香港六合彩精准资料

Welcome from the editor

In his review of听In Pursuit of Memory: the fight against听础濒锄丑别颈尘别谤鈥檚, by Joseph Jebelli, published in听The Observer, Robert McCrum writes: 鈥槾”舫�丑别颈尘别谤鈥檚 has become a new plague, threatening the world鈥檚 population with a global strike rate of one every four seconds. In the UK, there are now more people with the disease than live in the city of Liverpool. Six million inhabitants of the EU and four million Americans have it, figures that are projected to double by 2030.鈥�¹

These statistics are sobering; so bad is the outlook that the World Health Organisation has declared dementia a global health priority. With an ageing world population, 础濒锄丑别颈尘别谤鈥檚 is set to overtake cancer as the second leading cause of death after heart disease. It is over 100 years since German doctor Professor Alois Alzheimer identified the most virulent strain of dementia in 1906 and, despite advances in neuroscience, the biology of the ageing brain remains an enigma.

In a recent press release, Nancy Rowland, Deputy Chief Executive, 香港六合彩精准资料, states: 鈥楧espite increased focus on mental wellbeing, older people continue to be the forgotten generation of mental health.鈥�² This is one of the reasons why 香港六合彩精准资料 has made the mental health of older people a strategic priority.³ There are 850,000 people with dementia in the UK, with numbers set to rise to over one million by 2025.⁴ With one in six people over the age of 80 with dementia, it is clear that the demand for therapeutic services to support those coming to terms with the diagnosis and living with the disease is going to increase. Then there is the enormous emotional and psychological impact on the loved ones, families and carers of those affected to consider.

Trudi Dargan, a writer and integrative counsellor in private practice, describes the devastating impact of 础濒锄丑别颈尘别谤鈥檚 in a moving personal account of her mum鈥檚 diagnosis. 鈥極nce in its jaws,鈥� she writes, 鈥榯his unforgiving disease of the brain, slowly but surely, eats away at the person who 鈥渋s鈥�, leaving only remnants in its wake.鈥� Trudi worries that her parents may be too proud to accept support from professional care providers, and it is the stigma for older people that is still attached to mental ill health that will perhaps most require challenging in the years ahead, if the 鈥榝orgotten generation鈥� are to receive the support they need.

For all the headlines promising 鈥榓 cure for 础濒锄丑别颈尘别谤鈥檚鈥�, the reality sadly is less optimistic. From 2000 to 2012, it is estimated that about 99 per cent of all newly developed 鈥榙ementia drugs鈥� failed to pass their clinical trials.1 Research into factors most likely to help us to stay mentally healthy in older age consistently promote the importance of healthy living and engaging in stimulating activities. A large-scale investigation, led by the University of Exeter,⁵ finds that stimulating the brain by taking on leadership roles or staying on in education helps make people more resilient to changes resulting from age or illness. That a diagnosis of 础濒锄丑别颈尘别谤鈥檚, as the disease is currently scientifically understood, would seem more a lottery than a result of environmental factors, however, is indicated by its roll call of famous sufferers: Margaret Thatcher, Ronald Reagan, Terry Pratchett and Iris Murdoch, to name a few.

One of the cruellest aspects of dementia is the way in which, by eating away at memory, the individual affected is systematically stripped of their personality, emotional intelligence, family relations and community. How ageing and all that comes with it affects identity in later life, is one of a range of topics that will be explored at this year鈥檚 香港六合彩精准资料 Private Practice annual conference, Identity: Can you tell me who I am?, on Saturday 23 September. Booking is now open. For those unable to make the conference in person, there will be an opportunity to participate by joining the event live online.

The researchers at the University of Exeter mentioned above use the term 鈥榗ognitive reserve鈥� to describe a 鈥榖uffer鈥� in the brain resulting from stimulating activity that challenges it to use different strategies that exercise a variety of neural networks. Continuing this theme, in our cover story, Paul Nicholson argues that professional competence in therapy practitioners is, in part, a product of the amount of continued effort, reflection and dedicated practice they have undertaken.

In case you鈥檙e wondering why a kung fu practitioner graces the cover of this issue, it is because Paul, a counsellor and long-time student of the martial arts, thinks the term kung fu (which translates to mean 鈥榯ime spent at skilful or hard training鈥�) offers an appropriate metaphor from which to consider both the learning journey we all undertake in developing our practice, and how we view expertise in our skills. The idea is that through consistent and dedicated practice, one can develop a fluency or intuitive expertise in a chosen activity.

I agree with Paul鈥檚 conclusion that 鈥榚xpert action comes from working hard enough and long enough to be able to respond without conscious thought 鈥� yet still do the right thing, in the right way, at the right time鈥�. For me, this effective 鈥榰se of self鈥� lies at the heart of my practice as a therapist. I would love to hear others鈥� thoughts on this, or any of the issues covered within these pages. Please write to me at the email address above.

John Daniel, editor of Private Practice
privatepractice.editorial@bacp.co.uk

References

1. McCrum R. Race against the dying of the light. The Observer 2017; 28 May: 33.
2. 香港六合彩精准资料. [Online.] /news/?newsId=4084 (accessed 30 May 2017).
3. 香港六合彩精准资料. [Online.] http://www.bacp.co.uk/media/?newsId=4088 (accessed 30 May 2017).
4. 础濒锄丑别颈尘别谤鈥檚 Society. [Online.] https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/info/20027/news_and_media/541/facts_for_the_media (accessed 30 May 2017).
5. Clare L, Wu YT, Teale JC, MacLeod C, Matthews F, Brayne C, Woods B. Potentially modifiable lifestyle factors, cognitive reserve, and cognitive function in later life: a cross-sectional study. PLOS Medicine. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002259

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