Mental Health News and Research

Latest Mental Health News and Research

Female firefighters at high risk for PTSD symptoms and suicide ideation

In the heavily male-dominated firefighting profession, females seem to take on a majority of stress. Consuelo Arbona, UH professor of counseling psychology reports in the journal Occupational Medicine that one-fifth of female firefighters in a large, urban fire department experience post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms and are at higher risk of contemplating suicide than their male colleagues.

21 May 2019

Parental age linked to children's risk for neuropsychiatric disorders

Results of a new study in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, published by Elsevier, reports that parental age is linked to the risk for the development of neuropsychiatric disorders in children, including autism spectrum disorder; attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder; obsessive-compulsive disorder; and Tourette's disorder/chronic tic disorder.

21 May 2019

Study suggests exercise as new primary prescription for psychiatric patients

When it comes to inpatient treatment of a range of mental health and mood disorders -- from anxiety and depression to schizophrenia, suicidality and acute psychotic episodes -- a new study advocates for exercise, rather than psychotropic medications, as the primary prescription and method of intervention.

21 May 2019

Distractions and exercise may be key to managing chronic pain

A man who developed scoliosis as a teenager has developed ways to cope with chronic pain without using pain medication.

21 May 2019

Mindfulness may reduce depression symptoms for mothers with opioid use disorder

Mothers with opioid use disorder face many challenges as they work towards a more stable life for themselves and their children, depression not least among them.

21 May 2019

Researchers explore link between aging fat cells and Alzheimer's

Scientists want to know whether our aging fat cells are important to the onset and progression of Alzheimer's.

21 May 2019

Virtual clinical trial: Improving methadone dosage for drug users with TB to prevent withdrawal symptoms

Drug users on methadone programs who contract tuberculosis should receive effective treatment while maintaining the correct level of methadone in their bodies, following a virtual clinical trial by pharmacy researchers at Aston University in partnership with drugs charity Addaction.

21 May 2019

Increasing access to mental health services improves outcomes for people with HIV

Increasing access to mental health services improves HIV outcomes among vulnerable patients, a new study from the University of Virginia School of Medicine suggests.

21 May 2019

Why Missouri’s the last holdout on a statewide Rx monitoring program

Missouri retained its lonely title as the only state without a statewide prescription drug monitoring program — for the seventh year in a row — after the legislative session ended Friday.

21 May 2019

Escalating workplace violence rocks hospitals

Across the country, many doctors, nurses and other health care workers have remained silent about what is being called an epidemic of violence against them.

21 May 2019

Integrated stepped alcohol treatment reduces alcohol use in people with HIV

People with HIV who drink too much were more likely to reduce drinking after undergoing an approach to care known as integrated stepped alcohol treatment, according to a Yale-led study.

20 May 2019

Using health IT to reduce disparities in healthcare

An innovative health information technology program helps primary care providers to detect and manage depression and posttraumatic stress disorder in traumatized refugees, reports a study in a special June supplement to Medical Care.

18 May 2019

CHLA researcher receives $3.7 million NIH grant to study development of neural circuits

Pat Levitt, PhD, Chief Scientific Officer at Children's Hospital Los Angeles and Simms/Mann Chair in Developmental Neurogenetics, received a $3.7M grant from the National Institute of Mental Health to study development of neural circuits.

17 May 2019

Study explores why people at risk for Huntington's disease choose not to undergo genetic testing

As many as 90 percent of individuals who have a parent with Huntington's disease (HD) choose not to take a gene test that reveals if they will also develop the fatal disorder -- and a new study details the reasons why.

17 May 2019

Study may help identify patients at relapse risk after treatment for cocaine use disorder

A study conducted at the University of São Paulo in Brazil and described in an article published in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence may help healthcare workers identify patients who risk relapse after undergoing treatment for cocaine use disorder.

17 May 2019

Study: Many patients with schizophrenia and epilepsy die before reaching the age of fifty

Patients who suffer from schizophrenia and epilepsy are particularly vulnerable. In the study, the researchers followed more than 1,5 mio. people and classified them according to whether they were diagnosed with epilepsy, schizophrenia or the combination of epilepsy and schizophrenia on their twenty-fifth birthday.

16 May 2019

Novel tool helps providers identify and track underlying causes of chronic conditions

An easy to use, brief, inexpensive new tool developed and validated by researchers at the Regenstrief Institute and Indiana University will help healthcare providers track and potentially identify early onset of more complex, serious underlying issues that could otherwise go undetected.

16 May 2019

Study finds extremely low use of weight loss medicines by veterans

Despite the availability of new weight management medications and several clinical guidelines recommending their use as part of a comprehensive treatment plan for obesity, a new study has found that their use is extremely low (about one percent) among eligible Veterans.

15 May 2019

Ethical and social implications of embodied AI in mental health care

Interactions with artificial intelligence will become an increasingly common aspect of our lives. A team at the Technical University of Munich has now completed the first study of how "embodied AI" can help treat mental illness.

15 May 2019

Study finds sex differences in inflammation-induced anhedonia

Inflammation reduces the brain's response to rewards in women, but not in men, according to a new study in Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging, published by Elsevier.

15 May 2019