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The article offers information on obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). Topics discussed include a brief description of the mental illness, the symptoms presented by individuals afflicted with the disorder such as obsession with certain activities and anxiety, and the recommended initiatives for addressing the illness which include cognitive behavioral therapy. To read the full article, log in using your NHS Athens
The paediatric population is known to be at high risk for psychiatric problems. Paediatric liaison child/adolescent mental health services (PL-CAMHS) have been developed to help increase recognition and management of psychiatric morbidity in the paediatric setting. This report describes clinical activity by a psychological medicine PL-CAMHS and considers specificity by comparing this with community/general CAMHS activity. Login using your SSOTP NHS OpenAthens for full text. SSSFT - request a copy of the article from the library - www.sssft.nhs.uk/library
The Staffordshire and Stoke on Trent Local Transformation Plan for Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services has been approved by NHS England and is now published. Additional funding of £2.1million has been allocated to the 6 Clinical Commissioning Groups across Staffordshire and Stoke on Trent, to deliver improvements in emotional wellbeing and mental health services for children and young people. The plan sets out the priorities for investment and the anticipated outcomes.
Psychology, Public Policy, and Law22.1 (Feb 2016): 77-91.
Can psychopathy be identified as accurately during adolescence as adulthood? To address this developmental question, this study compared the stability of scores on the leading measure of psychopathy, the Psychopathy Checklist (PCL), among 202 adolescent (M = 15.8 years, SD = 0.89) and 134 adult (M = 27.5, SD = 1.08) offenders. To read the full article, log in using your NHS OpenAthens details
Starting on 15 February, the BBC will be showcasing a series of programmes to raise awareness and reduce the stigma of mental illness. [Includes programmes on postpartum psychosis, suicide, bipolar, mental health in A&E and young people's mental health issues]
On Thursday 25 February the Government released its response to the Youth Select Committee’s report into Young People’s Mental Health. The joint response comes from the Department for Education and the Department for Health.
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) can be treated with stimulant medication such as methylphenidate. Although effective, methylphenidate can cause serious side-effects, including suppressed appetite, growth retardation and sleep problems. A drug holiday is a deliberate interruption of pharmacotherapy for a defined period of time and for a specific clinical purpose, for example for appeasing side-effects. While some international guidelines recommend introducing drug holidays in ADHD treatment, this is not practised routinely. Our aim was to examine the views and experiences of planned drug holidays from methylphenidate with adults who have responsibility for treatment decisions in children and adolescents with ADHD. Login using your SSSFT NHS OpenAthens for full text. SSOTP - request a copy of the article from the library - http://bit.ly/1Xyazai
Confidentiality in child and adolescent mental health is a complex and often challenging matter. Not only do young people frequently present to services in situations of risk, they often prefer to keep information confidential from parents and/or other professionals. This article explores confidentiality in the context of child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS), particularly when the clinician is having to make decisions on whether to maintain or to breach it. Login using your SSSFT NHS OpenAthens for full text. SSOTP - request a copy of the article from the library - www.sssft.nhs.uk/library
The 2014 English Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) Code of Practice, a policy framework for delivery of a range of services including Schools Mental Health Services (SMHS), is considered in the context of international research on the delivery of mental health services in schools. Effective interventions have been reported in poor and middle-income countries, whereas there is less information about routine services in high-income societies, and what they report are equivocal outcomes. In England and the United States, problems with acceptability of routine mental health assessment, together with conflict over resource allocation significantly impede both effectiveness and acceptability. The new Code has been specifically written to support better engagement between Education and Mental Health, but piloting suggests that this has not yet happened. Proactive multiagency planning within the framework of the Code, linked to explicit work on organizational transformation, could provide an effective and acceptable Schools Mental Health Service, with legal protection from subsequent deleterious policy and funding changes. Explicit recommendations for using the Code are appended. Login using your SSSFT NHS OpenAthens for full text. SSOTP - request a copy of the article from the library - www.sssft.nhs.uk/library
This is one of a series of BMJ summaries of new guidelines based on the best available evidence; they highlight important recommendations for clinical practice, especially where uncertainty or controversy exists. To read the full article, log in using your NHS Athens
A SYSTEMATIC approach to data collection has helped staff at a child and adolescent mental health service (CAMHS) unit to identify ways to cut its average length of stay by 75% and reduce incidence of self-harm among inpatients by 85%. Login using your SSSFT NHS OpenAthens details for full text. SSOTP - request a copy of the article from the library http://bit.ly/1Xyazai
To examine trajectories of adolescent borderline personality (BP) features in a normative-risk cohort (n = 566) of Canadian children assessed at ages 13, 14, 15, and 16 and childhood predictors of trajectory group membership assessed at ages 8, 10, 11, and 12. Login using your SSSFT NHS OpenAthens for full text. SSOTP - request a copy of the article from the library - http://bit.ly/1Xyazai
Writing directly to patients or copying letters to them is common practice in Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS). If the intention is to increase young people's understanding and collaboration in their health care, then the readability of such letters is important. The aim of this study was to reassess the readability of letters sent to patients from the Young People's Department at Royal Cornhill Hospital since it adopted the choice and partnership approach (CAPA). Login using your SSSFT NHS OpenAthens for full text. SSOTP - request a copy of the article from the library - http://bit.ly/1Xyazai