Rates of mental illness in adolescents with learning disabilities have been reported as higher than those expected in adolescents without learining disabilities. This study set out to look at the prevalence and predictors of mental health needs and service use in adolescents with learning disabilities. They researchers worked with a service-based sample of 75 young [read the full story…]
Sleep problems in young people with learning disabilities have been explored in a number of studies, particularly in relation to the impact on families and supporters, but there is relatively little in the literature about the impact of sleep problems on older people with learning disabilities. The researchers in this Dutch study wanted to look [read the full story…]
Every year in England and Wales, a suicide occurs in roughly one patient for every thousand in mental health treatment. These numbers make it hard to research what mental health service providers can do to prevent further suicides, so it’s encouraging to see a new cross-sectional observational study published in the Lancet with funding from [read the full story…]
Read this important new research if you work in mental health or public health and have an interest in the relationship between mental disorders and adversity in childhood and chronic physical conditions in later adult life. The cross sectional study was conducted by researchers in New Zealand who set out to investigate whether childhood adversities [read the full story…]
This cross-sectional study conducted by researchers from VU University in Amsterdam investigated whether specific personality traits (such as neuroticism, conscientiousness and being open to experiences) are associated with an increased use of mental health services. The background to this study is the fact that there are now many safe and effective treatments available for depression [read the full story…]
This cross sectional study uses data from the Health Survey for England to explore the relationship between poor mental health and low income. The research team from Exeter University included 94,870 adults in the study (1997-2006) which used the 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) to assess happiness, symptoms of anxiety or depression and sleep disturbance [read the full story…]
A previous systematic review has shown that People with severe mental illnesses like schizophrenia or bipolar disorder are over three times more likely to lose their teeth. Another large cross-sectional study from the USA has now been published that looks at the associations among depression, anxiety, use of oral health services, and tooth loss. This [read the full story…]
This cross-sectional study used a postal questionnaire to find out if there are regional differences in the attitudes of doctors and nurses to antipsychotic polypharmacy and the use of clinical guidelines. A survey was sent to 2 pairs of treatment settings in Denmark, characterized by low and high prevalence of antipsychotic polypharmacy, respectively. The questionnaire [read the full story…]
People with schizophrenia are sometimes prescribed multiple antipsychotic drugs, even though clinical guidelines rarely recommend this course of action. This cross-sectional observational study from Denmark explored the reasons behind this prescribing practice in two treatment centres; one that had high rates of antipsychotic polypharmacy and the other that had low rates. The researchers sent a [read the full story…]
Physical restraints were found to be in use for nearly 20% of more than 500 adults living in group homes in Sweden in the week preceding the study. 99.2% of these had been subjected to more than one type of restraint. The authors concluded physical restraints are frequently used in Sweden and that physical impairments [read the full story…]
