Keeping you up to date with reliable mental health research, policy & guidance
The Healthy Active Lives (HeAL) international consensus statement aims to reverse the trend of people with severe mental illness dying early by tackling risks for future physical illnesses pro-actively and much earlier. The statement is being launched today by the Royal College of Psychiatrists, at a special event focusing on achieving parity between mental and [read the full story...]
When Kraepelin first described the symptoms of the disorder we now call schizophrenia, he drew particular attention towards the deterioration of cognitive function he observed in his patients and named their condition “dementia praecox”. To this day, cognitive deficits are still regarded as one of the key features of schizophrenia (and related diagnoses), and it [read the full story...]
Family and friends often play a very important role in supporting older people with long-term, severe mental health problems. It is estimated that 25% of the 6 million carers in the UK are supporting someone with a mental health problem (Carers Trust, 2007). Stress has been cited as having a major impact on the wellbeing [read the full story...]
There is a widespread clinical presumption that people who have both major depressive disorder (MDD) and a co-morbid chronic physical illness represent a ‘double trouble’ group. This leads to the expectation that the depression prognosis for these people would be poor with increasing likelihood of recurrence. Evidence supports the view that depression is prevalent among [read the full story...]
Cognitive decline describes increasing problems with memory, comprehension, language and mental agility. Mild cognitive impairment means that a person has cognitive decline beyond that which might be expected for their age, but generally do not experience problems with everyday living (Alzheimer’s Society, 2012). Dementia has similar symptoms, but these are more severe and people with [read the full story...]
When trying to understand more about about mental health problems one of the big questions is: are the results of a study due to how the person is currently feeling or are the results due to a predisposition to how they are feeling now? While often the answer will be a bit of both, researchers [read the full story...]
Bipolar disorder is a term applied to conditions that are characterised by extreme mood swings. These swings in mood range from periods of overactive excited behaviour (known as mania) to deep depression. Some people also see or hear things that others around them don’t (known as having visual or auditory hallucinations) or have strange, unshared, beliefs (known [read the full story...]
Major depression all too often develops a chronic course, with every episode making future relapse more likely (Gilmer et al., 2005). Dysthymic disorders represent a less severe, but more persistent form of depression lasting for at least two years. In the affective disorder spectrum, chronic forms are unsurprisingly associated with greater functional impairment and overall [read the full story...]
Public mental health and wellbeing has gathered greater currency following the publication of No Health without Mental Health in 2011. Public health is about improving the health of the population through preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health. Local Authorities are now the public sector organisation with lead responsibility for public health and public mental health. [read the full story...]
Good mental health care should involve the patient in determining their treatment, and should involve the least restrictive form of care possible. Although the Care Programme Approach (CPA) has resulted in patients in England routinely participating in planning their care, compulsory admissions to psychiatric hospitals have continued to rise over the past decade. Involuntary treatment [read the full story...]
