NICE guidelines: borderline personality disorder
31st January 2009
A couple of days ago I blogged on the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence's (NICE's) January guidance on a diverse range of fifteen clinical, technology, interventional and public health subjects including Antisocial Personality Disorder. In today's post, I discuss NICE's hot-off-the-press guidance on Borderline Personality Disorder. This addresses …
NICE guidelines: January guidance including antisocial personality disorder
29th January 2009
Yesterday NICE - the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence in England & Wales - published guidance on a diverse range of fifteen clinical, technology, interventional and public health subjects. Their clinical guidance on Medicines Adherence interested me, as too did their public health guidance on Promoting Physical Activity …
Handouts & questionnaires for emotions, schema & personality
26th January 2009
Here are a set of diverse handouts and questionnaires on emotions, schema and personality. The "triangle of emotions" is a model I put together to help guide work on the longer term dysfunctional personality patterns that we probably all experience to some extent. The "big five" is a very widely …
Ways of coping: theory & personal experience
25th January 2009
In blog postings earlier this month, I've talked about supporting my Mum after her recent couple of strokes. She's been shipped through three different hospitals and now is more peaceful in a nursing home. It's sad - very sad at times - and it's great that she seems more comfortable, …
Recent research: half a dozen papers relevant to psychotherapy
22nd January 2009
Here are half a dozen papers relevant to psychotherapy. The first two throw some light on the question of whether it matters which form of established psychotherapy one uses to treat a particular depression sufferer - bearing in mind Cuijpers et al's recent meta-analysis suggesting that " ... there are …
Handouts & questionnaires for emotions & feelings
19th January 2009
Here are a set of handouts and questionnaires about emotions. It seems helpful to understand emotions through an evolutionary perspective - we have emotions, to a large extent, because they had (and have) survival value. We are the descendants of people with adaptive emotional systems that helped them stay alive …
Self disclosure by health professionals
18th January 2009
Blogging about my mum's illness and my reactions to it led me to think again about self disclosure by health professionals. Our job is to be helpful for our clients - it's what we're about. Self disclosure by health professionals is a mixed bag. It can sometimes be helpful and …
Recent research: six studies on prevalence of depression & anxiety, and risk factors for depression, bipolar disorder & suicide
15th January 2009
Here are a couple of studies on the prevalence of depression and anxiety, and four on risk factors for depression, bipolar disorder and suicide. Strine et al report on a major survey of depression and anxiety in the United States. They found "The overall prevalence of current depressive symptoms was …
Handouts & questionnaires for alcohol use disorders
12th January 2009
Here are a series of information and assessment handouts on alcohol. For additional information, note that the blog has a whole series of posts on the crucial importance of lifestyle choices, including how we use or abuse alcohol. Alcohol disorder assessment - two question screen - this is a useful …
Friendship, life planning, & expressing emotions
11th January 2009
Yesterday and today are a check-in time with my friend Larry. I've written in a previous blog post how Larry and I have met every three or four months for many years specifically to review how our lives are going and to plan and prioritize our goals for the next …