Psychiatric Associates of Atlanta Mental Health News |
Saturday, April 26, 2003
Removing the mask of masculine depression By Dr. Steve Olivas and Dr. Shawn Stewart, On The Couch April 14, 2003 While their timing may not have been ideal, the National Institute of Mental Health (www.nimh.nih.gov) issued a press release on April Fool’s Day indicating its intent to launch a public health campaign to educate and serve men with depression. It is no joke — approximately 6 million men are affected by depression every year. Granted, most research indicates women may suffer at a rate higher than men, but there is a big difference: Men are less likely to seek treatment. Throw into the mix the fact that men die by suicide four times more often than women, and we have a real problem here.
Antidepressants Don't Affect Infant Weight Gain Nursing mothers shouldn't wait to get treated for depression By Jennifer Thomas (HealthScoutNews Reporter) FRIDAY, April 18 (HealthScoutNews) -- Taking antidepressants while breast-feeding has no effect on the weight gain of infants. But maternal depression does. The babies of mothers who took antidepressants but still suffered from major depression weighed less than the babies of non-depressed mothers, a new study says. "Women should not hesitate to get treated for postpartum depression, even if it involves the use of antidepressants," says Dr. Victoria Hendrick, study author and director of the University of California, Los Angeles Neuropsychiatric Institute's Pregnancy and Postpartum Program.
ANTIDEPRESSANTS: Panacea or Placebo? Newest medicines help many patients, but some studies question the drugs' efficacy By JOAN WHITELY (REVIEW-JOURNAL) Are the new antidepressant drugs overhyped and overused? Some patients don't care what critics think. They swear the drugs saved their lives. . . . "It helps you see clearer and understand things better, so you don't go off the deep end." Las Vegan Georgene Bratta, 54, is talking about Zoloft. Saturday, April 19, 2003
To Curb Cravings, and Maybe More By ERICA GOODE Specialists in eating disorders are constantly looking for new treatments. So the arrival of two new drugs that appear to curb food cravings and reduce appetite has piqued substantial interest. In the last few years, psychiatrists have been prescribing Topamax and Zonegran for people whose overeating meets the criteria for binge eating disorder, as well as for those with bulimia, who binge and then vomit, use laxatives or exercise to compensate. Experts say that the drugs, developed originally for epilepsy, show promise for the eating disorders, but that more research is needed on their effectiveness. Wednesday, April 16, 2003
Capital cases challenge 'mental state' rule Bill Rankin - Atlanta Journal-Constitution Staff Monday, April 14, 2003 Alphonso Stripling was 12 before he became toilet trained. Warren Lee Hill's teachers called him the slowest kid in class. The two men share two things in common: They have been diagnosed as being mentally retarded, and they are convicted killers, sitting on Georgia's death row. If their death penalty appeals in the state Supreme Court are successful this week, the outcome could make it easier for defendants who claim they are mentally retarded to avoid capital punishment. If they fail to convince a majority of the court's seven justices, the two men could be one step closer to a lethal injection. In a ruling last summer, the U.S. Supreme Court prohibited the execution of the mentally retarded. At the time, the court noted that in 1988 Georgia became the first state to pass legislation barring the execution of the mentally retarded. Sunday, April 13, 2003
Paroxetine Improves Generalized Anxiety Disorder A DGReview of :"Paroxetine treatment of generalized anxiety disorder: a double-blind, placebo-controlled study" American Journal of Psychiatry 04/11/2003 By James Adams Paroxetine is an effective and well tolerated treatment for generalized anxiety disorder. Investigators from the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, United States, assessed the efficacy of two fixed doses of paroxetine in a double-blind, placebo-controlled study. Five hundred sixty-six patients with generalized anxiety disorder and no other axis I disorders were included in the study. All of the patients had a score of 20 or more on the Hamilton Rating Scale for Anxiety. All had scores of 2 or higher on the anxious mood and tension items of the scale. Friday, April 04, 2003
Insomniacs More Aggravated by Daily Stress By Alison McCook NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - People with insomnia appear to be more aggravated by the minor stresses that pop up in daily life and rate their lives as more stressful than those who get good zzz's, new research from Canada suggests. A bad night's sleep may cause a bad daytime temper and vice versa, but the relationship between insomnia and response to stress is likely a "vicious cycle," study author Dr. Charles M. Morin of the Universite Laval in Quebec told Reuters Health. |
