Mental Health News and Research

Latest Mental Health News and Research

Factors linked to self-harm in schizophrenia identified

Polysubstance abuse and a high premorbid IQ are significantly associated with self-harm in patients with schizophrenia, UK researchers report.

11 Oct 2012

Antioxidant defense reduced in schizophrenia, bipolar disorder

Results from a Tunisian study suggest that the antioxidant defense system is altered in patients with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.

11 Oct 2012

MDD with subthreshold hypomania ‘should be merged with bipolar II’

Patients with major depressive disorder plus subthreshold hypomania exhibit significant differences in disease course, symptoms, treatment-seeking rates, and other characteristics compared with those with major depression alone, research shows.

11 Oct 2012

Enrollment complete in Euthymics’ amitifadine phase 2b/3a trial for major depressive disorder

Euthymics Bioscience, Inc. today announced completion of enrollment in the advanced clinical study of its lead product candidate amitifadine (formerly called EB-1010), a novel serotonin-preferring triple reuptake inhibitor for the treatment of major depressive disorder (MDD).

11 Oct 2012

Bad news articles increase women's sensitivity to stressful situations

Bad news articles in the media increase women's sensitivity to stressful situations, but do not have a similar effect on men, according to a study undertaken by University of Montreal researchers at the Centre for Studies on Human Stress of Louis-H. Lafontaine Hospital.

11 Oct 2012

Grand Challenges Canada funds 15 new projects to improve mental health diagnosis and care

Grand Challenges Canada, which is funded by the Government of Canada, today announced a landmark $19.4 million in support of 15 innovative, pioneering projects designed to improve mental health diagnosis and care in developing countries, many of them nations ravaged by conflict and disaster as well as poverty.

11 Oct 2012

WHO calls for end to stigma on World Mental Health Day

"Wednesday (October 10th) is World Mental Health Day," VOA News reports, noting, "The World Health Organization is using the occasion to call for an end to stigma against those who suffer from depression and other mental disorders."

11 Oct 2012

State roundup: Filling the health care void in NYC's Greenwich Village

The demise of St. Vincent's Hospital in Greenwich Village two years ago has led to a struggle for health care supremacy in some of New York's most distinctive neighborhoods, offering a glimpse, in the process, at what might be the future of urban medicine.

11 Oct 2012

Inscopix to introduce nVista HD at Neuroscience 2012

Inscopix, Inc. will announce the launch of nVista HD, an end-to-end solution for in vivo brain imaging in freely behaving mice, this weekend at Neuroscience 2012 (SfN).

11 Oct 2012

Psychological interventions improve quality of life, reduce total care costs

Evidence presented at the recent "European Federation of Psychologists' Association" (EFPA) conference showed that psychological interventions do not only improve quality of life but are also cost-effective. Return on investment of health promotion at work is 10:1.

11 Oct 2012

Addiction and mental health burden higher than all cancers in Ontario

Mental illnesses and addictions take more of a toll on the health of Ontarians than cancer or infectious diseases, according to a new report by the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences and Public Health Ontario - yet this burden could be reduced with treatment, say scientists from Canada's Centre for Addiction and Mental Health.

11 Oct 2012

TSRI scientists identify new gene variants closely associated with bipolar disorder

Scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have identified small variations in a number of genes that are closely linked to an increased risk of bipolar disorder, a mental illness that affects nearly six million Americans, according to the National Institute of Mental Health.

11 Oct 2012

Migraine therapy alleviates more than just the headache

Treating the pain associated with migraine can also improve the social and psychologic problems experienced by individuals affected by the condition, findings from a systematic review suggest.

10 Oct 2012

Nicotine dependence linked to symptom severity in schizophrenia

Nicotine dependence is associated with increased symptom severity in patients with schizophrenia, UK study results show.

10 Oct 2012

MDD with subthreshold hypomania ‘should be merged with bipolar II’

Patients with major depressive disorder plus subthreshold hypomania exhibit significant differences in disease course, symptoms, treatment-seeking rates and other characteristics compared with those with major depression alone, research shows.

10 Oct 2012

Roitt's Essential Immunology receives BMA Book of the Year Award

John Wiley & Sons, Inc., today announced that Roitt's Essential Immunology, 12th Edition, has won the prestigious British Medical Association (BMA) Book of the Year Award.

10 Oct 2012

Salivary-biomarker approach can identify individuals at future risk of PTSD, depression

Each year, more than a million Americans are at-risk of developing serious mental health problems after experiencing a terrifying event or serious physical injury. Once manifested, these psychiatric illnesses, such as post-traumatic stress disorder and depression, can be extremely crippling and difficult to treat and are a leading cause of disability in civilian, military and minority populations.

10 Oct 2012

Evolutionary psychologists find rape impacts sexual behavior, self-esteem

Depression and post-traumatic stress disorder are commonly associated with sexual assault, but a new study from The University of Texas at Austin shows that female victims suffer from a wide spectrum of debilitating effects that may often go unnoticed or undiagnosed.

10 Oct 2012

PUFA levels reduced in schizophrenia patients

Results from a systematic review and meta-analysis show that erythrocyte membrane concentrations of certain polyunsaturated fatty acids are reduced in the brains of people with schizophrenia.

9 Oct 2012

Kynurenic acid levels increased in bipolar patients with psychotic features

Bipolar disorder patients with a history of psychotic features have higher cerebrospinal fluid concentrations of kynurenic acid (KYNA) than those without such features, research shows.

9 Oct 2012