Mental Health News and Research

Latest Mental Health News and Research

Endometriosis: Thousands of women suffer from debilitating pain

Endometriosis affects approximately 1 in 10 women in their reproductive years. The condition, described as debilitating, painful, and emotionally-draining, has taken a toll on the lives of many women across the globe. But the condition isn’t getting the needed adequate attention, hinting the need for more research on ways to battle it.

8 Oct 2019

UCI researcher given NIH Director's New Innovator Award to study learning and memory

University of California, Irvine researcher Kevin Beier, PhD, assistant professor of physiology and biophysics in the School of Medicine, received a 2019 NIH Director's New Innovator Award to study learning and memory in an effort to discover new treatments for behavioral symptoms of chronic stress and depression.

7 Oct 2019

Important tips to avoid caregiver burnout

The responsibility of being a caregiver for a loved one is admirable and gratifying.

7 Oct 2019

Antidepressant use soars among people aged 65 and over

A study had found that there has been a rise in antidepressant use in people aged 65 and over, even though numbers of those depressed has not changed.

7 Oct 2019

Deep brain stimulation effective in resistant depression

A new study in the American Journal of Psychiatry says deep brain stimulation is an effective treatment in depressed patients who do not respond to other forms of therapy. The study published on October 4, 2019, looked at the long-term effects on patients who had received electrical stimulation to the subcallosal cingulate area of the brain. The subcallosal cingulate area of the brain is also called Brodmann Area 25, and has been targeted by researchers as a possible focus for antidepressant stimulation.

7 Oct 2019

Gender-affirming surgery can lead to long-term mental health benefits for transgender individuals

For transgender individuals, gender-affirming surgery can lead to long-term mental health benefits, according to new research published online today in the American Journal of Psychiatry.

4 Oct 2019

Penn Medicine awarded $22 million to apply scientific solutions to reverse opioid crisis

The nation has been grappling with the opioid epidemic for years - and the city of Philadelphia has been hit hard by the crisis. While data is showing slight declines in overdose deaths, the opioid crisis remains a public health emergency.

4 Oct 2019

Research provides promising new lead for schizophrenia treatment

Schizophrenia is a severe mental health condition that causes significant disability, and affects 1 in 100 people. Patients with schizophrenia commonly experience negative symptoms, which include lack of motivation, social isolation and inability to experience pleasurable feeling.

4 Oct 2019

NIH grants boost rare diseases research efforts

Of an estimated 6,500 to 7,000 known rare diseases, only a fraction - maybe 5% - have U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved treatments.

4 Oct 2019

Scientists uncover the cause of a rare fatal nerve disease

A new study has revealed the cause of Pelizaeus-Merzbacher syndrome and how simply adding a chemical that binds to iron, so it can be removed from the cell, enables the sick cells to grow back.

4 Oct 2019

Twin birth rate falls in the US due to improvements in reproductive technology

According to a new report by the CDC, twin birth rates in the US have dropped by 4% since 2014, potentially due to improvements in reproductive technology.

4 Oct 2019

Where contraception’s a lifestyle drug not a medical need — so women pay the tab

In the five years she's lived in Germany, Erin Duffy doesn't think she has paid more than 16 euros for medical care. Until now, that is.

4 Oct 2019

Healthy diet could reduce depression symptoms in young adults, study suggests

Young adults with depression whose diet is usually unhealthy showed significantly fewer symptoms of depression after eating a healthy diet for three weeks, according to a study published October 9, 2019 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Heather Francis from Macquarie University, Australia, and colleagues.

From PLOS ONE 4 Oct 2019

Long-term study data shows DBS is effective for patients with treatment-resistant depression

A study published online on Friday, October 4, in the American Journal of Psychiatry found that deep brain stimulation (DBS) of an area in the brain called the subcallosal cingulate (SCC) provides a robust antidepressant effect that is sustained over a long period of time in patients with treatment-resistant depression--the most severely depressed patients who have not responded to other treatments.

4 Oct 2019

Women with breast cancer face very unique challenges

Will I be able to have a baby? Will the treatment trigger early menopause? What about my sex life? Women under 40 who are diagnosed with breast cancer face some very unique challenges.

3 Oct 2019

Sub-optimal sleep duration linked to adverse health outcomes in older Irish population

Trinity College Dublin researchers have shown that some Irish adults are not 'getting a good night's sleep' resulting in an increased risk of negative health outcomes. The first findings on sleep duration in the older Irish population are published by The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

3 Oct 2019