Lack of sleep linked to mental illness in young

The Age (Australia) – 1 September 2010

YOUNG people who get very little sleep are much more likely to become mentally ill, Australian research shows.

Lack of sleep might help explain the puzzling increase in mental illness among young people over the past decades, said research leader Nicholas Glozier. He said late-night internet use might be one reason young people were sleeping less.

The study of nearly 20,000 people aged 17-24 found those who slept less than five hours a night were three times more likely than normal sleepers to become psychologically distressed in the next year. Each hour of sleep lost was linked to a 14 per cent higher risk of distress.

Doctors struggle with depression

The Age (Australia) – 1 September 2010

Doctors use more prescription drugs and have a higher rate of suicide than the general population, according to a review of Australian and international research released by beyondblue yesterday.

A member of an advisory committee formed to tackle the problem, Dr Harris is urging doctors to seek help, and she speaks from personal experience.

At a forum for doctors and academics in Richmond yesterday, Dr Harris told of being diagnosed with depression as a 20-year-old medical student in 2000 and within weeks deteriorating into a ''catatonic state''.

Justice, not vengeance, is needed in the courts

The Age (Australia) – 29 August 2010

OVER the past 10 years, Victoria's prison population has increased by almost 50 per cent. And the average length of prison sentences grew by about 18 per cent between 2000-01 and 2005-06. A few years ago, the Victorian Ombudsman said the figures were attributed to "a more punitive approach reflecting strong community pressure for law and order".

But has ''strong community pressure for law and order'' become code for an unedifying moral panic about apparently rising crime rates and lenient sentences?

Bath writer wants to help fellow mental health patients

BBC News (U.K.) – 23 August 2010

A Bath writer has used his experiences in the mental health system to pen an award-winning debut book, which he hopes will provide "inspiration" for others.

John O'Donoghue used his time in "old asylums" as inspiration for his work, called Sectioned: A Life Interrupted.

The book has now been selected by mental health charity Mind as its book of the year.

Mentally ill need more

The Australian (Australia) – 21 August 2010

The support is for people whose mental illness is of low prevalence but has high and expensive impact.

These illnesses are often chronic and include bipolar disorder, dementia, childhood disorders and psychosis.

Unfortunately, clients with these conditions have three distinct needs that aren't met by present Medicare items.

More mental disorders treated with drugs only

Reuters Health (America)– 19 August 2010

More Americans with psychiatric conditions are being treated with drugs alone compared with a decade ago, while "talk therapy" -- either by itself or in combination with medication -- is on the decline, a new study finds.

The results, reported in the American Journal of Psychiatry, are based on data from two government health surveys conducted in 1998 and 2007.

"This represents a fairly dramatic shift in mental health treatment, and it is not necessarily good news for many patients," said Dr. Daniel Carlat, an associate clinical professor of psychiatry at Tufts University School of Medicine who was not involved in the study.

"What concerns me most," he told Reuters Health in an email, "is that there was a 20 percent drop in treatment combining therapy with medication."

Such "integrative" treatment, Carlat said, is often the most effective.

 August 2010