http://www.recurrentdepression.com/ 2010-03-11T10:50:00+04:00 http://www.recurrentdepression.com/site/more/599/ Older adults with major depressive disorder (MDD) and bipolar disorder (BP) have a greater medical burden outside of these illnesses when it comes to neurophysical deficits and cognitive function, researchers said here on March 7 at the 2010 Annual Meeting of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry (AAGP). This may result in less effective treatment of all associated conditions and may impact functional outcomes for geriatric patients with mood disorders, the researchers said. Brittany L. Jordan Geriatric Psychiatry Research Program, McLean Hospital, Belmont, Maryland, and colleagues recruited 97 patients from a mood disorders research program at McLean Hospital. Psychiatry and Mental Health News alexo 2010-03-11T10:50:00+04:00 http://www.recurrentdepression.com/site/more/598/ Psychotropic Medication Use Mediates Obesity in Patients With Mood, Anxiety Disorders: Presented at ADAA The increased odds of obesity in individuals with mood and anxiety disorders is mediated by medication use, according to a study presented here March 6 at the Anxiety Disorders Association of America 30th Annual Conference (ADAA). A growing body of clinical data now suggests that an association may exist between obesity, mood, and anxiety disorders, even after demographics and comorbid conditions are controlled for. Possible explanations for this association may include a common cause for these conditions such as negative early experiences or genetic predisposition, negative interactions brought on by obesity may cause mood or anxiety disorders, or that mood and anxiety disorders cause obesity. Psychotropic medications have also been shown to have an association with significant weight gain. Psychiatry and Mental Health News alexo 2010-03-11T05:27:00+04:00 http://www.recurrentdepression.com/site/more/597/ A single-page questionnaire can help primary-care doctors screen patients for common psychiatric illnesses, U.S. researchers report. Called My Mood Monitor (M-3), the checklist includes 27 questions designed to screen for depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety disorders and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This study included 647 adults, aged 18 and older, who completed the questionnaire while waiting to see their doctor. The checklists were given to the patients’ doctors, who used the information to discuss emotional health with their patients. The researchers found that the checklist was effective in screening for any mood or anxiety disorder 83 percent of the time and for a specific disorder 76 percent of the time. The findings are published in the March/April issue of the Annals of Family Medicine. Psychiatry and Mental Health News alexo 2010-03-11T05:26:00+04:00 http://www.recurrentdepression.com/site/more/596/ Though he says he has no recollection of the incident, Abdullah El-Amin Shareef believes he is not guilty of the road rampage that killed one person and injured four on April 14, 2004, according to a psychiatrist who testified in the case Monday. Shareef’s capital murder trial entered its third week of testimony in Cumberland County Superior Court. Shareef, 31, has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to murder and attempted murder. Depression Support Blog alexo 2010-03-09T11:18:00+04:00 http://www.recurrentdepression.com/site/more/595/ A newspaper lying in Steve Miller’s kitchen blared the latest front-page news about a person with schizophrenia. The big black headline announced: “Becker guilty.” The paper showed a picture of a stone-faced Mark Becker, the 24-year-old Parkersburg man who was convicted last week of murder for shooting his former football coach, Ed Thomas. Iowans read about how Becker assassinated the coach, then screamed gibberish about Satan to the horrified high school students who saw the murder. The media reported how Becker’s defense lawyer tried in vain to blame the killing on the young man’s severe mental illness and the delusions it caused. What the news stories didn’t provide, Miller said, was a complete picture of schizophrenia. It’s true that a few people with the mental disorder go out of control and commit horrible crimes, he said. But Miller and thousands of other Iowans who have schizophrenia live quiet, unremarkable lives. Few of them talk openly about their experiences, however, so the public learns about the disease only in extreme cases, such as Becker’s. Depression Support Blog alexo 2010-03-09T11:06:00+04:00 http://www.recurrentdepression.com/site/more/594/ Those with more severe depressive symptoms report more relationship distress, U.S. researchers found. Twin sisters Leanne Knobloch of the University of Illinois and Lynne Knobloch-Fedders of The Family Institute at Northwestern University said more than three decades of research has shown that people with depression are less satisfied in their romantic relationships. Relational uncertainty is a term to describe how sure individuals are about their perceptions of involvement in a relationship. It has three sources, the researchers said. Psychiatry and Mental Health News alexo 2010-03-09T10:59:00+04:00 http://www.recurrentdepression.com/site/more/593/ A new study proved that the My Mood Monitor (M-3)—an online one-page secure questionnaire used to self-gauge mood and “relative risk for depression, an anxiety disorder, bipolar disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)”—is a useful and effective diagnostic tool. (Relaxnews) - A new study proved that the My Mood Monitor (M-3) - an online one-page secure questionnaire used to self-gauge mood and “relative risk for depression, an anxiety disorder, bipolar disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)” - is a useful and effective diagnostic tool. Researchers from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine (UNC) published their findings in the March/April edition of Annals of Family Medicine, a peer-reviewed research journal. Bradley Gaynes, M.D., M.P.H, associate professor of psychiatry at UNC, led the study and explained those “who suffer from depression and anxiety-related mental health disorders never receives treatment because they don’t understand what’s wrong, and when they go to their family doctor these treatable illnesses are too often missed. Psychiatry and Mental Health News alexo 2010-03-09T10:56:00+04:00 http://www.recurrentdepression.com/site/more/592/ Diabetics with major depression are more than twice as likely to develop dementia compared to individuals with diabetes alone, found in a new study. The link between major depression diabetes and dementia is discovered from an analysis of the Pathways Epidemiological Follow-Up Study that included adults from the Group Health Cooperative’s diabetes registry. Researchers calculated a 2.7 percent increased risk of dementia for diabetics who also suffer from major depression. “Diabetes alone has shown to be a risk factor for dementia, as has major depression by itself,” says lead author of the study, Dr. Wayne Katon, University of Washington (UW) professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences. We wanted to determine the effects of both conditions – diabetes and major depression--occurring together. Our analysis suggests that major depression more than doubles the risk of dementia in adults with diabetes.” Patients were enrolled in the study between2000 and 2002 and followed for five years. Of 455 patients, 7.9 percent of patients with major depression and diabetes were also diagnosed with dementia. Diabetes alone increases the odds of cognitive decline 40 to 100 percent. Psychiatry and Mental Health News alexo 2010-03-09T10:51:00+04:00 http://www.recurrentdepression.com/site/more/591/ Four years ago, David Floody retired to Tofino, still called the tough city as an echo of its wild days as a busy fishing port. After a lifetime of teaching English in high school, he wanted to write novels. But the tough city – made tougher by its grey, windy winters – upset those plans, thrusting Mr. Floody into depression and anxiety. “It was interfering with my retirement that I had planned for 32 years,” he said. It was his first brush with mental illness, and, like most Canadians, when he decided he needed help, he turned to his family doctor. Psychiatry and Mental Health News alexo 2010-03-07T09:21:00+04:00 http://www.recurrentdepression.com/site/more/590/ People who are obese are at increased risk of becoming depressed, and people who are depressed are at increased risk of becoming obese, Dutch researchers have found. “There is a reciprocal association over time between depression and obesity,” Dr. Floriana S. Luppino, of Leiden University Medical Center, the Netherlands, told Reuters Health by email. Obesity, Luppino and colleagues found, increases the risk of depression in initially non-depressed individuals by 55 percent and depression increases the risk of obesity in initially normal-weight individuals by 58 percent. Psychiatry and Mental Health News alexo 2010-03-06T11:59:00+04:00