Mental health amongst journalists who report violent events

Journalists who report on violent events are at increased risk of developing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and anxiety, according to a new study that analyzed the emotional well-being of journalists covering the violence in Kenya.

Two major Kenyan news organizations took part in the study, which focused on two traumatic events — the 2007 election violence that left 1,000 Kenyans dead and the attack on the Westgate Mall in 2013 when Al-Shabab insurgents killed 67 Kenyans. The research found that psychological counselling was offered to less than a quarter of journalists reporting conflict in Kenya.

“Psychological data obtained over the last 10 years from journalists working in European, American, or Middle Eastern theatres of conflict demonstrates that the prevalence rate for post-traumatic stress disorder approaches that seen in combat veterans,” said study leader Dr. Anthony Feinstein. “This study addresses the dearth of data for conflicts in Africa which is important given the fact that of the continent’s 53 countries, half are either currently at war or have only recently seen the end of armed conflict.”

According to the findings, two-thirds of the journalists had been offered bribes or told to drop a story and one in five had been injured while reporting. Symptoms of PTSD were present to a “moderate” degree in those who had covered the election violence, particularly in those who had been wounded during the process. “A notable finding was the markedly different psychological responses from journalists to their coverage of the election violence and the Westgate Mall attack. The primary reason for this is likely to have been their proximity to danger,” said Feinstein, Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto.

Most of the journalists who reported on the Westgate massacre were not directly exposed to danger, but those who covered the post-election event were first-hand witnesses to terrible violence as whole communities were destroyed and the media became the focus of mob rage. Here, said Feinstein, the risks were life threatening, the dangers underscored by the number of journalists injured. “The deeply traumatic nature of this exposure to violence is highlighted by the fact that seven years on from the rioting and mayhem, prominent symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder and anxiety remain,” said Feinstein.

“We hope that this study will encourage news organizations in Kenya and other African countries that send journalists into harm’s way to look out for their psychological health and offer confidential counselling as a matter of course.”

Article courtesy of psych central

Teens who down the heavily caffeinated drinks may be more prone to Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)

Although TBIs happen in a variety of ways — falls, fistfights, car accidents — the No. 1 cause among teens is sports. And, unfortunately, the rate of brain damage is only rising: Between 2001 and 2009, the number of sports-related head injuries among children (ages 19 or younger) leapt by 57 percent, according to a CDC analysis.

This has prompted some experts to call TBI among teens a problem of epidemic proportions. “The teenage years are very vulnerable years. Our brains are still developing into our 20s and 30s,”says Ilie of Injury Prevention Research Office, St. Michael’s Hospital, Toronto, Canada. And a serious knock to the noggin can have consequences that extend well beyond being benched for a few games: Poor academic performance, substance abuse, suicide, and violent behaviour have all been linked to traumatic brain injury, says Ilie.

To assess whether energy drink consumption — a persistent trend among young people — could play a role, Ilie and her team analyzed the survey responses of more than 10,000 young people ages 11 to 20, gauging things like alcohol intake and energy drink consumption, along with frequency of TBIs.

What they found: The odds of sustaining a TBI are higher among teens who drink energy drinks. Specifically, those who had consumed at least one of the supercharged beverages in the previous year were twice as likely to have experienced a recent TBI, compared to non-drinkers; while adolescents who downed five or more energy drinks in the past week were nearly seven times as likely to have suffered a recent brain injury. The same trend was observed among teens who reported mixing alcohol with energy drinks.

Of course, these findings aren’t causal. The researchers can’t definitively say that imbibing highly caffeinated drinks leads to TBIs. But “it wouldn’t be a surprise,” says Ilie. With some energy drinks packing as much caffeine as two shots of espresso, along with other stimulants like taurine and guarana, feeling jittery is almost inevitable. “That can predispose you to more accidents, because now you’re so hyper, you can’t focus and pay attention to what you’re doing,” says Ilie.  

And, unfortunately, sports and energy drinks now seem to go hand in hand. Since the silver-canned elixirs are often marketed as sports drinks, young people may be downing them to hype themselves up before big games or high-risk recreational activities. “The [advertising] campaigns usually suggest that energy drinks lead to increased muscle strength and endurance,” Ilie says. “Unfortunately, there is very little scientific evidence supporting these claims.”

Perhaps more alarming is the off-the-field trend of mixing energy drinks and alcohol, with the aim of combining the rush of a Red Bull or shark with the buzz of booze. The danger: “You’re intoxicated but wide awake,” says Ilie. “So you might be more prone to doing crazy things that if you weren’t intoxicated, you would never consider doing.”A 2014 Journal of Pediatrics study found that mixing the two beverages was associated with binge drinking among teens. As a result, this risky mixing may be to blame for some of the TBIs among teens that occur in non-sports settings.

Article courtesy of;

Ilie G, Boak A, Mann RE, Adlaf EM,Hamilton H, Asbridge M, et al. (2015) Energy Drinks,Alcohol, Sports and Traumatic Brain Injuries among Adolescents. PLoS ONE 10(9): e0135860.doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0135860

Young people who are not in education, employment or training (NEET) are committed to working but vulnerable to experiencing mental health problems

The current generation of young people faces the worst job prospects in decades, yet previous research into how 'NEET'youths feel about their own prospects and how unemployment affects their mental health is scarce.

Using the Environmental Risk (E-Risk) Longitudinal Twin Study, researchers assessed commitment to work, mental health problems and substance use disorders in more than 2,000 British young people transitioning from compulsory schooling to early adulthood at the age of 18. 12 per cent of the participants were not in education, employment or training.

The study, published in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, found that NEET participants showed greater vulnerability for mental health issues, including higher rates of mental health and substance abuse problems. However, when interviewed about attitudes toward work and actual job-seeking strategies they had used, the NEET youth reported higher levels of commitment to work and more job searching behaviours, as compared to non NEET youth in the sample.

Nearly 60 per cent of NEET youths had already experienced more than one mental health problem in childhood or adolescence, compared to around 35 per cent of young people who were in education, employment or training. 35 per cent of NEET participants suffered from depression compared to 18 per cent of non-NEET youths and 14 per cent had generalised anxiety disorder, compared to 6 per cent of their non-NEET peers.The researchers also found that NEET participants were less equipped to succeed in the job market, reporting fewer 'soft' skills such as problem-solving, leadership and time management.

Professor Terrie Moffitt, co-author of the study from the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN) at King's College London, said: 'Our findings indicate that while the struggle to find work appears to take its toll on the mental health of young people, this does not appear to be an issue of motivation. The majority of 18-year-olds we spoke to were endeavouring to find jobs and committed to the idea of work, although they are perhaps hampered by a lack of skills that would serve them well in the job market.

'Compared to their peers, NEET young people are also contending with substantial mental health problems, including depression, anxiety, and substance abuse and aggression control.'

In a follow-up analysis the researchers accounted for pre-existing vulnerability to mental health problems and found that the impact on mental health remained large and statistically significant in nearly all cases.

Professor Moffitt added: 'We think that NEET status and mental health problems may occur in tandem in young people for a number of reasons. First, the stress of wanting to work but being unable to can be harmful to mental health; second, employers tend to prefer applicants who seem healthier and third, because early manifestations of serious mental illness can in itself include disengagement from education and employment.'

Professor Louise Arseneault, co-author from the IoPPN, said: 'Young people who are neither working nor studying are often assumed to be unmotivated or unwilling to work, yet our study suggests that they are just as motivated as their peers -- but many face psychological challenges that put them at a disadvantage when seeking employment.

'It is crucial that young people are better supported by mental health services as they make this challenging transition from school to employment, and that they be trained in professional 'soft' skills which could help them in the search for employment.'

Article courtesy of a study by Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN) at King's College London, Duke University and the University of California.

People with high blood pressure also have damage to nerve tracts connecting different parts of the brain

"We already have clear ways to explore the damage high blood pressure can cause to the kidneys, eyes, and heart. We wanted to find a way to assess brain damage that could predict the development of dementia associated with vascular diseases," said Daniela Carnevale, Ph.D., the study's senior author and assistant professor at Sapienza University of Rome, based in Neuromed Institute. While there has been a lot of research on hypertension-related brain changes in the grey matter, Carnevale proposed that a look into the brain's white matter could tell if high blood pressure was having an effect even earlier than what is known.

Researchers used Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI), an enhancement of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), to evaluate and compare the structural and functional properties of the main connections between different brain regions. Fifteen participants were on medication for moderate to severe high blood pressure and 15 participants had normal blood pressure. Participants were also given a cognitive assessment.

The brain imaging found that, while none of the participants showed abnormalities on a standard MRI, the more advanced DTI revealed that participants with high blood pressure had damage to:

• brain fibers that affect non-verbal functions;
• nerve fibers that affect executive functioning and emotional regulation;
• limbic system fibers, which are involved in attention tasks.

In addition, imaging and laboratory tests indicated damage to the heart and kidneys from high blood pressure. Researchers also found those with high blood pressure performed significantly worse on two different assessments of cognitive function and memory. However, there were no differences in tests evaluating verbal function or ability to perform daily activities.

"DTI provides a way to evaluate pre-symptomatic brain damage in people with high blood pressure in order to identify possible therapies to help control brain damage and reduce the eventual development of dementia. It is generally accepted that not all available medications have the same impact on different kinds of organ damage," Carnevale said. Its is important to note that DTI, also called tractography, is not performed in routine medical practice, but the researchers suggest that physicians should start to consider potential brain damage as they treat patients with high blood pressure.

Article courtesy of American Heart Association 2015

Social media pressure may lead to anxiety, depression in teens

The research team - including Dr. Heather Cleland Woods and Holly Scott from the University of Glasgow in the UK - recently presented their findings at The British Psychological Society (BPS) Developmental and Social Psychology Section Annual Conference in Manchester, UK. 

To reach their findings, the team asked 467 teenagers ages 11-17 from a single school to complete a questionnaire. The students were asked questions around self-esteem, anxiety, depression and sleep quality. They was also asked questions about their emotional investment in social media, such as "How many hours do you use social media on a typical day?" and "How long do you use social media after the time you intended to fall asleep?" The team notes that a researcher was on hand if they needed support while answering these questions.

The social media platforms the teenagers reported using included Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, P interest, Instagram, and YouTube, the team told Medical News Today. 

The researchers found that teenagers who used social media and had high emotional investment in social media had poorer sleep quality, lower self-esteem and higher rates of anxiety and depression than teenagers who were less emotionally invested in social media. The researchers found that this association was particularly strong for teenagers who used social media at night. Explaining why this might be, Dr. Woods told MNT that "there is pressure to be available 24/7 and not responding to posts or texts immediately can increase anxiety. Also, [there is] anxiety around 'missing out.'" 

The suggestion is that the pressure teenagers feel around social media can cause anxiety and depression, which may lead to poor sleep quality, exacerbating the problem.

Commenting on the overall findings, Dr. Woods says:

"While overall social media use impacts on sleep quality, those who log on at night appear to be particularly affected. This may be mostly true of individuals who are highly emotionally invested. This means we have to think about how our kids use social media, in relation to time for switching off."

To better understand the reasons for the link between social media use and well being, the team says further research is required. 

Article courtesy of Medical News Today