Soaring UK personal debt wreaking havoc with mental health, report warns

Centre for Social Justice says poorer people 'bearing brunt of storm' as debt hits £1.4tn – almost as high as economic output

Credit card debt has trebled to £55.6bn since 1998 while overall personal debt including mortgages has reached £1.4tn. Photograph: Alan Schein Photography

Personal debt in Britain has reached £1.4tn – almost the same amount as Britain's national economic output – according to a report that warns debt is wreaking havoc on people's mental health and wellbeing.

Poorer people are "bearing the brunt of a storm" during which average household debt has risen to £54,000 – nearly double what it was a decade ago, the report by the Centre for Social Justice thinktank warns.

The report, entitled Maxed Out, found that almost half of households in the lowest income decile spent more than a quarter of their income on debt repayments in 2011. More than 5,000 people are being made homeless every year as a result of mortgage or rent debts.

Christian Guy, director of the thinktank established in opposition by the work and pensions secretary, Iain Duncan Smith, said: "Problem debt can have a corrosive impact on people and families. Our report shows how it can wreak havoc on mental health, relationships and wellbeing. Across the UK people are up until the early hours worrying about their finances and bills."

The report, written by the former Labour work and pensions minister Chris Pond, found that:

• Personal debt in the UK, including mortgage lending, stands at £1.4tn – an average of £54,000 per household compared with £29,000 a decade ago.

• Consumer debt had trebled since 1993 and now stands at £158bn.........

http://www.theguardian.com/money/2013/nov/20/personal-debt-mental-health-report

Avoid medicines scams

Lose weight from your sofa! Regrow your hair! Build muscle fast! A host of websites offer miracle cures for a range of health conditions, but medicines and treatments that are not prescribed by a qualified health professional could be a waste of money or cause you serious harm.

The Office of Fair Trading says that every year hundreds of thousands of consumers buy scam miracle cures for conditions such as weight loss, baldness and impotence.

These products are usually a waste of money and they can also be dangerous.

That’s why you should never start a new medicine, or stop a medicine that has been prescribed for you, without speaking to a qualified health professional, such as your GP or a pharmacist...........

http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/Pharmacy/Pages/Miraclecures.aspx

Severe depression linked to increased aging process

New research suggests that people suffering from major depressive disorder may age significantly faster, compared with people who do not suffer from depression. This is according to a study published in the journal Molecular Psychiatry.

According to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America, major depressive disorder (MDD) affects around 14.8 million adults in the US every year, and the disorder is more prevalent in women.

Previous studies have associated depression and MDD with increased risk of age-related diseases, including diabetes,cancer, obesity and heart disease, and the researchers say that "accelerated biological ageing" is thought to be one of the causes of these increased risks........

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/268897.php

Alzheimer's patients' brains boosted by belting out Sound of Music

Four-month study finds mental performance of people with dementia improves after singing classic hits from musicals10

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Dementia researchers chose songs that would be familiar to care home residents, including The Sound of Music. Photograph: 20th Century Fox/Everett/Rex Features

Belting out classic numbers from hit musicals can boost the brain function of people with Alzheimer's disease, according to researchers who worked with elderly residents at a US care home.

Over a four-month study, the mental performance of patients who took part in regular group singing sessions improved compared with others who just listened.

In the sessions, patients were led through familiar songs from The Sound of Music, Oklahoma, The Wizard of Oz and Pinocchio.

The sessions appeared to have the most striking effect on people with moderate to severe dementia, with patients scoring higher on cognitive and drawing tests, and also on a satisfaction-with-life questionnaire at the end of the study.

http://www.theguardian.com/science/2013/nov/11/alzheimers-patients-brains-boosted-sound-music-singing

Mental health benefits from a healthy lifestyle

Health Minister Mark Drakeford discusses the evidence that draws a link between healthy behaviours and mental health 

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We are told time and time again that if we live well, eat well and look after ourselves, we can enjoy lengthening lives with increasingly robust health.

Without these good habits we all know we run a higher risk of Type 2 diabetes, cardiac disease, stroke, cancer and a host of other chronic conditions.

What we are possibly less aware of is a direct link between adopting a healthy lifestyle and our mental health – namely reducing the risk of dementia.

Healthy lifestyles based on non-smoking, a having a healthy weight, eating more fruit and vegetables, doing more physical activity, and drinking alcohol sensibly, have for some time been associated with improving health and reducing the risk of developing chronic diseases. However, until recently there was limited evidence on cognitive function and dementia.........

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/health/mental-health-benefits-healthy-lifestyle-6291761

Anti-sexting app backed by police chief

Anti-sexting app backed by police chief Alun Michael

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Children may be at risk from requests to share sexual images by phone as parents do not understand the problem, a police and crime commissioner says.

South Wales PCC Alun Michael is backing ChildLine's Zipit campaign to help teenagers refuse requests to share explicit images of themselves.

Mr Michael said parents did not have to contend with camera phones when young and so may not know what to advise.

A Zipit mobile phone application offers advice for parents and children.

About six out of 10 children aged from 12 to 15 are thought to own a smartphone.

The charity ChildLine said "sexting" - the sending of intimate images or videos by mobile phone or online - had become so common "it is considered mundane".

The Zipit campaign is run jointly with the NSPCC and the Internet Watch Foundation.

A new Zipit phone app also offers advice on safe online chatting and on what young people should do if they feel threatened or if an image becomes public.....

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-24901065

Why social prescriptions are just what the doctor ordered

Social prescriptions, from fishing to knitting groups, are helping patients back on to the road to recovery

‘Young’ John, a member of Newcastle’s fishing group, with his latest catch. Photograph: Christopher Thomond for the Guardian

"We're total idiots," says John, 68, gesturing to the rest of the small group peering optimistically into the Tyne on a gloomy autumn morning. "We fish in all weathers. We stand here in the snow." But he adds: "It's more about meeting up than catching fish."

Other members of the Newcastle fishing group agree. It is a chance, they say, to break free of the emotional isolation of keeping their feelings under wraps.

"I never thought I would suffer from depression," says Paul, 59, who was unable to carry on in his job after a brain tumour and a heart bypass. "It just crept up on me. I lost a lot of friends when I was trying to tell people. They didn't want to know. You can't talk to your family, really. [People think] a man doesn't cry. It's a comfort to talk to someone who's already had it. These people here have opened me back up, to be honest."

Friendships have been moulded as the group vie to catch the most "flatties" (flounders), whiting and cod; and the fishers regularly meet up for a coffee at other times of the week. The group's current members found it through a variety of routes, from word of mouth to a stall at a local fete. But with the expansion of a scheme for Newcastle GPs to offer "social prescribing" – an approach that seeks to improve health by tackling patients' social and physical wellbeing – members may increasingly come via a referral from primary care.