Mental Health in the Headlines: Week of October 22, 2012

Nearly 80 percent of people with depression report that they've experienced some form of discrimination, according to a new study…more

Tell Congress to Act to Avoid Sequestration: TAKE ACTION!
View plenary sessions from the 2012 National Zarrow Mental Health Symposium and Mental Health America Annual Conference: http://www.fromhousingtorecovery.org/.
Vote for America’s Mental Health in 2012: Use our Voter Guide to Rights and Issues.
The MHA Career Center matches the best employers with the best talent in the mental health field.  Find your employment match at http://www.mentalhealthamerica.net/go/mhacareercenter.

IN THE NEWS

Children with ADHD Fare Worse as Adults: Children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder ADHD symptoms tend to fare worse as adults than do other kids, according to a new study. Researchers, whose findings are reported in the Archives of General Psychiatry, found that they have less education and lower income, on average, and higher rates of divorce and substance use. The researchers followed 135 white men who had been rated hyperactive by their school teachers back in the 1970s and referred to the hospital. Based on interviews done when the men were 41 years old, on average, they found that those who had ADHD symptoms as kids left school 2.5 years before the comparison group. Only four percent had higher degrees versus 29 percent of their peers. In both groups, salaries went as high as $1.5 million a year. But in the comparison group, the average salary was about $175,000, compared to $93,000 in the group with ADHD. (Reuters, 10/15/12)

Large Percentage of People with Depression Say They Are Victim of Discrimination: Nearly 80 percent of people with depression report that they've experienced some form of discrimination, according to a new study. British researchers, whose findings are published in The Lancet, used questionnaires to gather information about discrimination encountered by nearly 1,100 people treated for depression in 35 countries. The responses showed that 34 percent of the patients said they had been avoided or shunned by other people because of their mental health problems, 37 percent said that anticipated discrimination had stopped them from initiating a close personal relationship, and 25 percent said they had not applied for work at some point because they expected they would face discrimination. However, many patients who anticipated discrimination did not experience it, including 47 percent of those who believed they would face discrimination in finding or keeping a job, and 45 percent of those who were worried about discrimination in personal relationships, according to the study. Researchers say fear of discrimination may keep many people from seeking needed treatment. (HealthDay News, 10/18/12)

Teen Rejection Can Lead to Chronic Disease Later in Life: Being excluded or rejected or otherwise ostracized by your peers can have a lasting impact on the health of adolescents, researchers say. A study looked 147 young women aged 15 to 19, who were at high risk of becoming depressed because they either had a parent or sibling with depression or because they scored high on a test of attitudes linked to depressive thinking. Researchers found that students who are singled out for taunting or personally rejected by a friend can have measurable effects on the immune system. If sustained, these changes can increase risk for diabetes, heart disease, stroke, mental illness and some cancers later in life, even among those considered to be at the top of the teen social hierarchy. Published in Clinical Psychological Science, the study found that girls that had been recently targeted for rejection had higher levels of substances indicating activation of genes that produce two inflammatory proteins. (Time, 10/18/12)

Latest Research

Violence, Poverty Harm Mental Health of Children Living near Texas-Mexico Border: Violence and poverty harm the mental health of children living near the Texas-Mexico border, a new study shows. Researchers looked at the mental health of children and teens living in El Paso, Texas, and Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, in 2007 and again in 2010. All of the children were Mexican or Mexican-American and lived in homes below the poverty level. None had a history of diagnosed mental illness. The psychosocial and behavioral scores of the children in El Paso did not change significantly between 2007 and 2010. However, the children in Ciudad Juarez showed significant increases in social problems, rule- breaking and aggression scores over the study period. While the researchers found an association between living in increasingly violent surroundings and mental health decline, they did not establish a cause-and-effect relationship. (HealthDay News, 10/19/12)

Children with Mental Health Disorder More Likely than Other Kids to be Bullies: Children with mental health disorders are more likely than other kids to be bullies, according to a new study. Researchers at Brown University analyzed survey responses from parents of nearly 64,000 children ages 6 to 17 who were identified as having a mental health disorder, and those who were identified as bullies. An estimated 15 percent of U.S. children in 2007 were identified as bullies by a parent or guardian, according to the responses, which were part of the 2007 National Survey of Children's Health. Depression was associated with a three-fold increased risk of being a bully, while a diagnosis of oppositional defiant disorder increased the risk six times. Oppositional defiant disorder is characterized by ongoing episodes of anger and hostility, especially toward authority figures, such as parents, teachers or other adults. (ABC News, 10/22/12)

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