Girls' friendships keep depression at bay. Depression and perceptual sensations. Antidepressant brain stimulation reviewed. Treating depression and treating suicidality. Working with depression in older adults. This event has been cancelled.
This workshop is about recognising depression in older people, being aware of any risks this presents, and mostly intervening in a constructive and helpful way. Details It is true, as William Davies says, that “Many older people are depressed, and many older people have a lot to be depressed about”. It would be surprising if it were otherwise, what with longstanding friends dying, being physically unable to do things they previously enjoyed doing, having pains and other biological processes disturbing them, having less future to look forward to, and cognitive processes sometimes not being as acute as they once were.
On the other hand, it is not true that all older people are depressed, and, for those who are, we can often make some significantly helpful interventions. A randomized controlled trial of the computerized CBT programme, MoodGYM, for public mental health service users waiting for interventions. The prevalence of depression in the UK. Newly-released figures have highlighted the prevalence of mild mental illness among people living in the UK.
According to the findings from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), nearly one-fifth of adults experience anxiety or depression, with the conditions affecting a higher proportion of women than men. It was shown that the highest incidence of mild mental illness is among the 50 to 54 age group, while 19 per cent of people aged 16 or over reported the symptoms. Signs of the conditions were reported by 27 per cent of individuals who were divorced or separated - markedly higher than the 20 per cent of single people who said the same, as well as the 16 per cent of people who were married or in a civil partnership.
Depression helped by various therapies. Different approaches to psychotherapy are all beneficial to people battling depression.
This is the suggestion of research published in PLOS Medicine, which found no one form of this type of intervention - talking therapies that do not involve antidepressant drugs - delivers better results than any other. Led by Jurgen Barth from the University of Bern in Switzerland, the investigation looked at seven forms of psychotherapeutic intervention - behavioural activation, interpersonal psychotherapy, cognitive behavioural therapy, psychodynamic therapy, social skills training, problem solving therapy and supportive counselling. A total of 198 published studies involving more than 15,000 patients were reviewed to collect the findings - which have been described as important because they suggest patients and doctors should talk to one another and seek to identify the form of psychotherapy that is best suited to them.
Can wine drinking help with depression? Moderate wine consumption may be linked with a lower risk of depression, new research has indicated.
Published in Biomed Central's open access journal BMC Medicine, the study found that drinking alcohol lightly can have positive effects on depression that are comparable to the impact moderate drinking can have where coronary heart disease is concerned. Carried out by the PREDIMED Research Network, the investigation followed more than 5,500 light to moderate drinkers, aged 55 to 80, for up to seven years. Limited understanding of how therapies work. Clinicians and neuroscientists must work together to understand and improve psychological treatments says an article in Nature magazine.
The article, written by specialists including Professor Emily Holmes a British Psychological Society Associate Fellow, explained that neuroscience has increased understanding of how to "modulate emotion and memory, habit and fear learning". However, it stated that psychological understanding and treatments have not profited enough from these developments thus far. Depression is caused by a range of factors. A groundbreaking two-year study launched by the BBC has revealed that there are a number of biological, circumstantial and psychological factors that can act as triggers for mental health problems such as depression and high levels of anxiety.
Collecting responses from more than 30,000 people, this is one of the largest mental health studies ever conducted. While it has long been thought that there are likely to be higher levels of depression amongst those who have suffered trauma or abuse in early life, have a family history of such issues or experience social deprivation, the study not only confirmed this, but sought to ascertain why this is the case. It was found that abuse or bullying in childhood are the events most likely to lead to depression and anxiety, while low income, poor levels of education and relationship issues also have a significant impact. Read more about this study on our Research Digest blog. How depression can change brain activity. People who think about themselves will experience higher brain activity if they are suffering from depression, new research has revealed.
According to a study by the University of Liverpool, experiencing a depressive episode can change how the brain processes information during reflective moments. However, no significant differences were noted among people with depression when they thought about something still familiar but more remote, such as the Queen.
Chartered Psychologist Professor Peter Kinderman, Head of the Institute of Psychology, Health and Society and the University of Liverpool, commented: "The brain scans revealed significantly greater blood oxygen levels in the medial superior frontal cortex – the area associated with processing self-related information – when the depressed participants were making judgments about themselves. " Treatment failure in cognitive‐behavioural therapy: Therapeutic alliance as a precondition for an adherent and competent implementation of techniques.
The links between sleep and depression. Two recent studies have highlighted the strong links between failing to achieve optimal levels of sleep and experiencing depression.
The first was carried out at the University of Washington and involved 1,788 adult twins. It found that the total heritability of depressive symptoms among twins who got seven to 8.9 hours of sleep a night (normal levels) was 27 per cent. However, this increased to 53 per cent for those only achieving five hours a night and 49 per cent for twins who slept for ten hours a night. In the second study at the University of Texas, researchers who looked at 4,175 individuals between 11 and 17 years of age found that sleeping for six hours or less per night increases the risk for major depression.
Antidepressant brain stimulation reviewed. Depression and perceptual sensations. Cognitive conflicts in major depression: Between desired change and personal coherence. Internal conflicts prevent depressed people improving their mood. In a paper published this week by the British Journal of Clinical Psychology, Guillem Feixas and his colleagues from the University of Barcelona look at how people's construction of reality can impact on depression.
Guillem explained: “People suffer from depression for a variety of reasons and those affected have strong desires to improve their mental wellbeing. However, the need for change is sometimes in conflict with the need for personal coherence and maintaining an identity. Depression and self-confidence. A person who is suffering from depression might experience a further blow to their self-confidence if they consider themselves to be afflicted by a mental illness.
According to three Chartered members of the British Psychological Society; Anne Cooke, Angela Gilchrist and Dr John McGowan, it is a common view that depression is the result of faulty brain chemistry. However, they told the Guardian that this is just one way of interpreting certain emotional states and types of behaviour. This, they said, is because it overlooks the possibility that some people are "more vulnerable than others to feeling desperate" as a result of events in their lives. Depressed workers are better off at work. Employees who are suffering from depression might find it easier to manage their condition if they continue going to work rather than taking sick leave, according to new research.
A study by the University of Tasmania and the University of Melbourne found that attending work as usual offers certain health benefits, while being absent offers no significant improvement in a person's quality of life or health outcomes. Lead researcher Dr Fiona Cocker believes the findings could be important for employers, healthcare professionals and workers when they are deciding what steps to take if an employee is experiencing a depressive illness. "It suggests that future workplace mental health promotions strategies should include mental health policies that focus on promoting continued work attendance via offering flexible work-time and modification of tasks or working environment," she commented. Do you have a view on this news story? Anyone can join the BPS, from just £10 a year.
Stigma and mental health treatment. People may not be getting the help they need for mental health problems because of the stigma attached to a diagnosis, according to new research. The study was carried out at King's College London and incorporated data from more than 90,000 participants in 144 previous investigations worldwide. It was found that while as many as one in four people have a mental health problem, up to 75 per cent of sufferers living in the US and Europe do not receive treatment for it. Stigma was fourth highest in a list of barriers to seeking clinical help that also included concerns about confidentiality and not believing help was necessary. New app could help depressed teens. Teenagers who are struggling with depression could find a lifeline in the form of a new smartphone app developed in New Zealand. Start-up firm Social Code came up with the idea after launching a successful quit-smoking app and being asked if there was an equivalent 'panic button' for young people with mental health problems.
They investigated the issue and discovered that many teenagers do not realise they are experiencing depression, could feel too embarrassed to seek help or don't know who to reach out to, meaning they might slip through the net and miss out on treatment. Suicide and mental healthcare at home. Researchers at the University of Manchester analysed 1,256 suicides among adult mental health patients being treated by the NHS between 2003 and 2011 using the National Confidential Inquiry into Suicide and Homicide by people with Mental Illness and the Mental Health Minimum Dataset. It was found that the average number of people taking their own lives while under the care of crisis resolution home treatment teams (CRHT) was 140 over nine years, compared to 117 among inpatients.
Indeed, the number in the former category had risen from an average of 80 in 2003-2004 to 163 in 2010-2011, while suicides on psychiatric wards fell by more than half. Importantly, 44 per cent of people who died by suicide under the care of CRHTs lived alone and a third of such cases occurred within three months of the patient being discharged from psychiatric inpatient care. He comments: "Over the years, inpatient wards have become much safer because of great investment in dealing with environmental risks.