Are autism and ADHD associated with antidepressants or maternal depression? The debate continues…

 

Amy Green summarises a retrospective observational study that finds prenatal antidepressant exposure is associated with risk for ADHD, but not autistic spectrum disorders. She considers this complex topic and works out what it all means for pregnant women with depression.

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Exercise for the prevention and treatment of antenatal depression

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Meg Fluharty summarises a recent systematic review looking at exercise for antenatal depression. The review finds preliminary evidence to suggest that exercise may be effective in reducing depression during pregnancy, but the quality of included trials is low to moderate.

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Is depression research asking the right questions? Your chance to get involved

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A new national survey about depression has just launched. It’s organised by an impressive group of partners, who want to improve care, support and treatment for people affected by depression. Depression affects 1 in 10 adults in any year, and can have debilitating consequences. We know that research can improve lives; improve diagnosis, treatments, care and [read the full story…]

The mental health of migrant mothers: focus needed on attitudes to mental health, not language barriers

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The impact of ethnicity on treatment and engagement with mental health services is well documented. John Baker’s recent Mental Elf post highlights the damning evidence behind murmurs of institutional racism within the NHS that just won’t go away: certain ethnic groups consistently experience lower quality care and poor outcomes across a wide range of health [read the full story…]

Treating antenatal depression could prevent offspring adult depression

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Depression in late adolescence is a major public health concern, not least because it is strongly predictive of persistent, adult depression, which can have a severe effect on socioemotional functioning, education and employment. Increasingly, depression research is turning its attention to the matter of prevention of depression rather than exclusively focusing on treatment options and [read the full story…]

Is ‘natural’ better? Evidence for the efficacy of complementary therapies for antenatal depression

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Can we encourage patients to continue taking complementary and alternative (CAM) treatments for antenatal depression or should we be firmly discouraging them from doing so? We already know from surveys that 11% of primary care patients with anxiety and depression are taking complementary or alternative therapies, which is around the same proportion of people who [read the full story…]