LATEST MENTAL HEALTH RESEARCH NEWS
By Kermit F. Klaerner
Although at times it seems that little progress is being made in finding better treatment methods for person with mental illnesses, this is not true. Almost daily, researchers are finding more effective ways to address mental illnesses. New discoveries and better treatment mean better lives for individuals who have these illnesses. The National Mental Health Association (NMHA) offers summaries of the latest news and views in the mental health field. Following is the latest research news from NMHAs’s Mental Health in the Headlines:
Treating Mother’s Depression Can Have Benefits for Children: Children whose mothers have depression are less likely to develop either depression or anxiety disorders if their mothers receive effective treatment for depression, a study in the Journal of the American Medication Association indicates. Although the development of depression has a strong genetic component, the researchers note that it often takes an environmental influence to trigger the onset of the disorder. Such a trigger may often be mothers’ attempts to cope with their own disorders.
Individualized Treatment for Depression Needed, NIMH Study Indicates: With a “goal to find treatments to help people to get well, just not better,” the National Institute of Mental Health released the results of an antidepressant study last week through The New England Journal of Medicine, which gives a “clear message … that antidepressants should be given a 6-to-12 week chance to work and that if one doesn’t help, another should be tried,” or another added. When earlier research is taken into account, the NIMH study indicates that at least one-half of people who have serious, long-term depression can actually recover, not just have symptom relief. Although the fact that one-half of the people got better is encouraging, it’s discouraging that one-half didn’t get better, wrote a professor from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, in an accompanying editorial in the journal.
Autoimmune Diseases More Prevalent in People Who Have Schizophrenia: People who have schizophrenia may be up to 45 percent more likely than people without the disorder to also have an autoimmune disease such as hemolytic anemia and interstitial cystitis, a new study published in the American Journal of Psychiatry indicates. The study’s researchers also found that the parents of people with schizophrenia are also much more likely to have an autoimmune disease.
Exercise Helps Stroke Victims Who Have Depression: While researchers have long known that the physically healthy people who have depression can help relieve their depressive symptoms through exercise, University of Kansas researchers have found that exercise can also help relieve depressive symptoms in adults who’ve had strokes. Among older stroke victims who participated in the researcher’s study, which was published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, those who participated in a regular exercise routine during the course of several months were much less likely to report depressive symptoms than those who didn’t exercise.
Antidepressant Effective in Treating GAD, Company says: Eli Lilly and Company announced last week … that the results of a Lilly-sponsored study show that the company’s antidepressant medication, Cymbalta, is an effective treatment for generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). The company said that the drug significantly reduces core symptoms of anxiety and associated, painful physical symptoms. The company also said that Cymbalta appears to improve overall functional impairment.
Thus, advances are continuously being made in the area of effective treatments for persons who suffer with mental illnesses with promises of recovery, not only symptom relief.
Kermit Klaerner is the Director of the Mental Health Association in Abilene. Mental Health Matters is sponsored by the Mental Health Association, phone (325) 673-2300, e-mail mhaa@bitstreet.com. Need help? Call the Hope Line (325) 677-7773.