Psychiatric drugs soar among Aussie kids

ADHD medication-use in Australia has jumped 35 per cent in a four-year period. Source: AAP

THE use of powerful psychiatric drugs is soaring among Australian children as young as 10, research shows.

THE number of prescriptions for antipsychotic drugs jumped 49 per cent among 10 to 14 year olds over a four-year period, according to a study of government subsidised prescriptions.

The number of prescriptions for antidepressants increased by more than a third in that age group, according to figures for 2009 to 2012 published in the latest issue of the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry.Among people of all age groups, the study shows a 26 per cent increase in ADHD medication, a 23 per cent increase in antipsychotics and a 16 per cent increase in antidepressants.There has been a 35 per cent jump in the use of the ADHD medication Ritalin.Part of the reason for this is an increase in the number of teenagers and adults using the medication.The study shows ADHD medication increased 71 per cent for 20 to 24 year olds and 37 per cent for people aged 25 and older.The rise was 26 per cent for children aged three to nine, 15 per cent for 10 to 14 year olds, 33 per cent for 15 to 19 year olds.Research leader Professor Iain McGregor called for a discussion about whether the benefits of medication outweigh the hazards, particularly in children and in those suffering mild to moderate distress."We need to have a national debate about what is driving this phenomenon."Why are we so reliant on meds for our mental wellbeing?"Clinical Psychologist Andrew Fuller described the study as "massively" concerning, but not surprising."We seem to have a growing proportion of young people showing signs of vulnerability in terms of mental health issues.Some of the prescriptions could be partly because of the agitation of the patient or their parent, or anxiety of the doctor who wants to resolve the issue as quickly as possible, he says."Often the medication is seen as the solution. ADHD medication is highly prescribed, but sadly very rarely given together with other forms of treatment."For depression, talk therapy is very powerful. So is exercise or meditation techniques."These could be used on their own or together with medication, he says. But they take longer than medication to kick in.

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Labor, coalition fight for rural affection

Last Updated: June 20, 2014

IF you believe Labor, they are the party for farmers and rural Australia.

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Search continues for missing Vic fisherman

A MASSIVE air and sea search covering 3500 square kilometres continues after a Victorian professional fisherman failed to return from a fishing trip.

THE 65-year-old Warrnambool man set off alone from Point Fairy wharf to go gummy fishing about 1.30pm on Wednesday.

Police say it's believed he was headed to Lady Julia Percy Island about 22km southwest of Point Fairy.He failed to return home as expected at 10pm and his family raised the alarm early on Thursday.Several volunteer vessels and two water police boats spent the day searching for the man off Victoria's southwest coast.Fourteen aircraft, including nine helicopters, have also been searching an area covering about 3500 square kilometres, the Australian Maritime Safety Authority said.The man's wife told police he had been fishing for most of his life, and had no known health concerns.Sergeant Mick Wolfe of Point Fairy police said the search area was extended during the day, after an early search around Lady Julia Percy Island found nothing."As time's gone by further resources have been utilised and we've actually had to spread the area because he's not where we initially thought he was," Sgt Wolfe told Fairfax Radio."At this stage we've got no idea where the boat is."Senior Sergeant Tania Barbary said police held out hope the man would be found OK."We've always got hope that there's something, that he's just drifting out there and he's unable to make contact with anybody at the moment," she told reporters at Point Fairy."We'll continue our search until we find otherwise."The search is expected to be scaled back overnight before being ramped up again on Friday morning.

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Two boat mishaps off Malaysia, 35 missing

MALAYSIAN authorities are searching for 35 people missing at sea following two boat accidents at a time when many illegal migrant workers head home to Indonesia for the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.

IN the latest incident early on Thursday, nine people were missing off western Malaysia after a boat believed to be bound for the Indonesian island of Sumatra sank near the district of Sepang, south of the capital Kuala Lumpur, The Star daily reported.

Eighteen people were rescued, it said, quoting Mohamad Hambali Yaakup, an official with the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA).The accident came to light as authorities expanded a search for survivors of another boat - also bound for Sumatra - that sank just up the coast with 97 Indonesians aboard early on Wednesday.Nine bodies have been found after that accident, while 26 remain missing, though officials believe some of them made it to land - it sank near the Malaysian shore - and fled the area to avoid being apprehended by authorities.Authorities have not yet determined the cause of either accident, but the boat that sank on Wednesday was likely carrying three times more passengers than it could safely transport, officials said."The boat is too small to ferry 97 people. The boat must have been very cramped," said MMEA spokesman Mohamad Zuhri, adding that its capacity was likely around 30 passengers.Large numbers of Indonesians - many of them illegal migrants - return home annually from Malaysia for Ramadan, which this year begins at the end of June and will culminate in late July with Eid al-Fitr, Islam's biggest festival.On Thursday, divers were deployed, more vessels brought in and the search zone for the first sinking expanded along the coast in the hope of finding more survivors, said Mohamad Hambali."We have deployed divers and a total of 25 marine craft and a helicopter to sweep the coastal area for possible survivors," he told AFP.Mohamad Hambali said the divers would try to determine what caused the boat to sink and to view any markings that would help identify its owner and operator.The 62 survivors of the first mishap have been detained by authorities and were not available to speak with the media.

23.08 | 0 komentar | Read More

Family heartbroken after aged home deaths

THREE and a half years ago, Marie Darragh was frail, ill and on the brink of death.

SHE was placed in the St Andrews Nursing Home in Ballina as her family desperately hoped for the best.

Within years, her health had turned around.After giving up smoking, Ms Darragh turned to sugar to get her fix and earned the affectionate nickname "sugar fairy" for her fierce sweet tooth around the nursing home.It was this new-found health and happiness that made the 82-year-old's suspected murder in May all the more shocking."It's total heartbreak," daughter Janet Parkinson told AAP on Thursday."Because when she went in there she was ready to die. She was so frail and it has taken them three and a half years to get her where she was."They built her up and she had to go this way ... that's the heartbreaking thing."Ms Darragh and fellow resident and friend Isobella Spencer, 77, were found unconscious in their beds on May 10.They died hours later.The same night, a third woman was attacked at the home and admitted to hospital but survived.St Andrews Aged Care says she is in good health and is back at the facility.The fact Ms Darragh and Ms Spencer died unexpectedly, in the same location and on the same night, sparked a homicide investigation.Detectives believe they have a good idea of how both women died and have questioned nursing home staff."Obviously we are looking at the actions of staff members that night. However, we are keeping an open mind," Detective Superintendent Mick Willing said on Wednesday.Ms Parkinson said she had her own suspicions about what happened, but could not speak highly enough of the nursing home staff."Obviously I have missed something," she said.She said Ms Darragh, a grandmother to 11 and mother of three, "loved" living at the nursing home.Police have not disclosed any further details about the women's deaths but said there was no "existing threat" at the nursing home."I want to make it absolutely clear that we believe this is an isolated incident," Det Supt Willing said.In a statement, St Andrews Aged Care chief executive officer Pip Carter had no fears for the safety of residents."We understand the pain of losing a loved one and we are doing all we can to assist police," she said.

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Carr dishes up conundrum for NSW govt

EIGHT years after ending his reign over NSW, Bob Carr is still giving the state Liberals a headache.

THIS time, he's forced Premier Mike Baird to reconvene a "slimmed-down" joint sitting of parliament.

The procedure is so the former premier and foreign minister can be excused from the Senate and return to private life.Mr Baird was left with a conundrum after Mr Carr decided to retire from federal politics despite winning his Senate seat last year.The premier received legal advice that Mr Carr's resignation wasn't constitutional and a joint sitting of the NSW parliament was needed to replace him.But the problem was parliament was on Thursday preparing to close its doors for its winter recess and not planning to sit again until August, well after the July 1 date of the new Senate term.The premier eventually decided to hold a very short joint sitting session in July, which would only last a few minutes, to sort the issue out.Once that happens, Labor's Deb O'Neill will formally replace Mr Carr in the Senate.

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Ferry fraudster Smith 'had no choice'

Last Updated: June 20, 2014

A FORMER Sydney Ferries boss who racked up more than $200,000 on the company credit card says he felt he had no choice because he couldn't tell his emotionally fragile wife how desperate the family's financial situation had become.

Facebook goes down worldwide

THE world's popular social networking site of Facebook went down last night across the world, leaving users unable to log in.

Airline fee crackdown fails to fly

EXCLUSIVE: Airlines, hotels and ticket agencies look set to keep slugging customers supersized surcharges, despite two court cases.

Hodkinson call buried a dynasty

DESPITE owning the try that ended eight years of Origin heartache halfback Hodkinson was not meant to receive the ball that led to his stirring solo run.

No straights here — just gays

A GATED housing community built solely for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people is being proposed for a European city.

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BlackBerry results top expectations

Last Updated: June 20, 2014

BLACKBERRY has surprised Wall Street by posting results that beat analyst's expectations.

Facebook goes down worldwide

THE world's popular social networking site of Facebook went down last night across the world, leaving users unable to log in.

Airline fee crackdown fails to fly

EXCLUSIVE: Airlines, hotels and ticket agencies look set to keep slugging customers supersized surcharges, despite two court cases.

Hodkinson call buried a dynasty

DESPITE owning the try that ended eight years of Origin heartache halfback Hodkinson was not meant to receive the ball that led to his stirring solo run.

No straights here — just gays

A GATED housing community built solely for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people is being proposed for a European city.

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