People get more depressed after the age of 65, says an English study using data on older Australians.

It’s the first to show depressive symptoms continue to increase throughout old age, says lead researcher Dr Helena Chui from the University of Bradford.

“We are in a period of unprecedented success in terms of people living longer than ever and in greater numbers and we should be celebrating this but it seems that we are finding it hard to cope,” she said.

Both men and women reported increasingly more depressive symptoms as they aged, with women initially having more than men.

“However, men showed a faster rate of increase in symptoms so that the difference in the genders was reversed at around the age of 80,” the researchers said.

Levels of physical impairment, the onset of medical conditions and the approach of death all played a part in having the symptoms.

“It seems that we need to look carefully at the provision of adequate services to match these needs, particularly in the area of mental health support and pain management,” Dr Chui said.

“Social policies and ageing-friendly support structures, such as the provision of public transport and access to health care services are needed to target the ‘oldest-old’ adults as a whole.”

This article first appeared on ‘9 News’ on 16 November 2015. ]]> http://www.newsinmind.com/research/depression-increases-with-age-study/feed 0 http://www.newsinmind.com/research/marital-issues-may-give-rise-to-different-emotions-in-men-women http://www.newsinmind.com/research/marital-issues-may-give-rise-to-different-emotions-in-men-women#respond Wed, 28 Oct 2015 00:50:51 +0000 http://www.newsinmind.com/?p=7602 Researchers have found that when a long marriage has troubles, women worry, become sad and get frustrated. For men, it’s sheer frustration and not much more.

The study appears in the Journal of Gerontology: Social Sciences, and finds gender differences when long-married partners are asked about their marital relationship.

“The men don’t really want to talk about it or spend too much time thinking about it,” said Carr. “Men often don’t want to express vulnerable emotions, while women are much more comfortable expressing sadness or worry.”

The finding supports Carr’s belief that men and women have very different emotional reactions to the strain and support they experience in marriage. While talking about issues and offering support makes the wives — who traditionally feel responsible for sustaining the emotional climate of a marriage — feel good, this only frustrated the husbands surveyed.

“For women, getting a lot of support from their spouse is a positive experience,” said Carr. “Older men, however, may feel frustrated receiving lots of support from their wife, especially if it makes them feel helpless or less competent.”

In the study, 722 couples, married an average of 39 years, were asked how their marital experience and the reactions of their spouse affected them.

They responded to whether they could open up to their spouse if they needed to talk about their worries, whether their spouse appreciates them, understands the way they feel about things, argues with them, makes them feel tense, and gets on their nerves.

“Men who provide high levels of support to their wives may feel this frustration if they believe that they would rather be focusing their energies on another activity,” Carr said.

It may also have something to do with the age of the couples, with one spouse in the study having to be at least 60. Men of this generation may feel less competent if they need too much support from their wives, Carr said.

This article first appeared on ‘Psych Central’ on 27 October 2015.

The University of Michigan study found that there’s only one interaction that offers more rewarding feelings than Snapchat: face-to-face communication stole the show, once again.

Published online in Information, Communication & Society, the study seems to be one of the first known published findings on the matter of daily mood in relation to Snapchat. For those who have live under a rock for the past four years, Snapchat is the mobile app that made “ephemeral social media” popular.

In other words, there are some platforms that promote sharing content for a limited period of time (e.g., 10 or 20 seconds). For a lot of people, Snapchat only equals to that “sexting app,” as the description could surely hint to that.

But according to lead author Joseph Bayer, researcher at U-M, the study revealed that Snapchat seems to be the preferred social media for instant and spontaneous communication with close friends, one that often leads to goofy and enjoyable times.

Bayer’s team enrolled in the study 154 college students who had and used smartphones. The researchers used a method called “experience sampling” – one that measures the way people feel, think, and behave on a day-to-day basis – as to have an understanding on what made the participants feel well.

In order to do that, researchers would text them the same survey at random times six times a day. The phase of gathering data went on for two weeks, in which the participants were asked to answer the same five questions:

How negative or positive do you feel right now? How did your most recent interaction occur? How pleasant or unpleasant was your most recent interaction? Within that interaction, how supportive or unsupportive was that person to you? How close are you to that person?

Researchers discovered that no other social media interaction was associated with such high levels of positive emotions as Snapchat – and Facebook scored significantly lower than others. One of the reasons behind this statistic is that Snapchat involved reduced “self-presentational” concerns, meaning that users did not have to worry if they looked conceited or ugly in their Stories.

Facebook is better known for sharing “perfect” moments – such as newborns, engagements and graduations – while Snapchat offers users a separate environment where the small moments are equally appreciated.

This article first appeared on ‘Mirror Daily’ on 21 October 2015.

Over 35 per cent had experienced some form of mental health issue and more than 80 per cent knew a close friend or relative with similar experiences. Nearly three in ten said they had been discriminated against or knew someone who had, for mental health problems. And while most said they would be happy to talk about their mental health problems at church, seven in ten said their churches offered no resources to deal with it.

Previous research by ComRes showed that mental health issues account for nearly 25 per cent of the disease quota in Britain yet attracts just 11 per cent of NHS spending.

A recent BBC story stated that universities are facing a 10 per cent rise in demand for counselling services from students, with recorded mental health cases having risen from 8,000 to 18,000 between 2008 and 2012.

The online research was conducted via Christian Research’s panel of around 17,000 practising Christians across the UK, with 1,275 responding between 5 and 7 October.

“This is a clear sign that churches need to provide a more supportive space for their congregations to explore these issues,” said Maddy Fry, the researcher behind the study.

Earlier this year the UK’s largest Christian disability charity, Livability, joined forces with Premier Mind and Soul to create new resource to help churches better understand people with mental health needs in their congregations.

Christian Today reported that Katharine Welby-Roberts, an associate at Livability and the Archbishop of Canterbury’s daughter, who has spoken publicly regarding her struggles with depression, said: “As anti-stigma campaigns, such as Time to Change, begin to see societal attitudes towards mental health change, the Church has begun to recognise the need to better support people with mental health needs in their congregations.” She said that churches wanted to support people with mental health problems, but did not know how. “This can often lead to isolation or people leaving the Church because they feel misunderstood or not catered for. I believe the Church is a key untapped local resource which can support people with mental health needs.”

This article first appeared on ‘Christian Today’ on 15 October 2015.

Last year in the Northern Territory, 86% of those in prison and 96% of those in juvenile detention were Indigenous. In Western Australia, Indigenous people account for only 3% of the population, but 40% of prisoners.

It is unacceptable to ignore the intellectual capacity of a person facing the court and it’s vital to ensure that youth put behind bars have been properly assessed before sentencing. This is particularly important for Australians affected by fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD). These occur throughout society and in high levels in some Indigenous communities.

The capacity to screen for prenatal alcohol exposure – as well as to diagnose FASD – must urgently be increased. This echoes recent calls by Perth Children’s Court magistrate Catherine Crawford for clinicians to assess children and youth before sentencing, so the court understands their cognitive limitations.

Cognitive limitations

Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders are a group of preventable conditions resulting from exposure to alcohol in the womb. Alcohol readily crosses the mother’s placenta, entering the circulation of the developing fetus with devastating effects.

Significantly, it can disrupt brain development and that of other organs, causing lifelong problems. These include developmental delay, intellectual and memory impairment, as well as a range of behavioural, emotional and mental health disorders.

People with FASD can suffer from attention-deficit hyperactivity disorders (ADHD), communication disorders, poor impulse control, disobedience and hostility issues, and learning difficulties.

They often struggle to distinguish right from wrong and fail to learn from mistakes. Few with FASD will live and work independently. Many have mental health and substance misuse problems.

It is no surprise that many also come in contact with the law. An adolescent living with a FASD in Canada or the United States, for instance, is estimated to have a 19 times higher risk of incarceration than someone without a FASD.

Despite this, the condition remains poorly recognised and few obtain a diagnosis prior to offending. Offenders with FASD are often poor witnesses and fail to understand why they have been detained. Unable to negotiate the justice system, they are adversely influenced by others and often enter a cycle of re-offending.

FASD and the justice system

Rosie Fulton, a 21-year-old Aboriginal woman with FASD and significant intellectual impairment, was arrested last year after stealing and crashing a car. Declared unfit to stand trial, Rosie was sent to Western Australia’s Kalgoorlie Prison for lack of alternative accommodation.

She stayed in jail for 21 months with no trial or conviction. Only after her story broke, mounting pressure on the health ministers of Western Australia and the Northern Territory led to Rosie being transferred to supervised community accommodation close to her family in Alice Springs.

In Australia, we don’t know how many people deemed “unfit to plead” are in prison and how many have cognitive impairment, as we lack recent data regarding rates of FASD in prisons. US studies suggest up to 60% of young people with FASD will at some time enter the juvenile justice system.

Another study, conducted in a forensic mental health facility in Canada, showed 23% of resident youth had one type of FASD. This figure may be higher in vulnerable Australian populations, particularly in some remote regions where alcohol use in pregnancy is prevalent.

The economic impact of incarcerating people with FASD is huge. In Canada, the direct cost to the correctional system between 2011 and 2012 was CAD$17.5 million for youth and CAD$356.2 million for adults.

Screening for FASD

Diagnosing FASD is a challenge because as children get older, a firm history of prenatal alcohol exposure may be elusive. With age, the characteristic facial features (small eye openings, a thin upper lip and flat philtrum, the area between the upper lip and base of the nose) of fetal alcohol syndrome – a subset of FASD – diminish, and growth deficits correct.

Thorough assessment by a physician, a psychologist and, if necessary, allied health professionals, can identify impairments required for a FASD diagnosis, whether fetal alcohol syndrome or a neuro-developmental disorder associated with prenatal alcohol exposure. Such impairments can be in IQ, communication, memory, motor and executive function, and other areas.

In Canada, youth probation officers are using a tool for screening young offenders for FASD, and identifying the need for referral and assessment.

Another tool for health professionals with accompanying guidelines for assessing and diagnosing people with FASD is being developed in Australia. This will standardise the diagnostic approach.

Tools such as these are necessary to increase screening and diagnostic capacity in the justice and health systems. If a diagnosis is known, the associated behavioural and cognitive deficits can be taken into account when considering the reliability of evidence given by an offender, the supervision required in detention, and the sentence.

Appropriate care

There has been a call for better legal support for people with vulnerabilities in their journey through the criminal justice system. Consideration should be given to the defence of diminished responsibility in conditions such as FASD.

And alternative models of care need to be found to avoid imprisonment of those unable to plead. As identified in the case of Rosie Fulton, this poses a significant challenge, particularly in remote Australia where alternative accommodation is not readily available and would be costly to establish.

But prison is far more costly. In Canada, the justice system accounts for 40% of the total costs of FASD (including health and education). And Australia’s Senate inquiry on justice reinvestment heard that the estimated cost of detaining a juvenile offender in New South Wales in 2010–11 was much higher ($A652 per day) than the cost of supervision in the community ($A16.73 per day).

To end the cycle of re-offending, we urgently need evidence-based strategies to ensure offenders with FASD are recognised early and receive the care they deserve.

This article first appeared on ‘The Conversation’ on 13 October 2015.

The Government also said it would not force resource companies to acknowledge their workforce is vulnerable to suicide.

It was responding to a parliamentary committee report on the impact of FIFO work practices on mental health, prompted by nine publicised suicide cases that triggered the inquiry last year.

The committee found in June that FIFO operations could lead to a “heightened risk of mental health issues” but a lack of accurate, accessible data made it impossible to establish suicide levels among any specific working group.

In its response tabled in parliament, the Government supported 15 of the committee’s recommendations, noted 14 and partially supported one.

Mines Minister Bill Marmion said it supported recommendations around gathering more data on the mental health impacts of fly-in, fly-out work.

“One of the things that actually surprised me is the report didn’t come with any data at all,” Mr Marmion said.

“So you can’t compare the mining industry with any other industry.

“We recognise the cohort of people that work in the mining industry are a vulnerable cohort: male and in the age group that mainly they pick up.”

The Government’s response said it has funded the development of a case management system for the Office of the Coroner for 2016-17.

That would create a single, searchable database of suicides for specific occupations, including FIFO workers.

But it would not force mining groups to acknowledge “their workforce is vulnerable to suicide”, noting FIFO work was a potential suicide factor in conjunction with other life stressors such as mental illness and alcohol and drug use.

No mental health code of practice just for mining industry

The Government will invite the Mental Health Commission and the Mining Industry Advisory Committee to work on strengthening existing codes of practice instead of creating a new one for FIFO workers.

“We’re looking at it but we already have codes of practice, a general code of practice,” Mr Marmion said.

“We’ve just got to make sure the current codes are reviewed and, you know, it’s a doubling up.”

The committee recommended a code of practice for FIFO workers address rostering issues, “with the aim of encouraging even-time rosters, and rosters that support mental health and wellbeing such as two weeks on, one week off”.

The Government said “some anecdotal evidence supports this recommendation, while other anecdotal evidence indicates some workers prefer the financial benefits of longer rosters”.

It said existing codes of practice would be reviewed to ensure they addressed the impact of fatigue.

The Government said it would also do more work on recommendations around mental health training programs, “mental health literacy” for FIFO workers and their families, and policies to manage suicide or suicide attempts.

Unions condemn Government for ‘abandoning FIFO workers’

Chamber of Minerals and Energy (CME) acting chief executive Nicole Roocke welcomed the Government’s response.

“We consider the approach to refer the matters to things like the the Mining Industry Advisory Committee and the Mental Health Commission will see action happen on the specific recommendations,” Ms Roocke said.

The chamber also supported the move to review existing codes of practice.

“CME doesn’t support the development of an additional code of practice to specifically address these concerns and these issues,” Ms Roocke said.

“What we do support is looking at existing codes of practice, whether these be looking at [re]working ours, or looking at the other breadth of codes of practice that do exist.”

The Australian Manufacturing Workers Union, the Construction Forestry, Mining and Energy Union, and the Electrical Trades Union said they were most concerned about the refusal to establish a FIFO Code of Practice.

“It underpins the integrity of all the other recommendations, and without it, weakens the 14 recommendations that the Government has agreed to,” CFMEU State Secretary Mick Buchan said.

“The mental health and well being of workers should always come first and we will continue to campaign to improve this work practice for the benefit of FIFO workers and their families.”

This article first appeared on ‘ABC’ on 13 October 2015.

I remember I had asked to leave class early that day. I probably stood at the top of those stairs for about 10 minutes. I kept picturing myself wearing a cast in my arm and having to stay home for a week. I moved back and forth trying to figure out where the best place to fall from would be to cause just enough harm. Ultimately, those 10 minutes turned to seconds and the school bell rang. My chance had gone away.

I brushed off what I had tried to do. I didn’t think it was a big deal. I wanted to hurt myself to get out of having to go to school. Wanting to not go to school was not anything unusual for someone at that age. The extent to which I was was willing to go to was.

I wasn’t used to admitting I was struggling. I had always been a perfectionist who had a close group of friends, did great in school, and was truly happy with life. Having a mental illness was nothing I ever pictured having to deal with.

The thing is, mental illness is like cancer. You don’t know when it’s coming.

So when it does, you have to admit you have a problem. I would have probably been able to prevent what happened my first semester of college had I sought help for the insecurities I was having. Feelings are not a phase.

While I had forgotten about what happened my junior year of high school it ultimately came back to haunt me my first semester of college. I wasn’t used to being away from the perfect life I was used to having back home. I was diagnosed with depression after seeking help from a therapist in late September of 2011. I was advised to start taking medication but for personal beliefs refused to do so. However, the weekly sessions I began having with my therapist began to really make a difference.

While I continued to see here for about 9 months, I ultimately regret the need to hide the fact that I was seeing her. The stigma with mental illness is that if you’re dealing with it you’re either crazy. And truth be told, the people who think this way are the ones who should call themselves crazy.

One of my favorite songs says it best: “It’s ok not to be ok.” Jessie J sings this in her song “Who You Are.”

And what she goes on to say is really what I hope to show you through this personal essay. She sings “When we realize this, life is more content.”

While my family members knew I was attending therapy, my friends didn’t. Every time I was in therapy or attending group counseling I lied and said I was somewhere else. I was ashamed.

The fact that I was hiding a big part of my life became even more apparent when I was interviewing for a scholarship and came face to face with a work colleague who was part of the panel. In the essay I had discussed my battle with depression. I did the interview in peace but came out in tears.

He was the first person outside my family, more than one year after I had stopped being treated by a therapist, who had found about about my depression. I intended to keep it this way.

I finally felt the need not to so during my senior year of college. One of my best friends opened up to me about his struggle with depression not knowing about my own struggle. I was hesitant to admit it to it but finally chose to do so.

He was the first person who actually made talking about depression feel normal and continues to be the only person who makes I can have that type of conversation with. I’m happy to have found that support but am sad that there has only been one person who I can receive this type of support from.

While we may not all feel comfortable talking about depression we need to be willing to open our hearts and our minds to having the conversation about depression.

That is why I openly wrote admitted to my battle with depression on Facebook a few months before my college graduation. Soon after, four more people opened up to me about their own struggles with depression.

As a professional writer I have openly blogged about my story and have raised awareness with organizations like To Write Love on Her Arms and Mental Health America. That is not enough though.

You might think that because I worked with organizations that are in the mental health space that I should and could have treated my own depression. The thing is that even though I learned about how the things I was feeling were not OK, I couldn’t stop them.

You can have everything in the world or nothing at all and are still not be immune to facing a mental illness.

I have a mother who has survived multiple battles with cancer, a father who’s an amputee, come from a very low socioeconomic background, and have phased other health battles. But none of those experiences ever made me depressed. It was the things that I didn’t think much about in life that did.

After more and more people began to know about my own struggle, I began to feel in my own skin. While some people have looked at me differently and at times might not say things about it as respectfully as I wish they did, that’s ok. Depression is not the most easiest thing to wear, but when you’re finally able to wear it in public, life becomes 100 percent easier.

Follow Ingrid Vasquez on Twitter: www.twitter.com/ingridtweets_

This article first appeared on ‘Huffington Post’ on 13 October 2015.

The university student is the creator and illustrator of Motivating Giraffe, a series of hand-drawn pictures accompanied by inspirational quotes.

The 22-year-old started sketching her red and yellow cartoon companion to help work through her own depression and now thousands more are also benefiting from her creativity.

Ms Redshaw’s hand-drawn pictures quickly gained momentum online after the social science student began posting the drawings on Facebook.

The Motivational Giraffe Facebook page is growing in popularity every day, and currently boasts more than 4,500 likes.

“The more I started getting messages from people telling me the pictures had made their day or helped them through a tough time, the more I wanted to spread the message that it’s okay to not be okay,” Ms Redshaw said.

“It’s not okay that in 2015 we are still afraid to ask for help because of the stigma that goes along with it.”

The local student, who was planning to go into foreign aid after graduating, said she never expected to be an illustrator.

“I’ve never been good at drawing. I hadn’t picked up a pencil since art in Year 9,” she said.

“In fact the giraffe was actually going to be a cat before I realised I couldn’t draw cats.

“When Motivating Giraffe started gaining popularity someone suggested I make a book so I started a kickstarter and made $6500.”

Ms Redshaw used that funding to publish her first book containing about 100 sketches.

The young artist is preparing to release her second book in December this year.

“I’m going to continue to do this for a year after I graduate in December and then see where it goes from there,” she said.

“The world we live in is not nice a lot of the time. The internet is also full of things that are not nice. I guess Motivational Giraffe is a way to spread something kindness instead of cruelty, love instead of hatred, encouragement instead of criticism. It’s nice to make something good.”

Ms Redshaw shared her advice for other people who might be also struggling with their mental health.

“When I was a teenager I thought it would go away so I wouldn’t tell anyone,” she said.

“It won’t go away and you have to talk about it.

“Tell a doctor, tell a friend, tell your pastor, tell someone.

“I know there is someone reading this that is so afraid to make that call, to take that leap. Take a breath, my beautiful friend. You deserve so much more.”

Visit the ‘Motivating Giraffe’ Facebook page to see more of Ms Redshaw’s work.

This article first appeared on ‘Queensland Times’ on 10 October 2015.

Around the world today, social media will be buzzing with education, awareness and advocacy for mental health and the possibility of positive outcomes. Cyber space will be buzzing with mantras for improving global mental health.

One of the key vehicles through which these messages will be transported will be social media.

Social Media is Powerful, and like anything powerful we have to harness it and be respectful.

We all know about social media for bad:

• Cyber bullying
• Facebook parties
• An un-necessary distraction for kids doing their homework
• Killing the art of communication

But like it or not our digital world is here to stay. And it’s not just social media that is a culprit – it is the internet, Apple, Google, Samsung, Microsoft and any other company that has used technology to save time.

Social Media is the Conversation Currency of today –

• There are 2.1 Billion people on social media.
• There are 4.5 Billion Likes a Day
• 500 Million Tweets a day

So this social conversation can be used for good – we can use it for:

• Communication
• Education
• Inspiration
• Sharing

Positive Experiences and language is already being used to influence positive change via the world mental health month website – www.1010.org.au.

Today, you can go and make a personal mental health promise and share it with the world via social media.

Helping the world speak freely about mental health as an issue, and the conversations generated enable people suffering from mental illnesses to normalise them, to accept that they need help and where to find it.

The conversations generated always uncover people you would never expect sharing experiences about recovery and opportunity.

Yes, there will always be negativity – and everyone in this room is likely to have a story about social media for bad relating to someone they know, or even themselves. But that is not what today is about.

So how can we leverage the power of positivity in social media when it comes to mental illness? Here are my Top 6 Tips:

Create content for what your desired audience wants – not what you want to tell them.

1. PROMOTE THE OUTCOME not the PAIN in your messaging
2. DON’T SCARE THEM – they are already scared
3. BE POSITIVE DON’T PREACH – The Black Dog Institute is already working with the CSIRO to develop a tool that can isolate tweets that are suggestive of suicidal behaviour  so that they can intervene
4. PROMOTE CONTINUOUS OPPORTUNITIES FOR HELP – be always there to be there at the right time
5. ATTRACT THE FRIENDS AND LOVED ONES of people suffering
6. USE HASHTAGs – very useful tools for collating information into categories where they can start conversations and be found easily #bipolar #addiction #hugsnotdrugs

Days like today are one really important step in bringing valuable awareness to the forefront about the realities about, the prevalence of and the treatments available for mental health in Australia and around the world.

My father suffered from an often debilitating anxiety throughout his entire adult life that often had to be treated with medication – that he always hated taking. In his generation mental illness was simply never spoken of and he and many others had to suffer in silence – missing days of work and experiencing periods of social isolation while they managed their condition. My teenage daughter has diagnosed anxiety. My brother in law suffers from bi-polar.

Mental illness is all around us. And I have seen first hand the wonderful treatments and resources available to anyone in this country, no matter of their social or economic status. Initiatives like DRUG ARM who we are supporting today is just one example.

Mental illness is no longer a sentence of isolation, and in fact it can often go hand in hand with brilliance and creativity.

Social Media is a powerful tool, that provides us all with an opportunity to channel positivity for awareness and education. I encourage you all to embrace it, channel it and explore it as a tool for change – not without caution, but with clarity and purpose.

This speech was presented during Mental Health Week 2015 by Philippa Spork, award winning author of Rules of Social Engagement, a business mentor and speaker specialising in social content marketing. Philippa was voted the People’s Choice award winner and a National Digital Finalist in the 2015 B&T Women in Media Awards.

Follow Phillipa Spork on Facebook, Twitter  or visit her website.