Mental Health News and Research

Latest Mental Health News and Research

Researchers document increasing frequency, cost, and severity of gunshot wounds

The rise in firearm violence has coincided with an increase in the severity of injuries firearms inflict as well as the cost of operations to treat those injuries; policy makers must be more aggressive in addressing violence to curb these trends, researchers report in a large national study of gunshot wounds that appears as an "article in press" on the Journal of the American College of Surgeons website ahead of print.

10 Aug 2020

GI symptoms are more common, potentially disruptive in young kids with autism

A new UC Davis Health study found that common gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms such as diarrhea, constipation and bloating are linked to troubling sleep problems, self-harm and physical complaints in preschool children.

10 Aug 2020

Mathematical model shows how brain remains stable amid varying disturbances

Whether you are playing Go in a park amid chirping birds, a gentle breeze and kids playing catch nearby or you are playing in a den with a ticking clock on a bookcase and a purring cat on the sofa, if the game situation is identical and clear, your next move likely would be, too, regardless of those different conditions.

10 Aug 2020

FDA approves opioid agonist for management of moderate to severe acute pain in adults

Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Olinvyk (oliceridine), an opioid agonist for the management of moderate to severe acute pain in adults, where the pain is severe enough to require an intravenous opioid and for whom alternative treatments are inadequate.

9 Aug 2020

Highly sensitive dopamine detector can aid in early diagnosis of several disorders

A supersensitive dopamine detector can help in the early diagnosis of several disorders that result in too much or too little dopamine, according to a group led by Penn State and including Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and universities in China and Japan.

7 Aug 2020

Custom smartwatch tracks drug levels inside the body in real time

Engineers at the UCLA Samueli School of Engineering and their colleagues at Stanford School of Medicine have demonstrated that drug levels inside the body can be tracked in real time using a custom smartwatch that analyzes the chemicals found in sweat.

7 Aug 2020

Transgender and gender-diverse individuals are three to six times more likely to be autistic

Transgender and gender-diverse adults are three to six times more likely as cisgender adults (individuals whose gender identity corresponds to their sex assigned at birth) to be diagnosed as autistic, according to a new study by scientists at the University of Cambridge's Autism Research Centre.

7 Aug 2020

New brain study could make it easier to monitor people with sleep disorders

When we dream, our brains are filled with noisy electrical activity that looks nearly identical to that of the awake brain.

7 Aug 2020

Study documents changes in hospital visitation and communication policies during COVID-19

Four months ago, Michigan glowed red on COVID-19 maps. Hundreds of patients packed hospital intensive care units in the southern part of the state, and hospitals statewide rapidly put strict new visitor policies in place to slow the spread of the new coronavirus.

6 Aug 2020

BMA reports on the challenges of menopause for working female doctors

Even in the healthcare world, sexism and ageism are hot issues that need to be addressed. Female doctors are going through menopause with no support from supervisors or colleagues due to sexist and ageist attitudes, a new study finds.

6 Aug 2020

Anxiety and depression coexisting could cause physical changes to the brain

A new study from the researchers at the Australian National University shows that there may be physical changes in the brain volume among persons who have coexisting and anxiety and depressive disorders.

6 Aug 2020

Frequent HIV screenings can benefit high-risk young men who have sex with men

A new study has found that HIV screening every three months compared to annually will improve clinical outcomes and be cost-effective among high-risk young men who have sex with men (YMSM) in the United States.

6 Aug 2020

Study finds evidence of gut dysbiosis in people with Huntington's disease

A world first clinical study of the gut microbiome in people with Huntington's disease (HD) has found that it is not just a disease of the brain, but also of the body.

6 Aug 2020

Non-hormonal therapy found to be effective for menopause-associated symptoms

A non-hormonal therapy to treat hot flashes and other symptoms associated with menopause was found to be effective in a recent clinical trial, according to a published study by a team of researchers including faculty from the University of Colorado School of Medicine.

6 Aug 2020

KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Still waiting for that Trump health plan

President Donald Trump keeps promising to unveil a comprehensive plan to replace the Affordable Care Act, but it keeps not appearing.

6 Aug 2020

OU Health Sciences Center awarded five-year grant for suicide prevention

The University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center has been awarded a five-year, $38 million grant to lead and expand a national program dedicated to suicide prevention.

6 Aug 2020

Non-invasive technique could enhance language learning ability in people

New research by neuroscientists at the University of Pittsburgh and University of California San Francisco (UCSF) revealed that a simple, earbud-like device developed at UCSF that imperceptibly stimulates a key nerve leading to the brain could significantly improve the wearer's ability to learn the sounds of a new language.

6 Aug 2020

Prenatal depression influences child's behavior by altering brain connectivity

Altered brain connectivity may be one way prenatal depression influences child behavior, according to new research in JNeurosci.

6 Aug 2020

New partnership advances virtual reality for social anxiety disorder

BehaVR, a leading innovator of virtual reality digital wellness and digital therapeutics experiences, today announced that it has begun a new partnership aimed at leveraging virtual reality experiences to address critical unmet needs in social anxiety disorder, an underreported and undertreated mental health condition.

6 Aug 2020

Sanford Burnham Prebys receives NIH grant to identify new therapies for mental disorders

Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute has been awarded a $4.5 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to identify new therapies for mental health disorders.

6 Aug 2020