Copyright 2008 Medical News Today Latest Psychology / Psychiatry News From Medical News Today. http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/sections/psychology-psychiatry/ admin@medicalnewstoday.com (MNT Admin) editors@medicalnewstoday.com (MNT Editors) en-us Sun, 12 Oct 2008 00:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/125135.php Recently more than 100 college presidents surrendered their authority to do something meaningful about campus alcohol abuse by urging policymakers to lower the drinking age from 21 to 18. There has not been so great a "hand-washing" of a significant problem since Pontius Pilate! Thankfully, this group did not include University of Wyoming leadership. I have a unique perspective on this issue. I was a member of the Wyoming Legislature when it lowered the drinking age to 18 in 1973. Alcohol / Addiction / Illegal Drugs Sat, 11 Oct 2008 03:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/125172.php The Calgary Police Service has charged a local man in connection with a daytime aggravated assault in the downtown in September. On Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2008, at approximately 12:30 p.m., a man burst into a home in the 500 block of 15 Avenue S.W., and confronted a woman who was home alone. The suspect assaulted the woman for several minutes until the woman was able to make enough noise to scare him off. The offender ran from the house and disappeared into downtown traffic. Public Health Sat, 11 Oct 2008 03:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/125173.php Pregnancy and motherhood may make us all go a little gooey, but it's not turning mums' brains into mush according to mental health researchers at The Australian National University. The study - conducted by the Centre for Mental Health Research (CMHR) at ANU - suggests that despite fears mothers may have that pregnancy affects their cognitive functions, there is no evidence to suggest that is true. Pregnancy / Obstetrics Sat, 11 Oct 2008 00:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/124945.php According to a study published on bmj.com, there has been a marked increase in the number of compulsory admissions to inpatient psychiatric care in the UK and a significant increase in the number of patients that seek psychiatric care for alcohol and drug problems. However, these increases have been accompanied by a decrease in the number of NHS beds available. Psychology / Psychiatry Sat, 11 Oct 2008 00:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/125156.php Health care personnel treating victims of politically motivated violence are at risk for traumatic stress symptoms. Few studies have assessed the positive psychological impact of politically motivated violence on health care workers. This study examined the level of positive psychological impact among health care workers with recurrent exposure to victims of politically motivated violence. Psychology / Psychiatry Sat, 11 Oct 2008 00:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/125157.php There is little experience with the (neuro) psychological treatment of patients with solvent-induced chronic toxic encephalopathy (CSE). This randomised controlled trial evaluates a treatment programme based on previous outcome studies of patients with chronic fatigue, whiplash and traumatic brain damage. Neurology / Neuroscience Sat, 11 Oct 2008 00:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/125158.php Alcohol abuse serves as a chronic stressor between partners and has a deleterious effect on relationship functioning. Psychology / Psychiatry Fri, 10 Oct 2008 03:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/125086.php "Schizophrenia is a treatable brain disease." A significant element to the Schizophrenia Society of Ontario's awareness campaign this year is the website: with information on the October Awareness Campaign itself, the Access to Treatment initiative, as well as encouraging people to give to our organization. Schizophrenia Fri, 10 Oct 2008 02:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/125023.php Wiley-Blackwell, the scientific, technical, medical and scholarly publishing business of John Wiley & Sons, Inc (NYSE: JWa), (NYSE: JWb), today announced that it will be publishing a new psychiatry journal titled Asia-Pacific Psychiatry focused on the Asia and Pacific Rim region. Psychology / Psychiatry Fri, 10 Oct 2008 02:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/125049.php Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) therapy has received clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and is now an entirely new treatment option for patients suffering from depression. Dr. Depression Fri, 10 Oct 2008 02:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/125059.php Health Secretary Alan Johnson today welcomed publication of a landmark international report, which highlights that mental health services in England are leading the way in Europe. The report from the World Health Organisation, published to mark World Mental Health Day on 10 October, showed that: - England directs 13. Psychology / Psychiatry Fri, 10 Oct 2008 01:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/124963.php Mental Illness Awareness Week (MIAW) is Oct. 5-11, and the American Psychiatric Association (APA) is raising awareness of mental health issues and the importance of eliminating the stigma surrounding them. Now in its 25th year, Mental Illness Awareness Week provides communities across the country with an opportunity to acknowledge the human and economic toll taken by mental illnesses and to celebrate new treatment advances. Most Americans know someone with a mental illness. Mental Health Fri, 10 Oct 2008 01:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/125001.php That familiar pull between the promise of victory and the dread of defeat - whether in money, love or sport - is rooted in the brain's architecture, according to a new imaging study. Neuroscientists at the USC Brain and Creativity Institute have identified distinct brain regions with competing responses to risk. Both regions are located in the prefrontal cortex, an area behind the forehead involved in analysis and planning. Neurology / Neuroscience Fri, 10 Oct 2008 01:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/125003.php More than 75% of people suffering from mental disorders in the developing world receive no treatment or care. A new WHO programme launched today, on World Mental Health Day 2008 highlights the huge treatment gap for a number of mental, neurological and substance use disorders. Across Africa for example, nine out of ten people suffering from epilepsy go untreated, unable to access simple and inexpensive anticonvulsant drugs which cost less than US$5 a year per person. Mental Health Fri, 10 Oct 2008 01:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/125010.php The Priory Group has issued a list of top ten indicators for stressed City executives which should act as warning signs that professional help should be sought. As the global economy goes into meltdown, experts at the Priory Group are coping with escalating levels of depression and related conditions amongst staff in the financial sector, also leading to a rise in people seeking treatment for drink and drug abuse. Psychology / Psychiatry Fri, 10 Oct 2008 01:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/125014.php A study involving an Indian population has led to an important discovery in schizophrenia genetics. Scientists at the Schizophrenia Research Foundation in Chennai, India, and UQ's Queensland Centre for Mental Health Research found statistically significant evidence for involvement of a chromosome 1 region in schizophrenia. Schizophrenia Fri, 10 Oct 2008 00:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/124985.php Four months after a successful hand transplant -- 35 years after amputation in an industrial accident at age 19 -- a 54-year-old man's emerging sense of touch is registered in the former "hand area" of the his brain, says a University of Oregon neuroscientist. The finding, appearing online in advance of regular publication in the Oct. Neurology / Neuroscience Thu, 09 Oct 2008 09:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/124958.php Neuronetics, Inc., a privately-held medical device company and a leader in the field of neuromodulation, announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has cleared its NeuroStar TMS (Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation) Therapy system for the treatment of depression. Depression Thu, 09 Oct 2008 05:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/124919.php Rising unemployment rates, the worst Wall Street crises since the end of World War II, record home foreclosures. There is plenty of stress to go around. What effect is stress having on our health and what can we do about it? "Prolonged stress, both emotional and physical, impacts the overall cardiovascular status of our patients, particularly their blood pressure," said Keith Churchwell, M.D., executive medical director of the Vanderbilt Heart and Vascular Institute. Cardiovascular / Cardiology Thu, 09 Oct 2008 04:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/124897.php A report by the WHO Regional Office for Europe, co-funded by the European Commission and launched today at a meeting hosted by the Department of Health in London, provides data not hitherto available on mental health policy and practice across the WHO European Region. It also highlights important information gaps. Psychology / Psychiatry Thu, 09 Oct 2008 04:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/124911.php Related to perceived threats and to autism A hand moves forward, but is it a friendly gesture or one meant to do harm? In an instant, we respond -- either extending our arm forward to shake hands or raising it higher to protect our face. But what are the subtle cues that allow us to interpret such movement so we can properly respond to others? In research projects designed to assist the U.S. Autism Thu, 09 Oct 2008 03:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/124880.php Do Internet users scavenge the web like prehistoric hunters and gatherers? Can Darwin help us understand Internet user habits? These are the questions studied by brothers Philippe Stenstrom, PhD student at the Université de Montréal Department of Psychology, and Eric Stenstrom, PhD student in marketing at Concordia University. Psychology / Psychiatry Thu, 09 Oct 2008 03:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/124889.php A new animal model has provided insight into the cellular and molecular mechanisms associated with behavioral therapy for depression. The study, published by Cell Press in the October 9th issue of Neuron, may provide a good model system for testing cellular and molecular interactions between antidepressive medications and behavioral treatments for depression. Depression Thu, 09 Oct 2008 02:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/124839.php Almost 190,000 Australians have dementia and as Australia's population ages, dementia becomes a bigger challenge for doctors, their patients and carers. According to the National Prescribing Service Limited (NPS), there are limited benefits to using cholinesterase inhibitors and memantine in the treatment of patients with dementia drug therapy. Alzheimer's / Dementia Thu, 09 Oct 2008 02:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/124841.php Cremation, "air burial," grave cairns, funeral mounds, mummification, belief in life after death - death practices sacred to one culture are often considered "odd" or even terrifying by another. The Greeks, for example, were fascinated with the historian Herodotus' description of the ancient Issedonians chopping up their dead into a mixed grill and devouring them in a communal barbeque, something entirely contrary to the Greeks' treatment of their own dead. Psychology / Psychiatry