Depression Alliance Scotland Email Newsletter
December 2006
News From DAS
Newsletter Update
Welcome to our e-mail newsletter. Future editions will now be published six weekly. The winter edition of our print newsletter has been published. You can view it online at: http://www.dascot.org/winter2006.pdf or email us to request a copy.
Web update
The Depression Alliance Scotland website has been updated with new pages on complementary therapies, research into the effectiveness of complementary therapies, St John's Wort, a review of the research into St John's Wort, exercise, background research into exercise as a treatment for depression, and food and mood. There is also now a bookshop with some suggestions of books about depression and links to purchase them from Amazon.
Groups Update
The Edinburgh Wednesday evening group is moving to St George's West Church, Shandwick Place. The next meeting will be on 17th January 2007. For up to date details of this and all our support groups please visit www.dascot.org/groupslist.html
Two ways to help support DAS
If you are doing your Christmas shopping at Amazon this year, click this link to get to their homepage: http://www.amazon.co.uk/ . DAS will receive a small commission from anything you buy and it won't cost you a penny.
Raise money for Depression Alliance Scotland just by searching the web! Everyclick.com is an internet search engine with a big difference - it donates half its revenues to charity. If you use everyclick.com as your search engine every search you do can raise money for Depression Alliance Scotland. Please go to http://www.everyclick.com/uk/depressionalliancescotland to do all your searching. Don't forget to add it to your favourites so you can find it again easily and you can make it your home page by clicking on the link in the top right hand corner of the site. It does not cost us, or you, a penny - so please use it - and pass the message on!
Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland's Annual Report
The Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland's annual report has been released and DAS have some spare copies. If any of our readers would like a copy please contact us at info@dascot.org
Lothian Alliance Against Depression (LAAD)
Depression Alliance Scotland has teamed up with NHS Lothian and Edinburgh University to launch the Lothian Alliance Against Depression. LAAD will raise public awareness of depression and broaden options for people with depression living in Edinburgh and the Lothians. LAAD is a partner in the European Alliance Against Depression, a project funded by the European Commission, which includes 18 European regions working together to share information to improve treatment and reduce stigma. For more information visit http://www.dascot.org/LAAD.html
It's Christmas time
This time of year can be very difficult for many people including people who are affected by depression. DAS have a factsheet about surviving Christmas with depression or you can visit our webpage at www.dascot.org/christmas.html. If you need help and support there are phone lines open throughout the festive period:-
- Breathing Space 0800 83 85 87 www.breathingspacescotland.co.uk (Open 6pm – 2pm every day)
- Saneline 0845 767 8000 www.sane.org.uk (open 1pm – 11pm every day)
- Samaritans 08457 909090, write to Chris, PO Box 9090 Stirling FK8 2SA , email jo@samaritans.org, www.samaritans.org.uk (open 24 hours a day)
Depression Alliance Scotland’s offices are closed over Christmas and New Year from Friday 22nd December 2006 – Wednesday 3rd January 2007 . We’d like to wish all our readers a peaceful festive season.
Events
Depression Awareness Training - Gillis Centre, Edinburgh
18 January 2006
A free course for people working in the statutory and voluntary sector with no specialist mental health knowledge who may come into contact with someone who is affected by depression. For more information contact Marie Sutherland, Health Promotion Specialist, NHS Lothian, Deaconess House, 148 Pleasance, Edinburgh EH8 9RS tel 0131 536 9197, email marie.sutherland@lhb.scot.nhs.uk
Have you experienced stigma in the workplace related to mental health issues and want to talk about it? - Glasgow
The Peer Support Development Groups in Govan are running discussion groups in the South West of Glasgow as part of a research project to find out about beliefs and attitudes related to mental health issues in the workplace and would value the views of those with experience. Your involvement would only be for a few hours and would be completely confidential. For more information contact 0141 445 1022.
Websites
Online Self-Help
People who register now until 3rd January 2007 can get free unlimited access for four weeks to "Depression Relief" an online self-help programme that helps people learn how to better manage their mental health. Visit www.mentalhealth.org.uk for more information. Another site, www.livinglifetothefull.com, offers unlimited access to a free course based on the proven Five Areas Approach produced by Depression Alliance Scotland and the Greater Glasgow and Clyde Health Board.
Outlet Scotland
Outlet is a new support group for families who are coping with the impact of parental mental illness. In September 2006, Outlet launched a new innovative support group for children of mentally ill parents and the parents themselves. Outlet Kids’ Club caters for children aged 5 – 12 years and the parents’ meetings are held concurrently. The group meetings are running twice a month on Sundays 5 - 7pm. They also run support groups for carers.
http://www.outlet-scotland.org/
Feeling Festive?
It’s not unusual for our mood to change with the season or for certain times of the year to stir up different emotions. With winter now firmly upon us, WellScotland has launched its first ever Winter Poll to gain a true insight into the nation’s festive feelings.
Take part at: http://www.wellscotland.info/news/item.php?id=110
Depression in the News Around the World
Our stress puts strain on NHS
People with work-related stress are being prescribed anti-depressants instead of the reason for their stress being looked at. More therapists and counsellors are needed but funding for counselling and other mental health services is being cut.
I don’t want to think of Christmas’
For Scotland's homeless, Christmas is a depressing time of year. This article tells the story of two homeless men including John who was forced onto the street by depression, a broken relationship and deaths in the family.
Expert in mental health warning
Up to 40,000 people in the Dumfries and Galloway region are in "significant psychological distress" including depression and anxiety. Director of public health, Dr Derek Cox, said it was an issue which had been ignored for too long and the scale of the problem was such that, without action, there could be far reaching health, social and economic consequences.
Ministers act to wean Scotland off £55m-a-year antidepressant habit
Doctors issued more than 3.5 million prescriptions for antidepressants in Scotland last year, three times what they were handing out 13 years ago, official figures have revealed. Scotland spends 40 per cent more per head of population on antidepressants compared to the rest of the UK, costing the NHS £55 million a year. Ministers are concerned about the situation and the Executive's plan "Delivering for Mental Health" includes 14 commitments to improve services, including providing more access to psychological therapies, funded with £2.5 million (see item below for more information).
Ruth Lang, information officer at Depression Alliance Scotland said: "In many cases there are just not enough counsellors to treat people without drugs. GPs are in a no-win situation because they can't refer patients for counselling but can't not treat them either." Mrs Lang said doctors were already starting to use different treatments for depression, such as exercise programmes. But antidepressants should still be available for those who benefit from them.
"We would support reducing antidepressant prescribing but only if other services are in place," she said.
Delivery plan for mental health in Scotland published
Better prevention, more local care and improved support to help aid recovery are to be the focus of mental health services in Scotland in the future, according the new delivery plan 'Delivering for Mental Health' published by the Executive. There are a new set of targets to provide better care in the community by cutting back on the increase of anti-depressant prescribing by supporting people affected by depresssion in different ways, and reducing the number of people with mental ill-health who need to be re-admitted to hospital. Mental health services will be sensitive to people's individual needs and focus on social inclusion so people feel able to seek help earlier. Improvements to access and quality of services will meet the needs of everyone, from the quarter of the population who will experience mild to moderate mental ill-health in their lifetime to the two per cent of people who will experience severe and enduring mental illness.
Mental ill-health 'still stigma'
A Glasgow University poll for the Scottish Association for Mental Health (SAMH) found users of mental health services were more than four times as likely to live alone and were more than twice as likely not to have a partner. A total of 90% were not in paid work. The survey also found people using the services were more likely to have less social support among friends.
Evening Times 5 Dec 2006
SAMH Website
Festive overdose risk highlighted
A campaign to prevent drug-related deaths among users during the festive season has been launched. Risk of overdose heightens over Christmas and New Year as many services close and users feel more vulnerable. A package of information on how to spot signs of an overdose and what to do in an emergency is available to users and carers in Glasgow.
Charities vow to challenge new mental health bill
Charities in England and Wales are set to challenge the new mental health bill for those countries. Critics say the bill is far too vague: detention and compulsory treatment could be justified only if it ensured a health benefit, and was strictly limited, and the proposed definition of mental disorder would sweep up too many people.
A little light relief
An estimated 60,000 Scots - the highest proportion in the UK - are affected by Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). According to the UK SAD Association, the illness is "a type of winter depression that affects an estimated half a million people every winter between September and April, in particular during December, January and February."
A spokesperson for the Mental Health Foundation adds: "Waking in the dark, there is no sunlight to kick-start the serotonin release and so the balance of melatonin and serotonin is not restored. This can result in depression, irritability, loss of sex drive, and is why many people find themselves struggling to cope during winter."
"Light therapy has been proved effective in up to 85 per cent of cases," according to the SAD Association. "That is, exposure, for up to four hours per day (average one to two hours) to very bright light, at least ten times the intensity of ordinary domestic lighting."
Drugs 'R' Us
More British children are being diagnosed with depression, while the experts battle it out to explain why. An estimated 30,000-40,000 children and teenagers are prescribed anti-depressants, about half of these Prozac (fluoxetine) and prescriptions for children are set to rise despite serious doubts about fluoxetine that have persisted since the drug first reached our pharmacies in the mid-1980's. This article asks who is to blame for the state of modern childhood and are anti-depressants really the answer?
Charity offers mental health helping hand
A website and freephone number have been set up by a charity offering help to people in Edinburgh suffering from mental health problems. The Edinburgh Crisis Centre has set up the 24-hour helpline and will have trained staff on hand to advise people aged 18 and over who use or have used mental health services and their carers. The phone number is 0808-801 0414 and the website www.edinburghcrisiscentre.org.uk.
The nation’s health makes progress
Dr Harry Burns used his first annual report as Scotland's Chief Medical Officer to both reassure and provoke the public about the state of their health.
The Scottish Executive has been making good progress on the prevention, the care and the treatment of mental illness said the report. There was praise for work on depression and suicide prevention, with the number of suicides falling from 899 in 2002 to 763 last year, with a marked decrease among young men. There has also been a shift in public attitudes to mental health in recent years, with more people ready to reveal their own problems, and less fearful of others with mental illness.
Celebrities on the Couch
This article to mark World Mental Health Day looked at celebrities who have been affected by depression including Alistair Campbell, George Michael, Uma Thurman, Jack Dee, Kylie Minogue and Frank Bruno.
Independent on Sunday 8 Oct 2006
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Depression Alliance Scotland. Registered Office: 3 Grosvenor Gardens Edinburgh EH12 5JU. Charity Number: SC 034740. Registered Company Number: 255656.