Keeping you up to date with reliable mental health research, policy & guidance
Clinical depression is unfortunately relatively common in adolescence with a prevalence of about 5%. The rates of suicide per 100,000 are around 12.0 for females and 14.2 for males aged 15-24 years with suicidality (thoughts or uncompleted attempts at suicide) likely to be higher. Research and clinical experience suggests issues relating to suicide and depression [read the full story...]
In times of economic adversity, the health and well-being of a nation needs consideration in order to maximise the workforce and productivity. The number of people and the amount of time spent in an adverse health-state is a prominent driver of population ill health. Most mental illnesses begin early and persist over a lifetime. Approximately [read the full story...]
In the UK over 10 million people live with a disability, many of whom suffer from violence (Department for Working Pensions, 2011). A recent World Report on Disability by WHO (2011) highlighted that people living with disabilities are at risk from sexual and physical violence. Despite this, little is known about who is at risk [read the full story...]
The ADHD Voices (Voices On Identity, Childhood, Ethics and Stimulants) report was published yesterday and received a significant amount of press coverage. The outcomes of this work are a 46-page report and 18-minute video, that aim to inspire a fresh public conversation about the ethics of Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) diagnosis and stimulant drug treatments [read the full story...]
The WHO World Health Survey is a comprehensive international survey carried out across 70 countries, which uses face-to-face, telephone and online interviews to ask questions about the health of populations, public health risk factors, coverage and availability of health services and health care spending. The survey includes a number of questions relating to mental health [read the full story...]
The NHS Information Centre have published their annual survey of secondary school pupils in England in years 7 to 11 (mostly aged 11 to 15). 6,519 pupils in 219 schools completed questionnaires in the autumn term of 2011. The survey report presents information on the percentage of pupils who have ever smoked, tried alcohol or [read the full story...]
iPhone users can now get daily Mental Elf updates on their phone. Visit the Apple Store now to download the app. It’s available at a special introductory price of £0.69 for the next few weeks, so get it now! iPhone app features Up to the minute alerts of the latest Mental Elf blogs, so you get to [read the full story...]
The Department of Health have published the results of the first nationwide survey of bereaved relatives in England. The survey looked at the last 3 months of life and assessed the quality of care that people received and how this varied in different parts of the country and in different groups of patients. The postal [read the full story...]
Delusional-like experiences (DLE) are quite common in the general population with a median prevalence of around 3.5% (ref 2). Studies show that these experiences often go hand-in-hand with other mental health conditions such as depression and anxiety, as well as other chronic physical disorders such as impairments in hearing and vision. It is thought that [read the full story...]
This cross sectional study uses data from the Health Survey for England to explore the relationship between poor mental health and low income. The research team from Exeter University included 94,870 adults in the study (1997-2006) which used the 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) to assess happiness, symptoms of anxiety or depression and sleep disturbance [read the full story...]
