Depression Alliance Scotland Email Newsletter - Issue 21, January 2007
News from Depression Alliance Scotland (DAS)
Winter blues? Experiencing depression, anxiety or low mood?
DAS is offering free seminars on self-help techniques for people experiencing common emotional health problems, such as depression and anxiety. The seminars will take place in Edinburgh on a weekly basis for six weeks . The sessions are for people living in the Lothian area and start on 31st January. We now only have a limited number of places available so book now to ensure you don't miss out on this unique opportunity! For more information and to book online visit www.dascot.org/pilot.html or email groups@dascot.org
The Edinburgh Wednesday evening self-help discussion group has moved.
The new venue is St George's West Church, Shandwick Place and the next meeting of this group will be on 31st January 2007 @ 7pm. For more information about this, and all of our self-help support groups, visit www.dascot.org/groupslist.html or email groups@dascot.org
Have fun, keep fit and raise money for Depression Alliance Scotland
Summer may seem a long time away, but you can sign up now to walk for DAS in the Great Scottish Walk and the Great Wee Scottish Walk. The Great Scottish Walk takes place on Sunday 10th June 2007 in Edinburgh and offers three different route lengths (1, 6 or 12 miles). For children there are Great Wee Scottish Walks in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Perth, Aberdeen, Dundee, Inverness and Dumfries.
For more information see www.greatscottishwalk.com and www.greatweescottishwalk.com
Research
If you have, or have had depression, you may like to take part in a confidential interview about problem solving and depression. The research is being conducted by a post graduate student as part of her PHD in Psychology. For more details please email Ruth at Depression Alliance Scotland on ruthl@dascot.org.
Depression in the News
Crackdown on mental illness benefit claims will see stiffer fit-for-work test
The draft Welfare Reform Bill detailed plans to replace Incapacity Benefit with a new Employment and Support Allowance by 2008. All claimants - except the most severely disabled - would have to attend 'work-focused' interviews or risk having their benefits cut. The government is determined to cut the number of people claiming benefits by a million people within 10 years.
Medical experts and mental-health campaigners warned that the government should not try to force hundreds of thousands of sick people into the workplace if it was not prepared to support them in their new jobs.
Scotland on Sunday 14 Jan 2007
Help is at the end of a line
Last year, over 8300 people turned to the Falkirk and Central Scotland branch of Samaritans for confidential, emotional support. Set up over 53 years ago and operating in Falkirk since 1965, Samaritans was the first 24 hour telephone helpline in the UK. During its lifetime, the charity has received calls from people as young as 10 and as old as 90. It is run entirely by volunteers.
Falkirk Today 11 January 2007
Samaritans website www.samaritans.org.uk phone number 08457 90 90 90
Salsa dancing 'can help depression'
Salsa dancing can help tackle depression, an academic study has concluded. Physical exercise, social contact and fresh confidence from learning a new skill helps lift the spirits, according to a University of Derby project.All eight participants who took part in nine weeks of dance classes recorded significantly lower depression scores at the end of the small-scale study.
Manchester Evening News 8 January 2007
Football tackles schizophrenia and depression
An Italian psychiatrist is obtaining startling results with patients suffering from schizophrenia and depression by enlisting them in a competitive football team. Mauro Raffaeli trains his players, many of whom cannot work and are on psychiatric medication, twice a week on a pitch on the outskirts of Rome.
Of the 80 who have passed through the ranks since the team formed in 1993, over half have cut down their drug intake, but more importantly, more than half have returned to work. "Drugs you can often never get rid of, but reintegrating into society is as important," he said.
Guardian 8th January 2007
Soldiers with war trauma illness rely on charities for treatment
Scottish war veterans with psychiatric disorders are having to turn to charities for treatment or wait up to two years for help on the NHS, according to support groups. Former service personnel are suffering psychological trauma after harrowing tours in combat zones such as Iraq and Afghanistan, as figures reveal a 22 per cent rise in referrals. Combat Stress, a charity which runs an Ayrshire treatment centre for ex-servicemen, has more than 1,000 veterans receiving counselling - ten of whom served in Iraq. Larry Cammock, chairman of the Gulf Veterans' Association, said many servicemen had committed suicide because they had not received the specialist help they needed.
Scotsman 17 January 07
ADHD adults 'misdiagnosed'
Adults affected by attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are often misdiagnosed and treated for conditions such as depression instead, it was claimed today. As many as 15 to 65 per cent of children diagnosed with ADHD still have symptoms in adulthood. The claims were made in a British Journal of Psychiatry editorial which called for adults suffering from the disorder to be properly identified and treated.
Evening News 3rd Jan 07
Women drinkers 'depression link'
The link between binge drinking and depression is stronger in women than men, a study suggests. US and Canadian researchers quizzed 6,009 men and 8,054 women about alcohol intake and their history of depression. They found women who were binge drinkers were more likely to be clinically depressed than men. But moderate drinking was not likely to increase the risk in either sex, the journal, Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, reported.
BBC News 3rd Jan 07
Taste perceptions may aid depression treatment
Taste sensitivity is altered by changing levels of neurotransmitters that are thought to be involved in depression, researchers from the University of Bristol found. Neurotransmitters are chemicals that generate nerve signals in the brain. Serotonin, dopamine and noradrenaline are three that are believed to affect mood states. Some reports have linked changes in taste sensitivities with severe depression and anxiety. Dr. Lucy F. Donaldson said, "we hope that using a taste test in depressed people will tell us which neurotransmitter is affected in their illness," and thus assist in treatment decisions.
Reuters 19th Dec 2006
Gloom and Doom
This rainy winter is making Scots depressed, experts have warned. In particular the gloomy weather is making things harder for people affected by seasonal affective disorder (SAD). SAD causes depression because of lack of daylight in winter. A spokesman for the SAD Association said: “There are reports that the long run of black weather is making sufferers far worse.”
Daily Record 14th December 2006
***************************
This email newsletter is published by Depression Alliance Scotland
Website: www.dascot.org Email: info@dascot.org
Tel 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.