General practices, organisations and/or individuals are invited to submit an expression of interest to develop a medical “General Practice Service for Mental Health clients” at either Redfern Health Centre, Croydon Health Centre or both sites.

EOI_Submission_Guidelines__Forms.pdf

The closing date for submission is 5pm Friday 24 September 2010.

Around one in five people, usually women, who develop the eating disorder would die as a result, says Associate Professor Susan Byrne from the University of WA’s School of Psychology.

She said many treatments had emerged over the years, from different models of counselling and therapy along with acute hospital care, though there was little evidence to show which approach was best.

“Currently, there are a whole range of treatments and we don’t have any evidence that one is any better than the other,” Dr Byrne said on Friday.

“... We’re really trying to gather some evidence so we can say to people, with confidence, that we have evidence that this or that treatment is helpful.”

Dr Byrne is seeking around 200 adult volunteers who have an eating disorder and who are based in Sydney, Adelaide or Perth.

Participants will receive ten months of free treatment - in one of three different front-line therapies developed independently and used by some to tackle anorexia in different parts of the world.

The research will compare Enhanced Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, developed at Oxford University; Maudsley Anorexia Nervosa Treatment for Adults (MANTRA), developed at London’s Maudsley Hospital; and New Zealand’s Specialist Support Clinical Management for Anorexia Nervosa.

Dr Byrne said each treatment focused on restoring a normal eating pattern and healthy weight “so that the person with anorexia nervosa can become physically and mentally well again”.

Fifteen per cent of Australian women will suffer from an eating disorder during their lifetime, with around four per cent of these cases classed as anorexia.

The cause remains unknown though anorexia has the highest mortality rate of any psychiatric disorder, with 15 to 20 per cent of sufferers dying after 15 years.

“It’s not really are rare as people tend to think,” Dr Byrne said.

Those seeking to join the research can call the UWA’s School of Psychology on 08 6488 7428 or email: treatmenttrial@psy.uwa.edu.au

On Wednesday 25 August a workshop will be held at Balmain Town Hall from 6:30pm to explore a range of different mental health services that could be offered at Callan Park.

Mental Health Master Plan Workshop

If you are unable to attend the workshop, comments on the website regarding the newer proposals put forward are very welcome. A document outlining these proposals should be available after the workshop next Wednesday.

There is one week left to get orders in to the Mental Health Association NSW for resources for this year’s Mental Health Month (1-31 October)

Mental Health Month 2010.

The locations of ten new headspace centres have been announced by the Federal Government and headspace. The new centres are part of the $78 million funding package for headspace announced in the May Federal Budget. The first raft of those centres will be located in areas of high need.

New headspace sites

Release of the work and your mental health brochure for General Practitioners

For more information on Sexual Health, please contact the following staff:

Vijay Ramanathan Phone: 8752 4915

Julie McLean-Murray Phone: 8752 4905

Dianne Deschamps Phone: 8752 4923

Download

• Gay friendly GPs

Developed by Sydney South West Area Mental Health Service, consumer medication brochure series on Antipsychotic Medications, Benzodiazepine, Bipolar, Clozapine and Depression is now available on our website as PDF’s for you to download.

Consumer Medication Brochure Series

• CMB Antipsychotic Medications
• CMB Benzodiazepine
• CMB Bipolar
• CMB Clozapine
• CMB Depression

For more information regarding our Mental Health project, please contact Karen Frost on 8752 4910.

New Australian Alcohol Guidelines - the National Health and Medical Research Council’s (NHMRC) Australian Guidelines to Reduce Health Risks from Drinking Alcohol were released on 6 March 2009.
The key changes include the following revised guidelines:

Guideline 1

For healthy men and women, drinking no more than two standard drinks on any day reduces the lifetime risk of harm from alcohol-related disease or injury.

Guideline 2

For healthy men and women, drinking no more than four standard drinks on a single occasion reduces the risk of alcohol related injury arising from that occasion.

Guideline 3

3A Parents and carers should be advised that children under 15 years of age are at the greatest risk of harm from drinking and that for this age group, not drinking alcohol is especially important.
3B For young people aged 15–17 years the safest option is to delay the initiation of drinking for as long as possible.

Guideline 4

4A For women who are pregnant or planning a pregnancy, not drinking is the safest option. 
4B For women who are breastfeeding, not drinking is the safest option.

Alcohol has a complex role in Australian society. Most Australians drink alcohol, generally for enjoyment, relaxation and sociability, and do so at levels that cause few adverse effects. However, a substantial proportion of people drink at levels that increase their risk of alcohol-related harm. For some, alcohol is a cause of significant ill health and hardship. In many countries, including Australia, alcohol is responsible for a considerable burden of death, disease and injury. Alcohol-related harm to health is not limited to drinkers but also affects families, bystanders and the broader community.

NHMRC intends Australian Guidelines to Reduce Health Risks from Drinking Alcohol to establish the evidence base for future policies and community materials on reducing the health risks that arise from drinking alcohol. It is about helping you to help your patients reduce the risks to their health from drinking alcohol.

Of course, how much your patients drink is their choice. But the NHMRC hope these guidelines will help you to help your patients make an informed choice and also help health agencies guide the community in reducing health risks. Click on the following links to view and download the indicated resources:

• Download the Australian Guidelines to Reduce Health Risks from Drinking Alcohol
• Summary of the Guidelines
• Alcohol FAQ
• The Australian standard drink

Alternatively you can view and download the new guidelines, including a summary, FAQs and standard drink guide by clicking on the following link at:
http://www.nhmrc.gov.au/your_health/healthy/alcohol/index.htm
Information and resources relating to the new guidelines will soon be available on www.alcohol.gov.au from late April 2009.

For more information contact:

Project Officer: Karen Frost
Phone: 8752 4910

Mood disorders in General Practice - as simple as DSM, SSRI & CBT?

The webcast
In the past decade mental health, and depression in particular, has received a great deal of attention both in the general and medical media. Awareness of depression has markedly increased, attempts have been made to reduce its stigma, and a lot of effort has gone into educating GPs.

No-one would argue that this has not been a positive development. However it has lead on occasions to an oversimplification, where all bad moods are depression, and depression always responds to evidence based treatment with CBT & an SSRI.
Clinical reality in general practice is rather different. We see a wide range of low moods, only some of which are unipolar depression. Many belong to other diagnoses, and many, despite being very significant, struggle to fit neatly any single DSM category. General practice is messy and our patients rarely conform to the neat case studies of typical education modules. And treatments may be evidence based, but the patients to whom we offer them are rarely the same as those carefully selected folk from whom the evidence was gathered.
This talk tries to step back a little and look first at normal mood and its adaptive function, and then go on to take an honest look at the diverse range of mood presentations in GP. In no sense didactic, it is one particular GP’s reflections on how he approaches the manifold uncertainties around treating mood dysfunction. It touches on the difference between the cross sectional, phenomenologically driven approach of some specialist practitioners and the more longitudinal, formulation based approach often found in general practice. It touches on lifestyle, ‘second line’ pharmacological treatments and when to move beyond CBT & explore the meaning of depressive symptoms.

The presenter
Dr Simon Cowap MBBS (Hons) FRACGP is a GP with a long interest in mental health. He is currently practicing at the Brain & Mind Research Institute (BMRI), Camperdown, headspace (youth mental health initiative) in Campbelltown, and in private mental health focused practice in Glebe. He is a level II mental health accredited practitioner, and has both attended and helped design and deliver a number of mental health education initiatives for general practitioners. He has written on general and mental health issues for publications including the Australian Family Physician, Medical Observer, the Australian newspaper and a variety of internet sites. He is currently assisting in the development of the BMRI’s post graduate education programme for GPs intended to commence in 2010. He is interested in the collaborative care of mental health patients and the unique perspective GPs bring to the mental health team.

Accessing and participating in the broadcast
The live broadcast will be a presentation to a small studio audience. The talk will last approximately 30 to 40 mins with 20 minutes for questions. You will be able to watch the live webcast at home on your computer, and the program will allow you to type in questions which the speaker can address during the question time. Access is free to ACPM members and members of the Central Sydney GP Network - co-sponsors of this webcast.

Instructions for viewing
This event is free to financial members of CSGPN, details can be viewed by logging in to the Members section of this website or contact us for further details.

If you are not able to view the live webcast you will be able to access it a few weeks later on the web site by going through the above steps.

For further information please contact: 
Dr Howard Gwynne
email: howard@aya.yale.edu
ph: 0402 827 156

The Melancholia Study Team is pictured (from left to right): David Gilfillan, Tania Perich, Iain MacMillan, Bianca Blanch, Gordon Parker, Vijaya Manicavasagar, Dusan Hadzi-Pavlovic, Alex Apler.

The Black Dog Institute is offering immediate free specialist psychiatric and psychological consultations for up to 300 people experiencing melancholic depression as an inducement to participate in a 12-week trial. The reality is that currently people are waiting up to three to six months when they are referred to see a mood disorder specialist, according to the Black Dog Institute. The “queue jumping” trial announced 17 February 2009, will allow people to receive free treatment and make a valuable contribution to a study that is designed to measure best treatments for melancholic depression. Professor Parker, Executive Director of the Black Dog Institute, has also given an undertaking that if the participants have not improved following the 12-week trial, the Institute will offer ongoing free management for their condition.

Black Dog Institute
Hospital Road
Prince of Wales Hospital
Randwick NSW 2031

Business Hours: MON-FRI 9am-5pm
Reception/Deliveries/General Information: 9382 4530
Community/Consumer Enquiries: 9382 4523
Clinics: 9382 2991
Fax: 9382 8208
Email: blackdog@unsw.edu.au

Central Sydney GPs will shortly be able to refer eligible patients for free psychological therapy to our selected Access to Allied Psychological Services (ATAPS) providers with expertise in PND
Recent studies show that 1 in 7 women in Australia experience postnatal depression. The aims are to provide better care, support and treatment for expectant mothers, new mothers and their families.

Our current ATAPS and Antenatal Shared Care projects will be combining forces to run this project in our area. Key activities of this project include the following:

• establishing linkages and relationships with local child and maternal health services and primary mental health care services to ensure that women experiencing perinatal depression and their families have the necessary resources available to them;
• as appropriate, promoting the use of other pathways to care for women experiencing perinatal depression and their families;
• ensuring that women experiencing perinatal depression and their families are able to receive treatment under ATAPS; and
• promoting and disseminating materials and resources to GPs and allied health professionals to support professional practice in respect of perinatal depression treatment and support;

Discussions are being held with the key SSWAHS service providers as well as Karitane and Tresillian on how best to ensure this program meets the needs of the most at risk women.

Karen Frost (ATAPS) and Dianne Deschamps (ANSC) are interested in speaking to GPs who care for large numbers of women from Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Backgrounds to see how this initiative would assist the women you care for.

Do not hesitate to contact either Karen Frost on 8752 4910 or Dianne Deschamps on 8752 4923 for further information or advice regarding this program.

www.psychevisual.com
The psyche in health and illness is an innovative approach to adult learning in the fields of psychology, psychiatry and mental health care. Users will find papers and multimedia presentations easy to access and are given a wide range of material of value to professionals and to the interested public. The access to the content of this site is free to members of Central Sydney GP Network and the Australian College of Psychological Medicine, otherwise access is by subscription, on a pay per view or pay to download basis.

The site is a valuable aid for people in professional training and is highly informative for consumers of mental health services. The site has interactive capabilities so subscribers will have the possibility of occasions of direct interaction with speakers. Many of our speakers are leaders in the field and we provide information about all speakers and their publications which can be ordered via this site.

For further information, contact:
Project Officer: Karen Frost
Phone: 8752 4910

NSW Mental Health Act 2007 involuntary schedule of a mental health patient form. Please click on the following links for Schedule 1 - medical certificate as to examination or observation of person:

• Medical Director template
• Best Practice template
• How to import templates from CSGPN website Handout : Medical Director or Best Practice

For further information please contact:
Project Officer: Karen Frost
Phone: 8752 4910