Tuesday, November 09, 2004

Mood, Anxiety Disorders Often Independent of Substance Abuse
Psychiatric News story - "Primary care and mental health clinicians who see patients with mood or anxiety disorders should be prepared to assess them for substance use disorders, suggest the results of a study of co-occurring disorders. About 20 percent of the 19.4 million American adults with a substance use disorder meet diagnostic criteria for at least one type of mood disorder, and about 18 percent of this group also meet criteria for an anxiety disorder. A significant proportion of those diagnosed with a mood or anxiety disorder also turn out to have a substance use disorder, according to data from the 2001-02 National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC), which was conducted by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA)."  
  

Social anxiety disorder – beyond shyness
Story at The Daily - "Social anxiety disorder, aptly described as "crippling shyness," usually begins in childhood or early adolescence, and the symptoms often persist for decades, a new study shows. The study, based on data from the 2002 Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS): Mental Health and Well-being, provides further evidence supporting the description of the disorder as an 'illness of lost opportunities.' People with social anxiety disorder, also known as social phobia, go through life feeling extremely uncomfortable or paralyzed in social or work situations because of their intense fear of being scrutinized or embarrassed. They either totally avoid social encounters, or face them with dread." See also the full report (Adobe Acrobat format).  
  

Counseling Can Prevent Depression Recurrence
Reuters Health story at Yahoo - "After being treated with standard medications, patients who undergo a type of counseling called cognitive behavior therapy have a much lower rate of relapse compared with those who receive standard follow-up care, new research shows. Cognitive behavior therapy or CBT involves learning to recognize distorted thoughts that lead to emotional distress. Instead of attacking the emotion, the patient is taught to address the distorted thought that lead to the emotion. By treating the thought, the emotion often improves..."