Diet drinks raise risk of depression

Experts are questioning whether diet drinks could raise depression risk, after a large study has found a link. The US research in more than 250,000 people found depression was more common among frequent consumers of artificially sweetened beverages.

However, drinking coffee was linked with a lower risk of depression. People who drank four cups a day were 10% less likely to be diagnosed with depression during the 10-year study period than those who drank no coffee. But those who drank four cans or glasses of diet fizzy drinks or artificially sweetened juice a day increased their risk of depression by about a third.

Lead researcher Dr Honglei Chen, of the National Institutes of Health in North Carolina, said: "Our research suggests that cutting out or down on sweetened diet drinks or replacing them with unsweetened coffee may naturally help lower your depression risk."

Read more via BBC News here.

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Quitting smoking 'reduces anxiety'

Smokers who successfully quit feel less anxious afterwards - despite the belief that smoking relieves stress, researchers say. The British Journal of Psychiatry study followed nearly 500 smokers attending NHS stop smoking clinics in England. It found a "significant" decrease in anxiety levels among the 68 smokers who had quit after six months. The effect was greater among those who had mood and anxiety disorders than those that smoked for pleasure.

The researchers - drawn from several universities including Cambridge, Oxford and Kings's College in London - said the findings should be used to reassure smokers attempting to quit that concerns about increased anxiety levels were unfounded.

Read more via BBC News here.

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Mental health issues common after cardiac arrest

A quarter of cardiac arrest survivors suffer long-term psychological problems such as anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder and depression, a new review of research estimates.This additional stress on recovering patients is under-diagnosed, researchers say, and doctors have few standard methods for identifying who is at risk.

"Anxiety, depression and PTSD are major concerns after cardiac arrest," said lead author Kathryn Wilder Schaaf, a postdoctoral fellow at Virginia Commonwealth University. "We have the tools to treat this, so it's important to make sure that it's identified," she added.

Wilder Schaaf and colleagues found that months to years after surviving cardiac arrest, about one-third of patients were depressed and nearly two-thirds were experiencing anxiety. Even PTSD symptoms were surprisingly common, afflicting 19 percent to 27 percent of survivors, the medical literature showed.

Read the full article via Reuters Health here.

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If 'drugs don’t work' for depression, CBT may.

“Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) can reduce symptoms of depression in people who fail to respond to drug treatment" BBC News has reported. CBT is already an established ‘talking therapy’ for depression and takes a more pragmatic and problem solving approach than more traditional forms of psychotherapy.

The study found that people who received CBT in addition to antidepressants, rather than continuing to receive antidepressants alone, had around a three-fold increased chance of responding to treatment and having a reduction in their depression symptoms over the following 12 months.The study provides further evidence on the effectiveness of CBT to treat depression, particularly in those who have not responded to antidepressants alone.

Paul Farmer, chief executive at the mental health charity Mind "We welcome this research because it recognises that patients should have the right to a wide range of treatment options based on individual needs".

To read the full article via NHS Mental Health, click here.

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64% of students with mental health issues drop out

Mental health may be a larger factor in college student success than previously thought. A majority of former students with mental illnesses dropped out for a mental-health related reason, according to a survey by the National Alliance on Mental Illness.

"For some, the stigma associated with mental illnesses keeps them from seeking the help on campus that may allow them to suitably deal with their issues and stay in college", said Christopher Scott, associate clinical director of the UH Counseling and Psychological Services.

“There is evidence that some students are reluctant to seek help for mental health concerns. This often varies depending on the students cultural background or gender,” Scott said. “Anecdotal evidence suggests that students are increasingly willing to seek assistance with mental health needs.”

To read the full version of this story via The Daily Cougar click here.

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1 in 3 employees face excessive pressures at work

A survey by Towers Watson has suggested that one in three employees faces excessive pressure at work due to long hours and pressure brought on by the economic downturn. The firm’s Global Workforce Study, which surveyed 32,000 employees worldwide, found 34% are often affected by excessive work pressures.

The HR Review said that the research "raises huge concerns over our country’s health and well being at work. Several years of economic uncertainty have led to increased anxiety around job security with workers putting in longer hours than ever, raising concerns of ‘burn-out’ among British workers. Businesses should act now to avoid a ‘work until you drop’ culture turning into the norm with workers becoming increasingly unproductive, something our economy can ill-afford at the moment."

To read more on the story, click here.

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NHS shakeup tackles disparity between mental and physical health services

NHS patients should wait no longer for mental health therapies than they do for treatments for their physical conditions, the government will announce.With more than 6 million people suffering from depression or crippling anxiety but only 75% receiving any medical help, the government is to propose that NHS mental health patients have a "parity of esteem" in doctors' surgeries.

The policy will be formally announced on Tuesday as part of the mandate for the NHS commissioning board, the means by which the health service will be held accountable to parliament under its reforms. The contract with the NHS will specify that mental healthcare should be on a par with physical care –  that it "values mental and physical health equally".

Read more via The Guardian here.

Depression in pregnancy 'risk to future mental health'

More than a third of women who become depressed during their pregnancy have suicidal thoughts, suggests a snapshot survey carried out by the Royal College of Midwives and Netmums. The poll of 260 mothers with antenatal depression found they were at greater risk of worsening mental health problems then women with postnatal depression.Only 22% sought help from their GP. Experts say women with the condition need more support.

The Department of Health has announced that £25m will be made available to improve maternity facilities for mothers and babies, and an NHS information service for parents is to include videos on how to spot signs of postnatal depression. Antenatal depression, which occurs during pregnancy, is less known and talked about than postnatal depression, which happens after the birth of a baby.

Read the full article via BBC News here.

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8 in 10 people with depression suffer discrimination

Discrimination is a common occurrence in both the private and working lives of those suffering from depression, a new study claims.The international study, published in The Lancet, involved more than 1,000 sufferers of depression in 35 countries across the world. It found that almost eight out of ten (79 per cent) reported experiencing discrimination in at least one life domain. The findings suggested that in many cases this experience of discrimination is preventing those with depression from enjoying full educational, social and workplace inclusion.

More than a third (37 per cent) of participants said they had stopped themselves from initiating a close personal relationship because of their fear of discrimination, a quarter said it had prevented them from applying for work, and 20 per cent said discrimination had stopped them from applying for education or training.The study also found that those who were less willing to disclose their depression to others were more likely to experience discrimination.

Read more via the HR Review here.

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Men bearing brunt of worsening mental health in England since start of 2008 recession

Men have borne the brunt of worsening mental health across the population of England since the start of the economic downturn in 2008, reveals research published in the online journal BMJ Open. But unemployment and a falling household income don’t seem to be the culprits, prompting the authors to suggest that it is the threat of losing their jobs that has affected men’s mental health.

“The finding that mental health across the general population has deteriorated following the recession’s onset, and that this association does not appear to be limited to those out of employment nor those whose household income has declined, has important implications,” say the authors.

They suggest that the reason for the gender differences in the impact of recession could be that men’s mental health is more vulnerable to the fear of job loss. “One potential explanation for our results would be that job insecurity during the current recession is responsible for the deterioration in mental health, with men’s psychological health remaining more affected by economic fluctuations despite greater female labour market participation,” they conclude.

Read more here via Rochdale News.

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