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NIMH Science UpdateJune 09, 2009 Re-shaping Negative Thoughts Shields At-Risk Teens from Depression Cognitive Prevention Program Trumps Usual Care in “Real World” Trial At-risk teens exposed to a program that teaches them to counteract their unrealistic and overly negative thoughts experienced significantly less depression than their peers who received usual care, NIMH-funded researchers have found. However, the cognitive behavioral prevention program failed to similarly help adolescents prone to the mood disorder if their parents were currently depressed. NIMH grantee Judy Garber, Ph.D., of Vanderbilt University, and colleagues, report on the findings of their multi-site clinical trial in the June 3, 2009 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. Background Only a fourth of depressed youth receive any treatment and at least 20 percent develop a chronic, difficult-to-treat form of the illness. Having a history of the illness substantially increases risk for depression...

June 25, 2009 Psychiatric Times. NEWS STEPPS: A Viable Supplement to Treatment of Borderline Personality Disorder by T. M. Ness, MD Dr Ness is a psychiatrist currently practicing in California. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Two randomized controlled trials have shown the Systems Training for Emotional Predictability and Problem Solving (STEPPS) program to be effective in reducing the intensity of core aspects of borderline personality disorder (BPD), Dr Donald Black and social worker Nancee Blum announced at the annual meeting of the American Psychiatric Association held recently in San Francisco. Black summarized, “Data from several studies show that STEPPS reduced global severity as rated by clinicians and patients, borderline personality disorder symptoms, and depressive symptoms." STEPPS is a 20-week, manual-based, psychoeducational group treatment that combines skills training with cognitive-behavioral techniques. It includes...

Provided by: Associated PressWritten by: Lindsey Tanner, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS May. 8, 2009 CHICAGO - Leo Lytel was diagnosed with autism as a toddler. But by age nine he had overcome the disorder. His progress is part of a growing body of research that suggests at least 10 per cent of children with autism can "recover" from it - most of them after undergoing years of intensive behavioral therapy. Skeptics question the phenomenon, but University of Connecticut psychology professor Deborah Fein is among those convinced it's real. She presented research this week at an autism conference in Chicago that included 20 children who, according to rigorous analysis, got a correct diagnosis but years later were no longer considered autistic. Among them was Leo, a boy in Washington, D.C., who once made no eye contact, who echoed words said to him and often spun around in circles - all classic autism symptoms. Now he is an articulate, social third-grader. His mother, Jayne Lytel, says...

People with severe and recurrent depression could benefit from a new form of therapy that combines ancient forms of meditation with modern cognitive behaviour therapy, early-stage research by Oxford University psychologists suggests. The results of a small-scale randomized trial of the approach, called mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT), in currently depressed patients are published in the journal Behaviour Research and Therapy. Twenty eight people currently suffering from depression, having also had previous episodes of depression and thoughts of suicide, were randomly assigned into two groups. One received MBCT in addition to treatment as usual, while the other just received treatment as usual. Treatment with MBCT reduced the number of patients with major depression, while depression remained the same in the control group. MBCT brings together modern cognitive behavior therapy with the ancient practice of mindfulness meditation. Participants attend classes that include medi...

Provided by: Associated PressWritten by: Lauran Neergaard, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Apr. 21, 2009 WASHINGTON - Food hijacked Dr. David Kessler's brain. Not apples or carrots. The scientist who once led the U.S. government's attack on addictive cigarettes can't wander through part of San Francisco without craving a local shop's chocolate-covered pretzels. Stop at one cookie? Rarely. It's not an addiction but it's similar, and he's far from alone. Kessler's research suggests millions share what he calls "conditioned hypereating" - a willpower-sapping drive to eat high-fat, high-sugar foods even when they're not hungry. More.....

Provided by: Associated PressWritten by: Lauran Neergaard, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Apr. 7, 2009 WASHINGTON - Scientists are creating tests to show when it's time for people with early Alzheimer's disease to stop driving. \ It's one of a family's most wrenching decisions, and as Alzheimer's increasingly is diagnosed in its earliest stages, it can be hard to tell when a loved one is poised to become a danger. Factor in that many placeslack public transportation, and quitting too soon restricts independence for someone who otherwise may function well for several years. "That's a real cost to the individual and family and society," says Jeffrey Dawson of the University of Iowa. "You have to have some sort of trade-off between the individual's independence along with the safety of the driver and with other people on the road." Typically, specialists say, patients gradually scale back their driving, avoiding busy freeways or night trips or left-tu...