Defence White Paper focuses on mental health
With Australia’s role in Afghanistan winding down, there’ll be more young veterans returning from the front line than at any point since the Vietnam war. It’s likely to increase demand on mental health services. The new Defence White Paper includes a $25 million boost to help service personnel and their families deal with the problem. [...]
Mental health care in the cloud
Molouk Y. Ba-Isa Saudi Gazette According to the World Health Organization (WHO), mental, neurological and substance use disorders are common in all regions of the world, impacting every community and age group across all income countries. While 14 percent of the global burden of disease is attributed to these disorders, most of the people affected [...]
Mediterranean Diet Improves Memory, But Not In Diabetics
Annabelle Breakey / Getty Images The largest study to date on the effects of eating omega-3 fatty acids confirm that foods high in the fats can preserve memory and cognitive functions only in people without diabetes. Health experts hold up the Mediterranean diet as likely the best way to eat to stay healthy into old [...]
Abused Children May Get Unique Form of PTSD
Joe Mikos / Getty Images Child abuse scars not just the brain and body, but, according to the latest research, but may leave its mark on genes as well. The research, which was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, suggests that abused children who develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) may experience [...]
Workplace mental-health claims rising
Mental-health claims to WorkSafe B.C. — including bullying and harassment — are on track to more than double in the first year as new provincial legislation allows for a broader definition under the category. A new WorkSafe package of practices for employers, supervisors and workers to prevent and deal with bullying and harassment is also [...]
Psychiatrist shortage challenges community, mental health workers
“We do the best that we can,” he said. “It keeps us busy.” To make the best use of available resources, psychiatrists, other mental health professionals and primary care doctors work to triage patients so that psychiatrists see those most in need of care. This change in the way many psychiatrists practice is not the [...]
Anxiety a mental health disorder or part of human condition?
John Gass THIS is the age of anxiety, the era of the benzodiazepine Xanax – “all jumpy and edgy and short of breath,” as New York magazine puts it. Climate change, terrorism, recession – there’s something for everyone to worry about, and a medication or a book to go with it. But is anxiety a [...]
U.S. Panel Finds Little Evidence to Support Universal Screening For Suicide
Getty Images Experts say that existing screening methods can identify at-risk individuals, but such tools may not help to prevent suicides. According to the latest government statistics, more than 38,000 people commit suicide each year, so in 2004, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) analyzed studies on existing suicide screening methods to determine if it made [...]
Depressive Thinking Can Be Contagious
Getty Images / Getty Images We don’t think of emotional states as passing from one person to another, but a new study suggests some depressive thoughts can go viral. Researchers studying a group of college students found that certain types of depressive thinking can spread from close-living roommates like a lingering flu. Although many people [...]
Mental health groups point finger at churches
Beyondblue and other mental health groups say Australia’s Christian leaders should be doing more to reduce high rates of suicide and self-harm among gay and lesbian parishioners, and criticised attempts to ”cure” homosexuals. The national depression agency’s chief executive, Kate Carnell, wants churches to take responsibility for the damage caused when gay members are rejected [...]
