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Mental Health News for
June
2008
Depression News, Polls and Quotes
As part of the
main
Information Centre,
this section of the website is intended to provide month-by-month news
about depression, anxiety and other related health concerns.
Archives from
previous months are available, and all polls from previous months remain
active if you should wish to vote.
If you would
like to help us to produce
next month's news, polls and quotes, please click on the links by each
applicable section and fill out the accompanying form.
Quotes and Philosophical Thoughts for June 2008:
>
"Strange is our situation here upon earth. Each of us comes for a
short visit, not knowing why, yet sometimes seeming to a divine purpose.
From the standpoint of daily life, however, there is one thing we do know:
That we are here for the sake of others." - Albert Einstein
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“One of the most tragic things I know about human nature is that all of us
tend to put off living. We are all dreaming of some magical rose garden
over the horizon - instead of enjoying the roses blooming outside our
windows today." - Dale Carnegie
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“You don't have to control your thoughts; you just have to stop letting
them control you." - Dan Millman
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"It is better to light one small candle than to curse the darkness." -
Eleanor Roosevelt
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“Life is no brief candle to me. It is a sort of splendid torch which I am
permitted to hold for the moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly
as possible before handing it on to future generations." - George
Bernard Shaw
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“Although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of the
overcoming of it." - Helen Keller
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“Now and then it's good to pause in our pursuit of happiness and just be
happy." - Guillaume Apollinaire
Suggest A Quote
Northstar Neuroscience, Inc. (NASDAQ: NSTR), a developer of medical devices
for the treatment of neurological diseases and disorders, announced that
long-term data for both the PROSPECT feasibility study of cortical stimulation
for depression and the EVEREST pivotal trial studying cortical stimulation for
arm/hand disability post stroke were presented this week at the American
Society for Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery (ASSFN) meeting in
Vancouver, British Columbia.
Uganda has the highest rate of post-traumatic stress and depression ever
recorded, following extremely high of civilian exposure to violence and poor
healthcare, a study published in BMC Psychiatry says today.The study,
conducted by the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and Gulu
University has found that 54% of those interviewed met symptom-criteria for
post-traumatic stress disorder, while 67% showed signs of depression.
The modern workplace is often blamed for increased rates of depression and
stress. New research published in the journal Occupational Medicine, shows
that resuming work can actually aid recovery and help depressed employees.
However, the Society of Occupational Medicine warned that employers need to be
sensitive and consider a range of interventions including changing an
employees tasks and reducing hours to help people when they return to work.
A major review in Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice reveals that
research indicates people who are obese may be more likely to become
depressed, and people who are depressed may be more likely to become obese.To
understand the potential links between obesity and depression, researchers led
by Sarah M. Markowitz, M.S.
The Buyers Health Care Action Group, a health care purchasing coalition in
Minnesota for large employers, on Wednesday announced a pay-for-performance
pilot program that will reward physicians who effectively treat depressed
patients, the St. Paul Pioneer Press reports. The program will start in 2009
(Forster, St. Paul Pioneer Press, 5/28).
Almost one in six cases of depression among working Victorians are caused
by job stress. This means more than 21,000 cases of preventable depression are
caused by job stress each year, a new University of Melbourne study
shows.Stressful working conditions in this study were defined as a combination
of high job demands and low control over how the job gets done (or 'job
strain').
Major depressive disorder is a common and complex condition that impacts
about 15% of the population of the United States, yet very little is known
about the mechanisms behind the psychiatric disorder. What is known is that
there are clinical parallels between depressive symptoms and the symptoms of
certain inflammatory disorders.
In a study appearing in the new issue of 'Brain Stimulation', scientists
report that a new form of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is just as effective
as older forms in treating depression but without any of the cognitive side
effects found in the older forms. In the NIMH-sponsored study, Dr.
University of Iowa researchers have shown for the first time that an
anti-depressant and a form of talk therapy each can prevent or delay the onset
of depression in people who have had acute stroke.The findings will appear in
the May 28 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. Previous
studies on this type of prevention had not shown positive results; however,
this new study, in contrast, was larger and double-blinded.
An article published in the May 28 issue of JAMA reportsthat patients who
took the drug escitalopram or participated in aproblem-solving therapy group
during the year following a stroke werefound to have a lower risk of
depression compared to patients whoreceivedplacebo.Of the over 700,000
incidences of stroke per year in the United States,more than half lead to
depression.
Osmotica Pharmaceutical Corp. received notice of final approval for its
Venlafaxine Hydrochloride Extended-release 37.5 mg, 75 mg, 150 mg and 225 mg
tablets NDA from FDA for major depressive disorder and social anxiety
disorder. The Osmotica product provides a controlled release tablet form of
venlafaxine HCl including a previously unavailable 225 mg dosage strength.
Expectant mothers can safely use prescribed antidepressants during their
first trimester, according to a new study from the Université de Montréal
and Ste. Justine Hospital published in the May edition of the British Journal
of Psychiatry. Dr. Anick BĂ©rard and her team found that antidepressants have
no effect on foetal development.
New findings from research supported by NARSAD, the world's leading charity
dedicated to mental health research, and conducted by scientists at Washington
University's School of Medicine (WUSM) now point to new options for treating
preschool-aged children with significant clinical depression as well as those
severely depressed adults who don't respond to standard treatments, such as
antidepressants and psychotherapy. Presented at NARSAD's 5th annual St.
Symptoms of depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among
caregivers of deceased lung transplant patients are four-to-five times more
prevalent than in the average population, according to researchers who
analyzed the stress levels of caregivers, as well as their perceptions of the
transplant recipients' quality of dying and death. Their findings were
presented at the American Thoracic Society's 2008 International Conference in
Toronto on Monday, May 19.
Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, a division of Wyeth (NYSE: WYE), announced that
PRISTIQTM (desvenlafaxine), a new serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor
(SNRI) approved to treat adult patients with major depressive disorder (MDD),
is now available in U.S. retail pharmacies nationwide. The recommended dose of
PRISTIQ is 50 milligrams (mg) once daily. The Company begins full-scale
selling and educational efforts regarding PRISTIQ for physicians this week.
This month, in recognition of National Mental Health Month and Older
Pennsylvanians Month, Feeling Blue Suicide Prevention Council (SPC) will offer
an important message to senior citizens through a public service announcement.
Infants and toddlers whose mothers are severely depressed are almost three
times more likely to suffer accidental injuries than other children in the
same age group, according to a new study. The study's findings, published in
the Advanced Access edition of the Journal of Pediatric Psychology, suggest
that proper treatment for depression would improve not only the mothers'
health, but the health of young children as well.
About 2.1 million teens aged 12 to 17 experienced a major depressive
episode in the past year, according to a new nationwide report by the
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. For almost half of
the teens, depression drastically reduced their abilities to deal with aspects
of their daily lives, the report said. Overall, 8.
The post-university years can start out tough. The good news: it gets
better.A new University of Alberta study of almost 600 of its graduates (ages
20-29 years old) tracked mental health symptoms in participants for seven
years post-graduation and looked at how key events like leaving home and
becoming a parent were related to depression and anger. Graduates showed a
significant decrease in depressive symptoms over the seven years.
"Antidepressants may help body fight HIV and cancer" was the headline in
The Independent recently. The newspaper article was on research that suggests
that antidepressant drugs may help the immune system to fight off serious
infection. The newspaper says the drugs could increase the activity of Natural
Killer (NK) cells, a part of the immune system that targets cancerous and
infected cells and induces "apoptosis" or "cell suicide".
Launched recently, Mind Yourself - The Lundbeck Mental Health Barometer
report has revealed the most common symptoms amongst those with personal
experience of depression are frequent thoughts of death or suicide (32%), low
self esteem (29%) and sleep disturbance (28%).
Leading mental health charity Mind publishes a shocking new report that
shows that debt is a significant factor in worsening our mental health. As the
credit crunch hits and the cost of living soars, this worrying new evidence
shows the extent of debt's impact, with over 50% of respondents going without
food and heating. 'In the red: debt and mental health' (1) is the first ever
report to specifically examine the links between mental distress and debt.
British Association of Pharmacology evidence-based guidelines published
this month by SAGEA new revision of clinical guidelines to help doctors manage
patients with depression has challenged the rationale behind the UK
government's policy of rolling out of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) for
milder depression.
Depressed people may have far fewer of the receptors for some of the
brain's "feel good" stress-response chemicals than non-depressed people, new
University of Michigan Depression Center research shows.And even among
depressed people, the numbers of these receptors can vary greatly. What's
more, the number of receptors a depressed person has appears to be linked with
the severity of their symptoms - and the chances that they'll feel better
after taking a medication.
Infection with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), which leads to acquired
immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), is an epidemic of global concern. According
to the most recent estimates, released in November 2007, by the Joint United
Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and the World Health Organization
(WHO), an estimated 33.2 million worldwide are living with HIV infection
currently
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