Child sexual abuse is a widespread social problem, which can cause a range of mental health conditions including fear, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, behavioural problems, inappropriate sexual behaviour and an increased risk of psychological problems in adulthood. Cognitive behavioural therapy is often used to help children (and their non-offending parent) to manage the conditions that [read the full story…]
Non-directive supportive therapy (NDST) has been defined as “a psychological treatment in which therapists do not engage in any therapeutic strategies other than active listening and offering support, focusing on participants’ problems and concerns” (Arean et al., 2010). We know from research studies that there are many types of psychological therapy that work well in [read the full story…]
NICE guidance recommends offering CBT (cognitive behavioural therapy), family therapy and arts therapies for people with schizophrenia: Offer CBT to all people with schizophrenia. This can be started either during the acute phase or later, including in inpatient settings. – Taken from 1.3.4.1 in Schizophrenia (CG82). NICE, March 2009. However, CBT is still not widely [read the full story…]
The majority of studies about depression measure outcomes using a scale such as the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (PDF), which is a questionnaire that patients complete with a health professional. This new randomised controlled trial by researchers from the Arkin Institute for Mental Health in Amsterdam uses the Hamilton Depression Scale, but is also measures social [read the full story…]
Today’s blog comes courtesy of The Lifestyle Elf. If you’re interested in healthy lifestyle research on diet, exercise, smoking, drinking and other public health issues, you can follow my cousin on Twitter, Facebook and via her excellent blog. When you’ve got a problem, where do you look for help, support and information? Here in the [read the full story…]
NICE published a clinical guideline on the treatment and management of depression in adults with chronic physical health problems in 2009. This new evidence update refreshes that guidance by searching for new systematic reviews and randomised controlled trials on the subject and summarising them in a short (16 page) document. The authors searched a range [read the full story…]
We know that various psychotherapies are effective in treating adult depression, but there remains quite a bit of uncertainty about which specific therapies work best and what factors within the treatments contribute most to the improvement. This new meta analysis from a mixed group of researchers from the Netherlands, USA, Switzerland and Sweden, looks at [read the full story…]
Antipsychotic drugs are currently prescribed to a significant proportion of young people who are diagnosed with psychosis. Past research has estimated that up to half of people at risk of developing psychosis at a young age will progress to a full blown psychotic illness such as schizophrenia. A new landmark randomised controlled trial has been [read the full story…]
Around 10% of children are diagnosed with anxiety disorders before the age of 16 and for many this can be a long lasting problem that has a major impact on their development. There’s lots of research in this field and many systematic reviews have been conducted to assess the effectiveness of talking treatments for this [read the full story…]
Depression is at least three times as common in patients with cancer compared to the rest of the population. Studies show that major depression occurs in 16% of cancer patients, with combined minor depression and dysthymia reported in 22% of people with cancer. Depression also appears to be more prevalent amongst people with certain cancers (pancreatic, [read the full story…]
