Mental Health News and Research

Latest Mental Health News and Research

Migraines linked to mental disorders

Migraine headaches can precede the onset of mental disorders, according to a growing body of knowledge that includes a new study in the January-February 2009 issue of General Hospital Psychiatry.

21 Jan 2009

Too much weight loss can be a bad thing

Doctors are not doing enough to pick up on problems with excessive weight loss, says a Saint Louis University physician who helped draft recent guidelines to diagnose the condition called "cachexia" (kuh-kex-ee-uh).

21 Jan 2009

Dynamical theory and novel 4-D colorimetric method reveal modus operandi of intact living brain

For the brain to achieve its intricate functions such as perception, action, attention and decision making, neural regions have to work together yet still retain their specialized roles.

21 Jan 2009

Anxious seniors may benefit from SSRIs

Many older adults worry - a lot. Almost one in 10 Americans over age 60 suffer from an anxiety disorder that causes them to worry excessively about normal things - like health, finances, disability and family.

21 Jan 2009

New findings on schizophrenia

Schizophrenia may blur the boundary between internal and external realities by overactivating a brain system that is involved in self-reflection, and thus causing an exaggerated focus on self, a new MIT and Harvard brain imaging study has found.

21 Jan 2009

Report highlights diagnostic and treatment uncertainties in ADHD

Significant local and international variations in the diagnosis and treatment of attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) stem at least in part from a "zone of ambiguity"--different interpretations of what is normal behavior and what level of impairment is required for a psychiatric diagnosis.

21 Jan 2009

Schizophrenia and bipolar disorder have same genetic causes

Schizophrenia and bipolar disorder have for decades been regarded as two distinct psychotic disorders when it comes to definitions and risk factors.

21 Jan 2009

Sharp increase in use of prescription sleep aids by young adults

Use of prescription sleep aids nearly tripled among 18- to 24-year-olds between 1998 and 2006, according to a study released today by the Healthcare business of Thomson Reuters.

19 Jan 2009

Epigenetics may account for some inherited traits and diseases

Embargoed Until January 18, 2009 at 18:00 Greenwich Mean Time / 13:00 Eastern Standard Time (TORONTO): Scientists at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) have detected evidence that DNA may not be the only carrier of heritable information; a secondary molecular mechanism called epigenetics may also account for some inherited traits and diseases.

19 Jan 2009

Altered brain activity in schizophrenia may direct focus on self

19 Jan 2009

Osteoporosis? Look out for depression

A review article which is published in the current issue of the European Journal Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics analyzes the relationship between depression and bone metabolism.

19 Jan 2009

Women with sexual trauma from childhood gain strength in self-help groups

Violence against women is a public health problem globally. Knowledge within the health care system about abuse in childhood as a possible cause of illness is limited, and this can lead to misdiagnoses.

19 Jan 2009

Socially stable individuals delay seeking help for alcohol problems

People with a stable psychosocial life situation often delay in seeking help for their alcohol problems - even though they are serious.

19 Jan 2009

Postnatal depression can be effectively treated and possibly prevented

Health visitors can be trained to identify women with postnatal depression and offer effective treatment, while telephone peer support (mother to mother) may halve the risk of developing postnatal depression, suggests research published on bmj.com.

19 Jan 2009

Lack of grey matter linked to schizophrenia and bipolar disorder

A research study led by scientists from the Gregorio Marañón University Hospital in Madrid and the Network of Centres for Biomedical Research in Mental Health Networks (CIBERSAM) shows that adolescents experiencing a first outbreak of psychosis have lower levels of grey matter in their brains than healthy teenagers. Strangely, this change was seen in patients suffering from various psychoses, including bipolar illness and schizophrenia.

19 Jan 2009

Savella - Fibromyalgia treatment approved by FDA

Forest Laboratories, Inc. and Cypress Bioscience, Inc. have announced that Savella (milnacipran HCl), a selective serotonin and norepinephrine dual reuptake inhibitor, was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the management of fibromyalgia.

19 Jan 2009

Eli Lilly to pay $1.415 billion for off-label promotion of Zyprexa

American pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly and Company today agreed to plead guilty and pay $1.415 billion for promoting its drug Zyprexa for uses not approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Department of Justice announced today.

19 Jan 2009

Depressed adolescents not harmed by being part of placebo group in clinical trial

In a national clinical trial, adolescents with moderate to severe depression first given a placebo treatment and then an antidepressant medication alone or in combination with therapy responded just as well over the long term as participants who received active treatment throughout the study, UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers report.

19 Jan 2009

FDA issues complete response letter for SAPHRIS (asenapine) sublingual tablets in acute treatment of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder

Schering-Plough Corporation has announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a complete response letter for SAPHRIS (asenapine) sublingual tablets in the acute treatment of schizophrenia in adults and in the acute treatment of manic or mixed episodes associated with bipolar I disorder in adults as monotherapy.

15 Jan 2009

Telephone support after traffic accidents reduces problems and improves quality of life

People who were injured in road accidents had fewer problems and a much higher quality of life if they received a simple follow-up call from a nurse three weeks after being discharged from hospital, according to research in the January issue of the Journal of Clinical Nursing.

15 Jan 2009