Depression, obesity and stress

Cortisol is a hormone that is produced in reaction to stress. It is also produced more when people are depressed and plays a role in regulating people's metabolisms. There is thought to be a link between depression, cortisol and obesity but no-one is quite sure how this works. A team of researchers from Penn State University in the U.S. looked into this issue in a sample of 111 boys and girls between 8 and 13. The children were assessed for their levels of depression, weighed and measured and had their cortisol levels taken before and after an assessed maths test designed to raise their stress levels. The children who were more depressed showed a higher increase in their levels of cortisol after being stressed but this was only associated with obesity in the case of the girls.

You can find out more about this research at

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/02/100223154342.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily+%28ScienceDaily%3A+Latest+Science+News%29&utm_content=Google+Reader

Omega-3s and psychosis

Early intervention has been found to lead to much better results for people with schizophrenia and psychosis. This often takes the form of antipsychotic drugs but they have serious side effects and their use is controversial in people who have yet to develop full-blown psychosis. A team of researchers led by Dr G. Paul Amminger from the University of Vienna studied the use of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids in 81 people at 'ultra-high risk' of psychotic disorder. Half got the omega-3 and half got a placebo. By the end of the study only 4.9% of the people in the omega-3 group had developed psychosis compared to 27.5% in the placebo group. The omega-3s also significantly reduced symptoms and improved functioning with no more side effects than the placebo.

Amminger, G. Paul ... [et al] - Long-chain omega-3 fatty acids for indicated prevention of psychotic disorders: a randomized controlled trial Archives of General Psychiatry February 2010, 67(2), 146-154

Exercise, schizophrenia and growing your hippocampus

Neural plasticity is the brain's ability to change and adapt over time. People with schizophrenia show changes in their brains and it could be the case that they have less neural plasticity than other people. People with schizophrenia also have smaller hippocampi than other people. Exercise is known to stimulate growth in the hippocampus and a team of researchers led by Dr. Frank-Gerald Pajonk from Liebenburg in Germany set out to test this in a study of 32 people, 24 of whom had schizophrenia. Some of the participants did cycling to boost their fitness while the rest played table football. After three months those healthy controls who did exercise showed a 16% increase in the volume of their hippocampi while those people with schizophrenia who exercised showed a 12% increase; whereas the people who played table football's hippocampi actually shrank by 1%. The more people's fitness improved the greater the increase in the size of their hippocampus and the more people's hippocampi grew the more their scores for short-term memory improved.

Pajonk, Frank-Gerald ... [et al] - Hippocampal plasticity in response to exercise in schizophrenia Archives of General Psychiatry February 2010, 67(2), 133-143

Stereotype threat, social skills and schizophrenia

Stereotype threat is the feeling that one is the target of demeaning stereotypes and has been found to affect performance among a number of different people doing a number of different tasks. Interestingly people do not have to actually be treated in a negative way for this effect to occur, they just have to believe they are being stereotyped. People with schizophrenia are often thought to have poor social skills and a team of researchers from the University of New South Wales and the University of Queensland wondered whether this could be due to stereotype threat. They got 30 people with schizophrenia to talk to two 'confederates.' The people with schizophrenia were told that one of the confederates knew about their diagnosis while the other didn't; but in fact neither of the confederates knew that they were talking to someone with schizophrenia. Although the participants with schizophrenia did not perceive any differences in their own social behaviour those confederates who talked to someone who thought the confederates knew about their mental-health problems rated the participants' social skills as poorer.

Henry, Julie D., von Hippel, Courtney and Shapiro, Lisa - Stereotype threat contributes to social difficulties in people with schizophrenia British Journal of Clinical Psychology March 2010, 49(1), 31-41

CBT and learning disabilities

People with learning disabilities suffer from mental-health problems as much as, if not more than, other people. Cognitive behaviour therapy has been found to be effective for a number of different mental-health problems but it is unclear whether people with learning disabilities are able to grasp the links between thoughts, feelings and behaviour that they need to understand in order for the therapy to be effective. Researchers from the University of East Anglia and Norfolk Primary Care NHS Trust looked into this issue in a study of 34 adults with learning disabilities. 18 of them were given training in distinguishing between thoughts, feelings and behaviours and in linking thoughts and feelings while the rest of the participants went to a relaxation class. The study found that the training led to significant improvements in the particpants' abilities to link thoughts and feelings, skills that could then be applied to new situations. However, the training had no effect on the participants' ability to distinguish between thoughts, feelings and behaviour.

Bruce, Melanie ... [et al] - Does training improve understanding of core concepts in cognitive behaviour therapy by people with intellectual disabilities? A randomized experiment British Journal of Clinical Psychology March 2010, 49(1), 1-13

Alcohol and bipolar disorder

Researchers from the University Medical Centre in Amsterdam have been looking into the effects of alcohol consumption on people with bipolar disorder. They studied 137 people with bipolar disorder. 44 drank very little or nothing at all, 49 were moderate drinkers who drank less than the Government's recommended amount and 44 were heavy drinkers who drank more than this. The participants kept diaries of their moods for at least two months. Contrary to expectations the group of heavy drinkers did not have a greater number of depressed days, mood swings or other symptoms than the occasional or moderate drinkers. 90% of the sample took their medication regularly and none of them had any other health problems so these factors may have lessened the impact of the alcohol. The study was a small-scale one and it is not a good idea to drink more than the recommended limits of alcohol - even if there is no impact on bipolar disorder!

You can find out more about this research at

http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKTRE61H4R020100218?feedType=RSS&feedName=healthNews&sp=true

Holidays and happiness

Holidays can make you happy before you go on them but have little long-lasting effect once you get back. Researchers from Erasmus University in Rotterdam studied 1,530 people, 974 of whom went on holiday during the study period. They found that those people who were planning a holiday were happier than other people due to the anticipation of their break. For most people there was no difference in happiness after the holiday between those people who had been away and those who hadn't. People who had had a very relaxing holiday were a little happier for the first two weeks afterwards but the effect had completely worn off after eight weeks.

You can find out more about this research at

http://psychcentral.com/news/2010/02/19/vacation-unlikely-to-improve-overall-happiness/11593.html

Cognitive insight and psychosis

Cognitive insight is the ability to self-reflect, realise that beliefs may be mistaken and consider feedback from other people. Lack of it is thought to play an important role in the development and continuation of psychosis, and a team of researchers from the University of Pennsylvania and the Institute of Psychology, King's College London looked into the influence of cognitive insight on the progress of 78 outpatients being treated for psychosis with cognitive behaviour therapy. They found that people with more cognitive insight had less severe delusions after treatment and that people whose cognitive insight improved over the course of their treatment had 'clinically significant reductions' in the severity of both delusions and auditory hallucinations by the end of their therapy.

Perivoliotis, Dimitri ... [et al] - Cognitive insight predicts favourable outcome in cognitive behavioral therapy for psychosis Psychosis February 2010, 2(1), 23-33

Military veterans still not getting PTSD care

Many military veterans in the U.S. are still not getting the treatment they need for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Dr Karen Seal from the San Franciscon Veteran Affairs Medical Centre lead a team studying this issue. They found that between 2002 and 2008 nearly 50,000 veterans from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars received a diagnosis of PTSD. However, fewer than 10% of them completed the recommended treatment of 10-12 weekly sessions within four months of being diagnosed, and even after a year only 30% had. Men, veterans under the age of 25, those who lived in rural areas and those who got their diagnosis at primary-care clinics were less likely to receive recommended care.

You can find out more about this issue at

http://www.mentalhelp.net/poc/view_doc.php?type=news&id=125952&cn=109

Flexible working and mental health

A team of researchers led by Clare Bambra from Durham University have been reviewing studies into the health benefits of flexible working. They reviewed ten studies which included a total of 16,603 people. Flexible working was found to have a positive effect on a number of health outcomes including blood pressure, sleep and mental health.

You can find out more about this research at

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/179406.php

A happy heart is a healthy heart

Being happy could reduce your risk of developing heart disease. Researchers from Columbia University Medical Centre in New York assessed 1,739 adults at the start of the study. They recorded their general health and measured symptoms of depression, hostility, anxiety and the degree to which they expressed positive emotions. They then tracked the participants' health over the next ten years. The study found that for each point scored on a 'positivity' scale the risk of developing heart disease over the next ten years dropped by 22%.

You can find out more about this research at

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/7256067/Happiness-may-be-good-for-your-heart-research.html

Mindfulness and the military

Cultivating mindfulness - the ability to be aware and attentive to the present moment without emotional reactivity or volatility - has proved helpful for people with anxiety and depression and a new study by researchers from the University of Pennsylvania and Georgetown University has found it can also be useful for the Marines. 48 Marine reservists took part in the study. 31 of them did Mindfulness-based Mind Fitness Training and 17 did not. The programme blended mindfulness skills training and information and skills aobut stress, trauma and resilience in the body. The group who did the mindfulness training showed an increase in working memory capacity and a decrease in negative mood over the eight-week course in contrast to the control group who showed a decrease in working memory and an increase in negative mood over the same period.

You can find out more about this research at

http://psychcentral.com/news/2010/02/18/mindfulness-training-helpful-for-the-military/11562.html

Stockholm syndrome - guest post by Pamelia Brown

Stockholm Syndrome - Media Frenzy or Legitimate Disorder?

In August 2009, when Jaycee Dugard, a woman kidnapped 18 years ago, was found, the media reported that she displayed symptoms of the psychological disorder known as Stockholm Syndrome, so named after a famous Swedish robbery in which hostages sympathized with their captors. Housed in a shed in her captor’s backyard, Dugard was repeatedly raped since she was eleven years old. But when investigators questioned her, Dugard reported that her captor was a “great person.”

Dugard’s case is only one of the many news stories that have received worldwide media attention. The public is fascinated by victims’ seemingly inexplicable positive responses after having suffered physical, emotional, and sexual abuse.

In her groundbreaking book, Loving to Survive: Sexual Terror, Men’s Violence, and Women’s Lives, Dr. Dee Graham, one of the earliest Stockholm Syndrome researchers, identified four characteristics that typify those suffering from the syndrome:

1. Perceived threat to survival, and belief that the captor is able to carry out the threat at any time.
2. A captor carries out a small act of kindness, and the captive perceives it as redemptive.
3. The captive is isolated for a significant amount of time, such that the victim can only see through the captor’s perspective.
4. Perceived impossibility of escape.

Shirley Julich, a professor at the Auckland University of Technology in New Zealand, focuses her research on child sexual abuse. In 2005, she wrote a comprehensive report analyzing interviews with 21 survivors of childhood sexual abuse. In her attempt to understand her interviewers’ initial reticence to report abuse, she turned to Graham’s research, concluding that Stockholm Syndrome was indeed a major culprit, in effect contradicting an earlier child sexual abuse study conducted by the Otago Women’s Health Survey.

Shirley Julich’s full report is available here.

To read a more in-depth description of Stockholm Syndrome symptoms, read Dr. Joseph Carver’s Mental Health Matters blog post .

To get a brief history of major news stories featuring victims suffering from Stockholm Syndrome, read this recent Time magazine article.


By-line:
This guest post is contributed by Pamelia Brown, who writes on the topics of online associate degree programs . She welcomes your comments at her email Id: pamelia.brown@gmail.com.

Dyadic discord and depression

Psychologists rarely use a simple word where a complicated one will do and dyadic discord is their term for not getting on with your spouse or partner. A team of researchers, led by Wayne Denton from the University of Texas, looked at 171 people with partners who were being treated for long-term depression. The participants were treated with nefazodone, the Cognitive Behavioural Analysis system of psychotherapy or a combination of both. The happiness of the participants' relationships and their levels of depression were measured before, during and after treatment. Participants with dyadic discord at the start of the study had much lower remission rates (34.1%) than those with happier relationships (61.2%).

Denton, W.H. ... [et al] - Dyadic discord at baseline is associated with lack of remission in the acute treatment of chronic depression Psychological Medicine March 2010, 40(3), 415-424

Cynical hostility and depression

Cynical hostility is a personality trait characterised by general cynicism and mistrust in interpersonal relationships. It is believed to be associated with an increased risk of depression but few large-scale studies have been carried out. Researchers from France and University College London used data from a long-term study of 3,399 Whitehall civil servants. They filled out questionnaires to measure their level of cynical hostility at the start of the study (1985-1988) and their levels of depression were measured later (2002-2004). Even after adjusting for other factors the participants in the top quarter for levels of cynical hostility were over four-and-a-half times more likely to be depressed in 2002-4 than those in the bottom quarter.

Nabi, H. ... [et al] - Hostility and depressive mood: results from the Whitehall II prospective cohort study Psychological Medicine March 2010, 40(3), 405-413

How to tell and what to do if clients go downhill

About 5-10% of people actually get worse after starting psychotherapy. Studies comparing therapists who got feedback when their clients worsened showed that their clients did better than those people with therapists who were left to carry on regardless - suggesting that not all therapists know when their clients are going downhill. Researchers from the Indiana University of Pennsylvania looked into this issue by giving questionnaires to clients to assess their mental state and comparing them with the therapists' own notes. They found that 'therapists had considerable difficulty recognising client deterioration.' Other therapists were asked how they would judge if a client was going downhill and most replied that they would judge from their clients' symptoms rather than using a standardised rating scale. The most popular options for what to do if a client worsened were to make a referral for medication, to increase the frequency of therapy sessions, to gather more information, to discuss the deterioration with the client, to counsult other therapists and to change the treatment approach in some way.

Hatfield, Derek ... [et al] - Do we know when our clients get worse? An investigation of therapists' ability to detect negative client change Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy January-February 2010, 17(1), 25-32

PTSD and shame

The main emotion associated with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is fear but researchers are now starting to look at the way in which other emotions can play a part in maintaining the condition. One such emotion is shame caused when, rather than seeing the world as a more dangerous and threatening place after traumatic events people blame themselves and see themselves as weak and incompetent for allowing them to happen. Researchers from St George's hospital in London looked into the role of shame in a study of 49 people with PTSD. They found that those people with higher levels of shame were more prone to engage in self-criticism and less prone to engage in self-reassuring thinking than people with lower levels of shame.

Harman, Rachel and Lee, Deborah - The role of shame and self-critical thinking in the development and maintenance of current threat in post-traumatic stress disorder Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy January-February 2010, 17(1), 13-24

Antidepressants and premature birth

Some studies have found a link between premature births and the use of antidepressants during a mother's pregnancy. There is still a shortage of evidence on this topic but another study by researchers at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto has added to the evidence that there might be a link. The study compared 928 women who had taken antidepressants during their pregnancy with 928 women of similar health and background who had not. It found that 8.8% of the women who had taken antidepressants had had a premature baby, compared to only 5.4% of the women in the comparison group. However, women taking antidepressants were no more likely to give birth to babies who were small for their gestational age or who had a low birth weight.

Einarson, A. ... [et al] - Adverse effects of antidepressant use in pregnancy: an evaluation of fetal growth and preterm birth Depression and Anxiety January 2010, 27(1), 35-38

Anxiety does not affect effectiveness of duloxetine

Some studies have suggested that people who suffer from anxiety as well as depression respond less well to treatments with antidepressants. J. Craig Nelson from the University of California, San Francisco reviewed 11 studies into the effectiveness of duloxetine at treating depression. The studies covered a total of 2,841 people of whom 1,326 were classified as anxious. Duloxetine was found to be more effective than a placebo and have better response and remission rates, and the drug was just as effective for people with anxiety.

Nelson, J. Craig - Anxiety does not predict response to duloxetine in major depression: results of a pooled analysis of individual patient data from 11 placebo-controlled trials Depression and Anxiety January 2010, 27(1), 12-18

Psychopathy, guilt and responsibility

One of the main features about psychopathy is that people feel little sense of responsibility for, or guilt about, their actions. Researchers, led by Amy Batson from the South London and Maudsley NHS Trust, looked into these issues in a sample of 67 men held at six medium-secure units in the South-East of England. There was found to be a 'significant positive correlation' between psychopathy and blaming other people but there was no link between pscyhopathy and people's feelings of guilt.

Batson, Amy, Gudjonsson, Gisli, and Gray, Jacqueline - Attribution of blame for criminl acts and its relationship with pschopathy as measured by the Hare Psychopathic checklist (PCL-SV)