Healthcare Commission’s Review Of NHS Acute Inpatient Mental Health Services - The Royal College of Psychiatrists welcomes this detailed review of NHS acute inpatient mental health services by the Healthcare Commission. It is encouraging to see that two-fifths of trusts exceeded the minimum level of service provision. However, it is disappointing that no trusts were scored excellent on all four of the key criteria against which performance was assessed.
Mouse Spatial Recognition Memory Significantly Disrupted By Extremely Low-Frequency Magnetic Fields - Exposure to extremely low frequency (ELF) magnetic fields is known to disrupt spatial cognition. Researchers found that mice exposed to extremely low ELFs over a long period had a significant disruption in spatial recognition memory. In the study, mice were exposed to 25 or 50 Hz of electromagnetic fields for either 7 or 25 days, and then tested in the Y-maze.
CO-MED Trial: Two-Drug Test Approach To Depression - Hoping to answer a question raised by the Sequenced Treatment Alternatives to Relieve Depression (STAR*D) study, UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers have designed the Combining Medication to Enhance Outcomes of Depression (CO-MED) trial to test multiple-medication treatment of depression. “We are trying two active, Food and Drug Administration-marketed antidepressant medicines available by prescription from your local drugstore,” said Dr.
Troubled Youth: Common Wisdom Falls Apart When Race Considered - One of the most widely accepted beliefs about the differences between troubled boys and girls may need to be revised, according to new research. Experts have long believed that girls tend to internalize their problems, becoming depressed or anxious, while boys externalize, turning to violence against people or property. But a new study found that this oft-repeated idea didn’t hold true for African-American youth who were in the juvenile justice system.
Outcomes Of Deep Brain Stimulation For Depression Sustained For One Year - Canadian researchers have verified that deep brain stimulation (DBS) is a safe, new approach that has shown tremendous results for patients with treatment-resistant depression. Published online, in Biological Psychiatry, the study, lead by Dr.
PTSD Influences Levels Of Depression And Pain - Patients with accident or trauma related chronic pain often have post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression. What isn’t clearly known, however, is how PTSD relates to mood disorders and pain severity in chronic pain patients. University of Michigan researchers examined the contribution of PTSD to the pain experience, functional disability and frequency of depressive symptoms.
Common Stereotypes About Obese Workers Refuted By Study - New research led by a Michigan State University scholar refutes commonly held stereotypes that overweight workers are lazier, more emotionally unstable and harder to get along with than their “normal weight” colleagues. With the findings, employers are urged to guard against the use of weight-based stereotypes when it comes to hiring, promoting or firing.
Aggressive Preschoolers Found To Have Fewer Friends Than Others - Preschoolers who are aggressive, angry, and inattentive tend to have fewer playmates than their non-aggressive classmates, whether they are boys or girls. In comparison, non-aggressive children do better at interactions with many peers over time. Those are the findings of new research that used an important innovation for studying children’s peer relationships.
Good News For Veggies: Personal Values Deceive Taste Buds - Many heavy meat eaters believe they eat a lot of meat because of the taste. But according to groundbreaking new research in the Journal of Consumer Research, the reason that a beef burger tastes better than a veggie burger to some people has more to do with values than actual taste. Authors Michael W.
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Linked To Brain Activity - Cambridge researchers have discovered that measuring activity in a region of the brain could help to identify people at risk of developing obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). As the current diagnosis of OCD is based on a clinical interview and often does not occur until the disorder has progressed, this could enable earlier more objective detection, and intervention.
Partially Shared Genetic Profile Between Schizophrenia And Bipolar Disorder Discovered - Both schizophrenia and bipolar disorder can be disabling conditions, and both present clinically with significant mood and psychotic symptoms. These two illnesses also share genetic variants that might be involved in the predisposition to both disorders.
Improving Traditional Psychiatric Diagnoses With Genetics - Psychiatry has begun the laborious effort of preparing the DSM-V, the new iteration of its diagnostic manual. In so doing, it once again wrestles with the task set by Carl Linnaeus, to “cleave nature at its joints.” However, these “joints,” the boundaries between psychiatric disorders, such as that between bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, are far from clear. Prior versions of DSM followed the path outlined by Emil Kraeplin in separating these disorders into distinct categories.
Immigrant Youths Explore Identity In High School - Children from immigrant families are assumed to give up their families’ ethnic and cultural background in order to assimilate with American culture. But a new study shows that in fact, they find ways to combine their cultural heritage with their identification as members of American society, especially during the high school years. The types of labels they create and use could foreshadow the types of labels used by the larger society in the years to come.
New Study By Researchers At Yale Explores Bullying-Suicide Link - Researchers at Yale School of Medicine have found signs of an apparent connection between bullying, being bullied and suicide in children, according to a new review of studies from 13 countries published in the International Journal of Adolescent Medicine and Health.
MIT-led Team Creates Touch-based Illusion - Mind Trick Yields New Insights On Perception - Anyone who has seen an optical illusion can recall the quirky moment when you realize that the image being perceived is different from objective reality. Now, a team of scientists from MIT, Harvard and McGill has designed a new illusion involving the sense of touch, which is helping to glean new insights into perception and how different senses - such as touch and sight - work together.
Social Behavior In Ants From A Genetic Perspective - Scientists have made a step towards understanding how genes and the environment influence social behavior by learning about the numbers and types of genes that control social organization in fire ant colonies. These results are published in an article released on July 17, 2008 in the open access journal PLoS Genetics.
Psychological And Social Issues Associated With Tooth Loss - Are feelings of depression overwhelming you? Is your self-esteem an issue? Having problems advancing in life or your career? Maybe you feel nervous or self conscious in social settings? Do you avoid social settings all together? Check your smile; tooth loss could be the culprit and you’re not alone. Nearly 20 million teeth are extracted each year leaving scores of people to deal with the psychological affects of a less than perfect smile.
Call For Better Guidance For Breast Surgery Ops - Women seeking breast augmentation on the NHS for mental health reasons may face a postcode lottery because of a lack of clear guidance and evidence on who will benefit from the surgery. This is the finding of Katie Trickey of Canterbury Christ Church University, who presents her findings at The British Psychological Society Psychology of Women Annual Conference, being held in Windsor.
Psychology Of Women Conference Discusses Women’s Rights, UK - ‘Hot lesbians’ and ‘vengeful lovers’; are these depictions of women in advertising sexist or empowering? Must women police officers become ‘one of the boys’ to be accepted and respected in the police service? These are just some of the topics being discussed at The British Psychological Society Psychology of Women Section Annual Conference, in Windsor.
