Psychosis News and Research

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Psychosis means abnormal condition of the mind, and is a generic psychiatric term for a mental state often described as involving a "loss of contact with reality". People suffering from psychosis are said to be ''psychotic.''

Psychotic symptoms in people with schizophrenia caused by faulty 'switch' within brain

Scientists at The University of Nottingham have shown that psychotic symptoms experienced by people with schizophrenia could be caused by a faulty 'switch' within the brain.

22 Aug 2013

Study investigates issues faced by prisoners with mental health problems after release

Offenders, and especially prisoners, have a high prevalence of mental health problems. Rates for various mental health conditions range from 50 to 90 per cent. Prisoners released from prison with mental health problems face difficulty with family relationships, employment, long-term illness, self-harm, depression and re-offending.

12 Aug 2013

Study: Full Body Illusions can be accompanied by changes in body temperature

Researchers from the Center for Neuroprosthetics at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL), Switzerland, show that people can be "tricked" into feeling that an image of a human figure -- an "avatar" -- is their own body. The study is published in the open-access journal Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience.

31 Jul 2013

Study: Bipolar disorder evolves differently in patients who binge eat

Bipolar disorder evolves differently in patients who also binge eat, a study by Mayo Clinic, the Lindner Center of HOPE and the University of Minnesota found. Binge eating and obesity often are present among bipolar patients, but the mood disorder appears to take a different path in those who binge eat than it does in obese bipolar patients who do not, the researchers discovered.

26 Jul 2013

Experts team up to launch International Centre for Mental Health Social Research

Mental health experts from around the world are teaming up to undertake a unique research programme applying social science to mental health practice.

22 Jul 2013

Study shows link between reclassification of cannabis, hospital admissions for cannabis psychosis

Researchers from the University of York have demonstrated that the change in cannabis declassification in 2009 has coincided with a significant increase in hospital admissions for cannabis psychosis - rather than the decrease it was intended to produce.

19 Jul 2013

Long-term cannabis use, dopamine and motivation: an interview with Dr Michael Bloomfield, Department of Medicine at Imperial

We classified ‘long-term’ cannabis use as being regular, at least weekly, cannabis use for over 12 months. This is the period of time that’s used in the DSM-IV psychiatric diagnostic manual to classify substance use disorders. In our study the average duration of at least weekly use was just over four and a half years.

17 Jul 2013

Women at high risk of postpartum psychosis need very careful care, says new review

There are clear risk factors for postpartum psychosis that all women should be asked about antenatally to ensure early recognition and prompt treatment of the condition, says a new review published today (12 July) in The Obstetrician & Gynaecologist.

15 Jul 2013

Gang members and violent men are more likely to suffer from mental disorder

Young men who are gang members suffer unprecedented levels of psychiatric illness, placing a heavy burden on mental health services, according to new research led by Queen Mary, University of London.

12 Jul 2013

Study finds that long-term cannabis use affects motivation

Long-term cannabis users tend to produce less dopamine, a chemical in the brain linked to motivation, a study has found.

2 Jul 2013

Cannabis users appear to lack motivation

Researchers found that dopamine levels in a part of the brain called the striatum were lower in people who smoke more cannabis and those who began taking the drug at a younger age.

2 Jul 2013

Researchers find new treatment option for schizophrenia

A research group led by professor Jesper Ekelund showed that by giving a very large dose of famotidine (200 mg daily), sufficient amounts of the drug are able to penetrate the so-called blood-brain barrier to affect the histamine system in the brain.

1 Jul 2013

Study: Assessment of risk in patients who commit suicide and homicide is often poor

The assessment of risk in patients who go on to die by suicide or commit homicide is often poor, a new study has found. A report by The University of Manchester's National Confidential Inquiry (NCI) into Suicide and Homicide by People with Mental Illness out today has raised concerns about the way that risk is assessed and led to criticism of the tick-box approach to clinical practice.

26 Jun 2013

Mayo Clinic researchers say that adolescents with chronic pain need to avoid medical marijuana

Adolescents can have chronic pain, just like adults. It can interfere with normal development, making it difficult for teens to attend school, socialize or be physically active, the cause may be hard to find, and medications are sometimes tried without success. As patients, their parents and physicians search for solutions, there is one increasingly available option they should avoid, Mayo Clinic researchers say: medical marijuana.

17 Jun 2013

Changes in normal glycan behavior lead to fatal lysosomal disease, say researchers

From the neurons that enable thought to the keratinocytes that make toenails grow-a complex canopy of sugar molecules, commonly known as glycans, envelop every living cell in the human body.

6 Jun 2013

Pioneering study demonstrates benefit of neuroimaging technique in identifying bipolar disorder

MRI may be an effective way to diagnose mental illnesses such as bipolar disorder, according to experts from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. In a landmark study using advanced techniques, the researchers were able to correctly distinguish bipolar patients from healthy individuals based on their brain scans alone.

6 Jun 2013

New avatar system could provide quick and effective therapy for schizophrenia

An avatar system that enables people with schizophrenia to control the voice of their hallucinations is being developed by researchers at UCL with support from the Wellcome Trust.

31 May 2013

Viewpoints: 'Good news' on Calif. insurance rates; Battle against dementia needs stronger efforts; Dental care for the disabled

The Affordable Care Act, a k a Obamacare, goes fully into effect at the beginning of next year, and predictions of disaster are being heard far and wide. ... No doubt there will be problems, as there are with any large new government initiative, and in this case, we have the added complication that many Republican governors and legislators are doing all they can to sabotage reform. Yet important new evidence -; especially from California, the law's most important test case -; suggests that the real Obamacare shock will be one of unexpected success (Paul Krugman, 5/26).

29 May 2013

New MRI superresolution methods enable structural study of psychosis

A team of researchers from the UPNA/NUP-Public University of Navarre has developed new superresolution and segmentation methods for magnetic resonance images so that they can be applied to the structural study of psychosis. The aim is to be able to identify the differences that are produced in specific parts of the brain in psychotic patients with respect to their healthy relatives or other people.

28 May 2013

New U-M poll shows 1 in 100 parents believe their kids use prescription stimulants to boost grades

As high schoolers prepare for final exams, teens nationwide may be tempted to use a "study drug" -- a prescription stimulant or amphetamine -- to gain an academic edge. But a new University of Michigan poll shows only one in 100 parents of teens 13-17 years old believes that their teen has used a study drug.

22 May 2013