Mental Health News and Research

Latest Mental Health News and Research

Older adults increasingly use cannabis for pain and sleep relief

For adults over 60, cannabis use is increasing faster than in any other demographic.

8 May 2026

Wearable devices track real-time health effects of pollution and heat

As climate change drives more frequent extreme heat and worsening air pollution, researchers are seeking better ways to understand how these exposures affect health in real time.

8 May 2026

Short bouts of exercise help smokers manage immediate nicotine cravings

Exercise may offer smokers a simple but effective additional tool when trying to quit, according to a new systematic review led by researchers from the Alliance for Research in Exercise, Nutrition and Activity (ARENA) at Adelaide University.

8 May 2026

Clinicians find evolutionary explanations for anxiety more helpful than genetics

Mental health clinicians are over five times more likely to see evolutionary explanations of anxiety as helpful for their patients, rather than the genetic approaches currently taught to trainee doctors and psychiatrists in the UK and US, a new study shows.

8 May 2026

Study warns of rising severe malaria risk due to testing delays

Researchers from Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), in collaboration with colleagues across the country, found that more than one in four pediatric patients treated for malaria in the United States had a delay in their initial diagnosis, increasing the risk of more severe infection.

8 May 2026

Cash prescription program associated with fewer infant maltreatment investigations

A new peer-reviewed study published in JAMA Pediatrics provides rigorous, population-level evidence that Michigan State University's Rx Kids program, the nation's first community-wide prenatal and infant cash prescription program, is associated with substantial reductions in child maltreatment investigations among infants.

8 May 2026

Prisoners in England face dramatically higher rates of avoidable healthcare harms

Prisoners in England are 41 to 67 times more likely to experience avoidable harms as a result of poor healthcare than the general public, suggest the findings of a case note review of medical records, published online in the journal BMJ Quality & Safety.

8 May 2026

Opioid overdose survivors face elevated mortality risk within one year

After an emergency department visit for an opioid overdose, 9 per cent of individuals died and 21 per cent experienced a repeat opioid overdose in the following year, according to a new study from ICES and the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH).

7 May 2026

Digital therapy apps improve mental health support for college students

College students with anxiety, depression and eating disorders may be more likely to start and to respond more positively to therapy offered via a digital app compared to referrals to in-person campus clinics, according to a study led by Penn State researchers and published today (May 7) in the journal Nature Human Behaviour.

7 May 2026

People judge GLP-1 users more harshly than dieters

Stigma surrounding GLP-1 weight loss treatments reveals societal biases, impacting individuals' mental health and the effectiveness of obesity interventions.

7 May 2026

How the fear of being labeled shameless impacts mental health

New research in the PsyCh Journal introduces and validates a psychological concept called atimiaphobia-defined as an intense fear of losing honor or being labeled shameless.

7 May 2026

Nighttime heat waves linked to asthma emergency room visits in Baltimore

Hospitals in Baltimore see an uptick in asthma-related emergency room cases in the weeks following nighttime heat waves in their neighboring communities, according to new research from Johns Hopkins University.

7 May 2026

New evidence questions the role of brain fog in mental health recovery

Experiences of cognitive problems such as memory loss or difficulty concentrating, known as 'brain fog', may not predict relapse in depression, according to a new study that has confounded researchers' expectations.

7 May 2026

Birth weight predicts kidney function during endurance exercise

Researchers investigate how birth weight determines kidney function changes following prolonged physical activity in different environmental conditions.

7 May 2026

New study tracks HIV care after hospital discharge statewide

Sarah Rutstein, MD, PhD, and Thibaut Davy‑Mendez, PhD, MSPH, with the Institute for Global Health and Infectious Diseases have received an R01 from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

6 May 2026

Adolescents view cannabis as safer than alcohol, vaping and cigarettes

Adolescents in California consistently perceive cannabis as less harmful than other commonly used substances, according to a new study analyzing data from two large statewide school surveys.

6 May 2026

Daily movement is linked to better mood and emotional well-being

Going on walks, going up stairs, working around the home: One meta-study shows how everyday movements are linked to our mood.

6 May 2026

Single psilocybin dose linked to lasting brain and mood changes

Researchers at UC San Francisco and Imperial College London have shown that a single dose of psilocybin, the psychedelic compound found in magic mushrooms, causes likely anatomical brain changes that last for up to a month after the experience.

5 May 2026

Poor mental health linked to worse care quality and lower confidence in healthcare system

People with self-reported poorer mental health also report worse quality of care and lower confidence in healthcare systems, according to a study published May 5th in the open-access journal PLOS Medicine by Margaret E. Kruk from Washington University in St. Louis, U.S., and colleagues.

5 May 2026

Study links microplastics in arterial plaque to fourfold increase in stroke risk

In a Perspective published today in the inaugural issue of Brain Health (https://doi.org/10.61373/bh026p.0006), an international team of investigators argues that the human microplastic burden has crossed the threshold from environmental concern to brain health emergency. The article appears alongside the launch of Brain Health, a new peer-reviewed journal from Genomic Press dedicated to the science of lifelong brain resilience.

5 May 2026