Sunday, July 10, 2005

Bipolar Disorders and Women: Special Considerations A Medscape Psychiatry & Mental Health "Expert Interview" with Adele Casals Viguera - "This disorder is equally distributed among men and women, unlike major depression, from which women are twice as likely to suffer than men. There are specific characteristics that women tend to have: more depressed states, more rapid cycling, and greater comorbidity, which complicate the management of the disorder. They're also more likely to suffer from mixed states." [Viewing Medscape resources requires registration, which is free].  
  

Research benefits when families participate fully Item in Mental Health Notes from CMHA/Ontario - "Working with family members of mental health services consumers in research projects benefits everyone involved, according to a paper in the Canadian Journal of Program Evaluation. The authors led the research team of a longitudinal study of family initiatives in community mental health in Ontario, part of the Community Mental Health Evaluation Initiative (CMHEI). In the present paper, they call for innovative methodologies that consider families as full participants in all stages of research, citing the benefits to both the families and to the professional researchers. Family members collaborated on the study’s research proposal and were employed as research assistants, expert advisors and knowledge translators."  
  

Specific Regions Of Brain Implicated In Anorexia Nervosa Science Daily story - "Just why those with anorexia nervosa are driven to be excessively thin and seem unaware of the seriousness of their condition could be due to over-activity of a chemical system found in a region deep inside the brain, a University of Pittsburgh study suggests. Reporting in the journal Biological Psychiatry, researchers found an over-activity of dopamine receptors in the brain's basal ganglia, an area known to play a role in how people learn from experience and make choices."  
  

Racial and Ethnic Differences in Utilization of Mental Health Services Among High-Risk Youths  American Journal of Psychiatry article reprinted at BlackEnterprise.com, which concludes that "Significant racial/ethnic group differences in likelihood of receiving any mental health service and, specifically, formal outpatient services were found after the effects of potentially confounding variables were controlled. Race/ethnicity did not exert a significant effect on the use of informal or 24- hour-care services."