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The Mental Health & Social Care Current Awareness Bulletin is produced at
Essex Public Health Resource Unit Library

on behalf of the
East of England Health Libraries Group: EoEHLG

Click on headings to navigate to your chosen subject

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Addictions
Department of Health
Anxiety
The bulletin is
also available National News
online at the Dementia
sites below
International News Depression

EPHRU Dual Diagnosis

WEBSITE
Eating Disorders

Learning Disabilities
TIN
WEBSITE FFuurrtthheerr C
Coonntteenntt O/C Disorders

Occupational Therapy
New Publications
EPHRU Post Traumatic Stress
Mental Conferences
Health Blog Psychology
Useful Websites
Schizophrenia
MENTAL HEALTH
BLOG Journal TOCs Social Work
Minding Matters

For further information on the bulletin contact:

mary.edmans@midessexpct.nhs.uk

EoEHLG/MHCA/No.285/7.2.11 1
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News from all corners of
the world

Department of Health

No health without mental health: a cross-government mental health outcomes strategy

for people of all ages

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National News

Hundreds of care home residents killed by thirst

Almost 700 elderly people died from dehydration in care homes between 2005 and 2009, new
statistics show

Mental health services on road to recovery

Mental health services will take a step into the future today with the launch of a new nationwide
project which puts recovery at the heart of mental health services

Ministers launch £400m mental health strategy

The Government is to pump an extra £400million into mental health care in an attempt to put it
on an equal footing with other services

Fears cuts will hamper child mental health drive

Campaigners have questioned whether a drive to improve child mental health services will
prove successful in the face of cuts

People With Dementia Must Not Be Overlooked By Mental Health Strategy

Alzheimer's Society comment:

90% of violent fathers in close touch with their children

Nearly 90% of fathers guilty of multiple incidents of domestic violence remain in close contact
with their children, according to a study of children's services involvement with domestically
abusive fathers

Deep brain stimulation to treat Tourette's tic

A Devon man suffering from Tourette's Syndrome is to undergo a pioneering form of brain
surgery

Restrictions On Social Care A "False Economy"- RCN

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) warned that local authorities' increasing restrictions on
social care was a "false economy," adding to the burden on the NHS

Mental health needs sustained investment, says RCN

EoEHLG/MHCA/No.285/7.2.11 2
 The Royal College of Nursing welcomes the principles in a new government strategy for mental
health in England but warns that current NHS cuts may impact on this area of care

Munro's 'ideal' vision of child protection social work

The report made proposals on early intervention, inspection, serious case reviews, supervision
and career structure intended to help children's social workers become reflective, effective
practitioners with more time to spend with families and implementing evidence-based practice

Mental health stigma hits the top trending list on Twitter

A new top trend has hit social networking site Twitter today, on the day the government
launched its new mental health strategy No Health Without Mental Health

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International News

Fewer addicts test positive amid 'heroin drought'

The number of addicts testing positive for heroin halved in the past three months, Europe's
biggest drug testing company said

Vanderbilt Joins International Project Focused On Alzheimer's

Researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, and across the globe, announced today a
multi-national collaboration to discover and map all genes relating to Alzheimer's disease
through the formation of the International Genomics of Alzheimer's Project (IGAP)

Many get antidepressants for no psychiatric reason

More than a quarter of Americans taking antidepressants have never been diagnosed with any
of the conditions the drugs are typically used to treat, according to new research

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Mental Health Problems More Common Among Non-Heterosexual People

Mental health problems are more common in England's gay, lesbian and bisexual population
than the heterosexual population, according to new research

Study Calculates Lost Wealth From Early Retirement Due To Mental Illness, Australia
People who retire early because of mental illness can find themselves with up to 93% less
accumulated wealth than people who continue to work

EoEHLG/MHCA/No.285/7.2.11 3
 Addictions
Substance abuse, alcoholism,

Key Mechanism Governing Nicotine Addiction Discovered

Scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute have identified a pathway
in the brain that regulates an individual's vulnerability to the addictive properties of nicotine

Opiate Abuse: Protracted Abstinence Revisited

Opiate abuse is a chronic disorder and maintaining abstinence represents a major challenge for
addicts

Substance Abusers Have Trouble ID’ing Emotions from Faces

New research suggests individuals who abuse drugs have difficulty identifying emotions from
facial expression

Anxiety Disorders

The Impact of Motivational Interviewing on Client Experiences of Cognitive Behavioral

Therapy for Generalized Anxiety Disorder
Motivational Interviewing has recently been applied to the treatment of anxiety disorders in an
effort to bolster engagement with and response rates to cognitive behavioral therapy

Acceptance and commitment therapy for generalized anxiety disorder in older adults: a
preliminary report
Some evidence suggests that acceptance-based approaches such as Acceptance and
Commitment Therapy may be well-suited to geriatric generalized anxiety disorder

Generalized Anxiety Disorder in youth: diagnostic considerations

Generalized Anxiety Disorder in youth is characterized by excessive worry across domains for
≥6 months, an inability to stop worrying, and at least one physiological symptom

Anger problems across the anxiety disorders: findings from a population-based study
Previous research examining anger problems among the anxiety disorders has been limited by
the use of nonrepresentative samples, univariate analyses, as well as low sample size

Dementia
Alzheimer’s

Improvements In Memory In Older Adults Following Moderate Aerobic Exercise

A new study shows that one year of moderate physical exercise can increase the size of the
brain's hippocampus in older adults, leading to an improvement in spatial memory

Dissociation between Controlled and Automatic Processes in the Behavioral Variant of

Fronto-Temporal Dementia
A decline of cognitive functioning affecting several cognitive domains was frequently reported in
EoEHLG/MHCA/No.285/7.2.11 4
 patients with frontotemporal dementia

The Alzheimer's Questionnaire: A Proof of Concept Study for a New Informant-Based

Dementia Assessment
The aim of this pilot study is to determine the feasibility and clinical utility of a brief, informant-
based screening questionnaire for Alzheimer's disease (AD) that can be administered in a
primary care setting

One Type Of Frontotemporal Dementia May Respond To Malaria Medication

Frontotemporal dementia is caused by a breakdown of nerve cells in the frontal and temporal
region of the brain (fronto-temporal lobe), which leads to, among other symptoms, a change in
personality and behavior

Depression
Bipolar disorders

Habenula volume reduced in unmedicated bipolar patients

Unmedicated patients with bipolar disorder (BD) and women with major depressive disorder
(MDD) show reductions in habenula volume relative to mentally healthy individuals, which
indicates a role for the structure in the development of affective disease

Childhood adversity linked to mood disorder chronicity

Exposure to family problems in childhood is associated with an increased risk for mood disorder
chronicity in adulthood

CACNA1C gene variant linked to subcortical structural variation in BD

single nucleotide polymorphism in the calcium channel, voltage-dependent, L-type, alpha 1C
subunit gene (CACNA1C) is associated with anatomical variation in subcortical regions involved
in emotional processing among patients with bipolar disorder

Dual Diagnosis

Excessive cannabis use linked to early-onset BD

Patients with bipolar disorder (BD) who have a history of excessive cannabis use are more
likely to have developed the mood disorder at a younger age than those without such a history

Disparities in Treatment for Substance Use Disorders and Co-Occurring Disorders for
Ethnic/Racial Minority Youth
This study reviewed the literature on racial and ethnic disparities in behavioral health services
and present recent data, focusing on services for substance use disorders and comorbid mental
health disorders for children and adolescents

EoEHLG/MHCA/No.285/7.2.11 5
 Eating Disorders

Aberrant Brain Activation During a Response Inhibition Task in Adolescent Eating

Disorder Subtypes
Behavioral and personality characteristics associated with excessive inhibition and disinhibition
are observed in patients with eating disorders, but neural correlates of inhibitory control have not
been examined in adolescents with these disorders

Integrating Motivational Interviewing and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy in the Treatment

of Eating Disorders: Tailoring Interventions to Patient Readiness for Change
This paper focuses on the integration of Motivational Interviewing (MI) and cognitive behavioral
therapy (CBT) in the treatment of eating disorders

Learning Disabilities

Understanding The Autistic Mind

A study from MIT neuroscientists reveals that high-functioning autistic adults appear to have
trouble using theory of mind to make moral judgments in certain situations

The mental health of young people with disabilities: impact of social conditions
Young people with disabilities have poorer mental health than their non-disabled peers

A Restricted Diet Should Be Part Of Standard Of Care For All Children With ADHD
In new research published in this week's Lancet, researchers conclude that a special restricted
diet (the restricted elimination diet) should be part of the standard of care for all children with
attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder

Adult ADHD Significantly Increases Risk of Common Form of Dementia, Study Finds
Adults who suffer from attention-deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are more than three
times as likely to develop a common form of degenerative dementia than those without

Determining the amount, timing and causes of mortality among infants with Down
syndrome
This study examined the amount, timing and causes/correlates of infant mortality among
newborns with Down syndrome

Obsessive Compulsive
Disorders

Researchers Uncover Genetic Clues To Compulsive, Self-Injurious Behavior In Rare

Childhood Disorder
Research provides new clues for the compulsive behavior and cognitive defects associated with
a rare childhood neurological disease called Lesch-Nyhan Disease

EoEHLG/MHCA/No.285/7.2.11 6
 Familiality of Tourette Syndrome, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, and Attention-
Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: Heritability Analysis in a Large Sib-Pair Sample
Tourette syndrome is a neuropsychiatric disorder with a genetic component that is highly
comorbid with obsessive-compulsive disorder and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder

Occupational Therapy

Mindfulness and flow in occupational engagement: Presence in doing

Flow is a psychological state that might be viewed as desirable, and it occurs when a person is
aware of his or her actions but is not being aware of his or her awareness

Effectiveness of Sensory Integration Interventions in Children With Autism Spectrum

Disorders: A Pilot Study
The purpose of this pilot study was to establish a model for randomized controlled trial research,
identify appropriate outcome measures, and address the effectiveness of sensory integration
(SI) interventions in children with autism spectrum disorders

Post Traumatic
Stress Disorder

Toward the Predeployment Detection of Risk for PTSD

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a serious public health problem in the general
population that is estimated to affect more than 10 million American children and adults at some
point in their lives

Pre-Existing High Glucocorticoid Receptor Number Predicting Development of

Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms After Military Deployment
The development of posttraumatic stress disorder is influenced by preexisting vulnerability
factors

Psychology

In Problem Solving, Gestures Provide A Helping Hand

Talking with your hands can trigger mental images that help solve complex problems relating to
spatial visualization, an important skill for both students and professionals

Study on Effects of TV Ad Violence on Kids Has Super Bowl Implications

Ads with violent content aired during a sporting event that also contains violence may amplify
aggressive thoughts in kids

EoEHLG/MHCA/No.285/7.2.11 7
 Schizophrenia

Actively paranoid schizophrenia patients over-attribute anger

Schizophrenia patients who are actively paranoid are more likely to attribute anger to neutral
facial expressions than those with the mental health disorder who are not actively paranoid

Neural response to verbal task may help diagnose schizophrenia

Schizophrenia patients and those with bipolar disorder show differential neural response
patterns to a verbal fluency task, with the differences being highly diagnostic for schizophrenia

Schizophrenia Gene Mutation Found; Target For New Drugs

In a major advance for schizophrenia research, an international team of scientists, led by
Jonathan Sebat, PhD, assistant professor of psychiatry and cellular and molecular medicine at
the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, has identified a gene mutation
strongly linked to the brain disorder - and a signaling pathway that may be treatable with
existing compounds

Early treatment reduces risk for second psychotic episode

Early treatment is associated with a significantly reduced risk for further psychotic episodes in
first-episode psychosis (FEP) patients

Long-term CHD risk significantly elevated in schizophrenia patients

Results from a US study show that the 10-year risk for coronary heart disease (CHD) is
significantly elevated among antipsychotic-treated patients with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder,
or other psychiatric disorders

Social Work

Outcomes of social work intervention in the context of evidence-based practice

There is now a large body of evidence supporting the effectiveness of a wide range of social
work interventions with a wide range of social problems and populations

Bridging science and practice in child welfare and children’s mental health service
systems through a two-decade research center trajectory
Over the past two decades, research on social work practice has experienced substantial
growth in the United States

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FFU
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HEER
RCCO
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Books, Conferences,
Websites & Journal Tocs

EoEHLG/MHCA/No.285/7.2.11 8
 NEW PUBLICATIONS
Books and reports hot of the press
Click the title to connect to the website entry

The Munro Review of Child Protection: Interim Report, The Child’s Journey

Communication and people with the most complex needs: What works and why this is
essential: (July 2010)
MenCap

Evidence-based Practice With Women: Toward Effective Social Work Practice With Low-
Income Women

Intersubjective Processes and The Unconscious: An Integration of Freudian, Kleinian

and Bionian Perspectives

Research Methods for Social Workers: 7th Revised edition

Year Book of Psychiatry and Applied Mental Health

Learning and Attention Disorders in Adolescence and Adulthood: Assessment and

Treatment: 2nd Revised edition

How to Talk to Families About Alzheimer's Disease

Rebels in Groups: Dissent, Deviance, Difference and Defiance

Social Justice in Group Work: Practical Interventions for Change

Treating Adult Substance Abuse Using Family Behavior Therapy: A Step-by-Step

Approach

back to CONTENTS LINKS

CONFERENCES
Follow the link to a list, new conferences in bold

CONFERENCES

WEBSITES
Follow the link below to a list of useful websites

USEFUL WEBSITES

EoEHLG/MHCA/No.285/7.2.11 9
 JOURNAL TOC PAGES
New links in bold Follow the link below to a list of Journal TOC pages

JOURNAL TOCs

back to CONTENTS LINKS

DISCLAIMER
And list of websites used Follow the link to Disclaimer
DISCLAIMER

EoEHLG/MHCA/No.285/7.2.11 10