Mental Health News and Research

Latest Mental Health News and Research

Am I exercising too much?

You run in the morning, train for your next marathon at night despite a nagging injury, and head to the gym to weight train in your free time. Missing a workout is not an option.

24 May 2007

Yoga shows promise in improving symptoms associated with depression, anxiety and epilepsy

Researchers at Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) and McLean Hospital have found that practicing yoga may elevate brain gamma-aminobutyric (GABA) levels, the brain's primary inhibitory neurotransmitter.

23 May 2007

What are the values and inconsistencies in patients who are depressed?

A group of investigators of the University of Jena has attempted to identify these aspects in the May issue of Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics.

23 May 2007

Smoking and depression

Based on a Finnish study, persistent smokers may have higher risk to become depressed in comparison to never smokers.

22 May 2007

Women diagnosed with breast cancer should either get exercising or keep exercising

This is the message from a new study in Springer's Journal of Cancer Survivorship by Catherine Alfano and colleagues at the Ohio State University.

22 May 2007

Improving communication with families of dying patients reduces post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety and depression

Hospitals that use a simple strategy of enhancing communication with family members of patients dying in the intensive care unit can greatly reduce post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety and depression after their loved one dies, according to a study to be presented at the American Thoracic Society International Conference in San Francisco.

22 May 2007

Study of normal brain development

Children appear to approach adult levels of performance on many basic cognitive and motor skills by age 11 or 12, according to a new study coordinated by the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

18 May 2007

High-quality child care for poor children found to offset the risk of later depression

Young adults from low-income families who were in full-time early educational child care from infancy to age 5 report fewer symptoms of depression than their peers who were not in this type of care.

18 May 2007

Children with both autism and ADHD more likely to bully

Children with both autism and attention deficit or attention deficit hyperactivity disorders are four times more likely to bully than children in the general population, according to a study released in the journal, Ambulatory Pediatrics.

18 May 2007

Novel device helps monitor mental illness

Psychiatric researchers at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine will report important new findings from a study of patients with bipolar affective disorder and schizophrenia at the upcoming meeting of the Society of Biological Psychiatry, to be held in San Diego May 17-20.

17 May 2007

Post-traumatic stress disorder 10 times higher in New Orleans

Hurricane Katrina was the most significant natural disaster to strike the United States.

17 May 2007

Virtual Iraq provides better understanding of post-traumatic stress disorder

Weill Cornell Medical College researchers are using a virtual reality simulation called "Virtual Iraq" to better understand how symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) develop.

17 May 2007

Link between Parkinson's and narcolepsy

Parkinson's disease is well-known for its progression of motor disorders: stiffness, slowness, tremors, difficulties walking and talking.

17 May 2007

Unfair treatment in life boosts a person's chances of having a heart attack

The findings are based on more than 8,000 senior civil servants working for the British government in London (The Whitehall Study II).

16 May 2007

Hormones in children's saliva may indicate trauma from bullying

Hormones in children's saliva may be a biological indicator of the trauma kids undergo when they are chronically bullied by peers, according to researchers who say biological markers can aid in the early recognition and intervention of long-term psychological effects on youth.

16 May 2007

"Peabody Treatment Progress Battery" improves teen mental health services

Can you imagine an archer trying to improve her accuracy by practicing blindfolded, never seeing how close she was to hitting her target, never getting any information to help correct her aim.

16 May 2007

Chemical maps hint at drug's effects on schizophrenia

Antipsychotic drugs do most of their work in the brain, but they also leave behind in the bloodstream a trail of hundreds of chemicals that may be used in the future to direct better treatment for schizophrenia and other psychiatric conditions, say Duke University Medical Center researchers.

16 May 2007

Study reveals need for engaging primary care practices as partners in developing mental health services for older patients

Older patients with major depression whose primary care physicians team with depression care managers are 45% less likely to die within a 5-year time period than older adults with major depression who receive their care in primary care practices where there are no depression care managers.

16 May 2007

New insight into the lives of children and young people who live with, and help care for, their mentally ill parents

A new study by Loughborough University has highlighted what caring for a parent with serious mental health problems is like through the eyes of children and young people themselves.

16 May 2007

The Phi Complex as a neuromarker of human social coordination

Researchers from Florida Atlantic University (FAU) have been able to identify neural signatures of effective, real-time coordination between people in one of the first studies in the field of social neuroscience to actually record, measure and analyze both behavior and brain activity simultaneously in two interacting humans.

16 May 2007