Posts tagged with 'alcohol'
Recent research: 3 studies on internet-delivered therapy, 2 on speed of antidepressant response, and 1 on therapy effectiveness
30th July 2009
Here are three studies (for all abstracts & links see below) highlighting the increasingly encouraging results being reported for internet-delivered psychological interventions. Van't Hof, Cuijpers et al report on " ... a systematic review of meta-analyses on the efficacy of self-help interventions, including internet-guided therapy, for depression and anxiety disorders". …
Recent research: psychologist & doctor impairment & burnout
11th June 2009
"Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?" Juvenal The last-but-one edition of the journal Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice published several articles on psychologist stress and burnout. Interestingly the edition is currently available with full text articles downloadable for free. Smith and Moss review the psychologist impairment literature (see below for all abstracts …
Recent research: six papers relevant to psychotherapy
28th May 2009
Here are six studies relevant to improving psychotherapy outcomes. Brewin et al report on using imagery-based interventions to help people with depressioin. Lydiard et al highlight the importance of sleep-related disturbances as a treatment target in PTSD. McCrady and colleagues show that working with couples rather than just individuals seems …
Recent research: three depression papers that get me thinking
16th April 2009
Looking back over relevant research papers that caught my attention last month, some stand out for me more than the others. Here are three on depression that stood out and got me thinking. The Fergusson et al paper looks at links between alcohol abuse and major depression. There has been …
Preventing cancer through life style choices
12th April 2009
In 2001 the World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) and the American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR) WCRF/AICR set themselves the task of systematically assessing all good research on diet, physical activity and cancer and publishing a report that would be the largest study of its kind with conclusions that would …
Alcohol: know your limits and increase the price
5th April 2009
A recent article in the British Medical Journal (Kmietowicz 2009) reports that "The chief medical officer for England has called for a minimum price of 50 pence (0.54; $0.70) to be charged for a unit of alcohol to reduce excessive drinking and its associated harms. Liam Donaldson said that antisocial …
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 …
The CAGE questionnaire as a screen for alcohol problems
23rd November 2008
An article in one of this month's editions of the Journal of the American Medical Association celebrates the publication of the CAGE alcohol screening questionnaire by Charles Ewing 25 years ago. CAGE is a mnemonic to help remember the four simple questions. "Have you ever ... 1.) felt the need …
Vegged out & fruitless: lifestyle & health
18th October 2008
Last month's BMJ published another in the long line of research articles that highlight the huge importance of lifestyle choices for our health: Dam, R. M. v., T. Li, et al. (2008). "Combined impact of lifestyle factors on mortality: prospective cohort study in US women." BMJ 337(sep16_2): a1440- [Free Full …
Would you like to be 14 years younger – it’s largely a matter of choice!
3rd October 2008
Back in January I wrote a blog post entitle "Does a healthy lifestyle really make a difference? " I highlighted that it makes a hell of a lot of a difference. At around that time another major study was published that hammered this point home even more thoroughly and I've …