The Canadian Psychological Association has a serious of “Psychology Works Fact Sheets”. While there are many important topics covered, I would like to highlight the Psychology Works for Bipolar Disorder Fact Sheet.

Check-it out here.

Bipolar disorder is often not well understood and many people do not know about the effective psychological treatments we have for Bipolar Disorder. This factsheet gives the basic information you need to know about the disorder and about what evidence-based treatments we have for the condition.

There is a TON of information out there on depression. For some, we learn better from watching than reading on a topic. Dr. Patterson has a course on “what is depression” offered online. Learn at your own pace from a Registered Psychologist.

Take the course online here! 

From the presenter, Dr. Randy Patterson:

This course describes the nature of the most common mood disorders – including major depression, dysthymia, and bipolar disorder. We review the symptoms used in making the diagnosis, and the challenges in properly diagnosing a problem for which there is no simple blood test.

The course provides a model – the Floating Diamond – for breaking down and understanding the various elements of the depressive experience. Using it, we discover that depression is not, in fact, a mood disorder. It is a disorder of virtually everything: physiology, thoughts, behaviour, and, yes, emotion.

We explore a central problem in depression: the fact that symptoms (such as sleep disruption) tend to feed back and intensify the disorder. Depression is not simply a vicious circle – it is a COLLECTION of vicious circles, all working at once.

We move beyond the diagnostic criteria to discuss the additional symptoms and aspects of the depressive experience, exploring factors such as brain fog, memory disruption, sexual problems, and more.

PLEASE NOTE: Depression is an enormous topic, and in this course we are mainly focussed on the experience of the problem. We do not go into detail about either causes or treatment approaches – these are covered in other courses. As well, this course is not a substitute for treatment, which should be carried out with the help of a qualified healthcare professional. We also caution against any attempt at self-diagnosis.

Ever wonder where to start when finding an effective psychological treatment? Division 12 of the American Psychological Association has a great resource that outlines effective treatments for various psychological conditions.

From the site:

“The purpose of this part of the website is to provide information about effective treatments for psychological diagnoses. The website is meant for a wide audience, including the general public, practitioners, researchers, and students. Basic descriptions are provided for each psychological diagnosis and treatment. In addition, for each treatment, the website lists key references, clinical resources, and training opportunities.

The American Psychological Association has identified “best research evidence” as a major component of evidence-based practice (APA Presidential Task Force on Evidence-Based Practice, 2006). The pages in the blue pull down bar above describe research evidence for psychological treatments, which will necessarily be combined with clinician expertise and patient values and characteristics in determining optimum approaches to treatment.”

Check it out!

The Mental Health Commission of Canada just put out an assessment framework on how to chose a mental health app. This framework highlights some critical areas to consider when deciding what app to use for yourself or to recommend for clients.

Check out the guide here.

February is psychology month and the BCPA is hosting a number of interesting free psychology lectures around BC.

For full event details see the BCPA website.

January 30 is Bell Let’s Talk Day.

The goal of the campaign is to reduce the sigma of mental illness and to ‘start a conversation’.

The campaign offers five ways to do so:

1. Language matters; words matter.
2. Education yourself.
3. Be kind.
4. Listen and ask.
5. Talk about it.

Check out Bell Let’s Talk for more information.

The website also offers tons of great resources of mental health and seeking treatment and support for a range of difficulties, including depression, mood disorders, schizophrenia and has specific resources for seniors, youth, for families and caregivers, and more.

#bellletstalk

Check out this free resource for depression: “The Antidepressant Skills Workbook” by Dr. Bilsker and Dr. Patterson. I particularly like how there are concrete suggestions for what to do about mild or major depression. Check it out here! 

Source: http://www.comh.ca

I am one of the coordinators for the Psychology Law Evidence Database (PLED), a comprehensive, continuously updated, freely available database of selected scientific papers about psychology and law for policy makers, stakeholders, the general public, practitioners, and researchers.

One recently published study featured on the PLED, “Post-traumatic Stress Disorder as a consequence of bullying at work and at school: A literature review and meta-analaysis” provides a review of the development of PTSD from bullying in work and school contexts. The authors highlight that based on their study:

• “The majority of victims reports symptoms of PTSD.

• Exposure to bullying is cross-sectionally associated with symptoms of PTSD.

• No longitudinal studies and few studies with clinical diagnosis.

• It is not possible to determine causal associations between bullying and PTSD based on existing literature.”

Abstract:

Bullying has been established as a prevalent traumatic stressor both in school and at workplaces. It has been claimed that the mental and physical health problems found among bullied persons resembles the symptomatology of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Yet, it is still unclear whether bullying can be considered as a precursor to PTSD. Through a review and meta-analysis of the research literature on workplace- and school bullying, the aims of this study were to determine: 1) the magnitude of the association between bullying and symptoms of PTSD, and 2) whether the clinical diagnosis of PTSD applies to the consequences of bullying. Altogether 29 relevant studies were identified. All had cross-sectional research designs. At an average, 57% of the victims reported symptoms of PTSD above thresholds for caseness. A correlation of .42 (95% CI: .36-.48, p b .001) as found between bullying and an overall symptom-score of PTSD. Correlations between bullying and specific PTSD symptoms were in the same range. Equally strong associations were found among children and adults. Two out of three identified clinical diagnosis studies suggested that bullying is associated with the PTSD diagnosis. Due to a lack of longitudinal research and structural clinical interview studies, existing literature provides no absolute evidence for or against bullying as a causal precursor of PTSD.

Nielsen, M. B., Tangen, T., Idsoe, T., Matthiesen, S. B., & Magerøy, N. (2015). Post-traumatic stress disorder as a consequence of bullying at work and at school. A literature review and meta-analysis. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.avb.2015.01.001

For information on the article and other psychology law evidence on various topics see the Psychology Law Evidence Database.