A feature on the Independent website today highlights the emotional cost of the recession.

The Samaritans are reporting a rise in the number of calls, mainly from people worried about money. One in ten calls are related to financial worries, with over half of these being from people worried about job security.

Drinking has also risen, with many people turning to the bottle to help forget their problems. A survey of those who had recently become unemployment or made redundant, one in ten admitted to drinking more to cope with stress.

Relationships are also under pressure due to the recession. Extra stress causes more arguments, and in some cases couples who have broken up and forced to continue living together because neither can afford
to move out.

It’s feared that the psychological stress is only beginning to show in people, and could continue to increase. It seems that it is fear and worry that is causing the most problems - people are most stressed whilst waiting for a decision, rather than when the announcement is made.

Read the feature here…

Speakers at an alcohol summit held in Edinburgh have called for a minimum pricing on alcohol to be put into action in Scotland, reports the BBC.

Alcohol abuse is a major problem in Scotland, with over 42,000 people being admitted to hospital between 2007 and 2008 for alcohol related problems, and nearly half of prisoners claiming they were drunk at the time of committing their offence.

Dr Harry Burns, Scotland’s chief medical officer said: “The health profession is seeing the fall-out of alcohol misuse every year in hundreds of thousands of GP consultations, thousands of hospital admissions and increased rates of chronic illness and deaths.”

The World Health Organization urged Scotland to become the first country to impose a minimum price on alcohol to help reduce excessive drinking.

Dr Peter Anderson, a consultant to the World Health Organisation said at the conference: “Outside of governments which own retail stores for the sale of alcohol, no jurisdiction has set a minimum price of alcohol. Internationally, Scotland is seen as a public health leader.

“You had the courage to introduce smoke free pubs; let us hope that you have the same courage to introduce a minimum price for alcohol.”

Read more…

Many dementia sufferers are not receiving appropriate treatment due to poor staff training, reports the Guardian.

A new report, called Prepared To Care, revealed that less than half of those who carried out home visits to dementia patients, to help with dressing and washing, were trained to do so. One in three care homes who had residents with dementia also admitted that they did not give staff training on dealing with sufferers.

There are around 700,000 people in the UK with dementia, with 244,000 in care homes and 424,000 living in the community.

Neil Hunt, chief executive of the Alzheimer’s Society, said: “What sort of society do we live in when the people who deliver care to thousands of vulnerable people with dementia have no training or support? The situation is a disgrace. Staff turnover is high and the quality of care in some areas is very poor. There is a lot of work to be done if we are to drag the standard of dementia care in the UK from its position in the bottom third of Europe.”

Read more…

A new survey shows that there has been a significant increase in young girls drinking, reports the Guardian.

11 to 15 year-olds in London alone consume around 180,000 bottles of lager a week, and girls now drink as much as girls. Hospital admissions, however, are twice as high for girls than boys, due to their lower tolerance levels.

There has also been an increase in alcohol consumption in communities in London that previously abstained from drinking, such as Pakistani and Bangladeshi communities, but that children would often keep their drinking habits from their parents.

Chris Sorek, chief executive of charity Drinkaware, said: “Many young people see drinking alcohol as a rite of passage and an ordinary part of growing up, but rather than being ‘cool’, drinking too much can put young Londoners at risk of violence, health harms and unwanted pregnancies. The reality is that many young people don’t actually drink – but those that do can increasingly get themselves into tricky situations.”

Read the survey results…

New figures show the that depression is costing £8.6 billion a year, reports The Independent.

Over the last decade the figure has risen by £3 billion. The figure does not include the impact on the NHS, just the cost on the economy caused by people taking time off work. Those who become unemployed due to mental illness are 70% less likely to ever go back to work.

The Mental Health Foundation is calling for better awareness and education about mental health issues, and more measures to help people prevent them, such as dealing with work related stress.

Andrew McCulloch, chief executive of the Mental Health Foundation said: “Depression can be a debilitating illness, affecting a person’s ability to function.

“All people, whether or not they have experience of mental ill health, should be helped to protect themselves against the most common mental health disorders – depression and anxiety. Currently, only £4m of the £4.5bn of NHS adult mental health investment is spent on promoting good mental health – less than 0.1 per cent. Greater investment in promotion would be advantageous for both the economy and society.”

Read more…

New research from Oxford University has shown that smoking is costing the NHS five times more than previously anticipated, reports the BBC.

The cost of treating illnesses and diseases caused by smoking is around £5 billion a year, whereas previous estimates put the figure at around £1.4 billion.

One if five deaths are the result of smoking, at the figure accounts for more than 5% of the NHS’s annual budget.

Dr Steven Allender who led the research said: “The story is not so much the five-fold increase but that £5bn is an enormous number regardless.

“There’s two different ways of looking at this - one is if nobody smoked we would save £5bn but the alternative view is this is an enormous health problem and should be moved back up the policy agenda.”

Read more…

Despite another crackdown on illegal drugs, it’s feared that drug manufacturers and dealers are already one step ahead, reports The Independent.

BZP, a worming treatment for cattle, but with effects similar to ecstasy is due to be classified as a Class C drug, however, manufacturers have already begun making a different drug, with similar effects to cocaine, that will be entirely legal.

Mephedrone has a very cheap street value, and is sometimes marketed as plant food, is another such ‘legal high’, and is similar to amphetamines. Several countries have already banned it, but many believe the UK is behind on this issue.

The UK is slow and behind the times in banning BZP,” said Dr John Ramsey, a toxicologist at St George’s University of London, who is also the director of Tic Tac Communications, a drug analysis body that studies recreational drugs. “We can’t rely on the Home Office to play catch up when it comes to these drugs. We need a sensible debate in the media about their potential risks.”

Read more…

Plans from the government to raise the retirement age to 70 have been welcomed by those researching Alzheimer’s disease, reports the Times.

The Institute of Psychiatry, at the Maudsley Hospital in London said that for every extra year worked dementia could be off-set by just over a month. So working until age 70 rather than the current retirement age, 65, could prevent the on-set of dementia by another six months.

Keeping the brain active and stimulated won’t prevent Alzheimer’s, but can help the severity of the symptoms. “Exercising” the brain can also help, such as doing puzzles and challenging it. It’s also important to look after the rest of the body, particularly the heart, blood pressure and cholesterol.

Read more tips on helping prevent dementia and Alzheimer’s here…

New figures released by the Department of Health shows that those who work in media, publishing and entertainment consume almost twice the amount of recommended daily alcohol units, and are the heaviest drinkers, reports The Independent.

Those who work in education and transport - such as drivers - had the lowest alcohol intake, on average 24 units a week. IT workers were in the middle, consuming around 33 units per week.

YouGov carried out the survey, questioning 1,400 people.

Public Health Minister, Dawn Primarolo, said: “After-work drinks are often part of working life. It’s tempting to just go for ‘a swift one’, even when you know your body needs a rest. But, one can quickly turn into many.”

Read more of the survey findings…

New figures released have shown that Britain is sinking deeper into dangerous drinking habits, reports the Independent today.

New figures published by the NHS Information Centre shows that one in three men and one in six women drink to a point where they are in danger of suffering from mental health problems such as depression, and are likely to cause damage to their liver. One in ten men and one in 25 women exhibited signs of being dependent on alcohol - suggesting that developing alcoholism is likely.

Over the last five years the number of people being admitted to hospital due to alcohol has risen by 70%, putting a huge strain on the NHS and costing around £2.7 billion.

Professor Ian Gilmore, an alcohol expert said: “The pivotal role of increasing affordability of alcohol over the last few decades as a key factor in increasing consumption and harm has been yet again confirmed.”

Read more here…

Despite those suffering with depression now being offered many more options for treatment, the cost of antidepressants in Scotland has soared to £40million, reports The Times.

3.9 million prescriptions for antidepressants were issued last year, and there was an increase across every area in Scotland. The Western Isles saw the biggest increase with a rise of 7.7%. Milton in Glasgow is ‘the most depressed’ area, with antidepressants being prescribed to one in five residents.

The opposition parties in Scotland have highlighted this as a failure for the current government, who pledged to try and reduce the use of antidepressants. They are calling for more funding for alternative methods of treatment, such as counselling, to try and combat the problem, as well as tackling the causes of depression, such as unemployment and poverty.

A Scottish government spokeswoman said: “As a first step we have set a target to reduce the growth in prescribing of antidepressants to zero by 2010.Latest figures show an 11% increase in the numbers of mental health staff in the past year, which will result in improved access to talking therapies in NHS Scotland.”

Read more here…

A mental health nurse is calling for more training to consider children’s needs when assessing parents mental health, reports the BBC.

Sarah Rutherford from Manchester Metropolitan University said that currently children are still being cared for by parents who are undergoing treatment for mental health problems, which could be putting them at risk. She said that there were no guidelines for how to assess what should happen to the child, and also no follow-up procedure after the parent had been given treatment.

It is the responsibility of the mental health nurse to inform social services if a child may be at risk due to their parents mental health issues, and Ms Rutherford said that they were not given guidelines to follow or any training on what to look out for.

Ms Rutherford said: “It used to be the case that children were taken away from mothers with serious mental health problems. Now, this is not the case and that is a good thing because children are often better off with their parents. But we do not know if children are being put at risk either emotionally or physically.”

Read more here…

The Women’s Institute has been campaigning for better mental health for women in prison , highlighted by a blog written by the head of public affairs at the Women’s Institute for the Guardian website.

They began campaigning after the son of one member of the WI committed suicide after suffering from mental health problems and not receiving adequate support whilst in prison.

however it’s women and young people who are being affected most, often being placed in prisons when they should be in hospital or an alternative. Four out of five women in prison suffer from some kind of mental health problem, most commonly depression or anxiety, and it’s also the prisoner’s family that suffers.

the WI are hoping to raise awareness on a community level, by campaigning in their local areas.

Read the blog here…

an increasing strain on teachers is causing their mental health to suffer, reports The Times today.

the pressure of Ofsted inspections, exam targets and badly behaved pupils in putting teachers under extra stress. the National Union of Teachers have been looking into the issue for the past two years, and found that there is a higher suicide rate amongst teachers, and that many leave the profession due to stress.

The NUT is now appealing to the government to tackle the issue, and encourage the school inspection body Ofsted to pay more attention to the mental health of staff when assessing schools.

Helen Andrews from the NUT said: “Originally we had issues such as class sizes, now it has been joined by Sats tests, performance [assessment], Ofsted, and management bullying.

“Schools under constant alert of Ofsted inspections frequently create unacceptable levels of stress which are passed on to all staff, and which can be sufficient to tip a teacher into mental illness.”

Read more here…

GPs are failing to let those suffering with depression know about all the treatment options available to them according to a new study, reports The Independent.

The study carried out by the Depression Alliance, entitled Daring To Choose, surveyed 513 people diagnosed with depression, and revealed that only a third had been told there were other treatment options besides anti-depressants.

There is now pressure on the Government to make sure GPs are informing patients about self-help groups and psychological treatments, as well as anti-depressants. 70% of those surveyed felt that had not been given enough information about the possible side-effects of taking anti-depressants.

The Government has already invested £173m to be used over the next three years to help improve psychological therapies.

The chief executive of Depression Alliance, Emer O’Neill, said: “Choice is not a reality for most people with depression and anxiety. While there are some excellent GPs and some well-informed patients, there are huge numbers of people who are sinking because they are brushed off, not taken seriously and walk away from the doctor empty-handed apart from a prescription.”

Read more…