Kids of Older Dads More Likely to Have Mental Health Issues

 

Having children at a later stage in life may be taxing on most men’s wellness, but you may not realise that this also has an impact on the child’s wellbeing. According to a new study, the findings of which appear in the journal JAMA Psychiatry, children born to fathers aged over 45 were more likely to have mental health problems and do poorly at school. These children were diagnosed with disorders such as autism, psychosis, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), schizophrenia and bipolar disorder more often, as well as reporting more drug abuse and suicide attempts.

 

Wellness writer Ian Sample points out, ‘Scientists have reported links between fathers’ age and children’s cognitive performance and health before but this study suggests the risks may be more serious than previously thought. The increased risks might be caused by genetic mutations that build up in sperm as men age.’ Study author Brian D’Onofrio, at IndianaUniversity, recalls, ‘We were shocked when we saw the comparisons.’ However, he adds that it’s not possible to be sure that older age was to blame for the problems, and other mental health experts have had reservations about the results.

 

Sample details, ‘Researchers at IndianaUniversity and the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm studied medical and educational records of more than 2.6 million babies born to 1.4 million men. The group amounted to nearly 90% of births in Sweden from 1973 and 2001. Using the records, the scientists added up diagnoses for psychiatric disorders and educational achievements and compared the figures for children born to fathers of different ages. The numbers told a complex story. When health and school performance were compared across all the children, and factors such as parents’ education and any history of psychiatric illness were taken into account, paternal age made little difference, except for cases of bipolar disorder, which rose with older fathers.’

 

However, Sample continues, ‘But the researchers went on to do another analysis. This compared the health and performance of siblings in the same families, in the hope of ruling out differences between families that may have skewed the results. This time they found a striking link between paternal age and children’s mental health and educational outcomes. According to the study, the children of fathers aged 45 and over were 3.5 times as likely to have autism, had more than twice the risk of psychotic disorders, suicidal behaviour and drug abuse, and had a 13-fold greater risk of ADHD. Fewer than 1% of children born to fathers younger than 45 had bipolar disorder, a figure that rose to about 14% in their siblings when fathers were 45 or older. In many cases, the risk of each disorder rose steadily with the father’s age.’

 

While Ryan Edwards, who studies the economics of health and ageing at the City University of New York, admits that the study revealed ‘some evidence that paternal age may worsen children’s psychiatric, behavioural and educational outcomes,’ he also warns that the results hinged on the scientists’ comparisons between siblings. Edwards explains, ‘In that setting, it is difficult to separate the overlapping effects of paternal age, children’s age, and birth order in a convincing way.’ Jennifer Roff, also at the City University of New York, adds, ‘I’m not saying that there is no possible genetic role for paternal age. I simply think that this could be confounded with other environmental factors like birth order. The extent of the problem will vary. I can imagine that for things like cognitive scores, this could be a larger problem than for things like schizophrenia.’

Categories: Mental Health Problems, older dads, Research

Dual Diagnosis: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Problems

A mental health issue – such as depression, bipolar disorder, or anxiety – is hard enough on your wellness, but when this coincides with a substance abuse problem, your wellbeing really is at risk. The same can be said if this co-occurring disorder or dual diagnosis starts with addiction, and incurs a mental health problem, but the good news is that there are treatments that can help.

 

With a dual diagnosis, your mental health issue and substance abuse problem have their own unique symptoms that interfere with your ability to handle life’s difficulties, interact with others and basically function. On top of this, the co-occurring disorders intermingle and affect each other, which further compounds the problem. When one issue increases, the other one usually increases also, and if one problem goes untreated, this will ultimately make the other problem worse too. According to research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, roughly half of people with severe mental disorders are affected by substance abuse, while 37% of alcohol abusers and 53% of drug abusers also have at least one serious mental illness. Of all people diagnosed as mentally ill, 29% abuse either alcohol or drugs.

 

While it’s common for people with mental health problems to experience addiction, but one issue does not directly cause the other. If you have depression or anxiety, you might turn to alcohol or drugs as a means of self-medication. However, the unfortunate side of this is that substance abuse causes side effects and eventually stops helping your symptoms and actually makes them worse. On the other hand, alcohol and drug abuse can increase your underlying risk for mental disorders, a complex interplay of genetics, the environment, and other outside factors. This can make it difficult to recognise or diagnose a co-occurring disorder.

 

Determining what might be a mental disorder and what might be a drug or alcohol problem can take time to tease out, especially because denial often clouds and complicates the issue. Denial is a common occurrence in substance abuse, as it’s difficult to admit to yourself – and those around you – how much alcohol or drugs affect your life and how dependent on them you have become. As the symptoms of depression or anxiety can be frightening, denial is also common in mental health problems, and you may choose to ignore them and hope they go away. Those who suffer from mental health issues often fear stigma, discrimination, or being viewed as week.

 

The important thing to take away from this is that substance abuse problems and mental health issues don’t get better when they’re ignored; they get much worse. You need to admit you have a problem before you can move on with your life and live it to the fullest. Start by taking a look at your family history – has someone related to you grappled with either a mental disorder such as depression or alcohol abuse or drug addiction? Genes and family history do play a role in your risk for developing these problems, so if a family member has suffered a mental health or substance abuse problem, it may help to open your mind to the possibility that you may likewise be affected.

 

Take a look at your own life: Are you highly sensitive to the effects of alcohol or drugs, and have you noticed a relationship between your substance use and your mental health? Getting depressed when you drink is an example of this. Moreover, while it’s normal to experience a small amount of depression or anxiety after you’ve stopped drinking or doing drugs, if the symptoms are still there once you’ve sobered up, you may be dealing with a mental health problem.

Categories: abuse problem, Dual Diagnosis, health issues, health problem, health problems, mental disorder, Mental disorders, Mental Health, Mental Health Problems, substance abuse

Is Stalking as Mentally Damaging as Physical Assault?

It’s not hard to see how being the victim of a stalker can wreak havoc on your mental wellness, but a new study has now proven this to be the case. The study, released online in advance of print publication in an upcoming issue of Social Science Quarterly, has confirmed that women who are the victims of stalkers are up to three times more likely than their peers to experience psychological distress. As a result of their findings, the researchers at Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia, have urged policy makers not only to guard people’s wellbeing against these criminal offences, but also to provide the victims of stalking better access to support services for help coping with any resulting mental health issues.

 

In a university news release, Timothy Diette, assistant professor of economics at Washington and Lee, commented, ‘I think the major implication of our findings is that while not everyone takes stalking seriously because in most cases nothing physical happened, the detrimental impact is clear. This study helps raise awareness that in many cases it’s a really scarring event that causes real-life psychological outcomes for victims’ mental health and their ability to function in society.’ As well as the mental health outcomes for victims of stalking, the study also pointed out that nearly 8% of the 8,100 women surveyed had been stalked by the age of 45.

 

For the study, the researchers compiled information from three major surveys that examined the women’s life experiences. The women’s lives were divided into four different stages based on their age: adolescence (ages 12 to 17); early emerging adulthood (ages 18 to 22); late emerging adulthood (ages 23 to 29); and early middle age (ages 30 to 45). The findings revealed that those in the early emerging adulthood category who were stalked but not sexually assaulted were estimated to have a 113% greater chance of experiencing psychological distress than other women their own age who were not stalked.

 

While this is a shocking finding, the psychological effects were found to be even more profound for women who were stalked when they were older. Those who were in the emerging adulthood category (23 to 29) when they were first stalked were 265% or nearly three times more likely to have mental health problems. For women aged 30 to 45 there was a 138% greater chance of psychological distress among victims compared with their non-victimised counterparts. The researchers surmised that younger women who are stalked may not be as frightened of this type of behaviour, and so, as a result, it may not significantly affect their emotional health. As the physical strength and sexual urges of their stalkers increase with age, however, women may find their anxiety levels increase. Women who are working or have family responsibilities were also found to be more vulnerable to the psychological consequences of stalking.

 

Stalking is often seen as less damaging as a physical assault, but the researchers found they actually come close. According to Diette, ‘The large negative effect on the mental health of victims was actually surprising to me. In many cases where you have a gut reaction that of course there should be an effect, you may find that, after controlling for various elements, those effects are actually smaller than you had expected. That is not the case in this study. In the age range 23 to 29, for example, the effects of stalking starts to approach the same level of negative psychological impact on the victim as sexual trauma. My understanding is that stalking is not viewed nearly as seriously by the general public as sexual assault.’

Categories: adulthood ages, adulthood category, early emerging, emerging adulthood, greater chance, Mental Health, Mental Health Problems, physical assault, Research, stalking, Women

Why Doesn’t Your Teen Talk About Mental Health?

Mental health problems can be hard to diagnose in teenagers, as mood swings and hormonal behaviour are often seen as a regular part of the puberty process. So, as a parent, how can you tell if your child’s black days are part of regular teenage angst, or whether they’re an indication of more deeply troubled mental wellness.

 

One problem parents face is that teenagers can be just as frightened about seeking help for their mental well-being as they are over the problem itself. Your teenager will struggle to get help anywhere without your knowledge and consent if they are under the age of 16, which means that, if they don’t want to open up to you, they may not get any help at all. This is why it is essential that you foster a good relationship of openness about wellness with your child, without judging or belittling their problems.

 

One option your teenager has is to speak to someone at their school instead of coming to you first, but many schools do not have a full-time counsellor. Even if there is someone for your child to talk to within a certain degree of confidentiality, the counsellor has a certain responsibility to you as the parents if your child shares something you need to know about, and this, again, can put teenagers off opening up if they don’t want you to find out about their problems. There is also CAMHS, the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services, available to your teenager through the NHS, but again, a referral to their team usually requires parental consent – and can take an extremely long time regardless.

 

Still, before we even get to the point of parental confidences and getting help, your teenager still needs to know that he or she has the symptoms of mental illness, which can be problematic in itself considering the state of the national curriculum. Some people argue that discussing the issues of sex, drug and mental health education has no place in an academic setting, but the fact remains that around one in three children in every class will or do suffer from a diagnosable mental health disorder. Therefore, as parents, it’s your job to educate your child and yourself on potential mental health symptoms, and give your teenager the help he or she needs, as well the knowledge that you are here for them, and they are not alone.

Categories: Child, Communication, health, mental, Mental Health, Mental Health Problems, Parents, teenager, Teenagers

How Does Alcohol Lead to Mental Health Problems?

The link between alcohol and mental health doesn’t only go one way. Yes, drinking too much can damage your mental wellness, but mental health problems can also cause you to drink too much – which can result in a vicious cycle.

 

But some drinking is good for your wellbeing, right? Some studies have shown that light drinking can improve health. If you drink one to three units a day, you may be protecting yourself against heart disease, dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, and a small glass of red wine daily may reduce your risk of stroke if you’re a woman. However, there is far more evidence which proves that excessive alcohol consumption leads to serious physical and mental damage.

 

At a very basic level, one of the main reasons we drink is to change our mood or mental state. How often have you come home stressed or depressed and thought ‘I need a drink’? Some people choose to drink because it helps them to experience temporary relief from more serious mental health problems, which is why alcohol problems are so common among mental health patients. In the medical field, drinking to deal with difficult feelings or symptoms of mental illness is sometimes called ‘self-medication’. However, drinking can make existing mental health problems worse.

 

As you’re probably aware, when there’s alcohol in your blood, this changes your mood and, in turn, your behaviour. How this happens largely depends on the amount of alcohol you drink and how quickly you drink it. Alcohol works by depressing your central nervous system, which is why you can become less inhibited in your behaviour. This process can help to ‘numb’ your emotions, which allows you to avoid difficult issues in your life, but alcohol can also reveal or magnify your underlying feelings, which is why many people become angry or aggressive when drinking.

 

Not only can alcohol elevate your feelings of anger, depression or anxiety, but one of the main problems associated with drinking too much is that you feel much worse when the effects have worn off. Your brain needs a certain level of neurotransmitters to ward off anxiety and depression, but alcohol is thought to use up and reduce the amount of neurotransmitters in the brain, which is how a dangerous cycle of dependence can develop. It is currently recommended that you only drink two to three units a day if you’re a woman, and three to four units if you’re a man.

Categories: Alcohol, Mental Health Problems, recommended levels

Concerns Grow About Schoolchildren"s Mental Health

As funding cuts dig deeper into the educational sphere, there have been growing concerns that teachers are now feeling subdued in classes with students exhibiting bad behaviour. As a result, teachers and schools are struggling to cope.

A survey conducted by the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL) reported worries that the growth of bad behaviour in schools was equal to a rise in emotional, behavioural or mental health problems in children.

Some within the association commented that this was due to the violent verbal assault and sexual content that is gradually rising in social media, which is resulting in deteriorating behaviour. It wasn’t necessarily the social media that was brought into question so much as the attitudes that were becoming popularised through it.

It was revealed earlier this month that two-thirds of local authorities had reduced their funding for children’s mental health services since the political coalition in 2010. A freedom of information request by the YoungMinds charity found that 34 out of 51 local authorities which responded said their budgets for children’s and young people’s mental health services had been cut, one by a shocking 76%. With services now acting with a skeleton crew however they can, it is no surprise that children’s mental health is now starting to show a significant rise.

It means that teachers now have to struggle and cope with disorders that are unique, complex and impossible to understand at a glance. With 90% of teachers reporting that they have been abused verbally, mentally or physically; with no outlets or assistance, children and their overseers are being put through motions that are beyond them, with no help from any other sources.

The backlash caused by the numerous cuts are starting to take their toll. With such shocking displays of indifference, there is a question of what futures are being held for schoolchildren across the UK.

Concerns Grow About Schoolchildren"s Mental Health

Categories: Children, Education, health, health services, local authorities, mental, Mental Health, Mental Health Problems, Social Media, Teachers