A doctor in northern Sweden has been
given a warning for giving a poisonous overdose of antidepressants to a
patient. Five patients in the hospital were given anti-depressant doses that
were found to be too strong.


The worst affected patient is a young man who had never been in contact with
the psychiatrist before. Based on little information, the doctor gave him a
dose that was too much for his body to cope with. The doctor explained that he
wanted to help the patients “as effectively as possible”, although he admitted
that other people working in the clinic have tried to discourage him from
giving such doses.



The head of the clinic reported the doctor to the national healthcare board and
suspended him from his job. The board ruled that the doctor should receive an
official warning.

A study suggests that obese teenage
girls may be more likely than their thinner peers to develop depression or
anxiety disorders as adults. Nearly 800 children and teenagers followed for 20
years, girls who were obese as teens had a roughly four-times higher risk of
clinical depression or anxiety disorders in adulthood. But there was no
such link among boys.

Adult obesity is known to raise the risk of a number of health problems, such
as type 2 diabetes and heart disease. For children, though, the most immediate
consequences of obesity are often emotional and social, like not being accepted
by their peers. It's not clear from this study why obese teenage girls had a
higher risk of mental health problems later in life. But based on other
research, social stigmatization and teasing may play a role in some cases. It
also makes sense that girls would be more vulnerable than boys. Girls and women
face more social pressure to be thin, and at any weight, girls tend to have a
poorer body image than their male counterparts do. Still, more research is
needed to understand the reasons for the link between teen obesity and
subsequent depression and anxiety in girls.




The findings are based on 776 boys and girls who were between the ages of 9 and
18 when they entered the study in 1983. Over the next 20 years, they were
assessed three times for major depression and anxiety. In general, the risk of
these disorders was higher among girls who were obese between the ages of 12
and 18, even when other factors, such as family income, parents' education and
parents' history of emotional problems, were taken into account. Teenagers who
are concerned about their weight, or about any depression or anxiety symptoms, should
talk to their parents or another trusted adult.