Depression Alliance Scotland Email Newsletter - Issue 23, June 2007
News from Depression Alliance Scotland (DAS)
Welcome to the DAS Email Newsletter with news from DAS and about depression. Visit our newly updated website www.dascot.org today for free downloads and more information.
Look OK, Feel Crap?
Are you aged 18 - 35 ? Do you feel crap and down and find it hard to cope with life because of low mood and anxiety, but feel because you might look ok, there is nothing that can be done. Our new campaign which was launched in Scottish National Depression Week at the beginning of June is aimed at anyone who feels crap but looks OK. Depression is a lot more common than you would think but lots of people hide how they are feeling. To find out more, visit our website www.dascot.org which has more about the campaign as well as information about depression and DAS services.
Free downloads available from our website
The following publications are now available:
Groups
Are you aged 18 - 35 and able to come to the Lothians for a group? DAS are offering a series of free structured groups, each involving eight sessions based on a cognitive behavioural self-help approach and using the materials as found on www.livinglifetothefull.com. By attending a group, people will learn useful skills for overcoming stress and anxiety, build confidence and importantly, learn new ways to tackle difficult situations. The groups will cover issues such as understanding why we feel as we do, problem solving, relaxation, overcoming reduced activity, changing unhelpful thinking, helpful and unhelpful behaviour and healthy living. Sign up online at www.dascot.org/lothiangroups.html. We also run groups for people of all ages in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Stirling, Dundee and Inverness. For more information visit www.dascot.org/groupslist.html
Research
What do you think about online support?
At DAS we are interested in offering online support for low mood. We are looking to find out what people who experience depression or low mood think about the idea of online support and what you think would be most helpful. The online questionnaire will take 5 - 10 minutes to complete. Complete the confidential questionnaire at http://www.onlineassessment.org.uk/das/
Physical Activity and Depression
I am a researcher at the University of Southampton and I am seeking people aged 18 - 65, who feel that they are currently experiencing feelings of depression or low mood, to take part in a survey about physical activity and depression. Taking part in the study involves completing a confidential, one-off questionnaire in your own time which asks you questions about how much physical activity you do and how you have been feeling recently. We would like to hear from a variety of people, including people who are physically active at any level and people who do not do much (or any) physical activity. If you would like to take part in the study, you can request a copy of the questionnaire and/or further information by contacting Karen White on 023 8024 1064 or at K.T.White@soton.ac.uk.
Depression in the News
Mental health's voice of reason
A new mental health charity aims to make mental health acceptable socially and in the workplace. Stand to Reason. One of the crucial messages that founder Robert Naess awants to get across is that people with mental ill-health can perform perfectly well at work: his own performance, measured in revenue to his firm, has in fact been better since his last hospitalisation. He also wants to provide peer support for people struggling with mental illness.
Guardian 20th June 2007
standtoreason.org.uk
Blood Tests to Determine Mental Illness
A blood test has been developed that could allow doctors to diagnose mental illnesses, such as depression and schizophrenia, before patients begin to display symptoms. Different mental health disorders have their own distinctive chemical "signatures" and a blood test that can be administered by a GP will allow quicker diagnosis and treatment
Sunday Telegraph 17th June 2007
Caring Rita Will Help You Sign Up for a New Life
A new service for Deaf people experiencing problems with addictions and depression has been set up in Paisley. The RCT trust has been given a grant to train seven volunteer counsellors including Rita who has been deaf since birth. It is often hard for Deaf people to get help as a counsellor, using an intepretor or with basic sign language skills, will not be able to build up the trust and understanding required. “That’s why having someone with BSL as a first language should hopefully make a big difference.” says Rita
Paisley Express 12th June 2007
Yoga May Help Treat Depression, Anxiety Disorders
Yoga's postures, controlled breathing and meditation may work together to help ease brains plagued by anxiety or depression, a new study shows. Brain scans of yoga practitioners showed a healthy boost in levels of the neurotransmitter gamma-aminobutyric (GABA) immediately after a one-hour yoga session. Low brain levels of GABA are associated with anxiety and depression, the researchers at Boston University said.
Health Day (USA) 7th June 2007
NHS pledges help for depressed new mothers
There is great pressure on new parents and around 11,500 women a year in Scotland will fall victim to post-natal depression and may need help to find a way to put back some control into a situation which leaves them feeling frightened and confused. But despite their numbers, it is often difficult for these women to access counselling. Viv Dickenson manager of the Edinburgh post-natal depression project says "we....need not simply to ask the question can we afford to fund counselling for post-natal depression, but rather can we afford not to"
Evening News 6th June 2007
www.bluebellday.org.uk
Scottish expert’s way to beat insomnia: spend less time in bed
A breakthrough in tackling insomnia, which affects one in 10 adults, has been made through a pioneering Scottish research programme which halved the amount of medication taken by sufferers.For the study, just published in research journal Sleep, health visitors led insomniacs through a five-hour course of cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) which significantly restricts the time people spend attempting to snooze. These patients experienced more than a 30% improvement when it came to falling and remaining asleep, while a group of insomniacs who did not receive the programme experienced no significant change.
Professor Espie, Director of the Glasgow Sleep Centre, explained the programme worked by helping people allow sleep to occur naturally again. He said: "What a good sleeper is often doing is resisting sleep and allowing it to be something that overtakes them, whereas bad sleepers try to evoke sleep, which encourages it to go away."
The Herald 29th May 2007
Site to offer advice on mental health
A new website has been set up to provide support for people with mental health difficulties in Edinburgh and their carers. The city council, the NHS and several charities launched the site at www.edspace.org.uk. It includes an online directory of local services as well as fact-sheets on topics relating to mental health and wellbeing. It also includes information on self-help, and was designed by working with people with mental health problems. It is being managed by Health in Mind.
Evening News 28th May 2007
Greater Risk Of Depression In Persistent Smokers Than Never Smokers
Based on a Finnish study, persistent smokers may have higher risk of becoming depressed in comparison to never smokers. Also those smokers who quit have an elevated risk of depressive symptoms in the short run. However, in the long run this risk declines to the level of never smokers. Either never smoking or successfully stopping seems to protect people from depression according to this study by the Department of Public Health at the University of Helsinki.
www.medicalnewstoday.com 26th May 2007
Prozac is proving a bitter pill
The Scottish Development Centre for Mental Heath looked into alternatives for anti-depressants, which, according to guidelines, should only be prescribed for severe depression. It found there are many small scale initiatives across Scotland with insecure funding. As Allyson McColam chief executive of the Scottish Development Centre for Mental Health who wrote this article says: "It would be interesting to see what they could achieve with an investment that matched our current spend on drugs".
Evening News 21st May 2007
Country walks 'reduce depression'
Last updated: 8 June 2007
Country walks can help reduce depression and raise self-esteem
A report called "Ecotherapy: the green agenda for mental health" is the first study looking at how ``green'' exercise specifically affects those suffering from depression. The study by the University of Essex compared the benefits of a 30-minute walk in a country park with a walk in an indoor shopping centre on a group of 20 members of local Mind associations. After the country walk, 71% reported decreased levels of depression and said they felt less tense while 90% reported increased self-esteem. Only 45% experienced a decrease in depression after the shopping centre walk, after which 22% said they actually felt more depressed. Some 50% also felt more tense and 44% said their self-esteem had dropped after window-shopping at the centre.
GMTV 8th June 2007
The report can be read at www.mind.org.uk/mindweek/report/
Children as young as four showing signs of depression, claims charity
One in ten Scottish children under the age of fifteen are affected by a mental health disorder, the commest of which is depression. Youngsters are misbehaving, self-harming and even contemplating suicide according to charity The Place2Be which provides emotional support for children in schools. The Place2Be works in ten Edinburgh schools where more than 3000 visits to school counsellors were made in 2006.
The Scotsman 3 May 07
Mental health worries a 'secret'
More than 80 per cent of people in Scotland know at least two friends who have experienced mental distress according to new research. The Mental Health Foundation revealed that many people did not want to admit their problems to friends for fear of what they would think. Almost nine out of 10 respondents said it was because they were ashamed or did not want to appear weak. Four out of five did not think their friends would understand. However, the majority of people with mental health problems (60 per cent) said that when their friends did find out about their mental illness they expressed concern and a total of 44 per cent of people living in Scotland said that during a period of mental ill health, friends provided the most support - ahead of family members and professionals.
Third Force eNews 10/04/07
Mental Health Foundation website
Depression Awareness Week (England)
A survey published by Depression Alliance England and Sane looking at people with depression's experience with their GP found that:
- One in four of those who went to their GP with symptoms of depression were not diagnosed on their first visit
- The symptoms of 69 % were somatic symptoms, meaning they may not have been perceived as symptoms of depression
- The majority of those surveyed found depression to be a long-term or recurrent condition
- Just over half (58%) thought it was important to be given greater freedom around treatment options
- Over half of surveyed participants treated with antidepressants (55 percent) had at some point terminated their treatment early, which may reflect the lack of adequate guidance
- 32% were given no advice about making further appointments during their most recent visit to the GP
- Over half of respondents (58 per cent) felt more ongoing support from GPs would lead to an improvement in care
GMTV 20/04/07
View the report
Phone-based therapy seen helpful for depression
Combining Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, delivered over the telephone, with medication seems to improve the outcome of depression treatment, research in the US found.
Reuters 9 April 07
Getting dirty could help mental health
People who suffer from depression could benefit from getting "dirty", according to new research. A "friendly" bacteria found in soil has the same uplifting effects as those produced by anti-depressant drugs in mice, the study found.
The Scotsman 2 April 07
Computer therapy access 'for all'
Computer-based therapy should be available to all patients in England from April, says the government. Patients with mild depression or anxiety should receive therapy instead of drugs, but there are long waiting lists around the country. Two computer programmes have been approved for use in the NHS - Fear Fighter for treating people who have phobias or suffer from panic attacks, and Beating the Blues for treating people with mild to moderate depression.
BBC News 27 March 07
For Living Life to the Full, a free online lifeskills course based on Cognitive Behavioural principles visit www.livinglifetothefull.com
British soldiers 'go AWOL because Army ignores mental health problems'
British soldiers affected by mental health problems are going absent without leave (AWOL) because they can't speak to Army superiors about their condition. BBC TV programme Panorama found that soldiers are coming back from Iraq traumatised by their experience but with no idea how to deal with it.
The Independent 24 Mar 07
Can research rise to the challenge of mental illness?
"Over the last 40 years, the numbers of people suffering with and dying from mental illnesses, such as depression and schizophrenia, have not been reduced. In stark contrast, over the same period, there has been a huge reduction in deaths from diseases such as stroke and heart disease, through prevention and treatment" said Tom Insel, director of the National Institute for Mental Health (NIMH) in Bethesda, USA speaking at Brain Awareness week in Edinburgh University. One reason could be because mental health disorders are diagnosed late in the disease process
Insel believes that the only way we can make progress in mental health research is to "make a business case for science" and "talk to policy makers about the importance of mental illness".
The Scotsman 24 Mar 07
***************************
This email newsletter is published by Depression Alliance Scotland
Website: www.dascot.org Email: info@dascot.org
Tel 0843 123 23 20 or 0131 467 3050 (Mon, Tues, Thurs and Fri 10am – 2pm)
Fax 0131 467 7701
To unsubscribe please email us at info@dascot.org
If you have an event you would like us to promote or any other news you feel could go in the Email Newsletter please let us know at info@dascot.org.