Mental Health News and Research

Latest Mental Health News and Research

Substance use ‘dramatically’ high in severe psychosis

Patients with severe psychotic disorders have a risk for smoking, heavy alcohol use, and other drug use that “far exceeds” that documented in patients with mild mental illness, shows a large study.

7 Jan 2014

Marriage does not lower poverty rates among poor, single mothers

As the United States marks the 50th anniversary of the War on Poverty this month, a new report suggests one recent weapon in the battle has been a disappointing failure.

7 Jan 2014

First Edition: January 7, 2014

Today's headlines include a range of reports about state developments related to the health law's online marketplaces as well as details regarding the latest Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' figures on health costs.

7 Jan 2014

OMICS Group acquires International Journal of Emergency Health

OMICS Group proudly announces the acquisition of International Journal of Emergency Health, a mental health emergency or mental health crisis research based journal. IJEMH, OMICS Group's latest acquisition, is a MEDLINE indexed journal which was initiated in 1999.

7 Jan 2014

Study shows binge-eating disorder is associated with substantial lifelong impairments

Binge-eating disorder, designated in 2013 by the American Psychiatric Association as a diagnosis in its Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-V, is associated with substantial lifelong impairments comparable to those of bulimia nervosa, according to a recent World Health Organization study based on community epidemiological surveys conducted in 12 nations worldwide.

7 Jan 2014

50% of Canadians with dementia are not diagnosed early enough

As many as 50 per cent of Canadians with dementia are not diagnosed early enough,* losing precious time when care and support can make a tremendous difference in their quality of life and avert unnecessary crises for their families.

7 Jan 2014

Antidepressant medications do not increase suicide risk in children

A Vanderbilt University Medical Center study released today shows there is no evidence that the risk of suicide differs with two commonly prescribed antidepressants prescribed to children and adolescents.

7 Jan 2014

New ways to treat substance abuse, neurological diseases and mental illnesses

Researchers at the University at Buffalo have found a way to change alcohol drinking behavior in rodents, using the emerging technique of optogenetics, which uses light to stimulate neurons.

7 Jan 2014

Research: Daily meditation may improve symptoms of anxiety and depression

Some 30 minutes of meditation daily may improve symptoms of anxiety and depression, a new Johns Hopkins analysis of previously published research suggests.

7 Jan 2014

White House seeks to tighten background checks to keep guns from mentally ill

The Obama administration is proposing regulatory changes to clarify who is prohibited from owning a gun for mental health reasons and to tighten background checks. In the meantime, lawmakers consider increasing mental health funding after the Sandy Hook massacre.

6 Jan 2014

Portage acquires approximately 54% equity in Biohaven

Portage Biotech Inc., is pleased to announce that it has acquired approximately 54% equity in Biohaven Pharmaceutical Holding Company Limited, a private corporation formed under the laws of the British Virgin Islands, for $3.5 million, payable as $1.75 million upfront and the balance in three installments over the next eleven months.

6 Jan 2014

SUI and UUI show complex interrelationship

A study by US researchers has failed to identify any modifiable risk factors for urgency urinary incontinence among women undergoing surgery for stress urinary incontinence.

6 Jan 2014

Sleep duration predicts chronic depression and anxiety

Short and long sleep duration, but not insomnia, predict a chronic course of depressive and anxiety disorders independent of symptom severity, research indicates.

6 Jan 2014

Professor studies impact of different levels of physical contact on premature infants

The benefit that premature infants gain from skin-to-skin contact with their mothers is measurable even 10 years after birth, reports a new study in Biological Psychiatry.

6 Jan 2014

State highlights: Moving Americans out of nursing homes; Kansas to get Medicaid bonus; Va. gov. names mental health task force

For 60 years, Bobbie Jones, 88, had lived in the same Petworth rowhouse where she raised four children -- including one born in an upstairs bedroom -- and became a grandmother to 10 and a great-grandmother to nine. But last year, a stroke and a fall landed her in the hospital and then in a nursing home. In the past, a nursing home might have wound up being where she lived out the rest of her days. But through a new program that helps District residents receive care in their homes and communities, Jones was able to go home. She is among 58 people who have been relocated since the D.C. Office on Aging launched its Nursing Home Transition Program in April (Bahrampour, 1/2).

6 Jan 2014

Environmental stresses can help trigger depression in people vulnerable to SAD, post-holiday blues

The first Monday after the holidays can be a depressing time for people coping with a post-holiday letdown and a type of depression triggered by short days called seasonal affective disorder.

6 Jan 2014

People with severe mental illness may have higher risk for substance use

People with severe mental illness such as schizophrenia or bipolar disorder have a higher risk for substance use, especially cigarette smoking, and protective factors usually associated with lower rates of substance use do not exist in severe mental illness, according to a new study funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), part of the National Institutes of Health.

5 Jan 2014

Negative symptoms and cognition ‘relatively independent’ in schizophrenia

Diminished expression, a core negative symptom in people with schizophrenia, is significantly correlated with an array of cognitive functions, research by a Hong Kong team shows.

3 Jan 2014

‘First-line’ role for sleep deprivation in suicidal bipolar patients

Chronotherapy, involving total sleep deprivation and light therapy, brings about a rapid reduction in suicidality among patients with bipolar disorder experiencing a phase of major depression.

3 Jan 2014

Fear of childbirth puts women at higher risk of postpartum depression

Expectant women with prenatally diagnosed fear of childbirth are at an increased risk of postpartum depression, according to a study of over 500,000 mothers in Finland. Women with a history of depression are at the highest risk of postpartum depression.

3 Jan 2014