In the Woodland we have previously looked at musical interventions for agitation in dementia and depression. In June 2013 the Cochrane Collaboration published a systematic review of musical interventions for preoperative anxiety. As may be expected, people awaiting surgical procedures often experience high levels of anxiety. This anxiety is important as it can result in [read the full story…]
Antipsychotic medication is the standard treatment for schizophrenia and psychosis in the UK. Given that psychosis is commonly a chronic condition and therefore that medication used to treat it often needs to be taken for several years, getting the medication “right” is important. As I mentioned in my first blog post for the Mental Elf, [read the full story…]
Young people presenting with psychopathology may receive a wide range of treatments, such as family or cognitive behavioural therapy, skills training or behavioural contracting. Clearly it is important to know which of these interventions are best supported by evidence that they are effective in treating the presenting problem. Since some treatments have a significant evidence [read the full story…]
Disruptive behaviour problems (DPB) such as conduct problems or being oppositional and defiant affect a large proportion of young children. Many of these early behavioural problems predict negative outcomes such as underachieving at schools, future unemployment and criminal behaviour. Treatment of DPBs often begins during the school years once the condition is well-established, and when [read the full story…]
In the UK alone it’s estimated over two million adults have type 2 diabetes. That clearly warrants some serious research into its prevention and treatment, including the valuable role of exercise. We also know the effects of diabetes are not confined to physical problems, linked as it is to reduced quality of life as well [read the full story…]
Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) have long been suspected to – paradoxically- increase suicidal behaviour in adolescent and pediatric patients. Consequently, national watchdogs started issuing black label warnings for all SSRIs to educate physicians and patients about associated risks. While clearly curbing the amount of antidepressant prescriptions, concerns have been voiced that this step has [read the full story…]
It’s a well-known fact that elves are allergic to unhappiness, so the fact that there are at least 350 million sufferers of depression worldwide1 is quite a problem. That’s before we’ve even mentioned the crippling mortality, morbidity and economic impact that depression causes. The trouble is, our treatments for depression aren’t perfect. Less than a [read the full story…]
Bulimia nervosa (BN) is an eating disorder; the diagnosis of which requires: persistent preoccupation with eating and an irresistible craving for food, episodes of overeating in which large amounts of food are consumed over a short period of time and potentially attempts to counteract the “fattening” effects of food by self-induced vomiting or laxative abuse. [read the full story…]
Bipolar disorder is considered a hereditary condition. There is emerging evidence that prodromes/early symptoms are evident in children before disorders develop. This potentially offers a chance to treat and prevent the development of mental health problems in adulthood. Being able to identifying early symptoms of the onset of this mental health disorder is clearly important, however, [read the full story…]
Although there have been huge advances in the treatment of heart disease, it is still the UK’s biggest killer (more information on heart disease can be found at the British Heart Foundation’s website). Depression after a heart attack is common (roughly 20% prevalence) and can worsen heart disease and increase the risk of death. A [read the full story…]
