Harvard Mental Health Letter articles from November 2003

Harvard Mental Health Letter archives from November 2003

Alzheimer's disease: A progress report.
November 1, 2003... How far the search for treatments has come and where it is heading. The human and economic burden of Alzheimer's disease is growing steadily. It's been estimated that if the present trend continues, 10 to 15 million Americans will be...

After the trauma: What doesn't help and what may.(treating psychological trauma)
November 1, 2003... We know a great deal about emergency treatment for physical trauma - how to bind up the wounds, ward off infection, and prevent long-term damage. First aid for psychological trauma, especially protection against post-traumatic stress disorder...

In Brief - A drug treatment for alcoholism.(Topamax evaluation)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... Researchers at the University of Texas at San Antonio have found that the anticonvulsant drug topiramate (Topamax) may be an effective short-term treatment for alcoholics who are trying to abstain. The 150 participants were given either...

In Brief - Depression under stress: The long and short of it.
November 1, 2003... A study now in progress in the New Zealand city of Dunedin has turned up evidence on the way environment and heredity conspire to raise the risk of developing psychiatric disorders. We reported (Harvard Mental Health Letter, March 2003) on one...

In Brief - Homosexuality and injury to self.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... A study by New Zealand researchers confirms that young adults who acknowledge homosexual attraction are more likely to be victims of "deliberate self-harm." At the same time, the researchers raise a question about what that finding means. ...

In Brief - Borderline prognosis.(prognosis of borderline personality disorder)
November 1, 2003... Borderline personality is one of the most complicated conditions encountered by mental health professionals, and they often become discouraged in their efforts to treat it (see Harvard Mental Health Letter, March 2002). But one study gives...

Questions & Answers.(using antidepressants for the treatment of panic disorder)
November 1, 2003... Q I've read that antidepressants are now officially recommended as the best drug treatment for panic disorder. Are the benzodiazepine anti-anxiety drugs still regarded as useful? A The American Psychiatric Association's current guidelines...