PM at G8 Dementia Summit welcomes work by PsychologyOnline

When Prime Minister David Cameron spoke at the G8 Dementia Summit recently about the global challenge of dementia he also talked of seeing a glimmer of hope in tackling this condition.

He said: “It doesn’t matter whether you’re in London or Los Angeles, in rural India or urban Japan - this disease steals lives; it wrecks families; it breaks hearts and that is why all of us here are so utterly determined to beat it.”

He talked of the hope of creating a treatment and also of progress in developing for tools for early detection.

“I see it in the extraordinary work of UK life sciences companies, like Ixico, Cambridge Cognition, PsychologyOnline and Proteome Sciences, working with others to develop new tests for Alzheimer’s Disease.”

Barnaby Perks, CEO of PsychologyOnline welcomed this high profile support for work in this area.

“The NHS is one of the most respected health institutions in the world.  If it is prepared to be a ‘smart purchaser’ and work with innovative companies such as those mentioned in David Cameron’s speech then this will fast track developments in this area.”

PsychologyOnline provides text-based cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) to treat anxiety and depression, conditions that are common in dementia sufferers and their carers.

CBT is used widely in NHS mental health services, as a NICE-recommended treatment.  The therapy aims to help people manage their problems by changing the way they think and feel about certain situations or events.  Such is the demand for this type of therapy that there can often be a long wait to see a therapist.

One of the reasons, PsychologyOnline was developed originally by two NHS psychologists was to enable more effective use of resources. It provides instant-messaging based CBT with a therapist via a secure internet consulting room, so neither the therapist or the service user needs to travel.

Barnaby says results for the treatment of depression and other conditions are very promising, with patients needing 40% fewer sessions than would be expected with face-to-face therapy to recover.

“From our work with the Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) in Surrey, where we provide therapy on prescription, we’ve seen that people of all ages are prepared to use the internet to access treatment.  The ability to have therapy in your own home makes it particularly suitable for those who find it difficult to travel for appointments or who already spend too much of their time waiting in hospitals.

“We are currently provide an accessible treatment path for carers of people with dementia and other diseases, who would not otherwise find time to focus on their own health. We also see considerable potential for CBT delivered in this way to support people in the early stages of dementia and are working with experts in this field to explore this further.

“If the NHS was to commission a study in this area then we would be able to devote more resource to this area of research. This type of support would lend further credibility to this approach and support early adoption of beneficial treatment. “

PsychologyOnline one of Observer's 16 leading Tech Start-Ups

PsychologyOnline has been identified as one of Cambridge’s 16 leading technology-based startups in the Observer’s Tech Monthly supplement.

Cambridge is a world-leading centre for the development of technology and life science firms; the city has long been accepted as a hub for pioneering new companies and a place where brilliant academic minds can turn their innovative ideas into reality. PsychologyOnline is located on the outskirts of the city to tap into networks of existing expertise as Barnaby Perks, chief executive at PsychologyOnline, explains:

“Cambridge has the right environment and support networks, including lawyers, accountants and non-executive directors. When I looked at the skills we needed, the software development skills, the clinical management skills, here was the best place and all the best people were here."

Other firms featured in the article include Crowdsurfer, a website which allows users to search for alternative finance options such as peer-to-peer lending and Darktrace, a cyber security firm launched this year which provides technology to companies to allow them to monitor threats to their computer networks.

PsychologyOnline was co-founded in 2011 by Barnaby Perks and two chartered psychologists, Sue Wright and Nadine Field. Having worked in the NHS in England and witnessed first hand the scarcity of therapists, they started the company in a bid to make top quality cognitive behavioural therapy easily accessible to all.

Therapy from PsychologyOnline is available on the NHS across Surrey and to private individuals across the UK and overseas via Thinkwell. It helps people suffering from a wide range of mental health conditions, including depression, anxiety, phobia and stress-related problems.

PsychologyOnline’s in house developers have created a secure messaging system to allow service users and therapists to write short, confidential messages to each other during sessions, which last up to an hour at a time. All users need is a computer, laptop, tablet or smartphone and a stable internet connection.

"This way patients are comfortable,” Barnaby explains. “They can have therapy at home at a time that suits them. The results show the system has higher recovery rates and takes fewer sessions than face-to-face therapy for patients to get better.”

You can read more about the 16 leading Cambridge tech startups here and for more information on PsychologyOnline, please visit our website: www.psychologyonline.co.uk.

Trott shows 'stress-related illness' happens to the best of us

Jonathan Trott is not the first world-class cricketer to return home from the intense spotlight of the Ashes tour with a stress-related illness. The nature of the game - a team sport played by individuals – and the type of personality required to excel, risks the mental health of many of its players.

The big question is whether the sports associations are doing enough to support players at all levels within the game.

According to Telegraph journalist Steve James, himself a former cricketer, there is still a culture of secrecy within the sport when it comes to mental illness. Indeed the word ‘depression’ was rarely mentioned in the numerous media interviews.

Writing in the paper on Monday 25th November, James says that sport should be grateful for the bravery of cricketers such as Marcus Trescothick, Darren Cousins and Tim Ambrose who have all spoken publicly about their mental health over recent years.

The courage it takes to do this or to show any indication of weakness within such a macho sport was self-evident from the comments that Aussie player David Warner made a few days earlier about Trott having ‘scared eyes’.

The type of training given to the physical body should be extended to ensuring the health of the mind.

Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) is well proven to be effective in ‘retraining’ the mind to allow an individual to consider the world from a better perspective. It helps create a tool kit of coping mechanisms for the pressures of life.

PsychologyOnline’s approach to CBT is particularly effective and it is available wherever you are, 24x 7, all that is required is a computer and an internet connection.

However robust you are, intense ambition, long periods away from home, high pressure, high financial stakes, detachment from family are all risk elements that can adversely affect your mental health.

Perhaps now is the time to promote the concept of a ‘physio for the mind’ and use the pressures faced by our top sportspeople to show that although depression is something that can happen to the best of us, it can be effectively treated.

Re-thinking Psychological Therapy in a new NHS: PsychologyOnline attends New Savoy Partnership Conference

Improving the quality of mental healthcare while navigating a path through the new clinically-led commissioning framework is just one of the themes to be explored at the seventh annual ‘Psychological Therapies in the NHS’ conference, 28 and 29 November at the Mermaid Conference Centre in London.

PsychologyOnline will showcase its unique online therapy at the high-profile event, and in so doing will rub shoulders with leading mental healthcare policy-makers including the Care Minister Norman Lamb and Dr Geraldine Strathdee, NHS England’s head clinical director for mental health.

The two-day conference at the end of November, organised by the New Savoy Partnership, will investigate whether the coalition government’s Mental Health Strategy is working and whether more needs to be done to “join up” the way talking therapies are commissioned and accessed on the NHS.

In 2011, the government issued a “No health without mental health” pledge, and committed to improving access to psychological therapies by broadening the focus of IAPT (Improving Access to Psychological Therapies) initiative.

As a consequence, PsychologyOnline was commissioned earlier this year by the Surrey Mental Health CCG Collaboration as one of four therapy providers.

Surrey GPs referring patients to the innovative service say the evening appointments have been particularly popular with patients who work during the day or those who find it difficult to travel to meet a therapist face-to face.  It has also allowed more men, who are often embarrassed to seek help in person, to access the therapy they need, without taking time off work.

All that service users need to access online CBT is a computer, laptop, tablet or smartphone which is connected to the internet.  Therapy can begin within 24 hours of referral and can be undertaken from the comfort of home or wherever the patient feels most comfortable.

Barnaby Perks, chief executive at PsychologyOnline, is encouraging delegates to come along and meet the team and find out how online CBT could make therapy more accessible.

“At PsychologyOnline, we’re proud of our innovative way of delivering highly-effective therapy.  All our therapists are UK trained and accredited and our service has been proven to be effective in treating moderate to severe depression.

“PsychologyOnline’s therapy can treat a range of mental health conditions, including anxiety, stress-related disorders, phobia, obsessive compulsive disorder and postnatal depression.”

To find out more about PsychologyOnline, please visit www.psychologyonline.co.uk.

Technological Innovations in Mental Health: PsychologyOnline Exhibits at London Launch Event

PsychologyOnline’s innovative text-based approach to cognitive behavioural therapy will be on show at the Technical Innovations in Mental Health conference on 11 November 2013.

The symposium, held at the Royal College of Physicians in London, will highlight the latest technological advances in the field and consider how these advances could help transform the delivery of therapy to service users.

The event coincides with the launch of MindTech, the NHS National Institute for Health Research’s new initiative to promote the use of technologies for mental healthcare in England.

Cambridge-based PsychologyOnline provides a unique form of live online cognitive behavioural therapy via a text-based instant messaging system. All service users need is access to a computer, laptop, tablet or smartphone which is connected to the internet.

Therapy sessions can be held at flexible times, including evenings and weekends, from the comfort of home or wherever the patient feels most comfortable.

Surrey is one of the first areas to offer PsychologyOnline “on prescription” to service users in its five CCG areas. Therapy is also accessible to all via Thinkwell, the firm’s pay-for service.

Barnaby Perks, chief executive at PsychologyOnline, has welcomed the conference as an exciting chance to showcase the firm’s unique online therapy and is encouraging fellow delegates to come and meet the team.

He adds: “It is good to see the health sector embracing new developments in technologies in the mental health field.

“PsychologyOnline allows more flexibility in the way mental health services are delivered and is also a means to cope with the increased volume in demand that we’ve seen over recent years.

“There has been a growing acceptance of internet technologies for accessing services of all types and many NHS Trusts and commissioners are interested in how PsychologyOnline could work for their patients.”

Keynote speakers at the conference include Dr Geraldine Strathdee, the national clinical director of Mental Health for NHS England and Dr Louise Wood, the head of NHS Research Infrastructure and Growth at the Department of Health.

For more information please visit: www.psychologyonline.co.uk or MediLink

Military mental health: Join the discussion with Professor Jamie Hacker Hughes

While the physical rehabilitation of service personnel often features prominently in the headlines, the mental effects of war on serving or veteran soldiers is often less well publicised.

PsychologyOnline is hosting a webinar on 5^th November at 1.30pm discussing the impact that military conflict can have on the mind and the how online cognitive behavioural therapy can improve access to support both on and off the battlefield.

It will be led by prominent military psychologist Professor Jamie Hacker Hughes, who has spent 20 years in the military, first as an army officer and later as a military psychologist. He rose to become head of clinical psychology for the Ministry of Defence.

Prof Hacker Hughes will also explore the type of mental health conditions, such as depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder that affect serving personnel, reservists, veterans and their families and how they can be assessed and treated.

He will also outline some of the warning signs to allow the families of service personnel to spot when a mental health problem may be manifesting.

Click here for a preview of the webinar from Prof Hacker Hughes.  If you would like to book your place at the webinar, which will last for one hour, send your name, company and email address to info@psychologyonline.co.uk with “military webinar” in the subject field.

Role of online technology within IAPT

How to integrate online text-based CBT therapy within IAPT, was the topic of a presentation by Sarah Bateup, Clinical Lead for PsychologyOnline and lecturer at Exeter University, at the recent Recovery-Focused Conference organised by Bournemouth University and Dorset HealthCare University NHS Foundation Trust.

Sarah, who is a BABCP accredited therapist who has delivered over 27,000 hours of CBT, discussed her experiences gained with PsychologyOnline of integrating live synchronous, Internet-based text CBT into Step 3 IAPT services.

Prior to joining PsychologyOnline Sarah had worked with the South London and Maudsley NHS Trust where she was involved in training junior doctors how to deliver CBT within IAPT. So, she has a good knowledge of IAPT and support for therapy services. Before this Sarah was a manager of a primary care CBT service in the South West of England. 

Sarah comments, "I am very interested in seeing how technology can enhance therapy and learning. Increasingly we are seeing more learning being offered online and accessed remotely. CBT is very much based on people learning and therefore it fits well within this model.

"Interestingly the benefits of text-based therapy are maintained for a long time. I think this is partly the action of writing and reading that takes place during the session, which is very much how we are used to learning and creates a real change in the thought processes.

"Originally IAPT was designed to offer patient choice and PsychologyOnline's service supports this by making it easier to access therapy. For example, we have seen particularly good results for patients with anxiety disorders for whom arranging and attending a face-to-face session in itself creates stress."

The bi-annual Recovery-Focused Mental Health Conference was held on September 6th 2013 and was attended by mental health professionals, health commissioners, researchers and service users. The purpose of the conference is to disseminate information about new research, innovation, best practice, and inspirational developments in mental health.

IAPT programme struggling to achieve targets

The Government’s flagship scheme to expand access to psychological therapies is struggling to achieve its targets, with recovery rates dipping and patients in some areas waiting over a year for treatment, according to Pulse.

A Pulse investigation found that CCGs in many areas were struggling to roll out the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) programme to all the intended target groups, and that over two-thirds were reporting waiting times longer than the 28-day maximum target.

Funding for the IAPT programme was also variable, ranging from £1.76 to £14.55 per head of population across CCG areas.

The results come as experts question whether the IAPT programme was cost effective and if it was reaching the right people.

The latest quarterly figures from the Health and Social Care Information Centre on the IAPT programme showed that although the number of patients accessing treatment went up in the first quarter of this year, the proportion of patients moving to recovery slipped back from 47% in the final quarter of 2012/2013 to 43% in the period from April to June this year, against a target of 50% of treated patients.

Overall more than 80,000 people in the system are still waiting for treatment more than a month after they were referred.

Data obtained by Pulse under the Freedom of Information Act from 85 CCGs reveals that 68% report treatment waiting times longer than the 28-day maximum target. Around half of these are down to longer waits for higher intensity therapy, with many areas reporting waiting times of three to five months for higher-intensity therapy while some have waits of over 12 month

Cognitive therapy study hope for hypochondria patients

Cognitive behavioural therapy is more effective than standard care for people with hypochondria or health anxiety, say researchers writing in The Lancet.

In their study, 14% of patients given CBT regained normal anxiety levels against 7% given the usual care of basic reassurance.

It said nurses could easily be trained to offer the psychological therapy.

Between 10% and 20% of hospital patients are thought to worry obsessively about their health.

Previous studies have shown that CBT, which aims to change thought patterns and behaviour, is an effective treatment for other anxiety disorders.

But there is a shortage of specialists trained to deliver CBT, and as a result waiting lists can be long.

In this study, 219 people with health anxiety received an average of six sessions of cognitive behavioural therapy while 225 received reassurance and support, which is standard.

After periods of six months and 12 months, patients in the CBT group showed "significantly greater improvement in self-rated anxiety and depression symptoms" compared with standard care, the study showed.

There was also a particularly noticeable reduction in health anxiety in the CBT group straight after treatment began.

Read more here. 

Rumination: The danger of dwelling

According to Denise Whiteman (BBC News Magazine)  the UK's biggest ever online test into stress, undertaken by the BBC's Lab UK and the University of Liverpool, has revealed that rumination is the biggest predictor of the most common mental health problems in the country.

A bit of self-reflection can be a good thing, say psychologists. But just how serious can it get when introspection goes awry and thoughts get stuck on repeat, playing over and over in the mind?

Rumination and self-blame have long been accepted by health professionals as part of the problems that can lead to depression and anxiety - the two most common mental health problems in the UK, according to the Mental Health Foundation.

But new research has demonstrated just how significant and serious their impact on mental health can be.

The findings of a ground-breaking study, published in the journal PLOS ONE today, suggest that brooding too much on negative events is the biggest predictor of depression and anxiety and determines the level of stress people experience. The research even suggests a person's psychological response is a more important factor than what has actually happened to them.

A total of 32,827 people from 172 countries took part in the online stress test devised by the BBC's Lab UK and psychologists at the University of Liverpool, making it the biggest study of its kind ever undertaken in the UK.

PsychologyOnline responds to BBC investigation into mental health ‘crisis’

An investigation by BBC News and Community Care magazine has revealed more than 1,700 mental health beds have been closed in England since April 2011, an overall reduction of 9%.

However, catching people earlier could reduce the need for acute care in hospital wards.

The Mental Health CCG Collaboration in Surrey is pioneering an approach that offers patients access to a range of psychological therapies, including online cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) from PsychologyOnline.

The benefit of PsychologyOnline is that it allows fast access to help service users as and when required.  Patients have a confidential text-based “conversation” with their therapist through secure instant messaging, which can be conducted from home or wherever the patient feels most comfortable.

While the Surrey scheme is in its infancy, Dr Fiona Buxton, the mental health lead for Surrey Heath CCG, said her surgery is already referring fewer patients to the hospital-based Community Mental Health Recovery Service.

She explains: “People are under increasing stress from pressures at work, home and financial concerns and we see a growing need for different ways of providing treatment.

“PsychologyOnline is a huge benefit as you can access the treatment from home, there is no travelling involved, no need to take time off work and you can have the same therapist every week so there is continuity.”

Sarah Bateup, PsychologyOnline’s clinical lead, agrees that quick and early intervention can prevent mental health problems from “snowballing”.

“It is a gradual process, people begin to feel overloaded and unable to cope, they cut back on pleasurable activities and over time problems build up. Without help, things just get worse and worse and sufferers try to work harder and harder to stay on top of things.  The earlier someone seeks help, the better”.

PsychologyOnline is now available on prescription in Surrey and via our private service Thinkwell™.  For more information, please visit www.psychologyonline.co.uk. 

Depression risk 'starts in the womb'

Children whose mothers are depressed during pregnancy have a small increased risk of depression in adulthood, according to a UK study.

Medical treatment during pregnancy could lower the risk of future mental health problems in the child, say researchers at Bristol University.

The study followed the offspring of more than 8,000 mothers who had postnatal or antenatal depression.

The risk is around 1.3 times higher than normal at age 18, it found.

The study is published in JAMA Psychiatry. Lead researcher Dr Rebecca Pearson told the BBC: "Depression in pregnancy should be taken seriously and treated in pregnancy. It looks like there is a long-term risk to the child, although it is small."

She said it was an association, not a causal link, and needed further investigation.

Prof Carmine Pariante of King's College London's Institute of Psychiatry said the development of an individual's mental health did not start at birth but in the uterus.

"The message is clear - helping women who are depressed in pregnancy will not only alleviate their suffering but also the suffering of the next generation."

Read more on the BBC website.

PsychologyOnline urges GPs to seek help to manage burnout with Thinkwell

The wellbeing of GPs is of growing concern following the publication of yet another piece of research claiming that rising stress levels and a lack of job satisfaction are putting the mental health of family doctors at risk.

Last week, the national GP worklife survey found stress levels among family doctors hit their highest recorded level since 1998.

The study found, worryingly, that GPs are less satisfied in their jobs, feel they are working too many hours, and feel they are not appreciated.

It does much to reinforce the findings of a June 2013 poll by medical magazine Pulse, which found nearly half of GPs surveyed are classified as being at high risk of developing burnout of some form.

At PsychologyOnline we welcome any research which raises awareness of so-called GP burnout. We know that our secure instant messaging-based CBT service benefits many people. This could include any family doctors for whom stress and burnout are becoming detrimental to their professional and personal lives.

To complement our NHS services (GPs can refer NHS patients in Surrey), we have recently launched our new Thinkwell™ service offering discreet, confidential access to a qualified therapist for people who would prefer to purchase therapy directly.

Barnaby Perks, CEO at PsychologyOnline, says doctors are “often reluctant to address issues with their own mental health”, and believes the Thinkwell™ service could help.

In addition, one of the biggest barriers in enabling GPs to seek psychological help is the fact many are unwilling to meet a therapist in their geographical location, or cannot find the time to seek help and attend face-to-face consultations on a regular basis.

Barnaby continues: “Our service is discreet and confidential. Users can keep their therapy to themselves, managing their recovery with their therapist without having to visit a consulting room for face-to-face therapy.”

The effectiveness of PsychologyOnline’s therapy was demonstrated in a 300 patient clinical trial published in The Lancet in 2009. An average of just six sessions of online therapy was needed for recovery for patients suffering from moderate to severe depression.

Any GPs feeling overwhelmed can currently benefit from our special offer; a discount of 50% on the initial consultation followed by a 10% discount on any further online treatment sessions.

GPs can access the offer by sending an email to gp@thinkwell.co.uk and inserting the code POL-GP-X913 in the subject line.

GPs suffering highest stress rates for 15 years, finds DH study

GPs are suffering the highest levels of stress recorded since 1998, with over half of those aged over 50 years saying they intend to quit direct patient care within five years, a DH-commissioned survey has found.

The national GP worklife survey - carried out by researchers at the University of Manchester - found the number of GPs over 50 intending to quit direct patient care has increased by 12% in the last two years.

The news comes as Pulse launched its Battling Burnout campaign earlier this year, which urged GPs to write to their MP to raise awareness to the issue. This followed from an investigation which found that almost half of GPs were at a high risk of becoming emotionally exhausted, depersonalised towards patients and feeling like they are not making a positive contribution to people’s lives in their job.

The national GP worklife study also found that stress in GPs was rising. In terms of job satisfaction, it revealed that on a seven-point scale where 1 means ‘extremely dissatisfied’ and 7 means ‘extremely satisfied’, average satisfaction had declined from 4.9 points in 2010 to 4.5 points in 2012 in both the cross-sectional and longitudinal samples.

GPs were least satisfied with hours of work, recognition for good work and hours of work, with the largest decreases in job satisfaction between 2010 and 2012 in the domains relating to hours of work and remuneration.

Read more here.

IAPT 'does not cut antidepressant prescribing'

The Department of Health’s scheme to improve access to psychological therapies (IAPT) for patients with depression and anxiety disorders has had no effect on antidepressant prescribing, according to the findings of a new study published on the Pulse website. 

The study into the DH’s IAPT scheme and rates of antidepressant prescribing between 2008 and 2011 in England showed that prescribing levels rose by 10% despite the introduction of IAPT.

Researchers from Imperial College, London found that IAPT, which in the NHS is largely based on offering patients access to cognitive behavioural therapy, concluded that ‘the implementation of IAPT had no significant impact on these increasing rates [of antidepressant prescribing].’

However, the study in this month’s edition of the British Journal of General Practicecautioned that the interpretation of antidepressant prescribing rates is ‘complex’.

‘Several recent factors may impact on diagnosis and management of depression. For example, QOF incentives following a diagnosis of depression may either increase rates or alternatively discourage GPs from applying a ‘label’ because of the workload involved.

‘In addition, waiting times for IAPT may necessitate intermediate action by GPs, such as prescribing antidepressants. As these results suggest that IAPT has not curbed the rise in antidepressant prescribing, it is important to re-explore factors that influence this prescribing,’ they said.

How to integrate online text-based CBT within IAPT

How to integrate online text-based CBT within IAPT was the topic of a presentation by Sarah Bateup, Clinical Lead for PsychologyOnline and lecturer at Exeter University, at the recent Recovery-Focused Conference organised by Bournemouth University and Dorset HealthCare University NHS Foundation Trust.

Sarah, who is a BABCP accredited therapist with over 27,000 hours of CBT, discussed her experiences gained with PsychologyOnline of integrating live synchronous, Internet-based text CBT into Step 3 IAPT services.

Prior to joining PsychologyOnline Sarah had worked for many years with the South London and Maudsley Trust where she trained junior doctors how to deliver CBT within IAPT. Before this, Sarah was a manager of a primary care CBT service in the South West of England. So she has a good understanding of IAPT and the support required for therapy services.

Sarah comments, "I am very interested in seeing how technology can enhance therapy and learning. Increasingly we are seeing more learning being offered online and accessed remotely. CBT is very much based on people learning and therefore it fits well within this model.

"Interestingly the benefits of text-based therapy are maintained for a long time. I think this is partly the action of writing and reading that takes place during the session. This is very much how we are used to learning and creates a real change in the thought processes.

"Originally IAPT was designed to offer patient choice and PsychologyOnline's service supports this by making it easier to access therapy. For example, we have seen particularly good results for patients with anxiety disorders for whom arranging and attending a face-to-face session in itself creates stress."

The bi-annual Recovery-Focused Mental Health Conference was held on September 6th 2013 and was attended by mental health professionals, health commissioners, researchers and service users. The purpose of the conference is to disseminate information about new research, innovation, best practice, and inspirational developments in mental health.

PsychologyOnline is exhibiting at the Mental Health Forum

PsychologyOnline is exhibiting at the Mental Health Forum for the first time. The event, on the 12th September 2013, is aimed at clinicians and commissioners involved with the care of people with mental health conditions.

Dr Michael Reilly, Business Development Director for PsychologyOnline, says that the event will provide a good opportunity to showcase how people with mental health problems can achieve measurable benefits by using the live online instant messaging-based therapy method developed and pioneered by PsychologyOnline.

Although numerous people are affected by mental illness, many are reluctant to access face-to-face therapy services.  Sometimes because they can’t due to mobility issues.  Sometimes because they won’t because the stigma of mental health prevents them from talking to their GP about their problems or attending a specialist clinic.

Many healthcare system players are becoming increasingly aware of the mental health problems of people with long-term conditions.  Many PsychologyOnline users do not wish to spend any more time than they have to in medical centres and clinics and are therefore reluctant to access face-to-face therapy services.

“Delegates will be able to see a demonstration of PsychologyOnline. This will enable them to see for themselves how effective Cognitive Behavioural Therapy with a live therapist can be when delivered securely over the Internet in a way that is easy to access.  The patient and the GP now have more choice – working online enables the patient to access therapy sessions at convenient times whilst still receiving very high quality treatment from a qualified therapist."

“We use our own network of highly trained psychologists and psychotherapists – multi-specialism and multi-lingual – who adhere to British Psychology Society and NHS standards for clinical and information governance.  Our therapists can provide sessions at any time to suit our patients, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

“The service is already available to NHS patients across the county of Surrey, where initial data show very positive engagement between therapist and patient following referral, and positive feedback from GPs and patients on improved outcomes”.

Dr Reilly continues; “We are improving the service all the time.  Feedback from GPs and commissioners is really helpful.  We are looking forward to meeting as many as possible at the event.”

The Mental Health Forum is to be held at the Novotel London West One, Hammersmith, W6 8DR.  It is sponsored by Lundbeck UK with partners including ADASS, South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, Rethink Mental Illness and Pulse.  PsychologyOnline will be at the conference all day.  If you would like to arrange a private meeting then please contact Stephanie Ruskin on 07986 616451.

Mental health care overlooked by NHS review of emergency services

A series of unsettling findings suggests the need for an agreed care pathway across the police, providers and local government, according to The Guardian.

NHS England's large scale review of all emergency services, partly driven by the premature mortality rates across hospitals, seems to have made a significant omission by overlooking mental health emergency care.

While the evidence accompanying the consultation suggests that 4,400 lives a year could be saved if weekend services were as good as those during the weekdays, there is a chance that those experiencing mental ill health could fall through the upgraded safety net.

The emergency review does not mention mental health services, the conditions leading to emergency presentations, or the role of the police, housing and mental health problems. Yet emergency mental health care plays a vital role, especially in inner city areas where demand is greater due to high levels of poverty and other social determinants of ill health and inequalities such as ethnicity, gender and age.

For example, we know there is a higher incidence of schizophrenia in inner city areas, especially among black African and Caribbean people and other ethnic minority groups, particularly in London.

The recent report by Lord Victor Adebowale on policing and mental health concluded that the presence of offending behaviour by someone experiencing mental illness, which can lead them to have contact with the police, is an emergency pathway which needs to be made safer.

Lord Adebowale's findings emphasised the failures of NHS services and police knowledge, as well as emergency communications, in meeting the needs of people with mental illness. These findings have been reinforced in the latest Care Quality Commission (CQC) reports on the emergency removal of people suspected of having a mental illness to a place of safety (under section 136 of the Mental Health Act). These reports found unacceptable emergency practices leading to deaths in police custody, mentally ill people being transported in caged ambulances and suicides on the railways and transport hubs.

GP practices to host internet training sessions for patients in £750k scheme to reduce health inequalities

NHS England is to spend thousands of pounds to create ‘digital flagships’ in GP practices, health centres and hospitals as part of a drive to train 100,000 people to use the internet this year, according to Pulse.

The training centres are designed to reduce health inequalities - one of the specifications of the Government’s mandate to NHS England - and will be set up in areas of social deprivation, Pulse has learnt.

The major initiative to train 100,000 patients was first announced in NHS England’s business plan for 2013/14 to 2015/16, and the procurement document for the scheme reveals it may cost up to £750,000 in 2013/14, and that it could be extended for a further two years.

The training centres will work closely with CCGs, as well as local organisations and charities to share information and promote NHS digital services, NHS England said.

‘NHS Digital Flagships’ will be set up in GP practices, health centres and hospitals and ‘community hubs’ will be set up in public areas like libraries and community centres, in order to train patients how to access and use the internet.

The governing body for the NHS said that over seven million people in the UK have never used the internet, and although people over the age of 65 account for more than half of all NHS spending, 40% do not have access to the internet at home and five million of these have never been online.

Mental health benefits of good grandparent-grandchild relationships

Grandparents and older grandchildren who have good relationships with each other are less likely to suffer from depression, according to a study presented at the American Sociological Associations 108th annual meeting and featured in Medical News Today.

Researchers from Boston College analysed data from a long-term study called the Longitudinal Study of Generations. The study is a survey of US families consisting of three or four generations, compiled in seven sets of data between 1985 and 2004.

The researchers analysed 376 grandparents and 340 grandchildren. The average grandparent was born in 1917, making them 77 years old at the midpoint of the study in 1994, while the average grandchild was born in 1963, making them 31 years old.

Sara Moorman, assistant professor in the Department of Sociology and the Institute of Aging at Boston College, said of the results:

"We found that an emotionally close grandparent-adult grandchild relationship was associated with fewer symptoms of depression for both generations.

The greater emotional support grandparents and adult grandchildren received from one another, the better their psychological health."

The Today Show highlights the increasing use of anti-depressants across the UK

This morning’s Today Show included a piece on the increasing use of anti-depressants in the United Kingdom.

The piece (starting 50 minutes into the programme and lasting 4 minutes) highlighted that we have now prescribed over 50 million anti-depressants in the United Kingdom.

Particularly interesting facts that the show discussed included:

• 1 in 6 adults in the UK pick up an anti-depressant prescription each month 
• This ratio increases to 1 in 5 in Wales 
• Patients are often given no alternative (e.g. talking therapies) 
• Patients are seen to be 'making do' with the cheapest treatment rather than the best 

A GP highlighted the fact that the waiting list for talking therapies provided by the NHS is often far too long (frequently 6 months) and this sways the patient into using antidepressants.

It seems that local mental health charities, such as Mind, are picking up the slack and allowing individuals access to talking therapies - but in some areas this service is over capacity already.

Adult behaviour triggered in the womb?

Adults could be at greater risk of becoming anxious and vulnerable to poor mental health if they were deprived of certain hormones while developing in the womb, according to joint new research by University of Cardiff and Cambridge scientists.

New research in mice has revealed the role of the placenta in long-term programming of emotional behaviour and the first time scientists have linked changes in adult behaviour to alterations in placental function.

Insulin-like growth factor-2 has been shown to play a major role in foetal and placental development in mammals, and changes in expression of this hormone in the placenta and foetus are implicated in growth restriction in the womb.

"The growth of a baby is a very complex process and there are lots of control mechanisms which make sure that the nutrients required by the baby to grow can be supplied by the mother," according to, Dr Trevor Humby, a behavioural neuroscientist in the Schools of Psychology and Medicine, who jointly led the research with Professor Lawrence Wilkinson.

"We were interested in how disrupting this balance could influence emotional behaviours a long time after being born, as an adult," he added.

One in eight GPs have sought help for stress in past year

One in eight GPs have sought help from pastoral or wellbeing services within the past year, according to a new Pulse survey which suggests the profession is struggling to cope with a rising workload and an increasing risk of burnout.

Some 12% of 441 GPs surveyed about a wide range of unrelated topics said they had sought help from local pastoral or wellbeing services in the past 12 months, with one GP spending almost £2,000 on private psychotherapy after finding it difficult to handle his workload.

The findings prompted GP leaders to urge those struggling with stress to ‘pull down their oxygen mask’ and ask for help.

Respondents to the survey blamed Government policy and changes to the GP contract as significant factors in exacerbating their difficulties. Many also said the pastoral services they had accessed had been effective at helping them cope.

The results come as the NHS in England reviews whether to continue funding these services for GPs, as part of a wider review of ‘discretionary’ funding formerly supplied by Primary Care Trusts.

Nearly half of IAPT patients 'move to recovery'

Just under half of patients who are treated under the Government’s Improving Access to Psychological Therapies programme move to recovery, but drop-out rates remains high, according to Caroline Price at Pulse.

Official outcomes data suggest the programme is moving steadily towards the Government’s goal of having half of patients with depression or anxiety recover after treatment. But take-up remains low, with just under 60% of patients referred entering treatment and then less than two-thirds of these completing a minimum of two sessions.

The figures for January to March 2013, published today by the Health and Social Care Information Centre, show 46.8% of patients who completed at least two treatment contacts moved to recovery, defined as a score of less than 8 on the GAD7 and/or less than 10 on the PHQ-9.

This means the programme is getting closer to delivering the Government’s target 50% recovery rate, as set out in Talking Therapies: A four-year plan of action, and is delivering a better average recovery rate than at its outset. The action plan states that by 2014/2015, the NHS should deliver ‘at least 50% of those completing treatment moving to recovery and most experiencing a meaningful improvement in their condition’.

The data suggest all participating areas are performing better, although there is still considerable variation in recovery rates – ranging from 23% in Hull to 83% in North Lincolnshire.

The HSCIC also highlights that a total of 6,776 people moved off sick pay and benefits under the IAPT programme over the final quarter of 2012/2013.

However, access rates have slipped behind the target trajectory – at 2.5% of the eligible population compared with the goal of 3% at this stage.

Dr Mark Ashworth, clinical senior lecturer at King’s College London and a GP in south-east London, said the recovery rates were ‘very impressive’, but that the programme still had a way to go to fulfill it’s aims.

He said: ‘On the other hand, for just 6,776 patients (out of 154,700 starting treatment) to move off sick pay and benefits isn’t really an endorsement of Lord Layard’s founding principle that talking therapies would pay for itself by increasing the numbers of people returning to work.’

He added: ‘At least it looks for now as though the service is safe and will continue to be funded which, in the present climate, has got to be encouraging.’

'Mental Health Pathway' for paramedics to provide appropriate care for mentally ill patients

According to News Medical.NET Ruth Elliot, Senior Lecturer in the department of Mental Health and Learning Disability at the University of Huddersfield, has published an article discussing the need for a national 'Mental Health Pathway' to enable paramedics to provide the appropriate care for people who present mental health issues. 

The Department of Health (DH) (2005a) acknowledges the huge modernisation of the ambulance service in England and faster access to people with immediate life threatening conditions, however the service is also responding to an increasing number of patients who have an urgent primary care need, which includes mental distress, as opposed to clinical emergency. 

The DH (2006) policy calls for a "New Vision" where the ambulance service could increase efficiency and effectiveness towards patients who are experiencing non life threatening emergencies. The key aims are to form a programme of advancement to address both improving mental health and accessibility of services for people with poor mental health. The vision of the policy is that by 2020 mental and physical health will have equal priority. The development of a mental health pathway within the ambulance service may help to reduce admissions or re-attendance whilst improving care for patients. An evidence-based approach is used to provide a balanced, logical and supported argument within a reflection of practice (Borton, 1970,). This is evaluated against a hypothetical patient's case study which reflects common issues faced by paramedics and ambulance technicians. The analytical process considers patient, professional, organisational and multi-disciplinary team perspectives.

5 tips for Caring and Keeping a Smile

Being a caregiver encompasses a lot of different responsibilities, which most of us will encounter often or even daily. Whether it is as a Mum, as a carer for an elderly parent or as a paid care professional. It’s wonderful to think that so many of us care for others, but when caring for someone else it can be easy to forget about yourself. Care.com is the world’s largest online platform for families and caregivers to meet and we know how essential it is for carers to be looked after too.

We’ve put together some tips for any sort of carer to keep in mind – to keep you feeling positive and happy, which in turn keeps you feeling more prepared for your responsibilities.

1. Schedule some ‘you’ time:

When you’re busy caring for other people, along with working and juggling your own commitments, it can feel like a battle to find any time just for you. Think about what you would really enjoy; don’t worry if it’s not productive, or not sociable. This time is about what you want to do – so if you want to schedule in an hour a week for a bath or a chance to watch a film, do so! It’s easy to feel like any time off you have should be spent catching up with people or being busy. Instead focus on what will make you feel good. When you feel ready for this bit of respite, consider hiring a nanny, babysitter or carer for a few hours from so you’re not worrying about others whilst you relax.

2. Schedule some quality time with the person you care for:

This is about trying to find ways that you can connect with your loved one that involves a shared experience or some fun. Simple things, such as an outing to a park, can lift both your moods and give you something different to focus on.

3. Every day is a new day:

We know it is hard to start afresh every day, as it often feels like jobs and problems drag on. If something got you down yesterday try to give yourself a positive mentality the next day. When you’re caring for someone else it can feel like a job without a break: remember that you can’t change what happened yesterday anyway. Cut yourself some slack and remember that no one is perfect, we all make mistakes and feel stressed at times.

4. Consider getting some extra help:

Feeling stressed and overwhelmed by care responsibilities often also leaves carers feeling guilty, because they feel they should always be doing more or feel they aren’t doing things right. It’s normal to feel guilty as a carer, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be resolved. Why not consider employing someone to help support you and your family? Depending on your circumstances you could consider employing someone to take care of the children for a few hours a week, or have a trained nurse to come and check-in on your elderly parents. It’s simple to also find special needs carers that are ideal for your care situation.

5. Know the signs of stress:

It’s important to be able to notice the signs of stress in yourself. That way, when you start feeling down you can act upon as soon as possible. If you’re not doing your usual activities (such as going to the gym, dinner with friends or reading a book), find it difficult to start the day and are irritable or short-tempered, think of ways you can unwind and de-stress. If you’re feeling overwhelmed and not like yourself, consider talking to someone else and getting their advice – this can be a friend, family member or therapist.


Care.com is the world’s largest online platform for caregivers and families to meet. Whether it is for childcare, elder care, pet care, special needs care or housekeeping, there are caregivers suited to every families’ needs.

A recipe for resilience in fast-paced family life

Sarah Bateup
Clinical Lead PsychologyOnline and qualified Psychotherapist

Many of us feel that the speed of life has increased. We want rapid transport, instant communication and even faster internet connections. Businesses offer fast food, quick fixes and instant solutions. Yet as the pace of life continually increases we may feel a huge pressure to keep up, and as a result stress related illnesses have become more prevalent.

Stress is the result of an imbalance between the demands made upon us and the personal resources we have to deal with these demands. Imagine this as a bank account: if there is too much demand on the account it will go into the red, which is comparable to being under stress.

We all have different temperaments but for certain people life can feel like a constant rush, and you may be in a hurry from one activity or achievement to another on a continual basis. Similarly, balancing working life and family life can be a challenge for men and women alike.

As life becomes busier we can set ourselves unrealistic goals. We may aim for the “perfect” family life, to be the perfect parent and also aim to perform well at work. Magazines and the media can place increased pressure on us to create the perfect home, to look perfect and to have perfect children. In addition to these expectations we can have money worries, family disputes, additional workload and lack of time and we can soon run into a “stress overdraft”.

To help combat these stresses and demands, follow this advice to help you find a bit more balance and relief:

1. Slow down and take one thing at a time. Don’t force yourself to juggle lots of things at once.

2. Take a break! Timetable yourself a little bit of me-time, and give yourself some slack.

3. Learn to be mindful. Being attentive of what is happening in your life, and taking the time to take into consideration the different demands and pressures you feel, can be a very helpful way of coping with stress.

4. Express your feelings and talk to someone about how you’re coping. Whether this is someone close to you like a partner or friend, or if it is to a therapist or counsellor, it is still a way to deal with stress.

Lower you expectations, if you need to. Nobody can ‘have it all’ - try to overcome a perfectionist frame-of-mind.

5. Make time to do things YOU enjoy. Stop and think what it is you would really like to do – have a bath? Meet up with friends for dinner? Watch a film or read a book?

6. Rank priorities and try to think about what really is important, and what could actually wait.

7. If necessary, seek help, speak to your GP.

Graduate blues: Why we need to talk about post-university depression

We all know that students can suffer from mental ill-health at university - but what about post-graduation depression? Clare Dyckhoff investigates with The Independent.

'University is the best few years of your life, enjoy it while it lasts and make the most of it - time goes so fast' - all examples of a plethora of clichés that potential and current students are constantly blasted with.

It is true: university can be one of the best experiences of a young person’s life, wherein you study a beloved subject for three or four years and make the most of the opportunities offered. It seems like a simple equation for the majority; university plus new friends plus new experiences equals happiness.

But what happens once the glory days are over, the mortarboard is on and there’s a row of students smiling ear to ear, clutching their certificates showcasing years' worth of hard work, hangovers and great experiences? What happens next?

Statistics state that one in four students suffers from depression during their studies, but no official figures exist for graduates in the post-university transition. If a student is suffering from depression during their time at university, there are counselling services and student health centres able to help, not just to hear, but also actually to listen. There's a common misconception that university is just a three-year party with an alcohol supply that never ends - in fact, the party does end, and there is not enough being done to help with the clearing up after.

With the vast majority of students living away from home for the entirety of their university experience, trading new-found independence, power and responsibility for living back at home due to lack of funds can seem like an unnatural step back, or a regression to a pre-university self that was not so in control and independent. For some, returning to home comforts is preferred, but for many, feeling dependent with no real structure feels restrictive.

Poor mental health may be more common in gangs

"Gang violence cause of high levels of mental disorders," reports BBC online. This headline comes from a study that surveyed more than 4,500 young men in Britain. More than a quarter of these men reported being violent but were not involved in gangs, while 108 (about 2%) reported being gang members.

Researchers found that regardless of gang involvement, a history of violence was strongly associated with a higher risk of mental illness. But the risk of developing some types of mental health conditions was significantly higher in gang members. These conditions include: generalised anxiety disorder, psychosis and
antisocial personality disorder – a type of personality disorder characterised by lack of empathy, being prone to violence and poor impulse control drug and alcohol dependency

Analyses suggest that in gang members, this increase in risk could be related to dwelling on violent thoughts, having experienced violent victimisation and fear of further victimisation.

But a major drawback of this study is that it did not determine whether the men had a psychiatric diagnosis before they joined a gang, or if their mental health problems developed afterwards.

As the study was a survey, it also could not carry out the in-depth interviews required to give formal diagnoses.

Despite these limitations, these results provide an insight into a complex problem that needs to be tackled.

Read more from NHS Choices, here.

Hikikomori - the social anxiety phenomenon hitting Japan

William Kremer and Claudia Hammond, of BBC News write that as many as a million young people in Japan are thought to remain holed up in their homes - sometimes for decades at a time. Why?

For Hide, the problems started when he gave up school.

"I started to blame myself and my parents also blamed me for not going to school. The pressure started to build up," he says.

"Then, gradually, I became afraid to go out and fearful of meeting people. And then I couldn't get out of my house."

Gradually, Hide relinquished all communication with friends and eventually, his parents. To avoid seeing them he slept through the day and sat up all night, watching TV.

"I had all kinds of negative emotions inside me," he says. "The desire to go outside, anger towards society and my parents, sadness about having this condition, fear about what would happen in the future, and jealousy towards the people who were leading normal lives."

Hide had become "withdrawn" or hikikomori.

In Japan, hikikomori, a term that's also used to describe the young people who withdraw, is a word that everyone knows.

Tamaki Saito was a newly qualified psychiatrist when, in the early 1990s, he was struck by the number of parents who sought his help with children who had quit school and hidden themselves away for months and sometimes years at a time. These young people were often from middle-class families, they were almost always male, and the average age for their withdrawal was 15.

It might sound like straightforward teenage laziness. Why not stay in your room while your parents wait on you? But Saito says sufferers are paralysed by profound social fears.

"They are tormented in the mind," he says. "They want to go out in the world, they want to make friends or lovers, but they can't."

Read more here.

Can baking improve mental health?

They say baking soothes the soul. How can it not? There is something so reassuring about the ritual – quietly weighing out butter, sugar, flour, cracking eggs, whisking, beating and folding. "If you're feeling a little bit down, a bit of kneading helps," Mary Berry once said. It is not just indulging in the end results – the cake, the biscuits, the scones – that helps to brighten up a blue day, but the therapeutic process itself.

This perceived connection between baking and good mental health has sparked an initiative that will see several pop-up bakeries opening across the UK. During the first weekend in August, the Depressed Cake Shop will open at venues in London, Glasgow, Derby, Cardiff and North Yorkshire, with the proceeds going to mental health charities.

There is plenty of anecdotal evidence to suggest that the organiser, Emma Thomas – aka Miss Cakehead – is on to something with this idea. John Whaite, who won the Great British Bake Off in 2012, recently brought out a cookbook, Recipes for Every Day and Mood, with a chapter dedicated to lifting the spirits. Whaite has experience of depression and describes baking as his escape. For him, it is "meditative", an act of "making something destructive into something constructive, and at the end of it you've got something to be proud of, something to eat, something to show off".

Novelist Marian Keyes has also used baking to help her deal with depression. In her book, Saved by Cake, she writes: "Baking hasn't cured me. But it gets me through … To be perfectly blunt about it, my choice sometimes is: I can kill myself or I can make a dozen cupcakes. Right, so I'll do the cupcakes and I can kill myself tomorrow." Keyes and Whaite have spurred many bloggers to share stories of how baking helped with depression like this one who writes about how baking gave her a sense of achievement, or this young mother, who, overwhelmed after the birth of her baby, baked her way through Mary Berry's Baking Bible to help rebuild her confidence.

Read more, written by Huma Qureshi, of The Guardian, here. 

£3.8 million of funding for charities that support military families and programmes providing mental health support for veterans

As the country celebrates Armed Forces Day, the Prime Minister has today visited troops serving on the front-line in Helmand and announced almost £3.8 million of funding for charities that support military families and programmes providing mental health support for veterans.

Almost £2.5 million has been awarded to programmes supporting treatment and awareness of mental health issues for veterans.

Commenting on the support for mental health projects, the Prime Minister said:

“These charities are doing important and innovative work to help veterans who are battling mental health problems. We owe these men and women a great debt of gratitude and this is exactly the kind of help we should give to those who have given so much for our country.”

An additional £1.1 million will go to projects that help armed forces families. For example, the University of Wolverhampton has been awarded £205,000 to launch a programme specifically geared towards helping families of serving Armed Forces personnel, reservists and veterans to launch their own businesses, in collaboration with Black Country Chamber of Commerce and the Army’s HIVE information service.

Read more at the Ministry of Defence Oracle.

Imperial Innovations Group plc: Investment in PsychologyOnline

Imperial Innovations Group plc (AIM: IVO, 'Innovations', or 'the Group') a leading technology commercialisation and investment company, has invested £0.5m in new portfolio company, PsychologyOnline, a Cambridge-based provider of clinically-proven online cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) for the treatment of depression.

Launched in 2010, PsychologyOnline delivers real time therapy to NHS and private patients with a live therapist via the internet, allowing them to attend sessions in their own home, at times that suit them. Waiting times are reduced to a few days, compared with up to several months for NHS face-to-face services. All PsychologyOnline therapists are experienced Chartered Psychologists or accredited Psychotherapists and are UK trained and accredited.

The company was founded by two Chartered Psychologists who recognised the scarcity of easily available psychological support to patients. The service is already available to NHS customers in some areas in the UK and the additional funding will enable PsychologyOnline to offer its service to a broader range of both NHS and private patients.

Despite being considered both preventable and treatable, depression costs the UK up to £9 billion a year in lost earnings and there are thought to be around 350m people suffering from depression worldwide. CBT is used widely within NHS mental health services as a NICE-recommended treatment for anxiety and depression. However, high demand can mean a long wait for patients and it is estimated that only a quarter of those with mental illness are currently receiving treatment.

The effectiveness of PsychologyOnline's service was demonstrated in a 300 patient clinical trial undertaken at three universities and NHS Trusts, including UCL, which was published in The Lancet in 2009. An average of just six sessions of online therapy was needed for recovery from moderate to severe depression compared to between 16 and 20 for NHS face to face services. Follow up client assessments at four and eight months confirmed that the benefits were maintained.

PsychologyOnline has raised a total of £1.6m from investors so far. Innovations has a 19.6% stake and other investors include Cambridge Angels. Dr Rebecca Todd, Director of Healthcare Investments at Innovations, will join the board of PsychologyOnline.

Susan Searle, Chief Executive Officer at Imperial Innovations, said:

"PsychologyOnline is a great example of how digital and online technologies can improve patient access to healthcare services. We are pleased to back this exciting company at a key time in its development and look forward to a time when all patients can easily access the kind of rapid and convenient healthcare service that PsychologyOnline offers."

Barnaby Perks, CEO of PsychologyOnline, said:

"Our service is already making a difference to NHS patients in areas such as Surrey. This investment will help us to increase the roll out of our service and offer it more widely to patients across the UK. We are also developing our private offering to support those who want a more discreet and confidential service without going via their GP."

Male mental health problems need more attention

Over the past 30 years three to four times more men have taken their own lives than women, and at no point during this period has the rate of suicide in women been higher than that of men. This raises questions about why we haven't been thinking about the psychological needs of men and boys sooner.

Men's Health Week aims to raise awareness of this and other mental health problems that men face. Traditionally, men are reluctant to seek help, have high levels of isolation, high rates of drug and alcohol misuse, are at greater risk of homelessness, display more externalised and destructive behaviours, and are more involved with the criminal justice system. Underlying many of these experiences are complex psychological problems, but rarely do we empathise with their causes.

Men are more often portrayed as villains, perpetrators and the causes of problems, and we can become too focused on the externalisation of mental distress in men through alcohol abuse, aggression and other anti-social behaviours. Such behaviours also attract a punitive response from services.

If these behaviours are the result of unacknowledged complex traumatic backgrounds and mental health difficulties, a punitive response is only likely to make a bad situation worse. Anger, one of the few sanctioned male emotions can often indicate that someone is feeling bad about themselves, seems to have been excluded from mental health services. It is not surprising that 90% of the male prison population is estimated to have mental health problems. A more empathic approach to understanding the psychological wellbeing of men and boys is needed, says Luke Sullivan of The Guardian.

To read more on this story, click here.

New study finds depression treatments "can extend life"

Researchers have shown for the first time in a randomised trial that treatment for major depression can reduce overall mortality rates in older patients.

The study

US researchers identified 1,226 patients over the age of 60 years from 20 primary care practices who were randomised to an intervention or a usual care group. The intervention included educational sessions for GPs and patients’ families and a ‘depression care manager’ in the practice who monitored symptoms and offered psychotherapy or an increase in antidepressant dose if indicated. This study looked at the mortality risk after long term follow (up of 98 months through 2008).

The findings

After long-term follow-up (98 months), patients with major depression in the intervention group had a 24% lower mortality risk, compared with those who received usual care. The HR of minor depression in the intervention group versus minor depression in the usual care was 1.18. Those with major depression in the intervention group had a similar mortality rate to those without depression (HR 1.09), while patients with major depression in the usual care group had almost double the mortality rate, compared with those without depression (HR 1.90).

Read more on the Pulse website.

19th June 2013

Mental health care for pregnant women has 'worrying gaps' says NSPCC

There are "worrying gaps" in mental health services for pregnant women, a charity has warned.

The NSPCC said that women face a "postcode lottery" of services because less than half of mental health trusts in England have specialist services for expectant and new mothers.

The wellbeing of more than one in 10 newborn babies across the country could be improved if all new mothers with mental illness had equal access to good services, a report by the charity suggests.

Mental health problems such as depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder and schizophrenia can begin or escalate when a woman is pregnant or after her baby is born.

The charity said that many of these illnesses are preventable or treatable but in some areas NHS commissioners are "not giving mums' mental health the priority it deserves".

It is calling on ministers to "fill gaps in services" and to ensure that the mental health of mothers is given the same importance as their physical health.

Peter Wanless, chief executive of the NSPCC, said: "This report clearly shows that with the right services, it is possible to prevent the harm caused by maternal mental illness. But opportunities to help many more families are being missed.

"We have to start treating the mental health of mums and babies with the same importance as their physical health.

"Pregnancy and the first months of a child's life are critical for their future wellbeing and parents naturally play a vital role. If the Government is serious about giving every child the best start in life it must take action to fill the gaps in services."

Read more on The Huffington Post website.

17th July 2013

Libraries begin stocking self-help books for depression

GPs will be able to direct people with conditions such as depression, phobias and eating disorders to self-help books in their local library under a scheme starting today.

The ‘Reading Well: Books on Prescription’ scheme supplies books based on cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) techniques to help people understand and self-manage common mental health conditions.

The scheme was launched last week by independent charity The Reading Agency, the Society of Chief Librarians and local library services.

Books will be made available in participating libraries from from today. The scheme is supported by NICE guidelines, the RCGP and the Royal College of Nursing.

At the launch of the scheme, Dr James Kingsland, a GP in Merseyside and national clinical lead for NHS clinical commissioning, said: ‘Reading Well: Books on Prescription is brilliant. It will enable me and my fellow GPs to recommend book-based CBT from libraries. This can be a stand-alone treatment or alongside medication and other psychological interventions.’

To read more, click here.

11th June 2013

Job opportunity: We are looking for ASP.NET Web developer

We need an ASP.NET wizard for our web development team, who will have development & operational responsibilities.

• ASP.NET MVC4, Razor, C#
• Full time
• £20-40k, dependant on experience
•  Based in Fenstanton, Cambridgeshire (soon to be relocated in Swavesey)

About PsychologyOnline

Our main business is the provision of online therapy through a network of affiliated qualified and experienced therapists. We are a small company but we are expanding rapidly. The role of the development team is to design and build our innovative online therapy platform. We have an agile, flexible and responsive approach to software development.

Oh, and on sunny days we enjoy sharing a BBQ outside the office!

About you

We are looking for a brilliant web developer with inspiration and flair, whose main focus will be on the front-end of the development stack.

In practice this means that you understand user interaction and can translate complex requirements into an easy to use and engaging system, drawing inspiration from social media sites, e-learning systems, resource management systems, etc… Because we are a small team, you may also be required to work on all other parts of the system, such as data architecture, business logic, etc..... You need to be flexible and versatile.

Are you enthusiastic, with experience, vision and innovative ideas? Can you take your work seriously without taking yourself too seriously?!

We do everything in house, so here's an opportunity for you to see your ideas put into practice and to influence business development.

Essential:

• ASP.NET MVC4, Razor, C#
• HTML, CSS
• Javascript, jQuery
• legally able to work in the UK

Work will include interfacing with Entity Framework back-end, building HTML5 & CSS themes, and creating great user experience with jQuery and other libraries.

Desirable:

• Skills such as using source control, bug triage, project management
• Some experience of agile development methods
•  Degree-level education
• Some Experience with Quantify-self applications would be great

How to apply:

Please send your CV to info@psychologyonline.co.uk and tell us a little about yourself: your situation, background and personality.

Children with a parent in prison are twice as likely to face mental health problems later in life

Children with a parent in prison are twice as likely to be disruptive in school and face mental health problems later in life, says a report to be published later today.

The report, from the children’s charity Barnardo’s, urges every school to appoint a designated teacher to look after the needs of the estimated 200,000 children a year who find themselves in this position.

“The children of prisoners are a group hidden from view,” said Alison Worsley, the deputy director of strategy at Barnardo’s. “All the evidence suggests they are highly vulnerable and often face extensive challenges to their education and wellbeing.”

The report says – as there are around 36,000 schools in England and Wales – there is a strong possibility that the vast majority of schools have at least one pupil with a parent in prison. One Oxfordshire headteacher estimated that at least two children in every class at her school was in that position.

“Parental imprisonment has a direct impact on children’s academic attainment, socio-emotional development and behaviour, often escalating to school exclusion or truancy,” the report adds.

“Yes, I’m naughtier at school,” one 13-year-old whose stepfather is in prison told researchers. “I’m getting removed from lessons for being naughty and joking around. Sometimes I just get angry.”

A mother whose partner was in prison said of her daughter: “Her school work is terrible. Everything in her report was about the past few months. It’s quite obvious what’s affecting it.”

The Barnardo’s research also shows that at least 25 per cent of children over the age of 11 with jailed parents are at high risk of mental health problems.

The majority of imprisoned parents are fathers, but up to 18,000 pupils a year are separated from jailed mothers says Richard Garner of the Independent.

Read more here.

5th June 2012

Psychological therapies 'help patients control long-term conditions'

GP referral for depression and anxiety in patients with a long-term condition (LTC) can significantly improve their control of their disease and healthcare costs, suggest UK researchers.

The study across 20 GP practices showed a reduction in A&E department use and increased antidepressant use in people with LTCs and common mental health problems who had been referred to the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) programme, compared with those who were not referred to an IAPT service.

The team concluded that while further research over longer periods is needed, it seems that IAPT helps people with LTCs cope with their physical as well as comorbid mental health problems.

Launched nationally in 2008, the IAPT programme is aimed at expanding the use of evidence-based psychological therapies for common mental health problems such as depression and anxiety. A study published in 2011 found that the IAPT programme resulted in a significant reduction in sick notes and A&E attendances among people with such conditions.

This latest analysis, published in Behaviour Research and Therapy, looked at the use of healthcare by 1,118 people with a common mental health problem referred to IAPT, of whom 186 had LTCs, and that of 6,711 matched control patients with a common mental health problem who were ot referred to IAPT, of whom 1,115 had a LTC.

People with LTCs and mental health problems who were referred for IAPT had a fall in A&E service attendances in the six months after referral, compared with the six months before, whereas those who were not referred to IAPT had an increase in A&E attendance over the same period. This equated to an average of 0.21 fewer A&E visits with IAPT versus no IAPT, a statistically significant difference.

For more information, click here to visit the source.

21st May 2013