Mental Health News and Research

Latest Mental Health News and Research

Just how safe are some British hospitals?

Following the release of a new report, mental health trusts in the UK will be instructed to review its approach to patients' safety.

19 Jul 2006

Memory Pharmaceuticals achieves milestone for the treatment of neurological and psychiatric disorders

Memory Pharmaceuticals is to receive approximately $2.3M in funding from Roche in 2007.

17 Jul 2006

Training for parents could help child anxiety disorders

Special skills workshops for parents of anxious young children could offer a breakthrough in addressing this difficult problem, according to psychologists at The University of Manchester.

From The University of Manchester 17 Jul 2006

Apathy and depression, separate issues in Parkinson's disease

According to researchers in the U.S. people suffering from Parkinson's disease can be apathetic without being depressed, and apathy may be a core feature of the disease.

17 Jul 2006

Parents not to blame for late talking toddlers

New research findings from the world's largest study predicting children's late language emergence has revealed that parents are not to blame for late talking toddlers.

12 Jul 2006

FDA approves Atripla three-drug combination tablet for treatment of HIV-1

FDA approves Atripla Tablets, a fixed-dose combination of three widely-used antiretroviral drugs.

12 Jul 2006

"Magic" mushrooms create profound mystical experience and change behaviour

A group of healthy well educated volunteers appear to have achieved some sort of profound mystical experience that led to behaviour changes lasting for weeks after taking a drug derived from 'magic mushrooms'.

12 Jul 2006

Hallucinogen in mushrooms creates mystical/spiritual experiences

Using unusually rigorous scientific conditions and measures, Johns Hopkins researchers have shown that the active agent in "sacred mushrooms" can induce mystical/spiritual experiences descriptively identical to spontaneous ones people have reported for centuries.

11 Jul 2006

People with Parkinson disease can be apathetic without being depressed

People with Parkinson disease can be apathetic without being depressed, and apathy may be a core feature of the disease.

10 Jul 2006

New model illustrates brain mechanisms that lead to autistic behaviors

Approximately 1.5 million children and adults in the U.S. have autism and it is estimated to be the fastest growing developmental disability with a 10 - 17 percent increase each year.

10 Jul 2006

New study into Australia ageing gracefully

The factors that prevent disease, reduce ill-health and encourage positive attitudes in Australia's ageing population will be the focus of a new $2 million, five-year research project.

10 Jul 2006

Fat and clever and rich - equals depression

Major depression is a leading cause of disability globally and according to American researchers people who are obese are more at risk of suffering from a psychiatric disorder.

4 Jul 2006

Sleep gene discovery

Proteins that regulate sleep and biological timing in the body work much differently than previously thought, meaning drug makers must change their approach to making drugs for sleep disorders and depression and other timing-related illnesses.

4 Jul 2006

Pomegranate juice helps fight prostate cancer

Drinking an eight ounce glass of pomegranate juice daily increased by nearly four times the period during which PSA levels in men treated for prostate cancer remained stable, a three-year UCLA study has found.

4 Jul 2006

Obesity associated with psychiatric disorders

Obesity is associated with a 25 percent increase in the risk of developing mood and anxiety disorders and a 25 percent decrease in likeliness for substance abuse.

4 Jul 2006

Clozapine has serious health consequences

Patients who take clozapine, the most effective antipsychotic drug, have significantly higher rates of metabolic syndrome, according to a first-of-a-kind study by University of Rochester Medical Center researchers.

3 Jul 2006

Mild sadness provokes depressive thinking in some recovered patients

Some individuals with a history of depression may sink back into thinking patterns associated with the condition when faced with mild stresses or sadness, increasing their risk for relapse.

3 Jul 2006

Early drinking lifetime risk

Data from a survey of 43,000 U.S. adults heighten concerns that early alcohol use, independent of other risk factors, may contribute to the risk of developing future alcohol problems.

3 Jul 2006

Strong link between obesity and mood and anxiety disorders

There is a strong link between obesity and mood and anxiety disorders, especially among Caucasian Americans and those with more education and higher income.

3 Jul 2006

Drinking alcohol early in life increases alcohol dependence throughout life

Individuals who are younger when they begin drinking alcohol may face a higher risk of alcohol dependence throughout life, at a younger age and consisting of multiple episodes.

3 Jul 2006