Mental Health News and Research

Latest Mental Health News and Research

State highlights: Cities, states spending nearly 32% of budgets on health care; Detroit reaches retiree health coverage agreement; NYC, Calif. back caregiver protection bills

A selection of health policy stories from Michigan, New York, California, Wisconsin, Maryland, Georgia, Colorado and Mississippi.

4 Feb 2014

Experts identify key challenges in youth with neurodevelopmental disabilities

In a study published today by the medical journal Paediatrics & Child Health, IRCM researchers address shortcomings in transitional care in the Canadian healthcare system. The team led by Eric Racine and Emily Bell, Montr-al neuroethics experts, identified important challenges in the transition from paediatric to adult health care, especially among youth with neurodevelopmental disabilities (such as autism spectrum disorders, fetal alcohol spectrum disorders and cerebral palsy).

4 Feb 2014

'Invisible-risk' group has high prevalence of psychiatric symptoms

Adolescents with high media use, reduced sleep and low physical activity comprise an 'invisible-risk' group that has high prevalence of psychiatric symptoms, according to a large international study led by researchers at Karolinska Institutet. The results of the study are published in the February issue of World Psychiatry.

4 Feb 2014

Treating depression before onset of cardiovascular disease can cut risk of heart attack, stroke

Research led by Jesse C. Stewart, Ph.D., of the School of Science at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, is the first to find that treatment of depression before any apparent signs of cardiovascular disease can decrease the risk of future heart attacks and strokes by almost half.

4 Feb 2014

Sleep recovery good following mild traumatic brain injury

Recovery from sleep disturbance following mild traumatic brain injury occurs more rapidly than depression and anxiety recovery, study findings indicate.

3 Feb 2014

Putnam Hospital Center recognized with CEO Cancer Gold Standard accreditation

Putnam Hospital Center in Carmel, NY, is leading by example when it comes to promoting healthy lifestyle choices and encouraging workplace wellness. The CEO Roundtable on Cancer has accredited Putnam Hospital Center with the CEO Cancer Gold Standard recognizing the firm's efforts to reduce the risk of cancer for its employees and covered family members by establishing programs to reduce cancer risk, encouraging early detection through cancer screenings, and ensuring access to quality treatment.

3 Feb 2014

Parents of children with disabilities more likely to suffer from chronic health conditions

A University of Limerick study has found that parents of children with learning or developmental disabilities have an increased risk of depression and are more likely to suffer from chronic health conditions. The figures showed that 15% of parents of children with disabilities were classified as depressed and unfortunately less than half of them reported being treated for depression.

3 Feb 2014

Vodka contributes to high death rates in Russia, new study confirms

The high and sharply fluctuating death rates in Russia are due mainly to alcohol, particularly vodka, a new prospective study of 151 000 adults confirms.

3 Feb 2014

Brains of autistic children generate 42% more information while at rest

New research from Case Western Reserve University and University of Toronto neuroscientists finds that the brains of autistic children generate more information at rest – a 42% increase on average. The study offers a scientific explanation for the most typical characteristic of autism – withdrawal into one’s own inner world. The excess production of information may explain a child’s detachment from their environment.

3 Feb 2014

New technique helps identify shrinkage of mood-regulating brain structure in women with MS

A multicenter research team led by Cedars-Sinai neurologist Nancy Sicotte, MD, an expert in multiple sclerosis and state-of-the-art imaging techniques, used a new, automated technique to identify shrinkage of a mood-regulating brain structure in a large sample of women with MS who also have a certain type of depression.

31 Jan 2014

Study to examine prevalence of intimate partner violence among women with mental health disability

Women with a severe mental health-related disability are nearly four times more likely to have been a victim of intimate partner violence than those without a disability, according to a new study by Women's College Hospital researcher Janice Du Mont and co-author Tonia Forte.

31 Jan 2014

Sub-optimal sleep may activate depressive genes, increase risk for major depression

A genetic study of adult twins and a community-based study of adolescents both report novel links between sleep duration and depression. The studies are published in the Feb. 1 issue of the journal Sleep.

31 Jan 2014

Computerized cognitive training shows early promise in schizophrenia

Home-based computerized cognitive training has shown promise as a treatment for young people with schizophrenia, results of a randomized trial indicate.

31 Jan 2014

Depression severity marks suicide risk in bipolar patients

The likelihood for suicide ideation among patients with bipolar depression increases with the severity of the episode, shows a study in Indian patients.

31 Jan 2014

Researchers pinpoint neural circuitry that promotes stress-induced anxiety

According to the National Institute of Mental Health, over 18 percent of American adults suffer from anxiety disorders, characterized as excessive worry or tension that often leads to other physical symptoms. Previous studies of anxiety in the brain have focused on the amygdala, an area known to play a role in fear.

31 Jan 2014

State highlights: N.Y. insurer will reinstate young adult coverage

A selection of health policy stories from New York, California, Virginia, South Carolina, Connecticut, Florida, Kansas, Minnesota, Michigan, Georgia and Colorado.

31 Jan 2014

Longer looks: Doctor guilt; an abortion provider's hidden record

Okay, I know I'm a health writer, but I really don't like going to the doctor. Part of it is an unshakeable, irrational certainty that they will find something horribly wrong with me that I'd rather not know about, and part of it is a rational certainty that they will find something mildly wrong with me that is my fault and chastise me for it - drinking too much, not exercising enough, whatever. One should be able to talk to one's doctor about these things - the aspects of one's lifestyle that maybe aren't so great. ... But in 2009, a study by researchers at the University of California, San Diego found that half of the patients surveyed had experienced shame as a result of something a doctor said to them.

31 Jan 2014

Depression in childhood may increase risk of heart problems later in life

Children with depression are more likely to be obese, smoke and be inactive, and can show the effects of heart disease as early as their teen years, according to a newly published study by University of South Florida Associate Professor of Psychology Jonathan Rottenberg.

30 Jan 2014

Psychiatrists urged to monitor metabolic changes in psychosis patients

Japanese psychiatrists are largely aware of the metabolic abnormalities that may arise from antipsychotic treatment, but most do not monitor their patients sufficiently, research shows.

30 Jan 2014

First Edition: January 30, 2014

Today's headlines include stories about a new poll examining how uninsured people -- one of the groups the health law was designed to help -- view the overhaul.

30 Jan 2014