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Teen suicide gets plenty of airtime, but a new U.S. study finds that middle-aged whites are an emerging high-risk group. Before 1999, white middle-aged men were the least likely to kill themselves. However, for the period from 1999 to 2005, the rate for African-Americans, Asian-Americans and Native Americans declined or stayed stable even as middle-aged whites experienced a significant increase in suicides. read more

Blacks and whites with heart disease are both likely to experience symptoms of depression, but blacks are only half as likely to receive treatment for the disorder, according to a new study from Duke University Medical Center. "This is an important finding because we know that depression is associated with a 2- to 4-fold increase in the risk of complications and death from heart disease," says James Blumenthal, PhD, a psychologist at Duke and a co-author of the study appearing early online in the American Heart Journal. "Undertreatment of depression is a serious clinical issue." read more

Proposals aimed at helping society realise its mental potential at every stage of peoples' lives are contained in a major new report published today by Foresight. The study highlights the aging population as one of the three key areas to tackle. Key points include: - We need to act now - new treatments could take years to become available so protective lifestyles need to be adopted now by the middle aged; - Addressing dementia is a priority.

The first of a fleet of 50 new mobile counseling centers for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Vet Center program was put into service today with the remainder scheduled to be activated over the next three months. "Our widespread distribution of this fleet from coast to coast marks a new chapter in VA's innovation to reach rural and underserved veterans with high-quality readjustment counseling," said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Dr. James B. Peake.