Friday, December 04, 2009

Crossing the threshold into mental illness

Depending on your point of view psychiatric diagnosis is either a logical scientific process, an art form or (not-so) inspired guesswork. People with severe mental-health problems are relatively easy to diagnose but some people can fall below the threshold of a diagnosable illness but still have a number of problems. A team of researchers from the University of Illinois-Chicago and the Oregon Research Institute carried out a 15-year study of 1,505 young adults in the community. They found that 'subthreshold' depression, anxiety, alcohol and substance abuse all escalated into their corresponding syndrome. 'Subthreshold' mental health problems also made it more likely that people would go on to develop other mental-health problems as well.

Shankman, Stewart A. ... [et al] - Subthreshold conditions as precursors for full syndrome disorders: a 15-year longitudinal study of multiple diagnostic classes Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry December 2009, 50(12), 1485-1494

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

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"The e-mails do nothing to undermine the very strong scientific consensus . . . that tells us the Earth is warming, that warming is largely a result of human activity," Jane Lubchenco, who heads the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, told a House committee. She said that the e-mails don't cover data from NOAA and NASA, whose independent climate records show dramatic warming.

Anonymous said...

What you think about news - GOPers Hold 'Prayercast' to Ask God to Stop Health Reform ?
Wanna hear your opinion