Mental Health News and Research

Latest Mental Health News and Research

Electroconvulsive therapy helps patients with severe depression who don't respond to other treatments

Electroconvulsive therapy has been shown to be a highly effective, safe, and even life-saving treatment for persistent and severe depression, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia.

8 May 2007

Bipolar disorder may be more accurately characterized as a spectrum disorder

A new study supports earlier estimates of the prevalence of bipolar disorder in the U.S. population, and suggests the illness may be more accurately characterized as a spectrum disorder.

8 May 2007

Drug abuse in the U.S. not confined to minority groups

Researchers in the U.S. say more than 10 percent of American adults at some point in their lives, abuse or become addicted to drugs.

8 May 2007

Increasing SUMO protein in brain could be a way of treating epilepsy and schizophrenia

The brain contains about 100 million nerve cells, each having 10,000 connections to other nerves cells. These connections, called synapses, chemically transmit the information that controls all brain function via proteins called receptors. These processes are believed to be the basis of learning and memory.

7 May 2007

Virginia College shootings highlight problems of mental health treatment

Media reports in the U.S. are suggesting that Seung-Hui Cho, the young man who gunned down 32 people at a Virginia college never received the mental health treatment ordered by a court.

7 May 2007

"Cup of joe" found to have more health benefits

According to a new study drinking coffee may offer protection from type 2 diabetes and some types of cancer.

7 May 2007

Smoking is No. 1 health concern for children and adolescents in the United States

It's only natural to for adults to worry about children's health and well-being at school, on the roads and even online.

4 May 2007

Regular exercise associated with reduced risk of benign prostatic hyperplasia

Protection against heart disease, stroke, diabetes, obesity, hypertension, memory loss, colon cancer, fractures, and depression should be enough to get men exercising.

4 May 2007

Migraines may be sign of post-traumatic stress for Iraq veterans

Soldiers returning from combat in Iraq who have migraine headaches are more than twice as likely to also have symptoms of post-traumatic stress, depression or anxiety than soldiers who do not have migraines, according to research presented at the American Academy of Neurology's 59th Annual Meeting in Boston.

4 May 2007

Tight diabetes control does not impact cognitive ability in type 1 diabetes

A study led by researchers at Joslin Diabetes Center provides good news for patients with type 1 diabetes who want to maintain tight blood glucose control and thus significantly reduce their risk of developing the devastating complications of the disease, heart disease, kidney failure, eye disease and blindness and nerve damage.

4 May 2007

Study of damaged gene gives insight into causes of mental illness

Scientists have pinpointed how different types of damage in types of damage to the same gene can cause some people to suffer from schizophrenia while others have major depression.

4 May 2007

Men and women at risk for alcohol dependence are more likely to choose a mate who also is at risk

Alcoholism is more common among partners of alcoholics than among partners of non-alcoholics, but it isn't as common as it might be. The researchers found that in some cases, one spouse's excesses with alcohol actually could help protect the other from alcohol dependence.

4 May 2007

Gene malfunctions cause schizophrenia, depression symptoms in mice

Researchers have demonstrated for the first time that malfunction of a gene that had been associated with schizophrenia and depression does indeed cause symptoms of those disorders.

4 May 2007

FDA wants new warnings on antidepressant medications

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has proposed that makers of all antidepressant medications update the existing black box warning on their products' labeling to include warnings about increased risks of suicidal thinking and behavior, known as suicidality, in young adults ages 18 to 24 during initial treatment (generally the first one to two months).

4 May 2007

Breastfeeding and the good fats in Omega-3 fatty acids help new moms fight depression

The review was authored by Kathleen Kendall-Tackett, a health psychologist and researcher at UNH's Crimes against Children Research Center. Kendall-Tackett presents her findings in the article "A New Paradigm for Depression in New Mothers: The Central Role of Inflammation and How Breastfeeding and Anti-Inflammatory Treatments Protect Maternal Mental Health."

4 May 2007

FDA - all antidepressants need new warning labels

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the United States wants the manufacturers of antidepressant medications to change the labels on their products.

3 May 2007

Monthly interpersonal psychotherapy effective in preventing recurrence of depression in women

Most women with recurrent depression may be able to prevent subsequent depressive episodes with monthly maintenance interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT), say researchers from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine in a study published in the May issue of the American Journal of Psychiatry.

2 May 2007

Adverse health outcomes after Hurricane Katrina among children and adolescents with chronic conditions

Children and teenagers in New Orleans with chronic medical conditions at the time of Hurricane Katrina were more likely than other children to have worsening of physical and psychological symptoms, develop new symptoms, miss doctor appointments and run out of medications in the wake of the disaster.

2 May 2007

Higher calcium and vitamin D intake linked to brain lesions in seniors

Elderly men and women who consumed higher levels of calcium and vitamin D are significantly more likely to have greater volumes of brain lesions, regions of damage that can increase risk of cognitive impairment, dementia, depression and stroke.

2 May 2007

Green tea shows potential for HIV-associated dementia prevention

A compound derived from green tea greatly diminished the neurotoxicity of proteins secreted by the human immunodeficiency virus, suggesting a new approach to the prevention and treatment of HIV-associated dementia, also known as AIDS dementia complex.

2 May 2007