Back in May I wrote about a peer Mixed Group I have been involved in for many years.  I explained how I'd been coming to this Mixed Group since 1991 and how the group had evolved and budded off both a Men's Group and Women's Group.  I talked about the origins and purpose of these groups and also why writing about my personal involvement in them seems relevant to this blog on stress, health & wellbeing.

Besides the Mixed Group in May, I have also come regularly to a Men's Group in November.  They are both just four days long and I've found them hugely precious over the years.  This autumn's Men's Group was at Wiston Lodge about an hour's drive south of Edinburgh and I took my Eee PC along to it to write a bit about my experience: 

Fish, fish oils, and n-3 fatty acids are often in the health news.  Here are seven recent papers illustrating the breadth of fish oil relevance.  The papers look at treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, the potential of flax as a dietary source of n-3 fatty acids, effects on indicators of cardiovascular disease, potential protection against dementia, reduction in mortality, and importance in pregnancy.  The papers also illustrate the patchwork, three steps forward/one step back, meandering, spreading, accretion of scientific knowledge.  As the proverb goes "One swallow doesn't make a summer".  Similarly, a single research study is usually simply one brick in the gradual building of our knowledge.  For more on fish and n-3 fatty acids, see other relevant blog posts I've written, articles in the linked Connotea database, and some recommended websites.     

Note this list of resources has been updated ... see the "Good Knowledge" section's folder on "Social anxiety information & assessment".  It is also worth clicking on "social anxiety" in the "Tag Cloud".

Here are five recent papers on mothers, families, children and depression.  The first is a freely viewable editorial by Markowitz which begins with a quote from the Aeneid "I cannot bear a mother's tears".  Markowitz looks at evidence demonstrating the importance of both nature (genetic risk) and nurture (effects of the mother-child relationship and other environmental factors) on psychological outcomes.  The second paper is a good overview of postnatal depression by Musters et al.  Unfortunately the full text is only viewable if you are a BMJ subscriber or if you pay for the article (or contact the authors).  The third study looks at the benefits for children of effective treatment for maternal depression.  The fourth paper - a freely viewable editorial by Reiss - looks both at the effects of maternal depression on children and the effects of children's psychological symptoms on mothers.  The fifth study is unusual and interesting as it compares the effects of parental depression on both nonadopted and on adopted children.

Markowitz, J. C. (2008). "Depressed Mothers, Depressed Children." Am J Psychiatry 165(9): 1086-1088. [Free Full Text]

Ten days ago, on this blog, I wrote about "Reducing negative states" as one aspect of a simple model entitled "Four aspects of helpful inner focus" (see below).  The model is a method I've evolved to help me organize and think about the many facets of deliberately induced altered states of consciousness.  I'm using terms loosely here.  I remember a hypnotist I came across many years ago, calling himself a "de-hypnotist".  He claimed that we walk around "hypnotised" most of the time and that he saw his job as trying to help us "wake up" from this hypnosis.  I mention this to illustrate how terms in this field - for example "inner focus" and "altered state of consciousness" - tend to creak rather a lot if one pushes at them for precise meanings. 

The "Improving Access to Psychological Therapies" (IAPT) initiative is very ambitious and exciting.  It states its principal aim is to support English Primary Care Trusts in implementing "National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence" (NICE) guidelines for people suffering from depression and anxiety disorders.  IAPT go on to say that "At present, only a quarter of the 6 million people in the UK with these conditions are in treatment, with debilitating effects on society."

One aspect of this carefully planned initiative is strong encouragement to assess and monitor the progress of those who are getting help.  Visiting the IAPT "Outcomes Toolkit and FAQ" web page provides access to several freely downloadable documents.  The emphasis is on good assessment measures that are free to use.  See below:

IAPT Outcomes Toolkit 2008/9 PDF - this 81 page 1.1Mb Adobe PDF is the September 08 version with amended IAPT Paper Based Data Set Questionnaires.

Last month, NICE - the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence in England & Wales - issued a guideline on Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).  In the associated press release they commented "ADHD is a common behavioural disorder in children and young people estimated to affect up to 3% of school-age children and young people in the UK, and about 2% of adults worldwide. It usually starts in early childhood and some people will continue to have ADHD as adults. Severe ADHD is sometimes known as ‘hyperkinetic disorder'. The symptoms of ADHD include: being inattentive (unable to concentrate for very long or finish a task); hyperactivity (fidgety and unable to sit still); and impulsive (speaking without thinking about the consequences). It is an extremely distressing disorder, affecting the person as well as their families and carers."

For much too long it has been hard to access published research without having to pay large amounts of money for journal subscriptions or single article fees.  Since a large proportion of this research is government, hence taxpayer, funded, it seems very wrong that we should then have to pay a lot to find out what the research discovered.

Here are a collection of handouts, questionnaires and information sheets about sleep, ADHD, and fatigue.  The sleep handouts are mostly based on Colin Espie's excellent self-help book "Overcoming insomnia and sleep problems" and the intention is that the handouts would be used in conjunction with this book - see the bottom of the page for more details. 

Sleep diary and instructions - a key component of Espie's CBT programme is the use of this weekly diary form to both assess the sleep problem initially and then monitor progress.

Sleep diary, measuring progress - this is a form that can be helpful when measuring overall progress using information from the sleep diaries.

Sleep advice - fairly standard general advice about improving sleep. 

Sleep stimulus control - this and sleep restriction (see below) are probably both the most challenging and the most useful components of a CBT approach for insomnia.