People with schizophrenia experience a wide range of symptoms, which are broadly categorised into ‘positive’ symptoms (e.g. hallucinations and delusions) and ‘negative’ symptoms (e.g. lethargy, lack of motivation and poor attention). Evidence shows that positive symptoms can be well managed with antipsychotic drugs, which also reduce the chances of relapse, but these medications can have [read the full story…]
Existing trials have shown that cognitive behavioural therapy is a promising treatment for chronic fatigue syndrome. The availability of CBT is patchy, so there is an increasing body of research investigating whether internet-based treatment is a viable alternative. A new small randomised controlled trial conducted by researchers from the Netherlands has been published in the [read the full story…]
The charity Rethink Mental Illness has launched a comprehensive range of new tools to help mental health professionals address the physical health needs of the people they work with. The tools have been developed as part of the 20 Years Too Soon campaign, which aims to raise awareness of the fact that people affected by [read the full story…]
NICE have released two new publications that aim to ensure a good experience of care for people who use adult NHS services. The first is a quality standard that stresses the importance of patients being given the opportunity to discuss their health beliefs, concerns and preferences in order to individualise their care. It also states [read the full story…]
The National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse has produced a new publication which gives an overview of drug treatment and recovery services in England. ‘Drug treatment in England: The road to recovery’ complements the recently released ‘Why Invest?’ presentation, which shows how investing in local drug treatment and recovery services benefits individuals, strengthens families and [read the full story…]
The public perception of mental health and violent behaviour has often been influenced by poor media coverage and a focus on specific crimes committed by people with psychosis. There’s a nice summary of work in this area on the Mind website, which includes a number of enlightening stats, including this one: The fear of random [read the full story…]
Mood, memory and behaviour are all affected by dementia and it is not unusual for behaviour to become ‘challenging’. People with dementia may become agitated or aggressive and this can be extremely difficult and stressful for family members and carers. Challenging behaviour has traditionally been managed with antipsychotic drugs, despite the fact that they do [read the full story…]
A number of concerns have arisen over recent years about the safety of the various drugs used to treat ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) in children and young adults. These central nervous system stimulants include methylphenidate, dexmethylphenidate, dextroamphetamines, amphetamine salts, atomoxetine and pemoline. Case reports have highlighted that sudden cardiac death can be brought on [read the full story…]
There’s a lot of talk about ‘shared decision making’ in the NHS right now. Many mental health patients say that they do not feel that they are properly listened to or that their expertise is not valued in the consultation, but it’s clear that many health professionals are quite evangelical about working in partnership with [read the full story…]
There is remarkably little research in this field. Epidemiological studies of suicidal behaviour in children and young people from the care system have previously come mainly from Scandinavia. A Swedish longitudinal national cohort study (ref 2) from last year concluded that every seventh girl (14%) who left long-term foster family care after age 17 was [read the full story…]
