e-Mental Health: A Guide for GPs

e-Mental Health: A Guide for GPs

eHealth General Practice Mental health

The term e-mental health refers to the use of the internet and related technologies to deliver mental health information, services and care. e-Mental health interventions are effective for use in the management of mild to moderate depression and anxiety, and can be disseminated in the primary care setting. The RACGP has developed e-Mental health: A guide for GPs to assist you in using e-mental health interventions with patients when it is safe to do so.

The Guide is designed to provide an introduction to the field of e-mental health, direct you to key online resources for you and your patients, and help you to decide how to use e-mental health in your practice.

Codeine-related deaths

Codeine-related deaths

Drug addiction Mental health

Almost half of codeine-related deaths in Australia from 2000 to 2013 are attributable to accidental overdose, say researchers. Deaths related to codeine, which soon could be available only on prescription, more than doubled in Australia between 2000 and 2009.

There was a jump from 3.5 to 8.7 per million population, with a 9.3 per cent rise each year, say researchers who found the increase mainly driven by accidental deaths. Almost half were attributed to accidental overdose and a third to intentional self-harm, with education about the dangers of taking too much codeine needed. The study was published in the Medical Journal of Australia in early October.

Trends and characteristics of accidental and intentional codeine overdose deaths in Australia; Amanda Roxburgh, Wayne D Hall, Lucinda Burns, Jennifer Pilgrim, Eva Saar, Suzanne Nielsen and Louisa Degenhardt. Med J Aust 2015; 203 (7): 299

Brain Basics

Brain Basics

Brain Genetics Mental health Neurology

Changes in the brain can lead to mental disorders, such as depression. Brain Basics (From NIH’s National Institute of Mental Health) provides information on how the brain works, how mental illnesses are disorders of the brain, and ongoing research that helps us better understand and treat disorders. Brain Basics will introduce you to some of this science, such as:

• How the brain develops
• How genes and the environment affect the brain
• The basic structure of the brain
• How different parts of the brain communicate and work with each other
• How changes in the brain can lead to mental disorders, such as depression.

Brain Basics                             

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The mental health of children and adolescents

The mental health of children and adolescents

Adolescents Children Mental health

The Department of Health (Australia) has just released The mental health of children and adolescents: report on the second Australian child and adolescent survey of mental health and wellbeing. The survey referred to was conducted in the homes of more than 6,300 families with children or adolescents between the ages of four and seventeen. Children over the age of eleven completed their own survey.

The report presents a comprehensive picture of the mental health of young Australians, documenting the prevalence and type of mental health problems, the impact of those problems on families and young people themselves and the role of health and education services in providing assistance.    

Lithium therapy in bipolar disorder: a balancing act?

Lithium therapy in bipolar disorder: a balancing act?

Mental health Pharmacy

This recent article in The Lancet concedes that Lithium is without doubt the best treatment for many patients with bipolar disorder because it confers long-term mood stability and prophylaxis. "Lithium also reduces the risk of suicide and is possibly neuroprotective. The dilemma of lithium therapy arises because, if poorly managed, lithium can compromise renal function, sometimes irreversibly, and severely disrupt endocrine homoeostasis—ultimately limiting its usefulness. Therefore, lithium therapy remains a challenge that will benefit from a better understanding of its therapeutic properties."
You can read the full text for free in this open access article from the Lancet.

Malhi, GS. (2015) Lithium therapy in bipolar disorder: a balancing act? The Lancet,  386(9992), 415-416   

Reducing depressing in nursing home residents

Reducing depressing in nursing home residents

Aged care Depression Mental health

According to an article recently published in The Conversation, 52% of aged care residents have symptoms of depression, compared with 10-15% of older people living in the community.  The author of Reducing depression in nursing homes requires more than just antidepressants, Sunil Bhar, is the Convenor of Clinical Psychology Programs at Swinburne University of Technology, and the co-founder of Swinburne's Wellbeing Clinic for Older Adults.  He discusses various psychological interventions that can help people going into aged care overcome some of their issues and improve mental health care in these facilities.  "Rather than simply medicating the growing proportion of Australians who are admitted to aged care, we need to treat the whole person and the underlying causes of their depression."

Ageing Well: A guide to planning ahead for older people who live with mental illness

Ageing Well: A guide to planning ahead for older people who live with mental illness

Aged care Ageing Mental health

Planning ahead is about preparing for issues related to living arrangements, physical and mental healthcare, financial and lifestyle matters. 
Even though planning ahead is important to maintain wellbeing, SANE Australia’s research found that the majority of people living with mental illness, and their carers, struggle to plan for the future.
Discussions about a person’s wishes and needs as they age can be difficult, but are crucial to ensure choice, comfort and quality of care.
SANE’s new resource, the Ageing Well guide, has been developed to make the process of planning easier, with a checklist to help people develop a plan.

Ageing Well: A guide to planning ahead for older people who live with mental illness, their family and friends. 2015. Sane Australia