Latest news

9/2/12 Suicide Risk to Scottish Men

Men in Scotland are twice as likely to commit suicide as those living in England and Wales according to research carried out by the universities of Manchester and Edinburgh and the Medical Research Council's Social and Public Health Sciences Unit in Glasgow.

A quarter of young Scots are so depressed they have considered taking their own lives. Others have turned to alcohol or drugs.

Social deprivation, unemployment and excessive alcohol consumption are linked to suicide.

25/1/12 Middle Managers under Most Stress

A CIPD survey of 2000 employees has found that 49% of middle managers say that they are under excessive stress with 56% saying that they are unhappy about their work-life balance.

Bill Wilmott, head of CIPD public policy, said that, "It is important that employers do not ignore the health and wellbeing of their middle managers. With a fifth of middle managers saying they are under excessive pressure every day, they are particularly at risk of suffering from work-related stress and burnout."

10/1/12 High Risk of Heart Attack in the Bereaved

Research by Dr Murray Mittleman of Harvard Medical School has found that bereavement significantly increases the chance of heart attack. It is already known that psychological stress of any kind impacts on physical health. It is therefore important that the bereaved look after their health and well-being.

In a study of nearly 2000 heart attack survivors, it was found that 270 (13.6%) had suffered a bereavement within the previous 6 months; 19 of those had a heart attack the day after a loved one had died.

6/1/12 Work-Related Stress

According to the EIS (the main teaching union), a teacher has received compensation of around £250,000 for occupartional stress resulting from an excessive workload and lack of management support.

Employers are advised to take this as a warning that they need to look after the mental well-being of employees. This can be done by using a Counselling service. Alicia Smith Consultancy can provide a service suited to the needs of employers in the Glasgow and Ayrshire areas..

14/11/11 Stress and Family Relationships

Stress Counselling for parents could have a beneficial effect on children. Home-Start UK, a family support charity, found in a survey of 1201 parents that 63% of parents believe that their stress is damaging their relationships with their children. 93% of parents said that they believe their children's future mental and physical well-being could be affected.

11/11/10 The Glasgow Effect on Anxiety

A Scottish Government Survey has found that an unexplained 'Glasgow Effect' means that the people of Greater Glasgow and Clyde are, for no known reason, 92% more likely to suffer from moderate or high anxiety than those people living in the rest of Scotland.

This difference was not explained by factors of age, sex, residence, economic activity, potential problem drinking, abstaining from alcohol or physical activity level.This means that those living in Greater Glasgow and Clyde are almost twice as likely to suffer from anxiety as those in the rest of Scotland and the reason for this is as yet unknown.