Evening all. There’s been some problems round my way with antisocial, disruptive neighbours. This weekend some of them decided to throw a party in the middle of my street! Not content with making a public nuisance of themselves, they even littered the entire street with flags and bunting. Naturally, I set the dogs on them. Freaks.
Triggers in this week’s TNIM for suicide and torture.
The big news – which seems to be stirring up a lot of debate in the Twittersphere, is that a research study suggests exercise does not help depression.
In the NHS-funded study – published in the British Medical Journal – some patients were given help to boost their activity levels in addition to receiving therapy or anti-depressants.
After a year all 361 patients had fewer signs of depression, but there was no difference between the two groups.
Current guidelines suggest sufferers do up to three exercise sessions a week.
That said, it might not be quite time to ditch the gym for the X-Box and order a pizza. The study seems to be generating a lot of reactions (both for and against the idea that exercise helps depression) – see the @MindCharity feed for lots of retweets about this. I suspect the debate will not end here.
Also from the science geeks, a study on premature birth and mental health.
Being born prematurely is linked to an increased risk of a range of mental health problems much later in life, according to researchers.
Bipolar disorder, depression and psychosis were all more likely, the study in The Archives of General Psychiatry suggested.
The overall risk remained very low, but was higher in premature babies.
Experts cautioned there have since been significant advances in caring for premature babies.
If you don’t fancy exercise, the Huffington Post points out that art can be good for mental health.
Here’s an obvious observation: Doing art — whether music, painting, writing, dance, whatever — can contribute immeasurably to psychological well-being. I said that recently to a wonderful jazz musician I know, and he immediately responded, “Then why am I so screwed up?” It was a good retort and I said so. He thought a second and then said, “But without music I’d be a lot more screwed up and would be missing the thing that gives me the most happiness in my life.”
Clearly, art is not the source of the greatest happiness in everyone’s life, but it is a tremendous source of happiness for a great many people. And given the common belief that madness and creativity are linked, it is surely worth noting that whether or not mental illness contributes to art (I am doubtful), art certainly can contribute to mental health.
Over at the Grauniad, the Masked AMHP reports spending more time helping people trying to claim benefits.
The other day I took Rosa to her work capability assessment, which she must attend in order to receive employment and support allowance. It was 30 miles away from where she lives. I had to take her to the assessment, as she would be unable to manage to get there herself, and then I had to actively participate in the assessment itself. This took half a day.
The assessment itself takes 30 minutes or more. The assessor asks a range of questions relating to what the person can and cannot do, and the assistance they need in activities of daily living. Questions are asked about the effects of the condition, about medication, and what they like to do.
The last time Rosa went to an assessment (I took her there, but made the mistake of waiting outside), she glossed over or denied her disabilities, as she does not realise she has them. These assessments do not seem to be geared up for accurately assessing people with “invisible” disabilities such as mental illness.
As a result, she was put onto jobseeker’s allowance, having been assessed as being capable for work. This resulted in a reduction in her benefits and the added stress of attending work focused interviews. This pressure resulted in a relapse in her illness and another extended hospital stay.
The UN is calling for an investigation into a notorious school that uses electric shocks to control autistic children.
Mendez said he was “very concerned” about the use of electric shocks, which are inflicted on autistic children through pads applied to their skin.
“The use of electricity on anyone’s body raises the question of whether this is therapeutic or whether it inflicts pain and suffering tantamount to torture in violation of international law,” he added.
The Judge Rotenberg Center in Canton, Massachusetts, is believed to be the only institution in the world in which disabled and disturbed children are subjected to electric shocks to in a system known called “aversive therapy”.
The shocks are generated by a device known as a GED which children are made to carry 24 hours a day in backpacks or around their waist.
About half of the school’s students carry the generators that are triggered by care assistants using remote-controlled zappers, which then send a electric charge to skin pads on the children’s arms and legs.
Here’s a sobering report from Greece about the effects of the economic crisis on mental health.
In Greece, suicide rates are already rising rapidly, albeit from a low starting point. Suicides rose by 17 percent between 2007 and 2009, and by 40 percent in the first half of 2011 compared with the same period in 2010, according to a report in the Lancet medical journal last year.
And judging from the experience of financial crises elsewhere, unemployment, poverty and insecurity will also lead to upward trends in demand for mental health services just as they are being cut back.
However, the report also sounds some optimistic notes.
Public health experts point to some countries, such as Sweden and Finland, which in times of crisis managed to avoid increases in mental illness and suicide rates by investing in employment initiatives to help get people back on their feet.
In the early 1990s, Sweden underwent a severe bank crisis which sparked a rapid rise in unemployment, but suicide rates were broadly unaffected. In contrast, Spain, which had multiple banking crises in the 1970s and 1980s, saw suicide rates rise as unemployment rates did.
Some experts say a key differentiating factor was the extent to which resources were budgeted for social protection, such as family support, unemployment benefit and healthcare services.
Looking ahead to what he hopes may be less fragile financial times for Greece, Kinderman sounds an optimistic note. While there’s a risk of long-term psychological problems for some, he says, evidence also suggests the majority of people can bounce back if and when economic prospects brighten.
Well, it’s a good job we’ve based our austerity strategy on the approaches of Sweden and Finland rather than Greece and Spain….Oh, wait.
For the Wildcard, here’s a psychology study that claims organic food makes people more judgemental.
According to the abstract of the paper, published in the Journal of Social Psychological & Personality Science, people exposed to organic food ”judged moral transgressions significantly harsher” than a control group.
They also volunteered significantly less time to help a needy stranger. From which I think we reasonably can extrapolate: Thank God there is finally a legitimate reason to dislike Gwyneth Paltrow.
The study’s lead author, Dr Kendall J. Eskine (who has a middle initial, as all American professors are contractually obliged to), told US television: “There’s something about being exposed to organic food that made them feel better about themselves. And that made them kind of jerks a little bit, I guess.”
I had an organic burger the other day (don’t worry, it’s organic – that means it can’t make you fat and the cow didn’t die). I therefore reserve the right to judge you all. *judges*
