Jack Barton publishes his debut elf blog on the huge OASIS randomised controlled trial, which explores the effects that improved sleep can have on our mental health.
[read the full story...]Investigating the link between loneliness and sleep quality in young people
Ahmed Al-Shihabi and Farhana Mann report on a recent twin study that explores the links between loneliness and sleep quality in young adults.
[read the full story...]It’s a jungle out there: the natural history of behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia
Caroline Struthers scrutinises a systematic review on the longitudinal course of behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia.
[read the full story...]Can social networking alleviate loneliness in later life?
Farhana Mann appraises a cross-sectional survey of social networking site usage, loneliness and mental health in community-dwelling older adults.
[read the full story...]Sleep disruption during and after pregnancy may be associated with postpartum mental illness
Susie Johnson summarises a systematic review that explores the relationship between sleep disruption and postpartum mental illness, which reports a link between self-reported poor sleep during and after pregnancy and the development of postpartum depression.
[read the full story...]CBT for insomnia in psychiatric populations: an effective alternative to hypnotics?
Amy Green appraises a systematic review of CBT for insomnia (CBTi) in people with comorbid mental illness, which concludes that cognitive behaviour therapy could be an effective alternative to hypnotics. However, concerns about the review methodology cast some doubt on the findings.
[read the full story...]Childhood nightmares, night terrors, sleepwalking and psychotic experiences
I was a terrible sleeper as a child. I remember lying awake on one particular occasion because I had read a book about space and thought that the sun might swallow up the earth. I was intrigued then, when I was asked to review a paper for the Mental Elf about parasomnias and childhood psychotic [read the full story…]
Cochrane review finds no good quality evidence for common medicines used to treat sleep problems in Alzheimer’s Disease
People with dementia caused by Alzheimer’s Disease (ADD) (which is estimated to be around three quarters of people with dementia) often suffer from sleep disturbances. These symptoms cause distress to the person with dementia and to their carers, increase the likelihood of admission to a care home, and are also very difficult for care home [read the full story…]
ADHD and the importance of healthy sleep
Good sleep is a crucial part of our physical and mental well-being. We typically spend about a third of our lives asleep but when we miss out on sleep, we can feel fatigued and struggle to concentrate. Sleep problems are generally quite common and have been reported as one of the most common health conditions [read the full story…]