It has consistently been shown that a link exists between older adults who have depression and mortality (Cuijpers & Smit, 2002, Schulz et al., 2002). RCTs have demonstrated that treating depression during later life in primary care settings can result in the remission of depression and its associated symptoms as well as improve quality of [read the full story…]
People with substance misuse problems often present to services with complex physical and mental health needs. Studies in the UK have indicated that common mental health problems are the norm in people in treatment for substance misuse. Weaver et al (2003) found 70% of people in treatment for substance misuse in London also had a [read the full story…]
The NHS is thought of as a model health care system. It has experienced several reforms over the last 20 years, including greatly increased amounts of spending. So how have these changes affected the burden of disease due to mental health problems over this period, and how does the UK’s record in this area stack [read the full story…]
This blog is coming across the woodland in stereo as the Diabetes and Mental Elf join forces. In 2011 the Diabetes Elf highlighted Depression and Diabetes: a two way street? a systematic review looking at cause and effect of diabetes and depression and the link between diabetes and cardiovascular disease is not contested. However moving forward [read the full story…]
Nearly 10 million people were in prison in 2008, according to estimates provided by the World Prison Population List (Walmsley, 2009). The United States tops the imprisonment league table with 2.3 million individuals behind bars, that’s 756 per 100,000 of the population. Whatever your view on the US legal system and incarceration, it’s interesting to [read the full story…]
Since starting this blog two years ago, I have written about a number of studies that highlight the health inequalities faced by people with severe mental illness. The evidence keeps piling up and it’s really quite shocking that we are not doing more to diagnose and treat physical health problems in people with conditions such [read the full story…]
Studies have shown that the prevalence of depression in pregnant women is 7-19%. Being depressed during pregnancy can result in preterm delivery, which can in turn lead to illness and even death of the newborn child. Researchers have struggled to single out the causes of these risks. Is it the depression, the medical treatment being [read the full story…]
Some of the older elves in the woodland don’t join in with our social activities as much as they used to. The younger elves call them ‘cranky’ and laugh at them sitting alone in their tree houses. Personally I worry that they might be feeling lonely and I doubt that shutting themselves away from the [read the full story…]
Polypharmacy is the simultaneous use of two or more drugs to treat a single health condition. Polypharmacy is often used in the treatment of schizophrenia where people are regularly prescribed two or more antipsychotics, as well as antidepressants and/or benzodiazepines, although there is little evidence to prove that these combinations are more effective than monotherapy. [read the full story…]
There is an increasing body of evidence showing that depression and anxiety are linked with other health conditions like cancer and cardiovascular disease. I’ve blogged about the link between depression and stroke, and there are a number of other studies that show an association between psychological distress (the symptoms of depression and anxiety) and mortality, [read the full story…]
