Phobia News and Research

RSS

Fears are a common part of an individual’s life. However, a phobia is more than a simple fear. It starts and develops into something massive when the affected person begins to organise their life around avoiding the feared object – be it an animal, insect, place, situation or just about anything.

Cognitive behavioural treatment can serve as effective alternative to GA for patients with dental phobia

A study published in the current issue of Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics examines a relatively frequent problem. Individuals who fear the dentist should often recur to some kinds of general anaesthesia to have their dental work done. But alternatives are now available.

23 May 2011

'Big cleanout' no cure for hoarding

Kaiser Health News's Peggy Girshman writes: "If basic cable is any indication we have a fascination with hoarding. 'We all love a good train wreck' says Mark Odom, clinical consultant to the Orange County (Calif.) Task Force on Hoarding.

4 May 2011

First Edition: April 3, 2011

Today's headlines include reports on the GOP's ongoing efforts to defund the health law as well as the impact a new rule might have on Medicaid provider payments.

3 May 2011

CTSN focuses on new prairie vole model for autism treatment

Researchers at the Center for Translational Social Neuroscience at Emory University are focusing on prairie voles as a new model to screen the effectiveness of drugs to treat autism.

29 Apr 2011

Corticosteroid creams do not cause skin thinning: Study

According to a new study, long term use of steroid creams to treat children with the skin condition known as eczema doesn't cause any major negative side effects.

25 Apr 2011

Normal routine use of topical corticosteroids for eczema in children does not 'thin the skin'

A new study published in the journal Pediatric Dermatology reveals that routine, long-term use of topical corticosteroids (TCS) for treating children with eczema does not cause any significant, negative side effects.

21 Apr 2011

Swinburne University of Technology acquires Elekta's Neuromag TRIUX MEG system

Certain brain processes happen in the blink of an eye – and even faster – which has made pinpointing these events virtually impossible. The advent of magnetoencephalography (MEG) changed all that, enabling researchers to capture brain electrical activity measured in milliseconds, and offering the potential to reveal the nature of innumerable brain disorders and diseases.

From Elekta 20 Apr 2011

Mexican-born migrants may face high risk of developing depressive, anxiety disorders

People who migrate to the United States from Mexico have a significantly higher risk of developing depressive or anxiety disorders than family members of migrants who remain in Mexico, according to a report in the April issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

5 Apr 2011

New book sheds light on complex relationships between women and exercise

From boot camp to step aerobics, yoga to martial arts, women have been pummelled by the fitness industry and messages in the media to exercise in pursuit of the pervasive fit, feminine ideal: to look young, thin and toned.

29 Mar 2011

New study sheds 'light' on intricate brain cell connections responsible for anxiety

A new study sheds light--both literally and figuratively--on the intricate brain cell connections responsible for anxiety.

10 Mar 2011

Treat discomfort not fever say the new pediatric guidelines

According to a new report from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), fevers alone are not a cause for intervention in children. Dr. Janice Sullivan, the lead author of the report says, “The focus should be on comfort and not on absolute temperature.” That’s because fever can be help fight illness, by slowing down the reproduction of bacteria and viruses or stimulating the body’s immune response she explains. “That’s a benefit of fever…and may shorten the time that your child remains ill,” she adds.

28 Feb 2011

Ballerinas need to know dangers of excessive weight loss and overexercise

With actress Natalie Portman in Oscar contention, the movie "Black Swan" has taken center stage. So have concerns surrounding the dramatic weight loss Portman underwent for the role. Her depiction of a dangerously thin ballerina sheds light on a potential downside of this art form.

25 Feb 2011

Researchers find 2 neural pathways that play role in developing phobias

Why do some people fret over the most trivial matters while others remain calm in the face of calamity? Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, have identified two different chinks in our brain circuitry that explain why some of us are more prone to anxiety.

11 Feb 2011

Singapore study finds video game addiction exists globally

A new study by an international research team -- including an Iowa State University psychologist -- found further evidence that video game "addiction" exists globally and that greater amounts of gaming, lower social competence and greater impulsivity were risk factors for becoming pathological gamers.

20 Jan 2011

Excessive video gaming may lead to mental ill health problems for kids, experts warn

A new study shows the risk factors for “pathological,” or obsessive, video gamers. It shows that these children become more depressed and anxious the more they play. The risk factors that made a child a pathological gamer include the child being impulsive, socially awkward, and played more games than the average child.

17 Jan 2011

7,8-Dihydroxyflavone holds potential for treatment of fear based disorders

Living a traumatic experience favours the persistence of fear associated with an aversive stimulus, known as fear conditioning and such effect, in mice, can be suppressed with a single dosis of 7,8-Dihydroxyflavone, a type of flavonoid which boosts the ability to acquire new emotional learnings.

13 Jan 2011

Neural pathways in amygdala regulates fear response

Fear arises in the almond-shaped brain structure known as the amygdala. It is the amygdala which processes the strange noise, shadowy figure or scary face and not only triggers palpitations or nausea but can also cause us to flee or freeze. That much has long been known about the function of this part of the brain. What remains largely unclear, however, is precisely how fear develops, and which of the countless neurons in the amygdaloid region are involved in this process.

12 Nov 2010

Neuron subtypes control level of fear output from amygdala

The eerie music in the movie theater swells; the roller coaster crests and begins its descent; something goes bump in the night. Suddenly, you're scared: your heart thumps, your stomach clenches, your throat tightens, your muscles freeze you in place. But fear doesn't come from your heart, your stomach, your throat, or your muscles. Fear begins in your brain, and it is there specifically in an almond shaped structure called the amygdala that it is controlled, processed, and let out of the gate to kick off the rest of the fear response.

11 Nov 2010

Semantic Stimuli Response Measurement technology measures response of subconscious mind

The National Mental Health Association reports that over 65 million Americans suffer from some type of mental illness and that 1 in 5 people will experience some mental illness during their life. By 2020, mental illness is projected to be the leading cause of disease burden in North America, an obviously staggering problem with total costs to society running into the hundreds of billions every year.

21 Sep 2010

Researchers present study results of psychosocial trauma experienced at 2006 Dawson College shooting

A research team from the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC) and Fernand-Seguin Research Centre of Louis-H. Lafontaine Hospital presented today the results of its three-year study, a world first, into the 2006 Dawson College shooting to the Government of Quebec's Ministry of Public Security.

10 Sep 2010