Thursday, July 28, 2005

Self-help no help in preventing PTSD Psychiatry Matters story - "Self-help information for patients attending accident and emergency departments following acute traumatic injury does not prevent the later onset of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), UK researchers have discovered. People who undergo traumatic injury often suffer adverse psychological consequences, including PTSD and other psychological symptoms, as well as socioeconomic problems. Early and time-limited interventions have, so far, failed to show significant benefits among patients. However, such secondary prevention methods remain an attractive option, says Graham Turpin, from the University of Sheffield, and colleagues..."  
  

Psychiatric disorder prevalence and comorbidity high in primary care Psychiatry Matters story - "Up to half of all patients visiting their primary care physician with a new illness complaint have a current psychiatric diagnosis, study findings show. The results, published in the journal Psychological Medicine, also reveal that a third of such patients have more than one type of psychiatric condition. To better understand the prevalence and co-occurrence of mental health disorders among patients within the primary care setting, Tomas Toft and colleagues, from Aarhus University Hospital in Demark, screened for mental and somatic symptoms, illness worry, and alcohol dependency in 1785 patients aged between 18 and 65 years who were waiting to be seen by a primary care physician for new complaints."  
  

CBT shows treatment promise for positive schizophrenic symptoms Psychiatry Matters story - "Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) appears to be an effective adjunctive treatment for the positive symptoms associated with schizophrenia spectrum disorders, Swiss investigators report. Despite the proven effectiveness of antipsychotic drug treatments, a substantial proportion of people still experience treatment-resistant positive symptoms such as hallucinations, delusions, and feelings of being controlled by outside forces, note Gregoire Zimmermann and colleagues from the University of Lausanne. To investigate whether CBT as an adjunctive treatment could help to alleviate such symptoms, the team analyzed the results of 14 studies, involving 1484 patients with schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, or delusional disorder, and at least one positive symptom, published between 1990 and 2004. The chosen studies all included at least one CBT group compared with a control group."  
  

Eating Disorders and Body Image Distress in Women at Midlife A new CME unit at Medscape - "When eating disorders or body image conflicts are mentioned, the face we imagine is one of youth. It may be a preteen, an adolescent, or a young adult woman, but seldom do we visualize the face of an aging woman. Yet, contemporary western culture consistently values women's bodies and appearance above other attributes, and sexualized images of female bodies saturate mass media, shaping the prevailing ideal. Of course, women of all ages who live in this culture are affected. Adult women are on display; they are often criticized for transgressing that ever-shifting fine line between being too sexy or not sexy enough, and they often are completely dismissed when they no longer look young. It goes without saying that older female faces are not particularly popular images in film, fashion, advertising, print media, or television, unless the reference is breast cancer, menopause, or some other medical condition that predominantly affects older women. .." [Viewing Medscape resources requires registration, which is free].  
  

Research shows that 5% of children in the US suffer from emotional and behavioral disorders Health News story - "According to a report by the National Institute of Mental Health, 2.7 million children, or 5%, are reported by their parents to suffer from definite or severe emotional or behavioral difficulties. A special feature in the report, America's Children: Key National Indicators of Well-Being 2005, shows that difficulties may persist throughout a child's development and lead to lifelong disability, including more serious illness, more difficult to treat illness, and co-occurring mental illnesses." The full report is available in PDF format (along with previous years' reports) and in web-based version by sections.