Concern over students’ mental health
Every morning students hurry to classes and laboratories at Fudan University’s medical school in Shanghai. As they pass in front of the dormitory, they slow to examine rows of origami cranes hanging on the college grounds. The thousands of white paper cranes were made by students in memory of Huang Yang, a postgraduate medical student [...]
Majority of Doctors Do Not Follow Treatment Guidelines For ADHD
Getty Images More than 90% of pediatric specialists who diagnose and manage ADHD in preschoolers do not follow the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) clinical treatment guidelines. That’s the conclusion of researchers from the Cohen Children’s Medical Center of New York, who sent a Preschool ADHD Treatment Questionnaire (PATQ) to a random sample of 3,000 [...]
Mental health anti-stigma campaign fails to shift health professionals’ attitudes
The Time to Change campaign seems to have made an encouraging impact on attitudes towards mental illness in England. According to independent evaluation of the campaign’s first four years, people with mental health problems are experiencing less stigma and discrimination, are feeling more empowered and are enjoying more social contact. One group in society appears [...]
We GPs can’t help mental health victims in 10 mins
Dr Clare Gerada, a GP who is trained in psychiatry, says that mental health often gets forgotten because the health service is designed around hospital and medicines rather than identifying and treating psychological disorders. She highlighted the fact that mental health issues were responsible for about 25 per cent of GP consultations and should be [...]
Doctors to talk politics to patients in election lead-up
DOCTORS are threatening to use consultations with patients to appeal directly to voters in the lead up to the state election. And the state’s main doctor group the Australian Medical Association has warned both the Government and the Opposition it would actively campaign during the election. In an unprecedented move, AMA state president Richard Choong [...]
Job stress and mental health problems contribute to higher rates of physician suicide
Doctors who commit suicide appear to be under-treated for mental health problems, despite their seemingly good access to health care, a new University of Michigan study shows. Although more physicians than non-physicians in the study had known mental health problems prior to suicide, this didn’t translate into a higher rate of antidepressant use, according to [...]
Sick doctors returning to work struggle with feelings of shame and failure, researchers find
Doctors who have been on long term sick leave find it hard to return to work because they are overwhelmed with feelings of shame and failure, and fear the disapproval of colleagues, finds research published in the online journal BMJ Open. The authors call for cultural change, starting in medical school, to allow doctors to [...]
Doctors, Labor at odds over mental health
Some patients are paying more for mental healthcare when they visit a GP under changes that were meant to result in doctors pocketing less government cash. A new survey, released on Sunday, suggests that Labor’s decision to reduce the Medicare rebate for services under the Better Access scheme has resulted in doctors cutting back on [...]
Concern as doctors found to work excessive hours
A survey of doctors by the Australian Medical Association has produced alarming figures on how long they’re working at public hospitals.The audit found the longest recorded shift by a doctor has increased to 43 hours straight. With one doctor, working three times the number of hours as the average office worker in a week. ASHLEY [...]
Expert warns against child mental health checks
Photo: Professor Frances says the scheme could lead to unintended negative consequences. (ABC News) One of the most influential psychiatrists in the United States says the Federal Government’s program to screen three-year-olds for mental health problems is “ridiculous” and potentially dangerous. Australian preschoolers are set to be screened for early signs of mental illness as [...]
