Allie Montgomery writes for Health News: “Mothers-to-be who suffer from depression have been shown to have twice the risk of delivering a premature infant than pregnant women that have no symptoms of depression. This risk for premature infants increases as the symptoms of depression become more severe.” “Premature birth is the leading medical expenditure for… Read More: Depression and Pregnancy »
The politically-conservative “Common Sense Government Blog” has published a compilation of information regarding mental health issues and U.S. Presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama. “McCain has voted against mental health parity and, in his health care plan on his website, makes no mention of mental health as an issue.” “Obama specifically includes mental health… Read More: Mental Health Issues and Presidential Candidates »
Cynthia Hubert for the Sacramento Bee: “When teenagers or younger adults take their own lives, the losses trigger society’s alarm bells. But it is older people, particularly men 65 and older, who have the highest rate of suicide of any age group.” During the past decade, statistics show, older people have consistently had the highest… Read More: Older Adults and Suicide »
Researchers at the University of Minnesota have found a clear connection between student health and academic success. They matched grade point averages with typical health problems for nearly 10,000 Minnesota college students. What affects grades the most? Stress! Students who reported eight or more emotional stresses – anything from failing a class to credit card debt… Read More: Student Health and Academic Success »
“Forget SATs: lesson one is a basic emotional education” – headline above Mark Johnson’s October 15 Op/Ed in The Guardian. “Too many children live with a dysfunctionality that goes back generations… At school, these children aren’t mentally or emotionally ready for the academic learning designed for others.” “The number of people with missing emotional development… Read More: Basic Emotional Education »
People who are emotionally healthy and who practice good emotional healthcare are aware of their thoughts and feelings, process them effectively, communicate them clearly, and are in control of their behavior. Ultimately, those of us who are emotionally healthy feel good about ourselves and have good relationships. But it’s important to remember that those of… Read More: Emotional Health: What it is, How to Maintain it »
Eight men and women (including Miss America 2008), who have struggled with eating disorders (i.e., anorexia, bulimia), share their personal stories in an audio feature published this morning on the New York Times web site. There’s also a corresponding section for written comments. Listen to the personal stories, read comments, and share your own. See/Hear: … Read More: Eating Disorders – Listen and Share »
Headline in today’s USA Today: Study: Most depressed kids get antidepressants but no therapy “At least half of U.S. children who take antidepressants aren’t in therapy, a large study suggests, and that delays recovery while greatly increasing the number of kids on the medication who are suicidal.” The report tracks insurance claims for antidepressants from… Read More: Anti-Depression Meds Without Therapy »
Health-related quality of life appears to deteriorate as the number of cigarettes smoked per day increases, even in individuals who subsequently quit smoking, according to a report in the October 13 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. Offering smoking cessation counseling to hospitalized smokers appears to be effective as long… Read More: Add nicotine replacement therapy to counseling »
In a majority of countries, less than 2% of health funds are spent on mental health. Worldwide, every 40 seconds, one person dies of suicide – one of the leading causes of death among young adults. Suicide is a condition that is preventable. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), more than 75% of people… Read More: mental health Gap Action Programme »