Family and friends often play a very important role in supporting older people with long-term, severe mental health problems. It is estimated that 25% of the 6 million carers in the UK are supporting someone with a mental health problem (Carers Trust, 2007). Stress has been cited as having a major impact on the wellbeing [read the full story…]
Dementia and affective disorders (such as depression and bipolar disorder) are usually considered to be completely unrelated afflictions. Yet a number of recent studies have suggested that the risk of developing dementia in later life may be increased for those who have had an affective disorder. A number of systematic reviews have been undertaken to [read the full story…]
Dementia is one of the most common and serious disorders in later life. It places a considerable burden on the health care system, individuals and especially unpaid carers. Depression is common among people with dementia and causes additional distress to affected individuals and their social circle. Research into the treatment of depression in dementia is [read the full story…]
Anyone who’s spent any time at all on the Mental Elf website, or any of the other National Elf Service sites, knows that we elves love succinct and focused summaries that are easy to read and quick to digest. It’s always a delight to see other groups publishing similar resources, so I’ve decided today to [read the full story…]
The Scottish Government have published their annual summary of prescribing statistics for mental health drugs. The report shows increases in the prescribing rates for all groups of drugs over the last 12 months. The prescribing costs of some groups of drugs have also risen (ADHD, dementia, depression) although other groups have seen a decline (insomnia [read the full story…]
Depression is common in patients with dementia and antidepressants are widely prescribed for this population although the evidence remains limited. This randomised controlled trial conducted by researchers at the Institute of Psychiatry in London and published in the Lancet, explored the safety and efficacy of two widely-used drugs (sertraline and mirtazapine) in patients with dementia and [read the full story…]
NICE guidance has sometimes suffered from poor accessibility and usability, and as a result, it has not always been implemented at the coalface as well as it could have been. NICE have responded to this criticism by creating a set of interactive online pathways that bring together all of their content around a specific topic. [read the full story…]
