Recent research: six studies on prevalence of depression & anxiety, and risk factors for depression, bipolar disorder & suicide
15th January 2009
Here are a couple of studies on the prevalence of depression and anxiety, and four on risk factors for depression, bipolar disorder and suicide. Strine et al report on a major survey of depression and anxiety in the United States. They found "The overall prevalence of current depressive symptoms was …
Handouts & questionnaires for alcohol use disorders
12th January 2009
Here are a series of information and assessment handouts on alcohol. For additional information, note that the blog has a whole series of posts on the crucial importance of lifestyle choices, including how we use or abuse alcohol. Alcohol disorder assessment - two question screen - this is a useful …
Friendship, life planning, & expressing emotions
11th January 2009
Yesterday and today are a check-in time with my friend Larry. I've written in a previous blog post how Larry and I have met every three or four months for many years specifically to review how our lives are going and to plan and prioritize our goals for the next …
Recent research: two papers on mindfulness & four on sleep
8th January 2009
Here are two papers on mindfulness and four on sleep. The Kuyken et al paper is important. It compares mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) with continuation antidepressants in the prevention of relapse in recurrent depression. The results are great - "Relapse/recurrence rates over 15-month follow-ups in MBCT were 47%, compared with …
Handouts & questionnaires for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) - second post
5th January 2009
I posted half a dozen assessment questionnaires for PTSD and intrusive memories a week ago. Here are further handouts and information about intrusive memories, trauma, imagery and PTSD. Flowcharts 1 & 2 (Ehlers & Clark) - here are a couple of Powerpoint slides that - although in colour - print …
The bus driver metaphor
4th January 2009
This blog post on coping with difficult thoughts and feelings is downloadable as both Word and PDF handouts. For further blog posts on "The bus driver metaphor", see "The bus driver is warm-blooded: integrating mindfulness & emotion" and also relevant are "'Naming emotions' is another useful self-regulation & mindfulness strategy" …
Why write about my personal life for the blog?
3rd January 2009
I wrote this entry first in April of last year, but with my mother's illness and my decision to write about it, I felt it made sense to post this again. The aim of this blog is to be helpful - for clients who come to see me, for fellow …
Recent research: three papers on vitamin D, two on weight loss & one on IBS
2nd January 2009
Here's a gutsy, nutritional, low sunlight kind of blog post to suit our post-holiday season. First the gutsy bit. Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) - with its characteristic symptoms of abdominal pain, altered bowel habit, and possibly bloating - is very common, affecting about 15% of the population. Ford et al …
Edie: New year intentions
1st January 2009
Sadness. I woke feeling sad ... aching in my chest and then in my gut. Not awful, just like a dull toothache, or a hurt, a wound. Yesterday when I visited my mother in the Stroke Unit of Liberton Hospital, one of the more senior nurses came up to me …
Handouts & questionnaires for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) - first post
29th December 2008
PLEASE NOTE: This blog post dates back to December 2008. All the questionnaires on this page, updated scoring details for the IES-R, the widely used Posttraumatic Cognitions Inventory, descriptions of how to do "reliving" of the trauma, written accounts, and site visits, as well as a series of other updated …