Mental Health News and Research

Latest Mental Health News and Research

Mouse model could help develop new classes of antidepressant drugs

The most widely prescribed antidepressants - medicines such as Prozac, Lexapro and Paxil - work by blocking the serotonin transporter, a brain protein that normally clears away the mood-regulating chemical serotonin. Or so the current thinking goes.

21 Feb 2011

Chronic fatigue syndrome – eased by psychotherapy: Study

New British research suggests that people with chronic fatigue syndrome may be helped the most when standard treatment is coupled with cognitive behaviour therapy or exercise therapy.

20 Feb 2011

Treating depression: A vital step in cancer recovery

With all of the stresses of today’s modern world, depression is unfortunately becoming a common household word for many people in this country and abroad. During the cold winter months, many also struggle with seasonal depression or “winter blues,” known as Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). Depression can be caused by any number of factors, such as chronic stress, inactivity, hormone or neurotransmitter imbalances, nutritional deficiencies, medication side effects, chronic inflammation, or lack of adequate sunshine exposure, among others.

20 Feb 2011

Eating tissue to stay thin

In a recent interview on CNN, Janet Jackson talks about the extreme measures some women in Hollywood take to achieve and maintain a thin body. She says some are even eating Kleenex to stay full so they don't feel hungry. Kimberly Dennis, M.D., and Medical Director at Timberline Knolls Residential Treatment Center, a residential treatment center for eating disorders and addictions, warns about the dangers of this behavior, and says there might be deeper problems hidden below the surface.

19 Feb 2011

BCBSF Foundation honors 5 Florida nonprofits at 2010 Sapphire Award ceremony

Today, five Florida nonprofits were honored for their dedication to improving the health of the state's uninsured and underserved populations at the Sapphire Award ceremony, presented annually by the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida Foundation (BCBSF Foundation).

19 Feb 2011

Author provides tips to combat symptoms of seasonal affective disorder

Winter's chill, dark days, devoid of sunshine can send the best of us spiraling into a bad case of the blues. But those dreary winter months - particularly, February - can debilitate people living with depression.

19 Feb 2011

Deep brain stimulation therapy promising against severe OCD

When obsessive-compulsive disorder is of crippling severity and drugs and behavior therapy can't help, there has been for just over a year a thread - or rather a wire - of hope. By inserting a thin electrode deep into the brain, doctors can precisely deliver an electrical current to a cord of the brain's wiring and soften the severity of the symptoms. "Deep brain stimulation" therapy for OCD won Food and Drug Administration approval in 2009 for extreme cases under its humanitarian device exemption.

19 Feb 2011

2 bills to expand mental health coverage introduced

Two bills to expand mental health coverage were introduced Thursday.

19 Feb 2011

Depression doesn't decline with age in addiction-prone women

Unlike alcohol abuse problems and antisocial behavior, depression doesn't decline with age in addiction-prone women in their 30s and 40s - it continues to increase, a new study led by University of Michigan Health System researchers found.

18 Feb 2011

Scientists discover evidence linking brain function variations to birth size, weight of placenta

Scientists have discovered the first evidence linking brain function variations between the left and right sides of the brain to size at birth and the weight of the placenta. The finding could shed new light on the causes of mental health problems in later life.

18 Feb 2011

Scientists find working memory highly dependent on fast inhibitory cells

Usually, we associate rhythms with dance and music. But they also play an important role in the brain. When billions of neurons communicate with each other, certain rhythmic activity patterns arise. The proper metre in this interplay is provided by nerve cells that do not excite other cells, but inhibit their activity instead. One type of these inhibiting cells acts in a particularly fast and efficient way and is therefore thought to be crucial for memory formation and information processing in neuronal networks.

18 Feb 2011

Scientists discover axons can send signals to cell body

Neurons are complicated, but the basic functional concept is that synapses transmit electrical signals to the dendrites and cell body, and axons carry signals away.

18 Feb 2011

Critical events influence students to quit college

College students who consider dropping out are particularly sensitive to a handful of critical events including depression and loss of financial aid, according to a study led by Michigan State University scholars.

17 Feb 2011

University of Melbourne becomes first University to head Secretariat of Movement for Global Mental Health

The University of Melbourne's Centre for International Mental Health is leading the way in addressing a desperately needed and often overlooked area of aid: mental health, by becoming the first University to head the Secretariat of the Movement for Global Mental Health.

17 Feb 2011

Virtual reality exposure therapy reduces PTSD symptoms in active military service members

An article published in a forthcoming issue of the Journal of Traumatic Stress is one of the first to provide evidence of the effectiveness of exposure therapy with active duty military service members suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The study shows that virtual reality exposure therapy resulted in significant reductions in PTSD symptoms after an average of seven treatment sessions. Additionally, 62 % of patients reported clinically meaningful, reliable change in PTSD symptoms.

17 Feb 2011

New study: Latino siblings of children with disability may face risk of negative outcomes

Latino siblings of children developmental disabilities such as Down syndrome and autism may face their own challenges, including anxiety and lower school performance, according to a new study led by researchers with the Bradley Hasbro Children's Research Center.

17 Feb 2011

Study: BP oil spill causes psychological impact on people living in coastal communities

The explosion and fire on a BP-licensed oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico in April 2010 had huge environmental and economic effects, with millions of gallons of oil leaking into the water for more than five months. It also had significant psychological impact on people living in coastal communities, even in those areas that did not have direct oil exposure, according to researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine who worked in collaboration with the University of Florida, Gainesville.

17 Feb 2011

Patients with high blood pressure can benefit from 'adherence therapy' course

A high proportion of patients with high blood pressure are failing to take their medication properly and would benefit clinically from a course of 'adherence therapy', according to new research from the University of East Anglia.

17 Feb 2011

Study: 1 in 5 homeless people with tuberculosis die within a year of diagnosis

One in five homeless people with tuberculosis die within a year of their diagnosis, according to a study led by St. Michael's Hospital's Dr. Kamran Khan. And that number remains unchanged over the last decade despite recommendations calling for greater improvements in prevention and control of tuberculosis in homeless shelters.

17 Feb 2011

Arrests made in major Medicare fraud case

But CQ HealthBeat reports that the administration's top Medicare and Medicaid fraud buster told a Senate panel that the current-year spending plan being advanced by House Republicans could undermine the fed's efforts to reduce waste, fraud and abuse in the health care system.

16 Feb 2011