How Loneliness Affects Our Health
From The New York Times: The potentially harmful impact of loneliness and isolation on our health and well-being have been well documented over the past...
Humor As Effective As Medication in Treating Agitation in Dementia
In "the first major study of the impact of humour therapy on mood, agitation, behavioural disturbances and social engagement in dementia," researchers in Australia...
Antidepressant Use Linked to Dementia
A new study finds that elderly individuals using antidepressants are at significantly higher risk for dementia compared to depressed individuals who did not take the drugs.
Old Dogs Do Have Trouble Learning New Tricks — Can They Teach Us About...
-University of Kentucky's Elizabeth Head discusses her research into learning in elderly beagles who, unlike mice and rats, can seemingly develop dementia like humans.
Why Nutritional Psychiatry is the Future of Mental Health
From The Independent: The role that nutrition can play in improving our mental health is often overlooked. Research suggests that we should devote more resources to dietary...
First Aid for Emotional Trauma
Handout by Will Hall, offered on the Icarus Project website, on what emotional trauma is and how to work to heal it.
Go to "First...
“Coming Out of the Fog”
"For the past eight years, Vicki Dyer has been the program director of the dementia ward at Lakewood, a continuing care centre in Waterville, Me.,...
Sunday FM: Music Therapy Comes to Life in Documentary
A new documentary coming to theatres around the US over the next few months explores Dan Cohen's Music and Memory program and its emotional...
Patient Race Associated with Varied Psychiatric Treatment Experiences
Findings point to association between race and the mental health care experiences of African-American and White veterans.
Antipsychotics for Dementia: Not Justified and Risky
In a study of antipsychotics used to treat 75,445 patients in nursing homes in the United States, researchers from Harvard Medical School, Columbia and...
Senate Amendment Filed to Fight Inappropriate Antipsychotics in Nursing Homes
Senators Chuck Grassley of Iowa, Herb Kohl of Wisconsin and Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut filed an amendment to the Food and Drug Administration Safety...
Older Patients Being Prescribed Risky Anticholinergic Drugs
From MinnPost: A new University of Minnesota study has found that anticholinergic drugs, including antidepressants, continue to be prescribed to millions of older Americans despite...
Antipsychotics Increase Risk of Heart Attack in the Elderly
In a study of 10,969 older patients treated with antipsychotics in Quebec, Canada, researchers found a 2.19 times greater risk of heart attack in...
Drug May Lead to Early Death for People With Alzheimer’s
From The Washington Post: A recent study found that benzodiazepines are associated with a greater chance of early death for those with Alzheimer's.
"Researchers analyzed data on...
Policies to Reduce Antipsychotic use Among Elderly are Failing
Research reveals that rates of antipsychotic prescribing to the elderly in the UK have not dropped despite national recommendations.
Benzos Raise Dementia Risk 50%
A 15-year prospective study, in the British Medical Journal this week, of 1063 subjects by researchers from the University of Bordeaux and Harvard University...
Antipsychotics Increase Mortality Risk in Patients with Parkinson’s Disease
A new study in JAMA Neurology finds that the use of antipsychotic drugs more than doubled the risk of death in patients with Parkinson’s...
Review Reinforces Social Connection as Protective Health Factor
Is a lack of social connection in the US harmful to health? In a review of social connection and health literature, researcher calls for a societal shift in values towards interdependence.
Antidepressant Use Associated with Brain Atrophy and Lesions in Elderly
In a study of 630 elderly Manhattanites without dementia, researchers from the Netherlands found that antidepressant use was associated with significantly more brain atrophy,...
Risk of Death in the Elderly Trebled With Antipsychotics
In a nine-year study of all 2,224 residents of Leppävirta, Finland who were 65 years old or older, researchers found that the 332 residents...
Increased Risk of Movement Disorders From Antipsychotics in Persons with Intellectual Disabilities
Large cohort study demonstrates that those with an intellectual disability are at an increased risk for movement disorder side effects of antipsychotics.
Fewer Antipsychotics, More Nurses Will Improve Care and Save Money in Nursing Homes
The Center for Medicare Advocacy advised yesterday that nursing facilities could realize huge savings by eliminating "inappropriate and life-threatening" antipsychotic drugs. The statement added...
Medical Conditions in the Elderly Often Misdiagnosed as Psychiatric
27 (24%) of 112 geriatric patients admitted consecutively to an inpatient psychiatric unit had delirium from underlying medical conditions that was misdiagnosed as a psychiatric...
Anticholinergic Medications Linked to Dementia Similar to Early Alzheimer’s
A new study, published in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, investigates the effects of anticholinergic medications, such as antidepressants and antipsychotics, on cognition in older adults diagnosed with schizophrenia.
The Mind-Expanding Ideas of Andy Clark
In this piece for The New Yorker, Larissa MacFarquhar profiles the philosopher and cognitive scientist Andy Clark, whose work argues that our minds are inseparable...
