Keep up-to-date with news about depression and other issues related to depression.
We'll be following what's being said in the media and also what other organisations in the field are up to. Read our news from Action on Depression blog to keep up with us!
Scotland's new mental health strategy 2012 - 2015 has now been launched after extensive consultation. The Scottish Government has 36 commitments, with the key ones being: providing faster access to mental health services for younger people; providing faster access to psychological therapies; and doing work to reduce and prevent suicide. There is a strong focus on actions that people can take for themselves and with their communities to maintain and improve their own health, the government says.
Re-capture is running a photography project giving young people the chance to capture what recovery from an eating disorder means to them, while empowering and inspiring other young people who might be suffering from an eating disorder.
The project is being run to mark Eating Disorder Awareness Week, which takes place on the 20th-26th February 2012. We would like to invite young people aged 14 to 25 to submit a photograph representing recovery, along with a short explanation of why it illustrates recovery to you.
A new two day Creating a Happier Life course is running in Glasgow on 27th and 28th August. It combines Neuro-lingusitic Programming (NLP), positive psychology, neuro science, alternative therapies and more. The course is lead by qualified NLP practitioner Kim McLeod of Stress the Positive. Click here to find out more and book a place.
Lorraine Nicholson, author of the Journey Home is holding an exhibition of her work at Stirling University. It's a 6 week exhibition and is being launched this Sunday 24th July.
Research by women's campaign group Platform 51 found that one in three women in England and Wales has taken anti-depressants during their lifetime
Platform 51, formerly the YWCA, polled 2,000 women. Of these a third (33%) of women have taken antidepressants at some point in their lives and nearly half (48%) of women polled currently on antidepressants have been on them for five years or more.
Many people have used online messaging such as Facebook and MSN messanger. Now an American study has looked at whether online messaging works to support people with depression. It found that levels of depression were reduced for people on antidepressants who were given follow ups using online messaging.
The study, published in the July issue of the Journal of General Internal Medicine randomised 208 people who were starting taking antidepressants for depression. They either received the usual primary care treatment or primary care supported by online care management.
Depression amongst sportsmen has been a topic of some debate recently. The case of the England cricketer Michael Yardy who had to return home from the Cricket World Cup because of his depression brought the issue to the fore. Unfortunately the reaction of Geoffrey Boycott (who joked that Yardy’s depression may be as a result of his below par bowling performance) showed that there is still a real ignorance in the world of sport toward a very serious, and increasingly common problem.
A group of mental health organisations in Scotland have set up a survey to look at how people with mental health problems are being affected by the cuts.
This coincides with a poll on lookokfeelcrap.org where 51% of respondents said that worry about the cuts is really stressing them out or getting them down. Only 27% said the cuts didn’t bother them at all.
The Princes’ Trust has conducted a survey and found that 22 per cent said they felt depressed “all” or “most” of the time.
The Prince’s Trust said as well as suffering from inability to sleep properly, young Scots were also facing increased mental health problems such as panic attacks, self-loathing and depression.
The charity’s annual Youth Index also found 35 per cent had sleep disorders and 18 per cent had self-harmed.
More than a quarter of those questioned said they felt insecure all or most of the time.
Lorraine Nicholson, author of 