A member of the Mental Illness Fellowship of Australia
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A member of the Mental Illness Fellowship of Australia |
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The current MIFACT Newsletter is sent to members bi-monthly and is not posted here on the 'Newsletters' page until the end of the month. For information on becoming a member please see the 'Membership' page. March 2007 How To Engage Your MP: Special Meeting 26 February 2007 - Our President, Ian Morison, introduced and welcomed Rob Knowles, National President, Mental Illness Fellowship of Australia, who spoke regarding the best tactics and protocols in order to lobby political parties prior to the Federal election. Rob stressed the need to initiate the campaign early in regard to our needs and concerns. He then detailed the correct procedures to approach politicians. However, he stated that we must not assume that the relevant politicians have an understanding of mental illness and its implications and stressed the importance of using our experiences to reinforce our demands for better service. So personalising our letters and responses to the relevant politicians is useful but it is also important to be clear about precisely what we want and need them to do. How Anti-Psychotic Drugs Cause Weight Gain: Johns Hopkins University Researchers uncover cause of anti-psychotic related weight gain - Johns Hopkins University brain scientists have announced that they understand how and why some of the anti-psychotic drugs used for treating schizophrenia cause patients to frequently gain significant weight which may lead to life threatening complications such as diabetes and heart disease. In a press release from Johns Hopkins University it states: "We've now connected a whole class of anti-psychotics to natural brain chemicals that trigger appetite," says Solomon H. Snyder, M.D., Professor of Neuroscience at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. "Our identification of the molecular players that link such drugs to increased food intake means there's now hope for finding a newer generation of drugs without the weight gain side effects." Picking the difference: drug-induced v ‘primary’ psychosis - A research team at Columbia University, New York, has drawn attention to the importance of being able to pick the difference between a substance-induced psychosis and a primary psychotic disorder, because these two disorders require fundamentally different approaches to treatment. They believe that clinicians could more easily distinguish patients with substance induced psychosis from those with primary psychotic disorder if they took into account family history, premorbid functioning, and insight. Growing recognition of cannabis - schizophrenia link - Past issues of this Newsletter have supported education campaigns in schools on the dangers of marijuana. From personal observation of its effect on our children many Fellowship members knew it could trigger schizophrenia. That belief was supported a few years ago by the work of the Neuroscience Institute of Schizophrenia and Allied Diseases (NISAD). Dr Vaughn Carr of NISAD, in a public address in Canberra in 2005, explained that the incomplete process for protective nerve sheathing (myelination) left the brains of young people up to the age of 25 open to the triggering of schizophrenia if they smoked cannabis. February 2007 President’s Report: Borderline Cases - The ACT border does not seem to impede movement across it to access medical services. Except for cases of mental illness. A member of MIFACT recently found the border lays down a legal and administrative minefield against the continuing care of her daughter. This was not always the case. Crossborder mental health worked well in the past, when a Canberra resident who needed it could be taken to Goulburn for treatment at Kenmore Psychiatric Hospital. Football tackles schizophrenia and depression - An Italian psychiatrist is obtaining startling results with patients suffering from schizophrenia and depression by enlisting them in a competitive football team. Mauro Raffaeli trains his players, many of whom cannot work and are on psychiatric medication, twice a week on a pitch on the outskirts of Rome. Of the 80 who have passed through the ranks since the team formed in 1993, over half have cut down their drug intake, but more importantly, more than half have returned to work. “Drugs you can often never get rid of, but reintegrating into society is as important,” he said. Feinstein Institute and Cold Spring Harbor Lab join forces, seek manic depression genes - Psychiatry and genetics researchers tackle the genetics of early-onset bipolar disorder in children and adolescents. GLEN OAKS, NY - Psychiatric researchers from The Zucker Hillside Hospital campus of The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research announced today they have launched a collaborative research project spearheaded by James Watson, PhD, the co-discoverer of the DNA double helix, and a team of researchers at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) to identify key genetic underpinnings of bipolar disorder (BPD), a mental illness that is known to run in families. Expected to last two to three years, the study will focus on early-onset BPD and will involve children with the illness and their parents. Early schizophrenia onset worsens disease course - It has been implied by previous studies that patients with an earlier age at onset and who are male have a worse course of schizophrenia than other patients. However, it is not clear when these factors are most relevant. In order to compare the age of first hospitalization and patient gender with the course of hospitalization, Jonathan Rabinowitz, from Bar Han University in Ramat Gan, Israel, and colleagues, followed up 12,071 first admissions for schizophrenia between 1978 and 1992 through to 1996 using information from the National Psychiatric Hospitalization Case Registry of the State of Israel. Pot linked strongly to mental illness - The use of cannabis, particularly among young people, substantially increases the risk of mental illness and worsens existing mental health conditions, a major report has found. The report, released today by former Australian Federal Police commissioner Mick Palmer, analysed the growing body of evidence of the long suspected link between marijuana use and mental disorders. Where There’s Smoke: Cannabis and Mental Health, by the Mental Health Council of Australia, said the drug’s dangers were underestimated and called for an education campaign. The research found cannabis use could trigger psychosis in some people and could induce schizophrenia in those with family histories of mental illness. December 2006 President’s Report: Trial by Christmas - Why is Christmas a difficult time? I think it’s because Queen Victoria and Prince Albert gave a family focus to the festive season by bringing the Christmas tree into our great-grand-parents’ living rooms. Their ‘Victorian’ Christmas took off as a time for families to come together for happy celebration, exchange of presents and burial of past hurts and disagreements. Its approach has become an anxious time of buying and preparing, with no guarantee about those disagreements. The ‘secret’ list of ACT Psychologists and GPs: Did shortage of health funds keep patients from the help they needed? - Readers will remember a few years back when the Commonwealth Government announced that people with a mental illness who would benefit from consulting a psychologist, and who could not afford to pay for private consultations, could have Medicare-subsidised access to a psychologist, through a GP, for a limited number of visits a year. It transpired that not all GPs and psychologists were involved in the scheme, only those who had agreed to participate. And the catch was: nobody knew who they were - and nobody could find out. As a result, the great bulk of the money that had been provided to finance the scheme was not used, but handed back to the government, so to speak. The suggestion was that lack of interest was the cause for the opportunity not being taken up. Letter to the Editor: Rehab trainees could benefit from government co-contributions to retirement savings accounts - People on limited incomes, such as clients of the Fellowship’s rehabilitation programs and others who are working part-time to supplement their disability pensions, may be interested to know about Retirement Savings Accounts (RSA) with the Commonwealth Bank and the Commonwealth Government’s Co-contribution Scheme. The scheme is now in its third year, and was introduced to encourage low income-earners to save towards their retirement, but I’ve found not many people know this. November 2006 President’s Report - The message from many quarters is that we must develop community based centres if we are to improve access by vulnerable people to a range of treatment services to relieve pressure on specialist psychiatric wards. The latest consultation on the ACT Mental Health Services Plan has asked the ACT Government to fund a two-year pilot project to establish ‘Step-up, Stepdown’ centres to complement hospitalised treatment. The Mental Health Council of Australia’s recent Smart Services Report describes how the concept is working in Victoria, where the Department of Human Services has developed a model of Prevention and Recovery Care (PARC). The aim is to divert vulnerable people from the hospital option (Step-up) and give support to those who have been in hospital to promote their recovery (Step-down). Psychiatric patients in Trieste haven’t looked back since a blue horse led the way out of the asylum - When a blue horse led a parade of mental health staff out of Trieste’s enormous asylum in the early 1970s, it marked the beginning of a new era of community-based mental health care that has never looked back and has become known the world over. The blue horse? Shaped like a horse and painted blue, it was a representation of the laundry horse - the only thing, so people said, that ever got out of the asylum - and from then on, an important and enduring symbol of freedom that continues to enjoy pride of place in full public view in the city. Senator Lyn Allison, who chaired the Senate Select Committee on Mental Health, told a Public Meeting of MIFACT in October that the asylum had housed 1200 people. ‘It was nice,’ she said. ‘It had gardens and views, but once you came in, you didn’t go out. You were there for life.’ When the doors of the asylum were opened, people did not pour out into the streets; they left slowly. But the standard practice became an open door policy where people were free to come and go. Book Review: Untold Stories by Alan Bennett - Alan Bennett’s highly praised Untold Stories is a collection of sketches, the first of which has the same title. It is autobiographical, and gives the best portrayal of a depressed woman I’ve yet read. It is candid, intelligent and at times very funny, a story in which his mother’s mental illness is its strongest theme. She was about 50 when it started in the 1950s, recurring over 10 years. October 2006 A time to reflect on what sort mental health service we want - During September, a number of meetings and consultations took place with carers, consumers and community organisations on the future of mental health services in the ACT, and more broadly, Australia. In the absence overseas of our President, Ian Morison, as Vice-President I (Maureen Hickman) represented MIFACT at these meetings. My report on the KPMG consultlations on Page 1 of this newsletter reflected the level of deep concern among carers about a system which many have thought, for a long time, is not working. Although it may give the impression that everyone has had a bad experience with the current system, this is not the case. Family Services unveils plans on how COAG mental health money will be used - It was the ACT’s turn on September 20 in an Australia-wide series of meetings with representatives of the Department of Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs to find out how the money, approved by COAG for mental health, will be allocated. Although funds will also be spent through other departments on ancillary services such as housing, funding for three crucial areas - respite care, personal helpers and mentors, and community-based programs - were the focus of this meeting. PSU celebrates opening of patients' gym - The ACT Minister for Health, Katy Gallagher, officially opened a small gym, named a ’Healthy Living Space’, for patients at the Psychiatric Services Unit at The Canberra Hospital on 28 September. Schizophrenia: Does medication make any difference to the outcome? - The negative symptoms associated with schizophrenia are eventually most disabling and hinder a person from taking part in life again. This is the view of Professor Richard Warner from the University of Colorado USA, whose research has indicated that medications, while they may ameliorate the positive symptoms that are the most distressing for the patient, have not made a great deal of difference to outcomes. Professor Warner, who spoke at a recent conference on schizophrenia in Perth, told Norman Swan during a subsequent interview on the ABC Health Report, that his interest in the natural course of schizophrenia began when he looked at what outcomes from schizophrenia had been like before there were any specialised medications available. What he found turned out to be rather different from what he had thought, he said. September 2006 President's Report - Various local groups like MIFACT have evolved over the last two decades to provide a range of community-based services - supported by volunteers - for people affected by mental illness. There is now a real prospect that properly funded services will be achieved through a significant Commonwealth commitment to develop and extend those services. Community-based mental health groups have grown from the ground up. They were afforded top-down representation with the launching of the Mental Health Council of Australia in the late 1990s, followed by local action to launch equivalent state/territory peak organisations. In the ACT, the Mental Health Community Coalition (MHCC) is the common point of reference for community-based mental health groups and associated service providers. Education is the key to beating stigma and ignorance - When Margy Wylde-Browne and her colleagues with Mental Illness Education ACT (MIEACT) talk to school children about mental illness the response is not boredom or indifference. Rather, she says, the children express ‘amazement at the courage of people to share their stories’. Margy Wylde-Browne, Executive Officer of MIEACT told a public meeting of the Fellowship in August that education about mental illness is not confined to school children. It goes much further afield. Major initiative targets mental illness in young people - One million young people in Australia between the ages of 12 and 25 currently need access to mental health services in Australia, but only a quarter of these receive help. These statistics prompted the Commonwealth government to launch a major new initiative, announced in July, to tackle early identification and integrated treatment for young people, because the teens and early adulthood are when most mental health problems begin. More evidence that cannabis is associated with the development of schizophrenia - A major conference on schizophrenia in Perth WA in August heard about the role or cannabis in the development of schizophrenia from an international authority on the subject. Later, Professor Robin Murray, of the Maudsley Hospital in London, spoke to Dr Norman Swan, on the ABC Radio National Health Report about the evidence that has been gathering pace since a now-famous study of 50,000 Swedish conscripts found that the biggest predictor of whether someone would develop schizophrenia was whether or not they used cannabis. In his interview with Norman Swan, Professor Murray said when the follow-up was done in 1987, 15 years later, cannabis was the biggest predictor for schizophrenia, and was particularly high for those people who admitted taking cannabis on more than 50 occasions. August 2006 Book Review: Inside Madness by Melissa Sweet - This is a good read and is well researched. It is the intriguing story of the murder in 2002 of Margaret Tobin, the Director of Mental Health in South Australia. As the eldest child in a large immigrant Irish Catholic family, Margaret Tobin grew up in modest circumstances in suburban Melbourne. She became a trained psychiatrist in the public system, where she observed gross mistreatment of the seriously mentally ill. Behaving badly has a disorder to call its own:
Ever-growing list of mental illnesses met by scepticism - When researchers announced that 16
million Americans who fly into occasional
fits of unwarranted rage may
suffer from a mental illness called
"intermittent explosive disorder or
IED," the diagnosis drew its share of
hoots and howls.
"Your grandmother would say these
are bad folks who can't control their
temper, and she would be right," said
Dr. E. Fuller Torrey, an outspoken
schizophrenia expert alarmed by the
ever-expanding list of behaviours and
attitudes branded as illnesses.
Torrey and other critics point to the
volume that doctors use to determine
mental illness, the Diagnostic and Statistical
Manual of Mental Disorders
(DSM), as evidence that the world is
out of control. When it was first published in 1952,
the DSM identified about 100 official July 2006 President's Report - There was little in the recent ACT Budget for non-government mental health service organisations to feel happy about, despite the promise of Commonwealth funding for new community-based initiatives. The best piece of news was Chief Minister Stanhope’s confirmation on TV (in reply to a reporter’s question) that his government will match the national contribution. Letter from the new ACT Health Minister - ACT’s new Minister for Health, Katy Gallagher, in a recent letter to MIFACT President, Ian Morison, said the ACT Mental Health Services Plan, expected later this year, would identify current and future needs for ‘the full range’ of mental health services in the ACT. It would also recommend who, among government, community and private sector, would be best-placed to deliver such services. Details of the consultation process for the plan would be made known ‘in the near future’. Federal Government commitment to mental health: The $1.9 billion and how it’s going to be spent - ACT Senator Gary Humphries told a public meeting of the Mental Illness Fellowship in June ‘he felt privileged’ to serve of the Senate Select Committee on Mental Health, of which he was Vice-Chairman. ‘People’s stories were aweinspiring,’ he said. ‘In mental health, the level of effort falls far short of need, compared with any other area of government [responsibility] in Australia. ‘It is an indictment that we have failed to fill that gap.’ Senator Humphries said that in an environment where public awareness - as well as government awareness - of this was rising, the Senate needed to influence the debate on this ‘major national problem’ in time for the COAG meeting later this month. ‘It is an indictment that we have failed to fill that gap.’ Mental Illness: Four good books - About one per cent of Australians has schizophrenia and one per cent has bipolar disorder, once called manic depression. It is very likely that some time in your life a relative, or friend, or someone you know, will suffer from one of these illnesses. If you are unlucky, you yourself might suffer one of them. What can you do about it? The answer used to be not a lot. The four best books I have come across during the past 10 years deal with the still mysterious illnesses of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder from different viewpoints. June 2006 MIFACT President named Volunteer of the Year - Ian Morison, MIFACT President, was named ACT Volunteer of the Year in the area of Health at a ceremony at the Museum of Australia in May. The award was made by Volunteering ACT, whose Chief Executive described Ian as having been ‘instrumental in changing community attitudes towards mental illness’. Dentistry and music are a part of good mental health - In last month’s newsletter, Doris Kordes reported on a talk at the Fellowship's monthly public meeting in April by Dr John Diamond, an Australian psychiatrist and holistic physician, who now lives and works in New York. A note at the end of Doris’s report said that other treatments for mental illness which he touched on in his talk would be published in the June newsletter. Here they are. May 2006 President's Report - In early April, The Executive Officer of MIFACT and I attended a three-day Board meeting of the Mental Illness Fellowship of Australia (MIFA) in Perth, with representatives of all the mainland states and territories. MIFA is a member of the peak national body, the Mental Health Council of Australia, and regularly raises issues directly with the Commonwealth Government. One item of particular interest on the agenda at this meeting concerned the legal implications where clinicians fail to share relevant information with carers. Another was the national roll-out of two demonstration projects: one is to reduce the impact of mental disorders on individuals and families; the other is to provide appropriate supports to enable people with a mental disorder to hold a place in open employment. People with a mental illness need most of all to feel safe - When was the last time you left a meeting in the Canberra mental health community sector with a smile on your face? And when was the last time you sang Italian opera? Or sang all the words to that famous Australian advertising jingle, ‘I love Aeroplane Jelly’, at a formal, public meeting? The audience of 80 people who attended Dr John Diamond’s talk on 12 April, including ACT MLA Dr Deb Foskey, experienced all this and more. For a topic as serious as mental illness, it was both unusual and heart-warming to hear so much laughter during Dr Diamond’s one-hour talk that was followed by half an hour of questions from the audience. Well Ways: Carers learn to care for themselves as well as others - Well Ways, developed in Victoria, is a program designed to increase the capacity of families, carers and friends to care effectively for themselves and other family members, including those living with mental illness. Through the efforts of MIFA, funding has become available to make the program available outside Victoria as well. The program aims to provide a broad and sensitive perspective to the many issues facing families as they manage the impact of mental illness on their lives. Research Supplement Deficits in social cognition in schizophrenia may explain misreading of facial expressions in others - Deficits in social cognition may be the reason why people with schizophrenia misread facial expressions. This lack of social cognition could be an explanation for the emotional ‘blunting’, or lack of empathy, shown by people with schizophrenia - one of the most disturbing behavioural aspects of the illness reported by those who care for them. Ongoing research at the University of Newcastle has revealed that schizophrenia subjects and their family members exhibit abnormal scan paths when viewing emotionally expressive face images. It is these anomalies that suggest a possible link to deficits in social cognition. Customs software is re-training people to develop normal facial scanning skills - Facial recognition software used around the world to train Customs Officers how to identify suspicious travelers is providing an exciting breakthrough treatment for the symptoms described in the article above, i.e. misinterpreting the emotions and facial expressions of others. A pilot study by Drs Tamara Russell and Melissa Green at the University of Newcastle has shown that people with schizophrenia can be retrained to develop normal facial scanning skills. Misinterpreting the emotions and facial expressions of others (e.g. seeing anger where there is joy) is one of the most socially debilitating symptoms of schizophrenia caused by an inability to properly scan and read subtle facial expressions. Increase in dietary fatty acids may help cannabis users cope with stress - Abnormally low levels of omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids are associated with schizophrenia. Omega-6 fatty acids are found in cereals, eggs, poultry, most vegetable oils, whole-grain breads, baked goods and margarine. Omega-3 are found in oily cold-water fish and fresh seaweed. These essential polyunsaturated fatty acids play an important role in neural membrane structure and function, influencing the activity of a range of chemical signalling systems in the brain. A preliminary study at the University of Wollongong has investigated the relationship between fatty acids, cannabis use and stress in people with schizophrenia. Scientists find link with schizophrenia and autoimmune disorders - Results of a study published in the March 2006 issue of the American Journal of Psychiatry suggest an association between schizophrenia and a large range of autoimmune diseases. According to researchers at the Johns Hopkins University, Maryland, USA, individuals with schizophrenia and their relations tend to have either higher or lower than expected prevalences of autoimmune disorders, especially rheumatoid arthritis, coeliac disease, autoimmune thyroid diseases, and Type 1 diabetes. In a large epidemiological study, the researchers examined the association between schizophrenia and a range of such diseases. Cannabis psychosis strongly linked with the later development of schizophrenia - Almost half of patients treated for a cannabis-related mental disorder go on to develop a schizophrenic illness, a Danish study has suggested. The study, published in the British Journal of Psychiatry, found one third of them developed paranoid schizophrenia. The researchers said that cannabis users showed signs of schizophrenia earlier than others with the illness. Although cannabis use has been linked with schizophrenia, this is one of the few studies that has looked at people with drug-induced symptoms. The research team, from Aarhus Psychiatric Hospital, obtained information on 535 patients treated for cannabis induced psychotic symptoms from the Danish Psychiatric Register, who were then followed for three years. New antipsychotic drugs: Clinicians still find it hard to choose the right medication for each patient - A recent review of the relative efficacy/safety of the newer antipsychotic drugs to treat schizophrenia has revealed that clinicians are still finding it a struggle to choose the optimally effective medication for an individual patient. Earlier work has compared the so called new-generation medications to traditional antipsychotics and until recently there was very little published information on the relative efficacy/safety of the former. April 2006 President's Report - At our February Public Forum Paul Morrison invited us to consider the meaning of the story “Plato’s Cave” (see Page 2 of the March Newsletter). To my mind this dark little story signifies a universal human condition - the struggle to master our underlying fears and move on. For anyone who has to cope with the disorienting effects of a mental illness, in self or a loved one, the darkness and chains of Plato’s Cave make those fears horribly real. Hopes are dashed, draining our reserves of optimism and courage. Guilt and grief put carers themselves at risk of illness - Caring for a mentally ill adult child usually comes at huge social and economic costs to the carer and may also come at a physical cost. Doris Kordes told a public meeting of the Mental Illness Fellowship in March her research indicated that being a carer could affect the immune system, which can become prematurely aged as a result of the caring experience, accelerating the risk of a “host of aged-related diseases”. The burden of caring for someone with schizophrenia also produced in the carer not only physical illnesses, but psychiatric problems and sleep disorders, she said. Among carers of adult children with a psychiatric illness she interviewed in Canberra, a number identified themselves as consumers also, and two as ‘secondary consumers’, that is, they had developed anxiety and depressive disorders as a consequence of their role as carers. Carer’s Stories: This is Andrea’s story - I can't remember when my son first showed signs of Bipolar Disorder as I was ignorant of any early signs associated with a mental illness. My husband and I were kept very busy running our own business and raising seven children. By the time his illness raged out of control we had all been thrown into the deep end of crisis after crisis. March 2006 President's Report - The National Cannabis Strategy consultation paper, developed by the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre for the Ministerial Council on Drug Strategy, has a strong leaning toward a law and order approach. Forum hears stories of hope, optimism and courage - Stories of hope and optimism characterised the Fellowship’s February Public Forum facilitated by Professor Paul Morrison. The subject itself - Pathways to Recovery - encompassed all aspects of the process: physical, spiritual, mental, emotional, and the support needed to gain strength on the road back to a better life. Housing must match different needs: MIFACT - No size fits all when it comes to housing people with a mental illness. MIFACT President, Ian Morison, and Executive Officer, Bernette Redwood, spelt out this message when they appeared before the ACT Legislative Assembly’s Standing Committee on Health and Disability in February. Referring to the current scarcity of public housing generally, they said one of the most pressing needs in Canberra is the provision of ‘hostel’ type accommodation, where people who cannot look after themselves to any great extent can enjoy the privacy of their own room, share living space with others, and be provided with meals and housekeeping support. Depressed? Fish oil could help you - A study is under way at Sydney’s Black Dog Institute among people aged 21 to 65 with mild to moderate depression to see if fish oil supplements rich in Omega-3 fatty acids could help them. February 2006 Fellowship’s new Executive Officer begins work - Bernette Redwood, MIFACT’s recently appointed Executive Officer, has been working in the field of mental health for about 30 years. She says that she enjoys the work because, for one thing, she hopes she might make “a bit of difference”. President's Report - Will we soon see a blueprint for fundamental reforms to our Mental Health system? For the first time ever, mental health has reached the agenda of the Council of Australian Governments, and the Prime Minister is expected to put forward major changes when it meets on 10 February. That blueprint needs to carry through the stalled reforms that began 20 years ago when asylums closed but no complementary investment was made in community support services. Over that period support groups like CSF/MIFACT and its sister bodies around Australia have helped to educate the community in facing the facts of mental illness. Meanwhile, the in-patient psychiatric wards have remained remote and difficult to access, with very short periods of treatment that provide no scope for their former therapeutic activities. Café Pazzini geared up for another good year - Big things have been happening at Café Pazzini as it’s been getting ready for its second year of trading under new management. A training program for a government accredited course, in planning for six months, is due to begin. December 2005 UCLA schizophrenia genetics discoveries - In new research that helps to reveal the nature of schizophrenia at the cellular level, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) scientists report the discovery of unique DNA sequence variations associated with increased risk for schizophrenia, impairments in short-term and long-term memory, and other cognitive deficits. November 2005 Reducing duration of untreated psychosis improves outcome - The duration of untreated psychosis appears to be a potentially modifiable factor, predicting the likelihood and extent of recovery from an initial episode of schizophrenia, a review of the current literature confirms. New research suggests a biological basis of hallucinations - Hallucinations are a common symptom of schizophrenia. A relatively new theory proposes that hallucinations and psychotic behaviour are the result of the uncoupling of sensory input from perception. "Calm and Humane" are the watchwords for Memphis police dealing with mental illness in the community - In the CSF Newsletter of February 2005, there was a report on the Memphis Police Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) of specially trained officers to deal with people who are mentally ill and so avoid the sort of confrontation, which, in the US (and in Australia), has too often ended in a shooting. October 2005 Transient psychotic disorder and schizophrenia - Schizophrenia can often be confused with other disorders such as bipolar disorder or with an acute and transient psychotic disorder. Old and newer antipsychotic drugs both effective but have same high drop-out rate - The largest study yet conducted comparing old generation and newer 'atypical' medications found that both are comparably effective. However, both are also associated with a high rate (74 per cent) of discontinuation by consumers due to side-effects or incomplete control of symptoms. Fish oil supplements can help depression - Sydney's Black Dog Institute at the University of NSW is recruiting people with mild to moderate depression to assess whether fish oil supplements containing Omega-3 fatty acids can help. Medication is not enough to get back on 'the pathway of life' - Linda Rosie, Executive Officer of the Mental Health Community Coalition, the peak mental health body in the ACT, knows what people with a mental illness need, because she knows it works. September 2005 Is research getting closer to explaining psychotic behaviour? - An international team working on the "super-sensitivity" of many people with schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders to the powerful neurotransmitter dopamine, may be on track to explaining the basis of psychotic behaviour. Biological test for schizophrenia? - Key research from the University of New South Wales could lead to the first early diagnostic tool for schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Currently there is no biological test for either. Metabolic side-effects of antipsychotics are known but rarely monitored - Psychiatrists are doing only a "modest" job of monitoring for weight gain, diabetes and other metabolic problems that may result from use of the newer antipsychotics for schizophrenia. Parental rights not recognised - Lack of recognition by the health care and legal systems of primary caregivers' responsibilities for a person with schizophrenia has adverse consequences for their own health. August 2005 Letters to the Editor - 10 good reasons to support schizophrenia research. Why imaginary voices tend to be male - The BBC News reported on the auditory verbal hallucinations that people with schizophrenia very commonly experience. Specifically, they reported that these "voices" (as they are commonly referred to) are typically male. SANE HelpLine facts and figures - More than 16,000 Helpline calls were received in 2004. Equal numbers of calls were from people with a mental illness and carers (around 45% each), with the remainder coming from health workers and others. Three-quarters of calls were from females. July 2005 Cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) as early treatment of schizophrenia - When schizophrenia is detected and treated early, through the evidence-based use of drug treatments, family interventions and cognitive behaviour therapy, the prospect of an improved outcome is increased. New drug may reduce alcohol intake - A clinical study in the United States suggests that a new drug treatment which rapidly reduces alcohol intake could have potential in treating people suffering from the dual diagnosis of schizophrenia and alcohol dependence. Don't keep complaints to yourself - Sheelah Egan, a past president of the CSF, has reminded us recently that the only way we can improve services for mentally ill people in the ACT is to complain to the right authorities when things go wrong. Helping someone with mental illness - A new brochure from ACT Health provides tips and advice on helping a colleague or friend cope with mental illness. June 2005 Brain research may lead to rewriting DSM criteria - As neuroscientists, geneticists and pharmacologists get to find out more about the How and Why of schizophrenia as a brain disease, the DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) - the psychiatrists' bible - will most likely have to be written again. Get people into work (of their choice) quickly, urges Gary Bond - The rates of unemployment among people with mental illness in Australia are abysmally low compared with many other counties and could be turned around, given coordinated support from families, mental health services, employers and government. May 2005 Cannabis-based drugs result in unexpected psychotic effects - Cannabis-based drugs, being used in a controlled experiment to investigate their therapeutic value for a number of physical illnesses, have had the unexpected effect of causing psychotic experiences in some of the subjects. Schizophrenia risk is greatest for city dwellers - The risk of developing schizophrenia is up to three times higher among those who live in cities compared with rural areas. People affected by mental illness can work and want to work - Professor Gary Bond, US psychologist and protagonist for the many out-of-work people marginalised from the workforce because of mental illness, believes that their world could be different given support from families, employers and government. April 2005 President's Report - A Senate Select Committee has been appointed to inquire into the provision of mental health services in Australia. Who or what is responsible for the media's negative reporting of mental illness? - This was the question posed by psychologist and educator Professor Paul Morrison at the March public meeting of the Canberra Schizophrenia Fellowship. Letters to the Editor - Getting mentally ill people into the workforce. March 2005 What does “recovery” mean? - When I first saw the ACT Mental Health Strategy and Plan, I was surprised at the emphasis on the word “recovery”. I thought that the concept of a positive attitude was excellent. However, when the idiosyncratic use of the word was explained to me, I was worried how the use of the word would affect community attitudes and the self-esteem of people with chronic schizophrenia, schizo-affective disorder and bipolar disorder. I was fearful that they would be seen as “failures” because they continued to have symptoms. Better general health for people with mental illness - A pilot project to be run over 12 months by the ACT City Mental Health Service aims to improve the general health of people with mental illness through improving their access to GPs. Dealing with unfinished business - One of our members, Jenny Holmes, has passed on her commendation of the book Emotional Resilience: Simple Truths for Dealing with the Unfinished Business of your Past by David Viscott, MD. The book is available at the ACT Library. Children’s lunch-time behaviour may be a predictor of schizophrenia - A Danish study which looked at the behaviour of school children while eating their lunch has found that certain behaviours may be predictive of schizophrenia in later life. February 2005 Memphis police set an example on handling crisis situations - At the recent coronial inquiry into the death of Mark Kaufmann, a young Melbourne man with schizophrenia shot dead by police after threatening his father with knives in January 2002, the Coroner expressed his concerns about many aspects of his death. Dealing with paranoia - My son has been hearing voices for years and during that time I have learned the lesson of not disputing the fact that he can hear them. When his medication is working well, the voices, at least, are not terrifying or hurtful. December 2004 Saving teenagers in the danger zone - The gap between early onset of schizophrenia and diagnosis can be as long as two years due largely to parents not recognising that their son or daughter is unwell. Social exclusion may be major factor in cannabis and alcohol misuse - A recent study has suggested that young people experiencing social exclusion may be more likely to misuse substances such as cannabis and alcohol and put themselves at risk of developing mental disorders. Refurbishments under way in PSU - Extensive internal changes are being made to the physical structure of the Psychiatric Services Unit at The Canberra Hospital to improve the functioning of the unit, as well as the safety and security for both staff and patients. November 2004 Patients and their psychiatrists may have different goals - Although people with schizophrenia and doctors agree on the top goals of treatment such as improved overall happiness, improved mental health and reduced feelings of depression, they differ in the importance of other goals. Panel members reveal their highs and lows on the road to survival - Two carers of family members with schizophrenia and two clients with bi-polar disorder spoke openly to the October 2004 public meeting of the CSF during Mental Health Week about how their lives were changed by mental illness and how they have coped since. October 2004 Reading facial expressions difficult for those with schizophrenia - A recent study, the results of which were published in a leading psychiatric journal, focused on how people make social judgments based on facial expressions in others. Antipsychotics and diabetes: why the link? - Although diabetes has been associated with schizophrenia for over 100 years, the problem has increased in recent times since the newer antipsychotic mediations have been shown to be associated with insulin resistance and diabetes. September 2004 Mental health in Australia “a tragic tale of medical neglect and community indifference” - The treatment of mentally ill people in Australia is often a tragic tale of medical neglect and community indifference, the result of failure by State government services to deliver proper care. Therapy with Psychologists - The CSF public meeting in August 2004 heard from psychologist Harold Bilboe about a scheme that allows people with a mental disorder to have up to six free private therapy sessions with a clinical psychologist. This was good news for those who would like to talk to a health professional about how to manage their condition. Cannabis use linked with earlier onset of schizophrenia - The age at which the first episode of schizophrenia occurs in is strongly linked with cannabis use, according to a study published in March 2004 in the American Journal of Psychiatry. Out of the asylum, into the cell - A new report by Human Rights Watch has found that US prisons contain three times more mentally ill people than psychiatric hospitals. August 2004 Learning to listen - At the CSF public meeting in July 2004, we uncovered reasons for not being good listeners, the first step in learning to be of help to anyone we care about, whether they have a mental illness or not. Carers group aims to keep families connected - The ACT Carers Association, through its project Keeping Families Connected, is helping parents and siblings of young people with a dual diagnosis i.e. a mental illness combined with alcohol and inappropriate or illicit drug use. July 2004 Majority of schizophrenia sufferers not on medication - More than half of the people who need drugs to control their schizophrenia are not taking their medication as prescribed, leaving them vulnerable to further illness and leading to higher costs of hospitalisation, according to a University of California (San Diego) School of Medicine study. SANE Book of the Year - Richard McLean’s story Recovered, not cured: a journey through schizophrenia has been awarded the SANE Book of the Year 2004. The book presents, in words and pictures, the author’s experiences of schizophrenia from the first signs of the illness in his late teens through to the present day. Lifestyle factors influence risk of coronary heart disease - A recently published study, which examined the dietary habits of 102 community dwelling people with schizophrenia, found that they carried a significant risk of developing coronary heart disease. Collaborative therapy being piloted in ACT - Collaborative therapy is currently being piloted in the ACT with a view to its introduction some time in the future as a means of providing greater co-ordination of care for ACT Mental Health clients. June 2004 Recovery - In the May 2004 newsletter, an article by Jane MacDonald, reprinted from the Schizophrenia Fellowship of South Queensland Newsletter, describes the course of the illness schizophrenia in her son. As a description of the illness in one person it is interesting, but Jane is not careful to distinguish what is fact and what is her interpretation of events. Cannabis use linked with early disease onset in schizophrenia - (Reuters Health) 12 April 2004 - The use of cannabis is strongly associated with earlier age at first psychotic episode in male patients with schizophrenia, according to results of a small study published in the March issue of the American Journal of Psychiatry. Smell and schizophrenia - On 06 May 2004 the ABC ‘Catalyst’ program had a story on smell and schizophrenia. Can your nose smell the early signs of schizophrenia? According to researchers at the University of Melbourne it can. Lilly wins U.S. approval for injectable form of top-selling Zyprexa - 31 March 2004, Indianapolis (AP) - Eli Lilly and Co. has won federal approval to sell an injectable version of its top-selling antipsychotic Zyprexa, giving doctors a new option to quickly calm agitated patients. Law and illness forum achieved little, says visiting specialist - “Disappointing” was how Dr Xavier Amador, a world renowned specialist on mental illness, described Canberra’s first Mental Health and Law Forum. May 2004 Recovery - It was 20 years ago that my son Alex was admitted to hospital with schizophrenia (in another State and well before deinstitutionalisation was introduced). Review of the power of attorney scheme - Chief Minister and Attorney General, Jon Stanhope, has released an issues paper canvassing options by which the ACT Government could consider changes to the ACT’s legislation for powers of attorney and advance directives for future medical decisions. Wheat intolerance may lead to schizophrenia - Ivanhoe Newswire - A history of gluten intolerance, a hereditary disease that affects thousands of Americans, appears to be a risk factor for schizophrenia, according to a new study. April 2004 Prenatal maternal health linked to schizophrenia in offspring - Schizophrenia may be a “partly preventable” disease in 20 years if high lead levels and infection from both ’flu and rubella can be prevented in pregnant women. March 2004 The Kenmore experience vs today’s free man - Doris Kordes, PhD student at ANU and CSF committee member, spoke to a public meeting of the Fellowship in February 2004 about the research she has been conducting for her doctoral thesis on the changing role of families in the care of people with a mental illness. As an introduction, she reviewed the results of her research about Goulburn’s Kenmore Mental Hospital in the period from 1925 to 1951. Schizoid pathway signalled - A study of mice given psychosis-inducing drugs may provide a valuable new insight into the treatment of schizophrenia. Genes clue to schizophrenia - Research at the Mental Health Research Institute in Parkville, Melbourne, has shown 153 genes that operate differently in the brain’s left frontal cortex of people with schizophrenia when compared with normal controls. Early intervention programs may reduce suicide risk - Research results from a recent Canadian study suggest that a comprehensive early psychosis programs may play a part in reducing the incidence of suicide attempts in patients with recently diagnosed schizophrenia or schizophreniform disorder. February 2004 At risk of schizophrenia? Mistaking smells could be a clue - A person’s ability to correctly identify different smells appears to provide the first reliable diagnostic tool for predicting the likelihood of developing schizophrenia, new research at the University of Melbourne has found. Medication record trial - The Australian Government has begun testing MediConnect:, a new computerised system that will make it easier for you and your health professionals to get accurate information about your medicine quickly and easily. Initially, the system is being tested in Ballarat and Launceston. December 2003 President's Report - The recently incorporated mental health peak body for the ACT - The Mental Health Community Coalition ACT (MHCC of the ACT Inc.), held the inaugural meeting Consumer & Carer Caucus on 20 November 2003. The Caucus will be an opportunity for consumers, family members and friends to voice their collective perspective, which will then be fed to the Board of MHCC. Urgent need for 'timeout' facility for the mentally ill - Canberra Times, 20 November 2003, page 17. "The number of deaths by suicide is unacceptably high", says Brendan Smyth. It is twenty years since David Richmond released his report in NSW that set up the framework to consolidate and plan developments to move mental health away from institutionalisation towards community-based care. SANE Guide for Carers - This Guide is intended to help family and other carers of people who have been seriously affected by mental illness. The Guide explains the importance of dealing with your own reactions to mental illness, and developing a positive attitude to being a carer. It explains the skills, which will help you, help the person you care for to improve their level of recovery. It will also help you find the support which you both need, and to which you are entitled. New Z to A Fact Sheets - Allan Fels launched the Mental Illness Fellowship of Victoria brand new range of Fact Sheets in August 2003. These documents, beautifully presented and illustrated, aim to educate, demystify and support people with a mental illness. Professor Fels, whose daughter has schizophrenia said 'When my daughter was diagnosed we wanted reliable information as quickly as possible'. November 2003 Narrative therapy can be powerful and effective in recovery process - Narrative therapy, a way of getting troubled people to reauthor their own stories about their life experiences and thereby begin to reassess their worth and their power to control their lives, can be an influential and effective therapeutic approach. October 2003 How to help everyone by helping families - 'If a new medication had the same effect as family education, it would probably win a Nobel Prize'. So says Professor William McFarland of Maine in the United States, whose education program for families of people with schizophrenia has won admiration around the world for its results. His comment on the Nobel Prize is not entirely serious, but reflects his conviction that helping families to understand and cope with the effects of mental illness benefits everyone, especially the person with a mental illness. Towards Recovery - Vicserv has produced three volumes in a series on psychiatric rehabilitation. September 2003 Technique discovered to help people with schizophrenia - Melbourne researchers have moved closer to unlocking the secret of why people with schizophrenia hear voices. Using sophisticated brain imaging techniques, researchers can track which parts of the brain are active when people hear voices. Media Release: National Facility for Neuroscience - 07 August 2003 - Potential treatments for brain disorders such as Alzheimer’s and Schizophrenia are a step closer today with the opening of a new world class research centre in Melbourne. Tackling mental disorders early - If psychiatric and behavioural problems are tackled in childhood, New Zealand scientists say up to half of all adult mental disorders could be prevented. August 2003 Recent research on vocational rehabilitation for persons with severe mental illness - This review examined the 2002 literature on vocational services for people with psychiatric disabilities. Diabetes risk may predate antipsychotic treatment - San Francisco (Reuters Health) 20 May 2003 –The risk of developing diabetes after starting antipsychotic therapy for schizophrenia may be due more to pre-treatment risk factors than to the treatment itself, according to Dr. Margaret O. Sowell and colleagues at Eli Lilly and Company. She presented her group’s findings at the156th annual meeting of the American Psychiatric Association. July 2003 Canberra lacks supportive housing - At the CSF June 2003 meeting an open discussion gave rise to strong criticism of the lack of decent options in Canberra’s stock of housing for people who have had treatment for a mental illness. Poor housing options are a serious barrier to a fundamental policy aim - that the rehabilitation of people with a psychiatric disability includes the ability to live independently in the community. June 2003 What happens inside the brain when someone develops a psychosis? - Research over the past 10 years has been providing firm indications that many mental illnesses have their origin in physical changes in the brain. Schizophrenia may be more than a single disease - Schizophrenia may not be one single disease but rather an array of disorders whose psychiatric and cognitive symptoms vary according to which part of the brain is affected and to what degree. Guide to mental illness for children - SANE Australia has produced a guide to mental illness for children whose parents or other close family member may have a mental illness. May 2003 New guidelines for treatment of schizophrenia in Australia and New Zealand - The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists has recently completed a new and updated set of guidelines for the treatment of schizophrenia in both adolescents and adults, in Australia, including first episode psychosis. Consumer version of Clinical Practice Guidelines for Schizophrenia now published - A companion guide for the RANZCP Clinical Practice Guidelines for Schizophrenia has now been completed for consumers and carers. Intended for adults and late adolescents - and their families - when they first begin treatment, the new publication is the work of Professor Patrick McGorry’s CPG multi-disciplinary team in Melbourne with funding from the National Mental Health Strategy and the NZ Health Funding Authority. It was developed with input from consumer consultants and organisations, Schizophrenia Fellowships, and State and Territory Mental Health Branches. April 2003 Official visitors help patients, staff and carers with mental health issues - The three Official Visitors in the ACT involved in sorting out mental health issues- including complaints - are finding an increasing workload as more patients, carers and staff become aware of their role and function. Tips for handling a crisis - When handling a situation where a family member is becoming psychotic, there are some actions that can diminish or avoid the risk of disaster. March 2003 Research throws new light on why our clients smoke so much - It has long been a puzzle to researchers why heavy smoking is so common among people with schizophrenia. This is because the dopamine receptors in the brain, responsible for the pleasurable effects of nicotine, are blocked by anti-psychotic drugs. So where is the pleasure? More bad news on cannabis - Frequent cannabis use increases the risk of developing depression and schizophrenia in later life, according to three recent studies published in the British Medical Journal. Consumers need training in psycho-social skills - People with schizophrenia need to learn how to interact socially with others in the community if they are to adjust to every-day living, according to Linette Bone, a consumer consultant with ACT Mental Health. February 2003 Tips For Coping With Stress - Prepared by Association for Mental Health (Queensland) Inc. Brain stimulation may turn off hallucinations - Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) appears to be a new and safe method of stimulating the brain’s surface using high-intensity magnetic fields. It also appears to offer potential of ‘turning-off’ auditory hallucinations (e.g. hearing voices), a common experience in people with schizophrenia, and one of the most distressing. The Madness of Adam and Eve - The development of schizophrenia in early man may have accounted for the cultural and intellectual leap associated with the emergence of Homo sapiens in Africa between 100,000 and 150,000 years ago. This is the astounding suggestion made by Dr David Horrobin, a British neuroscientist, in his book The Madness of Adam and Eve and reviewed in Focus, the newsletter of the Schizophrenia Fellowship of NSW by Gerald Smith. Living with Schizophrenia - A new video, intended for people with schizophrenia, their families and friends and for health professionals, has been produced by the NSW Schizophrenia Fellowship.
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