Mental Health News and Research

Latest Mental Health News and Research

Viewpoints: Health law's 'sticker shock;' Changing Medicare eligibility age is not a simple solution

President Obama said a fair bit during the fiscal-cliff negotiations - speaking for 45 minutes in one 50-minute meeting, for example - but today let's zero in on the claim he kept repeating: "We don't have a spending problem. We have a health-care problem." For our money - and yours - those are two of the most remarkable sentences our Orator in Chief has ever strung together.

15 Jan 2013

Obese youngsters at far greater risk than had been supposed

While a great deal of research on childhood obesity has spotlighted the long-term health problems that emerge in adulthood, a new UCLA study focuses on the condition's immediate consequences and shows that obese youngsters are at far greater risk than had been supposed.

15 Jan 2013

Waxman urges Biden to consider mental health in gun violence talks; Mentally ill missing from background check system

As the nation grapples with mental health issues in the wake of recent violence, issues related to restricting gun ownership for the mentally ill take shape on Capitol Hill.

15 Jan 2013

Spirituality associated with poor mental health

Individuals who describe themselves as spiritual are more likely to have used drugs, or be dependent on drugs, and also more likely to have generalized anxiety and neurotic disorders than those who are neither spiritual nor religious, research shows.

15 Jan 2013

Dizziness does not hamper neck pain therapy

Neck pain patients with dizziness may suffer more pain and disability than their peers without dizziness, but they are no less likely to improve with chiropractic treatment, study findings indicate.

15 Jan 2013

Cannabis use may worsen illness course in bipolar disorder

Cannabis use disorder is associated with a more severe illness course among patients with bipolar disorder, researchers report.

15 Jan 2013

Depression, mania in BD I have differential social adjustment effects

Results from a UK study show that depression and mania symptoms have specific and differential effects on social adjustment in patients with bipolar disorder.

15 Jan 2013

Dementia care services: an interview with Sue McLean

The term 'dementia' is used to describe symptoms that occur when the brain is affected by specific diseases and conditions, such as Alzheimer’s disease, vascular dementia, Lewy Bodies or Korsakoff’s syndrome.

From Community Integrated Care 15 Jan 2013

State highlights: Calif. governor earmarks money for Medi-Cal expansion; Mental health reforms take shape in Kan., Colo.

Brown earmarked $350 million in his spending plan to help enroll more Californians in Medi-Cal, the state's health insurance program for the poor. Under the proposal, enrollment rules would be simplified to cover residents who are currently eligible but not enrolled.

15 Jan 2013

Cancer risk not increased in schizophrenia, bipolar disorder

Results from a large UK study suggest that people with severe mental illness are not at increased risk for developing common cancers.

14 Jan 2013

Obesity not linked to bipolar disorder course

Obesity is not significantly associated with psychiatric disease course in patients with bipolar disorder (BD), Canadian researchers report.

14 Jan 2013

Daytime insomnia impact varies by subtype

Insomnia’s daytime impact appears to be greatest among those patients who have trouble both initiating and maintaining sleep, those with poor mental health, and those with childhood onset of the disorder, findings from the Great British Sleep Survey suggest.

14 Jan 2013

Factors linked to self-harm in early psychosis identified

A meta-analysis of published studies has identified factors associated with deliberate self-harm before and after treatment in patients with first-episode psychosis.

14 Jan 2013

Scientists track electrical signals in the brain region linked to spatial awareness

Research at the University of Edinburgh tracked electrical signals in the part of the brain linked to spatial awareness.

11 Jan 2013

Capitol Hill health policy news: Fact-checking Pelosi on Medicare; Senior GOP health adviser to leave House; Redefining rural doctor access

We are reluctant to re-litigate the rhetoric of the 2012 presidential campaign, but this comment by Rep. Nancy Pelosi about the House GOP budget jumped out at us. We had frequently written during the campaign about the misleading claim by Mitt Romney that President Obama had gutted more than $700 billion from Medicare to fund Obamacare.

11 Jan 2013

Roundup: Advocates watching Calif. budget for Medi-Cal cuts; Mich. AG to appeal same-sex health benefits ruling; Kansas city seeks to extend health care tax

Brown's proposed budget will outline his plans for expanding health coverage under the new federal health care law, which is set to require increased coverage beginning in January 2014. The law will put hundreds of thousands of new enrollees into California's public insurance program, but the governor has raised concerns about what that will cost.

11 Jan 2013

Republicans take aim at Planned Parenthood's 'record' taxpayer support

Also making headlines, a group of House Democrats are pressing the White House to retain funding for mental health, and New York members of Congress are pushing to include cancer care in the 9/11 health program.

11 Jan 2013

Roundup: Kan., Ga., Mass., Neb. face decisions on implementing health law

At an Atlanta panel discussion Tuesday previewing children's health issues for the upcoming General Assembly session, one item stood out. State Sen. Fran Millar (R-Atlanta) was officially on the panel to highlight "School Flexibility," but he summed up what he sees as the urgency of passing a Medicaid hospital provider fee during the legislative session. Approving the hospital assessment is "perhaps the most critical thing we have to do," Millar said.

11 Jan 2013

PLoS Medicine articles look at HIV care disengagement, development aid, mental health

PLoS Medicine Publications Assistant Michael Morris summarizes several articles published this week in the journal in this PLoS "Speaking of Medicine" blog post.

11 Jan 2013

Cerebrospinal fluid IL-6 increased in schizophrenia

Cerebrospinal fluid levels of interleukin-6 are significantly increased in patients with schizophrenia and major depressive disorder, Japanese study results show.

9 Jan 2013