News
Please find below some recent, mental health related, news stories that may be of general interest. If you know of a recent story we should include in this section please email the Cygnet Webmaster.
Public more positive on some mental health issues
Posted: June 13 2011
Findings from Attitudes to Mental Illness 2011, a survey carried by the NHS Information Centre (NHS IC), suggests more people now view mental health as an illness like any other. However, less favourable views on some issues still exist - for example, one in six people believe a main cause of mental illness is lack of self discipline and will-power, about the same level as first reported in 1994.
Read more on the NHS Information website>>
Government launches new mental health strategy
Posted: February 03 2011
Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg yesterday presented the Government's mental health strategy, which will set out a £400 million investment in, amongst other things, treatments such as counselling and cogitative behavioural therapy.
View more information visit the Department of Health website>>
Northern Ireland mental health illness levels at all-time high
Posted: February 03 2011
A report in the Belfast Telegraph claims that Northern Ireland has one of the highest incidences of mental illness in the developed world. Levels of mental illness were 25% higher here than in Britain, while funding was 25% less.
View the full story on the Belfast Telegraph website>>
Mentally ill prisoners are being kept in conditions as bad as "Victorian lunatic asylums"
Posted: January 11 2011
A report in the Evening Standard quotes Nick Hardwick, the Chief Inspector of Prisons, that he had witnessed mentally ill prisoners being in conditions akin to a, "Victorian lunatic asylum".
View the full story on the London Evening Standard website>>
The number of people spending time in NHS mental health hospitals increases
Posted: January 11 2011
New data shows that the rise in people spending time in NHS mental health hospitals was due to an increase of 30.1 per cent4 in the number of people being detained in hospital under the Mental Health Act (MHA) - from 32,649 in 2008/09 to 42,479 in 2009/10.
View the full story on the NHS Information Centre website>>
Re-offending rates are lower among offenders treated in secure hospitals than among mentally ill people held in prison
Posted: November 25 2010
The British Medical Journal reports that the reconviction rate for offenders at the high secure hospital Broadmoor is between four and six times lower than for mentally ill offenders who are held in prison.
View the full story on the BMJ website>>
Regular exercise can lessen the chances of depression
Posted: November 01 2010
BBC News reports that a study of 40,000 Norwegians has found that people who partake of regular leisure time exercise are less likely to have symptoms of depression and anxiety.
View the full story on the BBC News website>>
Councils slow on 'Personal Budgets'
Posted: October 28 2010
BBC News reports that the Audit Commission are warning that many councils are struggling with moves to give individual people their own budgets to spend on social care. In particular, people with mental health problems could miss out, it claims.
View the full story on the BBC News website>>
New figures show the cost of mental ill health in England exceeds £100 billion
Posted: October 27 2010
A report by the Centre for Mental Health (formerly the Sainsbury Centre) reveals that the cost of mental ill health in England is now £105.2bn a year.
Read more on the Centre for Mental Health website>>
Walking can help prevent the onset of dementia
Posted: October 15 2010
BBC News reports that an American study at the University of Pittsburgh says that elderly people who get about by walking are less likely to suffer mental decline or even dementia.
View the full story on the BBC News website>>
Mental health patients need faster access to therapy
Posted: October 15 2010
The Guardian reports that mental health charity Mind say that more than two thirds of people suffering from mental health problems are not given the option of accessing so-called 'talking therapies'.
View the full story on the Guardian website>>
New brain scan to diagnose autism
Posted: August 11 2010
BBC News reports that the development of a brain scan that detects autism in adults could mean much more straightforward diagnosis of the condition.
View the full story on the BBC News website>>
Depression may double dementia risk
Posted: July 06 2010
BBC News reports that two studies published in the American journey Neurology suggest that suffering from depression may nearly double the chances of developing demenita later in life.
View the full story on the BBC News website>>
Post-natal depression in fathers goes undetected
Posted: May 21 2010
US researchers claim that up to 1 in 10 new fathers may suffer from the 'baby blues' reports the BBC. However, experts warn that many of these cases go undetected and untreated.
View the full story on the BBC News website>>
Work stress and insecurity leads to rise in mental health problems
Posted: May 21 2010
A Populus survey for Mind has found that about 7% of those interviewed have started taking anti-depressants as a result of work stress, reports The Times. These findings come after NHS figures showed the biggest yearly rise in antidepressant prescriptions on record.
View the full story on the Times website>>
Men missing out on treatment for depression
Posted: May 21 2010
The head of the mental health charity Mind has warned that vast numbers of men are missing out on treatment for depression, reports The Observer. The highest suicide risk group in the UK is now men aged between 40 and 49.
View the full story on the Observer website>>
Stop wasting money on short prison sentences, say mental health charities
Posted: April 14 2010
Two mental health charities, Rethink and Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health, have joined forces to call for offenders with mental health problems to be treated in the community rather than sent to prison.
View the full story on the SCMH website>>
Deaths in Custoday website launched
Posted: March 25 2010
The Independent Advisory Panel (IAP) on Deaths in Custody has launched its official website. The remit of the Council covers deaths, which occur in prisons, in or following police custody, as well as the deaths of those detained under the Mental Health Act (MHA) in hospital.
Go to the Deaths in Custody website>>
Cases of self-harming rise 50%
Posted: March 15 2010
New figures show that the cases of young people admitted to hospital after cutting themselves deliberately has risen by more than 50% in the last five years.
Read more on the BBC Newsbeat website>>
New mental health website aims to dispel psychosis myths
Posted: February 25 2010
The Institute of Psychiatry, South London and Maudsley Foundation Trust and Rethink have launched a new website, funded by the Wellcome Trust, for family and friends and carers of people with psychosis.
Mental Health Foundation calls for more to be done to look after the mental health of military veterans
Posted: January 29 2010
The Mental Health Foundation has warned that not enough is being done to stop Afghanistan war veterans falling into problems with alcohol, crime or committing suicide. Amongst other things the Foundation says that there are two times more veterans in prison than soldiers serving in Afghanistan. It also says that over of those veterans in prison are suffering from depression or PTSD.
Read more on the Mental Health Foundation website>>
Charity celebrates victory for job applicants with mental health problems
Posted: January 29 2010
Mental health charity Rethink are celebrating the government's decision on the 18 January to ban employers from asking job applicants about their medical history prior to inviting them for interview. The charity has campaigned hard on achieving the amendment to the Equality Bill.
Read more on the Rethink website>>
Dementia services not getting priority
Posted: January 14 2010
BBC News reports that the National Audit Office has said that dementia services are not getting the priority that was promised. THE NAO has urged the Department of Health to demonstrate that the dementia strategy it published last year, is not just words.