Mental Health News and Research

Latest Mental Health News and Research

Roundup: Mental health hospital woes; N.Y. Medicare scam bust

A Miami Herald series "Neglected to Death," focused this spring on critical breakdowns in Florida's enforcement system, including failures by the state's Agency on Health Care Administration to fully investigate deaths or to shut down some of the worst offenders among Florida's 2,850 assisted-living facilities. Although more states are using Medicaid money to pay for some portion of assisted living care for the poor, the federal government has a limited role in the facilities their oversight has been and will likely continue to be a state duty.

4 Nov 2011

Impulsive men have lower levels of GABA in dorsolateral prefrontal cortex

Impulsive individuals tend to display aggressive behavior and have challenges ranging from drug and alcohol abuse, to problem gambling and difficult relationships. They are less able to adapt to different social situations. Impulsivity is also a common feature of psychiatric disorders.

4 Nov 2011

Dampening of emotions linked to high blood pressure

Your ability to recognize emotional content in faces and texts is linked to your blood pressure, according to a Clemson University researcher.

4 Nov 2011

Amphetamine use in adolescence can affect brain chemistry and behaviour

Amphetamine use in adolescence can cause neurobiological imbalances and increase risk-taking behaviour, and these effects can persist into adulthood, even when subjects are drug free. These are the conclusions of a new study using animal models conducted by McGill University Health Centre (MUHC) researcher Dr. Gabriella Gobbi and her colleagues.

4 Nov 2011

Mental health intervention can help prevent suicides among youth

Roughly 1 million people die by suicide each year. In the U.S., where nearly 36,000 people take their own lives annually, more than 4,600 victims are between the ages of 10 and 24, making suicide the third leading cause of death in this age group.

4 Nov 2011

Scientists discover neurons responsible for light-induced arousal response

Bright light arouses us. Bright light makes it easier to stay awake. Very bright light not only arouses us but is known to have antidepressant effects. Conversely, dark rooms can make us sleepy. It's the reason some people use masks to make sure light doesn't wake them while they sleep.

4 Nov 2011

Escitalopram reduces pain severity, interference in opioid-dependent patients

In what is believed to be the first study of its kind to demonstrate an association between the antidepressant escitalopram and improved general pain, researchers from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM), have found that opioid-dependent patients treated with escitalopram experienced meaningful reductions in pain severity and pain interference during the first three months of therapy.

4 Nov 2011

Loneliness can affect sleep: Sleep

A new study from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine published in the Nov. 1 issue of the journal Sleep, suggests that loneliness could be significantly associated with sleep fragmentation, but not sleep duration or subjective sleep measures.

3 Nov 2011

Marital status, income level and age affect likelihood of depression in breast cancer survivors

This year, more than 230,000 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer and nearly 40,000 women will not survive their battle with cancer, according to the American Cancer Society. New research from the University of Missouri shows that certain factors, including marital status, having children in the home, income level and age, affect the likelihood of depression in breast cancer survivors.

3 Nov 2011

State Medicaid Directors seek to sway feds on eligibility rules

In a letter to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the state officials made recommendations about new regulations and asked for coordination between federal and state leaders. Meanwhile, in other Medicaid news, a New York doctor gets a big payout from his whistleblower lawsuit, and the Lousiania program reports a shortfall.

3 Nov 2011

Regular physical activity associated with lower risk of depression in old age

Regular physical activity is associated with a lower risk of suffering depression in old age. This is shown by one of the largest studies on elderly Europeans to have been carried out, by researchers at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, among others. Research also shows that self-determined motivation and perceived competence are important factors in persuading elderly people to exercise more.

3 Nov 2011

Articles explore clinical dilemma about children's behavioral problems

Clinicians often face the challenge of trying to make sense of conflicting reports from parents, teachers, and children about a child's behavioral problems. However, a better understanding of the source and nature of these disagreements may provide important information that could improve treatment and outcomes. A group of articles in the current issue of Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychopharmacology, a peer-reviewed journal published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., explores this challenging clinical dilemma.

2 Nov 2011

State roundup: Ga., Minn. move slowly on exchanges

The entire Massachusetts congressional delegation is asking CMS to preserve the level of safety net funding and provider payments as the state tries to renew its Medicaid waiver. "We are concerned that changes proposed by CMS could significantly threaten payments to Massachusetts health care providers providing care for the most vulnerable populations," Sens. John Kerry and Scott Brown and the 10 House members in the state's delegation wrote.

2 Nov 2011

Hippocampus supports both recollection and familiarity memories

Human memory has historically defied precise scientific description, its biological functions broadly but imperfectly defined in psychological terms. In a pair of papers published in the November 2 issue of The Journal of Neuroscience, researchers at the University of California, San Diego report a new methodology that more deeply parses how and where certain types of memories are processed in the brain, and challenges earlier assumptions about the role of the hippocampus.

2 Nov 2011

New e-tool to catch youth depression before it takes hold

Australian researchers will for the first time harness e-technology to develop a customised internet program to identify and arm healthy young people most at risk of depression before the illness takes hold.

1 Nov 2011

Longer commute to work may have harmful effects on health

A new study suggests that commuting to work may be bad for health. It is especially more harmful if one drives or take public transportation. Not only are they less physically fit than those who walk or bike to work but they’re also more prone to stress, exhaustion and missed work than “active” commuters, according to researchers.

1 Nov 2011

Happiness good for health: Study

A new study suggests that happiness is good for health. Epidemiologists at University College, London, reported their results Monday in the journal Proceedings of the National Academies of Science.

1 Nov 2011

Majority of college students could identify risk factors linked with eating disorders

They're the prime demographic for developing eating disorders, yet new research out of the University of Cincinnati suggests that it could be difficult for college students to notice the warning signs. On Oct. 31, Ashlee Hoffman, a UC doctoral student in health promotion and education, will present her research, titled, "University Students' Knowledge of An Ability to Identify Disordered Eating, Warning Signs and Risk Factors," at the American Public Health Association's 139th annual meeting and exposition in Washington, DC.

1 Nov 2011

Study: People with schizophrenia have weakened sense of body ownership

A study using a procedure called the rubber hand illusion has found striking new evidence that people experiencing schizophrenia have a weakened sense of body ownership and has produced the first case of a spontaneous, out-of-body experience in the laboratory.

1 Nov 2011

Old people today have more sex, are more likely to be divorced

Old people today have more sex, are more likely to be divorced, are cleverer and feel better, reveals a long-term research project comparing what it is like to be old today with 30 years ago. "It's time to start talking about the 'new old age'," says researcher Ingmar Skoog.

1 Nov 2011