Children of Bipolar Parents Progress Along Pathway to Bipolar Disorder

02 July 2009

Journal of Affective Disorders

MedWire News: The offspring of bipolar disorder patients have an increased risk for anxiety, sleep, mood, and substance use disorders, which, in turn, places them at an increased risk for bipolar disorder, say Canadian scientists.

A broad range of symptoms and disorders from across the spectrum of psychiatric problems have been diagnosed in bipolar offspring. It has not been established, however, whether or not there is a predictable clinical sequence from non-specific, non-mood psychopathology to specific, mood psychopathology in offspring.

Read the full article here.

Treatment of Depression in Adults Should Consider Children

Physicians and other health care professionals who treat adults with depression also should consider the effects of the illness on their patients' children, according to a new report from the National Research Council and the Institute of Medicine. “Depression interferes with quality of parenting and puts children of all age levels at risk for poor health and development," said Mareasa Isaacs, executive director of the Washington, D.C.-based National Alliance of Multi-Ethnic Behavioral Health Associations. "The message is that it's really important to look at depression as something that affects not only the individual, but the children and other members of the family." (AAFP News, 7/3/09)

The 10 by 10 Campaign - Wellness Update

Volume 7
July 6, 2009
Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS), Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)

Greetings! This is the summer 2009 update on the 10 by 10 Campaign to promote wellness for people with mental illnesses and reduce early mortality by 10 years over the next 10 year time period. In This Issue:

-Guest Columnist
-The truth about madness
-Wellness: What You Need to Know
-Risk: Fatal illness more likely in bipolar patients
-Mood disorders common in polycystic ovary syndrome
-Moving nation from sick care toward wellness care
-General exercise guidelines for people with disabilities
-Depression in cancer patients: inquire or don’t, but be concerned
-Studies try to tease apart the links between depression and hearth disease
-Social rejection linked with pain in depresses patients
-Poor mental health, asthma risk linked?
-Loneliness as harmful as smoking and obesity, say scientist
-Happenings All Over the Country
-Spread the Word
-An active campaigner for the Pledge for Wellness
-Quotes-of-the-Month

(To read the newsletter, click here.)

Schizophrenia Linked to Higher Risk of Dying From Cancer

From HealthDay News

Cancer is the second leading cause of death for people with schizophrenia, after suicide, a new French study reports. Researchers from the University of Reims in France found that people with schizophrenia die from cancer at four times the rate of the general population, making it the second leading cause of death in that group. The study, published online in Cancer, said that doctors should pay closer attention to cancer prevention and early detection in people with schizophrenia. Lung cancer was a leading killer among men, possibly due to the high rate of smoking in the group. Among women, the risk of dying from breast cancer was significantly higher than in the general population. The higher death rate might be due to several factors, including a delay in diagnosis and less compliance to treatment. (HealthDay News, 6/23/09)

Frontline: The New Asylums

Note: This program was aired in 2005, but is worth watching.

PBS Frontline: POV

Fewer than 55,000 Americans currently receive treatment in psychiatric hospitals. Meanwhile, almost 10 times that number -- nearly 500,000 -- mentally ill men and women are serving time in U.S. jails and prisons. As sheriffs and prison wardens become the unexpected and often ill-equipped caretakers of this burgeoning population, they raise a troubling new concern: Have America's jails and prisons become its new asylums?

In "The New Asylums," FRONTLINE goes deep inside Ohio's state prison system to explore the complex and growing issue of mentally ill prisoners. With unprecedented access to prison therapy sessions, mental health treatment meetings, crisis wards, and prison disciplinary tribunals, the film provides a poignant and disturbing portrait of the new reality for the mentally ill.

Watch the full program here.

Media Opportunity: Depression Stories Wanted

From NAMI National:

A reporter working on a story about major depression would like to speak with someone who lives with depression and can share his or her candid experiences about how family helped them work through their depression. Specifically, she is interested in someone who can give examples of steps a person can take to ask their loved ones for help. For this story she cannot consider candidates with bipolar disorder.

Please send your name, phone number and a brief description of your experience (250 words or less) to Christine Armstrong. NAMI will not release any personal information to the media without your explicit consent.

Great Falls woman shares pain of suicide to help others

Cynde Jacobsen shared the story of her husband's suicide on a Great Falls news broadcast this week. She is a Center for Mental Health Foundation Board Member and longtime mental health advocate. Watch the video here. Cynde will be a keynote speaker at tomorrow's Beautiful Minds walk.