Mental Disorder News and Research

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CWRU researcher helps combat mental illness in U.S. teens

When teens start experiencing changes in moods or emotions, they tend to fear sharing their blue days with their families and adults who can help them. As a consequence, they often suffer in silence.

7 Jun 2011

Homelessness and mental illness link explored in RMIT study

In a new study by the RMIT University, Victoria researchers looked at cases of 4,291 people using homelessness services in the city. Dr Guy Johnson and Professor Chris Chamberlain found almost half of them - 46 per cent - lost their homes after a family breakdown. This is contrary to the long held belief that most homeless people are mentally unstable.

7 Jun 2011

GP journal focuses on mental health

Australian Family Physician, the flagship journal of The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP), features a range of clinical, viewpoint and research articles focusing on key issues in general practice today. The June 2011 edition focuses on mental illness and includes the following feature articles.

6 Jun 2011

Alcohol dependency increases as severity of mental illness increases: SAMHSA report

A new report shows that alcohol dependence is four times more likely to occur among adults with mental illness than among adults with no mental illness (9.6-percent versus 2.2-percent).

4 Jun 2011

Primary care providers treat hepatitis C patients effectively through Project ECHO model

Under a completely new way of providing health care, primary care clinicians in remote villages, prisons and poor urban neighborhoods who were trained to treat patients with hepatitis C achieved excellent results identical to those of specialists at a university medical center.

4 Jun 2011

Patients with body dysmorphic disorder have less brain activity in visual processing

People suffering from body dysmorphic disorder, or BDD - a severe mental illness characterized by debilitating misperceptions that one appears disfigured and ugly - process visual information abnormally, even when looking at inanimate objects, according to a new UCLA study.

27 May 2011

U-M develops new tool that helps physicians better evaluate patient's depression outcomes

Primary care doctors have long been on the front lines of depression treatment. Depression is listed as a diagnosis for 1 in 10 office visits and primary care doctors prescribe more than half of all antidepressants.

26 May 2011

Disaster-response planning raises challenges for mental health services, bioethicists say

Johns Hopkins University bioethicists say disaster-response planning has generally overlooked the special needs of people who suffer from pre-existing and serious mental conditions.

24 May 2011

RACGP urges government to engage with profession regarding GP mental health funding cuts

The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) continues to receive feedback from amongst its over 20,000 members regarding the implications of the government’s budget cuts for critical mental health support delivered by GPs. The College urges the government to engage with the profession regarding the cuts to GP mental health assessments, planning and referrals.

24 May 2011

Johns Hopkins bioethicists urge disaster preparedness for mentally impaired

Johns Hopkins bioethicists say disaster-response planning has generally overlooked the special needs of people who suffer from pre-existing and serious mental conditions. Survivors already diagnosed with schizophrenia, dementia, addictions and bipolar disorder are vulnerable long before a disaster strikes, they point out.

23 May 2011

State Roundup: States' economic success often beyond their control

State leaders love to make promises about healing a sick economy. Often, though, economic success depends on factors far beyond their influence. ... When It comes to Medicaid, the restrictions largely emanate from the federal budget.

23 May 2011

Adjusting life goals can help family caregivers prevent depressive symptoms: Study

Caring for a family member with a mental illness can be a taxing experience marked by personal sacrifices and psychological problems.

21 May 2011

Salk Institute researchers receive $5.5M Program Project Grant to analyze Williams syndrome

A multi-institutional team headed by Ursula Bellugi, professor and director of the Laboratory for Cognitive Neuroscience at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, has been awarded a $5.5 million Program Project Grant by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development to link social behavior to its underlying neurobiological and molecular genetic basis using Williams syndrome as a model.

21 May 2011

Caring Online offers comprehensive and informative website on adult eating disorders

Are you aware that eating disorders affect more than 10 million people in this country, and that bulimia, anorexia, binge eating and other destructive food behaviors are not exclusive to the youth? These serious and often deadly afflictions have become a growing problem with midlife adults and older, often more difficult to detect as adults are expected to have it "all together."

19 May 2011

HealthPartners prescribes walking or exercise for patients with depression

Giving pedometers to patients screened for depression, HealthPartners Medical Group (HPMG) is prescribing walking or exercise in addition to medication and/or therapy as an effective tool in helping patients with depression.

17 May 2011

Study to examine population rates of ED use for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities

In the first North American study to examine population rates of Emergency Department (ED) use for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD), researchers from the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES) and the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) found 55 per cent of adults with IDD and mental illness visited the ED at least once in a 2 year period and 15.6 per cent visited at least 5 times.

16 May 2011

Mental health initiatives get a major boost

The Federal Government is taking initiatives in introducing preventive metal health steps. One of them is introduction of mental health checks for three-year-olds.

12 May 2011

Successful treatment of depression in mothers improves behavior of children

Children whose mothers are successfully treated for depression show progressive and marked improvement in their own behaviors even a year after their moms discontinue treatment, new UT Southwestern Medical Center-led research shows.

10 May 2011

Summit Entertainment, Participant Media create depression awareness campaign

Inspired by Participant Media and Summit Entertainment's THE BEAVER, Participant has created a Social public Action Campaign to increase awareness about depression, teaming with three leading non-profit organizations known for effectively providing hope and help to those affected by depression and other forms of mental illness: the National Alliance on Mental Illness, To Write Love on Her Arms (TWLOHA) and the Kristin Brooks Hope Center.

7 May 2011

Roundup: Vt. House vote on universal health care could come today; Calif. group warns of rising costs of retiree health care and pensions

The House is slated Thursday to take up a conference committee report on a bill designed to put the state on the path to universal health care by 2017 if not sooner. The bill sets up a new Green Mountain Care Board to design a system to provide health insurance to every Vermont resident.

6 May 2011