


Archive for January, 2011
Jan
22
 
Reviewed by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on November 9, 2010Â
A new study suggests genetics may influence an individual’s enjoyment of performing good deeds for other people.
According to the study by researchers at the University of Bonn, a minute change in a particular gene is associated with a significantly higher willingness to donate time or money.
People with the genetic alteration gave twice as much money on average to a charitable cause as did other study subjects.
Researchers working with psychologist Professor Dr. Martin Reuter invited their students to take a “retention test†— the roughly 100 participants were to memorize series of numbers and then repeat them as correctly as possible. They received the sum of five Euros for doing this.
Afterwards, they could either take their hard-earned money home or donate any portion of it to a charitable cause. This decision was made freely and in apparent anonymity.
Read in Full:Â http://psychcentral.com/news/2010/11/09/is-there-a-do-good-gene/20681.html
 
Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a psychiatric condition that can affect people who have experienced life-threatening events. This condition, so often associated with combat traumas, also affects many Americans who have lived through other types of traumatic events, such as car crashes or other serious accidents, fires, or natural disasters. Further improving prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of PTSD is a top priority for the VA Research program. VA investigators have recently conducted some of the most pivotal research in the field. Today, Veterans with PTSD can benefit from many effective treatments which were developed and refined over the years in large part due to VA research.
VA Research supports numerous studies designed to understand, treat, and prevent PTSD. These studies range from investigations of the genetic or biochemical underpinnings of the disease to evaluations of new or existing treatments, including large multisite clinical trials. The National Center for PTSD is a VA consortium of research centers focusing solely on the condition.
Some VA studies have improved Veterans’ lives through psychotherapeutic approaches to treat their PTSD symptoms. In one study, VA researchers showed that prolonged exposure therapy in which therapists help patients recall their trauma under controlled conditions was effective in reducing PTSD symptoms in women Veterans who experienced sexual trauma in the military.
“My quality of life has improved 200-fold,” says Jennifer Olds, a Veteran of the first Gulf War who participated in the study. “The research opportunity really made a significant impact on my ability to get through life.”
To complement psychotherapeutic techniques for treating PTSD, researchers sometimes use computer-simulated “virtual reality” to recreate a Veteran’s memories of traumatic events.
Read in Full:Â http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/207807.php

 
by Robert London, MD
I made a great professional connection recently that broadened my perspective about clutter and hoarding. Having long pondered the relationship between clutter, hoarding, and obsessive-compulsive personality disorder (OCPD) and obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), I decided to consult with a professional decluttering expert, Gillian Wells, a member of the National Association of Professional Organizers, who aids people with issues of clutter. Ms. Wells studied architecture at New York’s prestigious Cooper Union, and now runs a successful business organizing homes, apartments, and offices.
Why is a psychiatrist specializing in cognitive-behavioral therapy interested in decluttering? Over the years, I have worked with a number of OCPD hoarders. In my own work with these patients, I have used guided imagery aimed first at separating into categories items to be disposed of, and then linking a pleasant experience with the act of disposing of the items. In addition, I have used a cognitive-behavioral approach, challenging the absolute need for certain items with a broader range of possibilities and probabilities. For example, I’d say to the patients: “It’s possible that you might need that item, but what is the probability that you would need it?” I’ve found this cognitive approach to be therapeutic when challenging all-or-nothing concepts involving fixed, rigid perceptions as it relates to holding on to clutter and hoarding.
Read in Full:Â http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/two-minute-shrink/201011/decluttering-is-it-therapy
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Fast ForWord is a series of computer programs designed to improve language and reading skills in 4-14 year-old kids with language difficulties. The system is sold and marketed by the Scientific Learning Corporation (www.scilearnglobal.com/the-fast-forword-program/).
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- 1. Standardized measures of single word reading
- 2. Passage reading comprehension
- 3. Receptive Vocabulary
- 4. Expressive Vocabulary

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Language Intervention Provides Educational Benefits for Pre-School Children
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In the Language 4 Reading project, a team from the University’s Department of Psychology at the University of York have evaluated the benefits of a preschool language intervention program for children who enter school with poorly developed speech and language skills.
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The program targeted three key areas: vocabulary knowledge, narrative and listening skills, with phonics work included in the later stages. Children took part in three group sessions each week, supplemented by individual work once they entered school.
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Read in Full:Â
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/11/101102083651.htm
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Language Appears To Shape Our Implicit Preferences
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Children who know two languages tend to perform better than monolinguals on measures of attention and cognitive control.
The bilingual advantage in attention and cognitive control may have important, long-term benefits as well. Preliminary evidence even suggests that their increased use of these systems may protect bilinguals against Alzheimer’s.
Although bilinguals tend to have smaller vocabularies in each language than do children who know one language, bilinguals thus may have an advantage when it comes to certain nonverbal cognitive tasks.
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Read in Full:Â
http://psychcentral.com/news/2010/11/10/cognitive-ability-improved-when-bilingual/20740.html
 
Adolescents in Private Schools Cope Better
Reviewed by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on October 30, 2010Â
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New research out of the University of Granada now points to an emotional advantage for adolescents who attend private school in that they appear to be able to cope better with problems than their public school counterparts. Â
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Bermúdez noted that “the results obtained show that the type of education center may affect students’ behavior, due to the different social, cultural or education structure that each center has.â€
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Read in Full:
http://psychcentral.com/news/2010/10/30/adolescents-in-private-schools-cope-better/20174.html
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Parents’ Effort Key to Child’s Educational Performance
ScienceDaily (Nov. 5, 2010) — A new study by researchers at the University of Leicester and University of Leeds has concluded that parents’ efforts towards their child’s educational achievement is crucial — playing a more significant role than that of the school or child.
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This research by Professor Gianni De Fraja and Tania Oliveira, both in the Economics Department at the University of Leicester and Luisa Zanchi, at the Leeds University Business School, has been published in the latest issue of the MIT based Review of Economics and Statistics.
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The researchers found that parents’ effort is more important for a child’s educational attainment than the school’s effort, which in turn is more important than the child’s own effort.
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The study found that the socio-economic background of a family not only affected the child’s educational attainment — it also affected the school’s effort.
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Researcher Professor De Fraja, who is Head of Economics at the University of Leicester, said: “The main channel through which parental socio-economic background affects achievement is via effort.
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Read in Full:Â
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/10/101029121554.htm
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Study Finds Links Between High Schoolers’ Hopes, Educational Attainment
ScienceDaily (Nov. 4, 2010) — It turns out that the high school guidance counselor was right. Students who have high aspirations and put thought into their futures during their high school years tend to reach higher levels of educational attainment, according to a recent study.
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And what’s a significant factor in those goals and expectations taking shape in the first place? It matters if teens are involved in extracurricular activities — whether it’s football, fine arts or French club.
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The research, by Sarah Beal and Lisa Crockett of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, surveyed hundreds of high school students about their educational and career goals and expectations while also examining the types of activities they took part in during high school. Then researchers studied how each activity, from extracurricular clubs and teams to part-time jobs to volunteering, was related to students’ thoughts about their futures.
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They found that students’ educational plans and their occupational goals and expectations were related to and predicted the level of education they ultimately attained. Also, extracurricular activities were related to students’ educational goals and career expectations — and vice-versa.
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That unique relationship, the study says, played a role in predicting how far teens eventually went with their educations.
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Read in Full:Â
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/11/101102164004.htm
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10 Tips to Make The Rest of the Semester Work
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Either way, it may be time to rethink the way you are doing college. It doesn’t have to be so high stress. If you were bright enough to be admitted, you’re bright enough to earn decent grades. But it may require a major shift in your schedule, your attitude, and your work ethic to get there.
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Here are some tips to make the second half of the semester go smoothly for you…
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1. Recommit.
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If you got a string of C-minuses or lower, resist the tendency to give up. However discouraged you may be, letting yourself get overwhelmed will ensure a GPA-busting semester. A new commitment to your studies could bail you out, or at least bail you out enough so that you have something to build on next semester.
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If, on the other hand, you did fine but were so stressed you’re still recovering, you have a different challenge: Resist the tendency to collapse in a grateful heap and coast for a few weeks. You’ll be setting yourself up for another anxiety attack when finals roll around.
2. Understand that school is your job right now.
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If you aren’t putting in a solid eight hours a day Monday through Friday for classes and study, you simply aren’t doing it. That eight hours does not include meals, hanging out with friends, cruising Facebook, or watching Grey’s Anatomy. A workday is just that – a day of working. The upside is that if you really do schedule a respectable eight hours a day, you’ll probably have most of your evenings and your weekends free to do what you want without feeling guilty.
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3. Schedule your time well.
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Plan out each of your weekdays as seriously as you would an assignment for the most important job of your life. Get out a calendar or planner. Write in blocks of time each week for study for each course. Make sure you schedule time for your toughest class and most demanding papers when you are the freshest.
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Read in Full:Â
http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2010/11/08/10-tips-to-make-the-rest-of-the-semester-work/
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Children Find Their Own Way to Solve Arithmetic Problems
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ScienceDaily (Nov. 9, 2010) — Children with learning difficulties can benefit from being encouraged to find their own way to solve arithmetic problems, according to new research from Strathclyde.
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Astudy by Dr Lio Moscardini, in Strathclyde’s Faculty of Humanities & Social Sciences, found that children deal better with arithmetical problems if they can use their own intuitive strategies such as using number blocks, drawings or breaking an equation up into smaller, simpler parts- rather than being instructed in arithmetical facts and procedures.
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All the teachers taking part in the study underwent professional development in children’s mathematical thinking before introducing these ideas into their classrooms. Nearly all felt that their pupils had benefited from learning in this way- and several said they had previously underestimated the children’s ability and potential.
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Dr Moscardini, a specialist in additional support needs, said: “We found that pupils with learning difficulties were able to develop an understanding of arithmetic through engaging in these activities, without explicit prior instruction.
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“When teachers have an insight into children’s mathematical thinking they can use this knowledge to inform their teaching. The study also supported the view that maths learning isn’t just about acquiring a series of skills but is about making sense of problems and building understanding.”
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Read in Full:Â
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/11/101108140925.htm
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Children Unhappy At School Turn To Sex And Alcohol
Article Date: 11 Nov 2010 – 0:00 PST
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Young children who don’t like school are more likely to be involved in underage drinking and sexual activity. A study reported in BioMed Central’s open access journal Substance Abuse, Treatment, Prevention and Policy, has found that pupils’ general wellbeing and specific satisfaction with school were both associated with the incidence of risky behaviors.
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Professor Mark Bellis worked with a team of researchers from the Centre for Public Health, Liverpool John Moores University, to carry out the study in more than 3500 11-14 year olds from 15 schools in the North West of England. He said, “As young as 13 years old, children who drink alcohol are much more likely to have had sex. The more they drink, the higher the risks of early sexual behavior. However, here we have looked at the relationships, not just between alcohol consumption and sexual behavior, but also at how these behaviors relate to their feelings about school and home life”.Â
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Read in Full:Â
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/207360.php

Education Is Not Preparation For Life; Education Is Life Itself
Rudy Simone is a writer, jazz singer, and stand-up comedian in San Francisco. She’s also a proud member of an often-misunderstood minority-within-a-minority: a woman on the autism spectrum — or as she prefers to call herself, an “Aspergirl.”
Unlike autistic author and animal-behavior expert Temple Grandin — whose life was the subject of an acclaimed HBO biopic starring Clare Danes — Simone wasn’t diagnosed until she was in her 40s. Diagnosis in mid-life is common for women with Asperger Syndrome. Often highly intelligent and articulate, they’re able to mask their social deficits while leveraging their ability to focus intensely into achievements in school and the workplace.
Simone had a relatively happy — if eccentric — childhood, but when she hit adolescence, the social tide seemed to turn against her, washing away most of her friends. Suddenly, her trusting exuberance and hyper-focus made her weird in the eyes of her peers, and a convenient target for bullying and abuse. One day, Simone’s chief tormentor at school brutally beat her in front of a cheering crowd of older kids. Humiliated, the 12-year-old Simone stopped singing and laughing in public.
These problems intensified as Simone got older. She abruptly walked out on jobs, apartments, friendships, and relationships when things didn’t work as planned. Sometimes the people that Simone left behind when she burned a bridge would tell her there was something “wrong†with her, but she could never put her finger on it. She didn’t feel wrong. Instead, she felt like the world was wrong — a place designed to make other people comfortable, but not her. (Spectrumites sometimes call this feeling “Wrong Planet syndrome.â€)
Read in Full:Â http://blogs.plos.org/neurotribes/2010/10/27/im-right-here-rudy-simone-on-life-as-an-aspergirl/
When children are diagnosed with Autism, parents quickly become aware that the identification of Sensory Processing Disorder is likely not far behind. If a diagnosis has not been made, many SPD (Sensory Processing Disorder) behaviors may still be exhibited regardless of intensive or focused therapies needed. What is not as widely known is that children on the spectrum may also have epilepsy.
In a 2005 study conducted by Lidia Gabis, John Pomeroy, and Mary R. Andriola entitled “Autism and epilepsy: Cause, consequence, comorbidity, or coincidence?â€, the researchers found that children diagnosed with ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder) who also had “significant cognitive impairment are at a higher risk to have some form of epilepsy.” Forty percent of children with autism in this study were also diagnosed with epilepsy. That’s 40% of children in one study! Â
This would coincide with reports of many parents that regressions occur with no known reason or that therapy that once was effective is no longer beneficial for their child. Some parents even report that their child is a ‘different person than the day before’…sometimes the hour before. The thought of epilepsy as being a part of the puzzle of Autism may be furthest from consideration since most people think of epilepsy as an obvious manifestation, as in a grand mal seizure. However, epilepsy comes in many forms.Â
Read in Full:Â http://www.examiner.com/special-needs-parents-in-national/autism-and-epilepsy-a-missed-connection
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National Epilepsy Awareness Month: causes and descriptions of seizures
Over three million people in the United States have epilepsy, with 200,000 new cases added every year, according to the Epilepsy Foundation. There are only 5.3 neurologists per 1000 people with epilepsy in the state of Georgia. This means a little under 200 patients per neurologist. Not all neurologists have the skills and training to treat people with epilepsy.
What causes a seizure disorder or syndrome?
- High fever in infants and small children
- Severe blow to the head resulting in a subdural hematoma
- Stroke
- CNS infection
- Uremia
- Substance abuse and withdrawal
- Genetics
- Lack of oxygen during birth
- Brain tumors
- Meningitis
- Lead poisoning
This is not a complete list of all causes of epilepsy or seizure disorder. Research is discovering new causes and new medications to better control seizures. Severe seizures can lead to loss of quality of life, permanent brain damage, and even death.
Types:
- Absense: This seizure is easily mistaken for daydreaming in young children ages four to twelve. There may be hundreds of seizures every day in which consciousness is lost for three to 24 seconds. The primary symptom, according to Symptom Find, is an apparent lack of attention to the task at hand. There may be particular body ticks, such as lip-smaking or eyelid spasms. The person may drop whatever they are holding. The majority of people have no knowledge of ever having had a seizure.
Epilepsy on the Frontier – My Story
This is National Epilepsy Month. Most of my readers know me as a journalist, social worker, politician, or musician. I am all of those things. I am also a person with epilepsy. I had my first seizure at age 11. This is a glimpse into my story in recognition of National Epilepsy Month.
When I was a child, my parents told me frequently not to tell anyone I had epilepsy – we never even used the word at home – it was taboo. It was acceptable to say I had migraines or strained muscles – side effects of seizure activity. It was okay to need a tutor in Math because I just couldn’t get it – not because I would skip steps when my brain blipped. It made me feel bad about myself and let others think I, with a Mensa IQ, was just plain stupid.
When I went off to college I rebelled. I joined the Independent Living Movement, an off-shoot of the civil rights movement of the 1960’s and 1970’s. I spoke out about being a person with a disability and the right to live and work integrated into the community. That cost me too. Prior to the Americans With Disabilities Act, I remember getting fired from a white-collar job. Although my seizures were at the time under control, the employer said it was too much of a liability for me to remain employed. Later I had a child, a beautiful baby who has grown into a a magnificent adult. I knew the supports I needed and arranged for them yet because I was vocal about my epilepsy I lived through the scrutiny of federally and state funded childrens services who routinely, at that time, reviewed the fitness of all parents with epilepsy. Although I quickly passed their checkpoint, it was not without the humiliation of caseworkers judging my fitness while convicted crank dealers down the street were left to their own vices with their children.
Now as a middle-aged adult, I have taken a middle ground. Perhaps I have adopted the Ecclesiastes approach to epilepsy.
“To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heavens.”
Read in Full:Â http://www.examiner.com/economy-in-billings/epilepsy-on-the-frontier-my-story
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Epilim, the anti-epilepsy medicine containing sodium valproate and, in its controlled release Chrono formulation, valproic acid. Photograph: Mark Thomas/Science Photo Library
Epilim: the anti-epilepsy drug at centre of legal case
Medicine important in treating epilepsy, migraines and bipolar disorder, but not recommended for women of childbearing age
guardian.co.uk, Monday 8 November 2010 14.33 GMT
Epilim, the drug under scrutiny in a test case expected to be abandoned at the high court next week, remains an important drug in the treatment of epilepsy, migraines and bipolar disorder.
In all, it is probably taken by 200,000 people in the UK although the manufacturers say it is no longer recommended as a first choice epilpesy treatment for women of childbearing age.
Women who take Epilim, the brand name for sodium valproate, are at a slightly greater risk of having difficulties conceiving or of having a child with disabilities than those on other treatments, according to the charity Epilepsy Action.
Regulators say the drug’s manufacturers provide clear warnings over potential risks, but lawyers for families of children alleged to have been affected claim the company was slow to do so.
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, responsible for drug safety in the UK, told the Guardian: “Epilepsy is a serious neurological condition and it is important that is treated effectively, including during pregnancy. It is widely recognised that women who take anti-epileptics during pregnancy have a higher risk of having a child with a birth defect than women in the general population – it is estimated that the risk of 2-3 times higher. The likelihood of having a child with birth defects is further increased if the woman takes more than one anti-epileptic medicine during pregnancy.”
It said all anti-epilepsy medicines carried clear warnings about the safety of their use during pregnancy and the potential risk of birth defects.
“For sodium valproate the product information advises about the potential for birth defects and recommends that any woman taking sodium valproate who is likely to become pregnant should receive specialist advice on these risks. There is also a recommendation that if taken during pregnancy sodium valproate should be used as monotherapy at the lowest effect dose.”
It also recommended the use of folic acid prior to pregnancy to help reduce the risk of having a baby with spina bifida, which was one of the birth defects seen in children whose mothers took sodium valproate during pregnancy. Other defects included: head and face deformities, including cleft palate; deformities of the bones, including hip dislocation; malformations of the arms and legs; deformities of the tube from the bladder to the penis; heart and blood vessel malformations, including heart defects; and defects of the lining of the spinal cord.
Read in Full:Â http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2010/nov/08/epilim-anti-epilepsy-drug
 
Children who have hypertension are much more likely to have learning disabilities than children with normal blood pressure, according to a new University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC) study published this week in the journal, Pediatrics. In fact, when variables such as socio-economic levels are evened out, children with hypertension were four times more likely to have cognitive problems.
“This study also found that children with hypertension are more likely to have ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder),” said Heather R. Adams, Ph.D., an assistant professor of Neurology and Pediatrics at URMC, and an author of the study. “Although retrospective, this work adds to the growing evidence of an association between hypertension and cognitive function. With 4 percent of children now estimated to have hypertension, the need to understand this potential connection is incredibly important.”
Among the study’s 201 patients, all of whom had been referred to a pediatric hypertension clinic at URMC’s Golisano Children’s Hospital, 101 actually had hypertension, or sustained high blood pressure, determined by 24-hour ambulatory monitoring or monitoring by a school nurse or at home. Overall, 18 percent of the children had learning disabilities, well above the general population’s rate of 5 percent. But the percentage among those without hypertension was closer to 9 percent, and among those with hypertension, the rate jumped to 28 percent. All of the children were between 10- and 18-years-old, and the children’s learning disability and ADHD diagnoses were reported by parents.

Read in Full:Â http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/207389.php
 
Half Of American High School Children Bullied During Last 12 Months
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Article Date: 27 Oct 2010 – 6:00 PDT
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Bullying and being bullied have become a part of life for a considerable proportion of American high school children, according to the largest study ever which examined attitudes and conduct in the USA. The study, created by the Josephson Institute of Ethics, reports that 47% of high school kids said that they were bullied to the point of becoming “seriously upset” over the last 12 months, while 50% admitted to bullying somebody. 43,321 schoolchildren responded to the survey. According to the Institute, their findings have a margin of error of no more than one percent.
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Read in Full:Â
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/205925.php
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Safe Schools Policy for LGBTQ Students
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ScienceDaily (Nov. 3, 2010) — Youth who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and/or questioning (LGBTQ) are vulnerable to bullying, harassment, compromised achievement, and emotional and behavioral health problems. A national survey of LGBTQ youth in secondary schools found that nearly all of them heard homophobic remarks in school, and three-quarters heard such remarks often. Moreover, 40 percent had been physically harassed and 20 percent had been physically assaulted.
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A new Social Policy Report from SRCD on Safe Schools Policy for LGBTQ Students provides an overview of the research evidence on the state of LGBTQ youth in secondary schools today, including the newest findings about the degree to which these youth are at a high risk of being bullied and harassed. Given that the research they present shows that students are better equipped to succeed and achieve when they feel safe in school, the authors also include recommendations to federal and state policymakers in addition to education administrators and professionals on how to better foster safe school environments for LGBTQ and all students.
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Read in Full:Â
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/11/101104094036.htm
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Teens’ Take On Bullying
Article Date: 12 Nov 2010 – 4:00 PST
Both the bully and the victim’s individual characteristics, rather than the wider social environment, explain why bullying occurs, according to Swedish teenagers. The new study, by Dr. Robert Thornberg and Sven Knutsen from Linköping University in Sweden, also shows that 42 percent of teenagers blamed the victim for the bullying. The study is published online in Springer’s journal, Child & Youth Care Forum.
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In one of the rare studies investigating young people’s views on why bullying takes place in school, Thornberg and Knutsen explored how teenagers explain bullying to better understand their actions as participants or bystanders in bullying situations. The authors also looked at whether teenagers attribute bullying to the characteristics of the individuals involved rather than to society in general, whether there are any differences in explanations depending on their own previous bullying experiences, as well as potential gender differences when deciding who is to blame – the bully or the victim.
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Read in Full:Â
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/207617.php
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What If Your Child’s The Bully?
Article Date: 13 Nov 2010 – 1:00 PST
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No parent wants to learn that their child is being bullied. But it may be even harder to hear that their child is the bully. What does a parent do when they’re told?
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“Take a deep breath and don’t panic,” advises Sally Kuykendall, Ph.D., assistant professor of health services at Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia. “Resist the temptation to respond defensively with ‘not my child.’ Understand that your child may be testing behaviors.”
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“Parents need to consider their child’s social skills and whether or not they’re mimicking violence they’ve been exposed to in the media, at home or in the community,” Kuykendall suggests.
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Kuykendall highlights the need for parents to engage in conversation with their child and to keep that conversation going. “Confront excuses. Don’t allow them to tell you they were ‘just joking.’ Set clear and consistent limits. Let your child know what is socially acceptable behavior. Don’t let your child blame the victim or rationalize the attacks,” she warns.
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Read in Full:Â
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/207791.php
 
SAMHSA Awards Up To $22.4 Million In Funding To Help Prevent Suicide
Article Date: 04 Nov 2010 – 4:00 PDT
In the United States, suicide claims over 34,000 lives annually, the equivalent of 94 suicides per day; one suicide every 15 minutes. To address this national crisis the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) is awarding a total of up to $22.4 million in additional funds over the course of the next five years to the Suicide Prevention Resource Center (SPRC). The center which is operated by the Education Development Center, Inc., in Massachusetts, provides state-of-the-art suicide prevention expertise to states, tribes, and communities throughout the country.
Read in Full: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/206680.php
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PHQ-9 Test Screens for Teen Depression
Reviewed by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on November 2, 2010
A major component of health reform involves a more active role for primary care physicians in diagnosing and caring for individuals with depression.
As such, primary care clinicians know teen depression is common, but they’ve lacked a reliable screening test for it.
Now researchers at the University of Washington (UW), Seattle Children’s, and Group Health report that the old standard Patient Health Questionnaire – 9 item version (PHQ-9) is also a good screening test for major depression in adolescents.
Led by Laura P. Richardson, MD, MPH, the team tested the PHQ-9 as a screening tool for depression in 442 teenage patients, ages 13-17, at Group Health.
The test is brief, available free of charge, easy to score and understand, and proven to find major depression (meeting DSM-IV criteria) in adults.
Read in Full:Â http://psychcentral.com/news/2010/11/02/phq-9-test-screens-for-teen-depression/20445.html
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Surge in Teen Suicides?
Minnesota has seen its usual number of teen suicides this year. But because a cluster of suicides involve students from Anoka-Hennepin, Minnesota, some people may believe there’s a “surge†in suicides that is an anomaly.
The Star Tribune (Minneapolis) went behind the statistics, though, to see if such an adjective was appropriate to describe this cluster. As it turns out, it wasn’t.
With 33 teen suicides so far this year, Minnesota is on pace for the average of 42 it has seen annually since 1990.
At worst, that misperception risks “normalizing†suicide, leading teens to accept it as a normal occurrence, said Daniel Reidenberg of the Bloomington, Minn.-based Suicide Awareness Voices of Education, or SAVE.
“Then when they are confronted or faced with a bad situation,†he said, “they think suicide is a normal response.â€
In other words, no surge. Just a coincidence that a number of suicides occurred around a single community.
And social networking websites, like Facebook, may be helping teens not only memorialize such suicides, but also gives teens a place to express their own suicidal ideation. Which may be good, or it may be bad, depending upon how you look at it.
Read in Full:Â http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2010/11/04/surge-in-teen-suicides/
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Poor School Grades Linked to Increased Suicide Risk, Swedish Study Reveals
ScienceDaily (Oct. 27, 2010) — School leaving grades can be an indicator of an increased risk of suicide at a young age. A new study from the medical university Karolinska Institutet and the Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare, shows that young people leaving the Swedish elementary school (year nine at age 16) with the lowest average grades, run approximately three times the risk of committing suicide compared with those who graduate with top or very high grades.
“The correlation is clear, despite having excluded young people who had been in hospital for mental health problems or drug-related diagnoses,” says Charlotte Björkenstam, doctoral student at Karolinska Institutet and managing director of the Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare’s cause-of-death register.
The researchers examined the leaving grades of almost 900,000 former graduates born between 1972 and 1981, when Swedish schools applied a five-point numerical grade scale. A follow-up was then made with respect to suicide up to the ages of 25 to 34. Their results show that those with the very highest grades had the lowest risk of committing suicide. People whose leaving grades were above average but below top level evinced a higher risk than those with top grades, and those who had left year nine with average grades had a higher risk still.
Read in Full:Â http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/10/101026090830.htm
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Most Treated Teens Recover From Depression, But Half Get It Again
Editor’s Choice
Article Date: 02 Nov 2010 – 12:00 PDT
Treatment for teenage depression appears to be effective for the vast majority of patients, however, in nearly half of all cases the condition comes back, especially among female patients, researchers from Duke University report in an article published in Archives of General Psychiatry.
Approximately 5.9% of teenage girls and 4.6% of males of the same age are affected with major depressive disorder, the authors explain.
The researchers wrote:
It is associated with functional impairment, risk of suicide and risk of adult depression. Thus, it is important to investigate not only the efficacy of adolescent major depressive disorder treatments but also whether they reduce the risk of subsequent negative outcomes, especially depression recurrence.
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John Curry, Ph.D., and team studied 86 male and 110 female adolescents who took part in the TADS (Treatment for Adolescents with Depression Study). They were randomly chosen to one of four-short-term treatments:
- Fluoxetine hydrochloride (Prozac) treatment
- CBT (cognitive behavioral therapy)
- A combination of Prozac with CBT
- A placebo (dummy drug)
The researchers followed up on them for five years.
96.4% of them recovered from their initial depression episode during the five-year follow-up period, and 88.3% got better within 24 months.
Read in Full:Â http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/206485.php
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Teenage depression treatment: Medication, therapy or both? It may depend on marital conflict.
International Collaboration Amasses Largest Database To Advance Drug Development In Depression And Schizophrenia
Article Date: 11 Nov 2010 – 1:00 PST
In a remarkable and unprecedented collaboration NEWMEDS (Novel Methods leading to NeW MEdications in Depression and Schizophrenia) have pooled resources to bring together data of 23,401 anonymized patients from 67 trials on 11 compounds in over 25 countries to form the single largest database of clinical trial data ever amassed in psychiatric research.
It is widely recognized that despite tremendous growth in biomedical knowledge, the deciphering of human genome and almost daily round of discoveries – the rate of development of new drugs has been slow. This is especially true in psychiatric disorders. One barrier to development has been the competitive relationship between rival companies and the other has been the limited exchange of science across the industry-academic divide.
Read in Full:Â http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/207315.php
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Follow-Ups Prove Powerful Tool for Treating Depression in Primary Care
ScienceDaily (Oct. 26, 2010) — In the 15 minutes a primary care doctor typically has with a patient, she’s expected to diagnose the current ailment, help manage ongoing health issues and provide preventive care. In this setting, confronting all but the most obvious and immediate mental health needs of patients is an ongoing challenge.
A new study by researchers at the University of Michigan Health System, however, points to an encouraging strategy for improving and sustaining mental health results in chronically depressed patients by providing small amounts of flexible, targeted follow-up care — without overburdening busy doctors’ offices.
The study, published in the September/October issue of Annals of Family Medicine, shows that patients who received interventions that included self-monitoring tools and follow-up phone calls from a care manager were more likely a year and a half later to have symptoms that were in remission and to have fewer reduced-function days than those receiving usual primary care treatment.
Read in Full:Â http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/10/101026121741.htm
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Increase Depression Screens During Pregnancy
Reviewed by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on November 5, 2010
A new study discovered depression during pregnancy is more common than predicted.
Researchers performing depression assessments at two Women, Infant and Children clinics in New Mexico discovered 23 percent of women met criteria for depression.
Nationwide, 10 percent to 16 percent of pregnant women meet the criteria for depression, and 70 percent show some depressive symptoms, according to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.
In June, ACOG said that screening of pregnant women for depression should be “strongly considered†but that there is not enough evidence to recommend it.
The authors of the new study say their findings suggest that screening for depression should be a routine part of prenatal and postnatal care.
Read in Full:Â http://psychcentral.com/news/2010/11/05/increase-depression-screens-during-pregnancy/20569.html
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Depression Linked to Circadian Rhythm Gene Activity
Reviewed by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on November 12, 2010
Scientists have found a link between depression and an alteration in the body’s so-called Clock gene, which plays a role in regulating circadian rhythm.
The Ohio State University research found more activity in the Clock gene in individuals who had experienced depression than in participants with no history of mood disorders.
“We know that there are a lot of insomnia symptoms in depression, especially early morning awakening,†said Jean-Philippe Gouin, lead author of the study and a graduate student in psychology at Ohio State University.
Higher activity levels of this gene suggest something is wrong with the body’s 24-hour biological and behavioral cycle, and in turn could create sleep disturbances — a common symptom of depression — and affect other physiological functions regulated by circadian rhythm.
Read in Full:Â http://psychcentral.com/news/2010/11/13/depression-linked-to-circadian-rhythm-gene-activity/20782.html
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Immune System Involved in Depression, Animal Study Suggests
ScienceDaily (Nov. 16, 2010) — A new animal study suggests the immune system plays a role in depression. The research was presented at Neuroscience 2010, the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, held in San Diego.
Activation of the immune system caused mice to learn to run less on wheels in their cages — an activity they normally like. The mice resumed their normal activity when the action of interleukin-6, an immune hormone that carries “sickness” signals to the brain, was blocked.
“Our findings suggest that blocking the action of interleukin-6 might reduce depression symptoms, like fatigue or loss of interest in pleasurable activities, in people who are depressed and who have elevated levels of interleukin-6,” said Simon Sydserff, PhD, a senior research scientist at BrainCells Inc., who conducted the research while with AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals.
Read in Full:Â http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/11/101116101836.htm
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Social Class May Impact Treatment For Depression
Article Date: 06 Nov 2010 – 1:00 PDT
Current treatments for depression don’t help working-class and poor patients as much as they help middle-class patients improve their ability to function at work, according to a recent University of Illinois at Chicago study.
Depression has a profound impact on an individual’s productivity. That’s particularly true among individuals in lower social classes and with lower levels of education, such as many of those in sales and support jobs, says Lydia Falconnier, assistant professor in UIC’s Jane Addams College of Social Work.
Falconnier reviewed data from the National Institute of Mental Health Treatment of Depression Collaborative Research Program from 1982 to 1986. Participants included 239 patients with major depressive disorder.
The study found that following treatment for depression, working class and poor patients’ ability to function at work improved less than middle-class patients.
The same results were found for patients taking medication for depression or receiving one of two different kinds of psychotherapy: interpersonal psychotherapy or cognitive-behavioral therapy.
The study also has implications for the ability of current depression treatments to help depressed working-class and poor mothers to improve the care they provide for their children.
“This is particularly important since a lot of research shows negative outcomes for children of depressed mothers,” said Falconnier, the study’s principal investigator.
Read in Full:Â http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/206924.php
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Can Music Therapy Treat Depression?
Article Date: 11 Nov 2010 – 3:00 PST
A Swedish study that appears in the current issue of Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics applies music therapy to the treatment of depression.
Evidence suggests that music therapy should be further explored as a possible treatment. Music therapy is generally not associated with negative side effects and can be easily implemented. These factors contribute to high adherence and favorable treatment outcomes. Previous efficacy studies of music therapy for depression treatment suffered from a lack of specific stimuli, methodological shortcomings, or utilization of small samples.
…Â Based on possible neurophysiologic and neurochemical effects, receptive music therapy, as explored in this pilot controlled trial, appears to be associated with reduced depressive symptoms and high treatment compliance, and may therefore potentially represent an effective depression treatment alternative, alone or in combination with psychosocial and pharmacological approaches.
Sources: Journal of Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, AlphaGalileo Foundation.
Read in Full:Â http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/207432.php
 
What Not to Say to a Depressed Person
I’m always on the lookout for articles that touch on ways to communicate to a friend or family member who is depressed because, well, it’s a delicate issue and one that deserves some education. I found this quiz on Everyday Health on what you should and should not say to a loved one struggling with depression.
1. Snap out of it!
Your loved one hasn’t left the house in what seems like days. Should you tell him to pull himself up by his bootstraps and just snap out of it?
Don’t say it.
You may be tempted to tell someone who’s depressed to stop moping around and just shake it off. But depression is not something patients can turn on and off, and they’re not able to respond to such pleas. Instead, tell your loved one that you’re available to help them in any way you can.
2. What do you have to be depressed about?
In a world full of wars, hunger, poverty, abuse, and other ills, you may feel impatient when someone you love feels depressed. So do you remind him how lucky he is?
Don’t say it.
You can’t argue someone out of feeling depressed, but you can help by acknowledging that you’re aware of his pain. Try saying something like “I’m sorry that you’re feeling so bad.â€
3. Why don’t you go for a nice walk?
Exercise is a known way to lift your mood. Is it a good idea to suggest that your loved one with depression go out and enjoy some fresh air and activity?
Say it — but with a caveat.
By definition, depression keeps you from wanting to engage in everyday activities. But you can show your support by offering to take a walk, go to a movie, or do some other activity with your loved one. How about: “I know you don’t feel like going out, but let’s go together.â€
Read More …Â http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2010/11/13/what-not-to-say-to-a-depressed-person/







