Feature Channels: Mental Health

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Parents, teachers and others can find it hard to spot signs of depression and anxiety in children – and struggle with how they can help. Here are some tips.

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Mental health. It’s a term we most often associate with adults and balancing high-stress jobs with an enjoyable lifestyle. But what exactly does “mental health” mean for infants and families? We talked to Marian E. Williams, PhD, director of the Stein Tikun Olam Infant-Family Mental Health Initiative at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles to learn more about this often “taboo” topic.

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A multidisciplinary team of Johns Hopkins researchers have developed two new strategies to treat depression in young people using the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) class of medications. These strategies, published May 5 in the journal Translational Psychiatry, incorporate a new understanding of how to mitigate the risk of suicide while on SSRI treatment.

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People with depression or bipolar disorder often feel their thinking ability has gotten “fuzzy”, or less sharp than before their symptoms began. Now, researchers have shown in a large study that effect is indeed real – and rooted in brain activity differences that show up on advanced brain scans.

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Researchers have identified a genetic link between schizophrenia and strabismus, a condition involving misalignment of the eyes. The research is being presented at the 2015 Annual Meeting of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) this week in Denver, Colo.

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Researchers are making progress toward developing effective approaches to early detection and intervention for psychosis—with the goal of lessening the impact or even preventing the development of schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders. Recent developments in early detection and intervention for psychosis are presented in the May special issue of The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, published by Wolters Kluwer.

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A lack of safety at school is one of the correlates of childhood obesity, say researchers at the University of Montreal and its affiliated Research Centre at CHU Sainte Justine children’s hospital.

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Children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, are significantly more likely to have an eating disorder — a loss of control eating syndrome (LOC-ES) — akin to binge eating, a condition more generally diagnosed only in adults, according to results of a new Johns Hopkins Children’s Center study.

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Trending news releases with the most views in a single day. Topics include: Bruce Jenner and transgender health, agriculture and pesticide alternatives, new tick-borne disease, internal dissent in Iran over nuclear deal, listeria ice cream recalls, changing mammography recommendations, immunology, materials science, and healthcare education.

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Since the 1960s, the number six has been commonly used to describe how many people are impacted by each suicide. Julie Cerel, associate professor in the University of Kentucky College of Social Work, says that's just not true, and her research has produced a startling statistic.

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Trending news releases with the most views in a single day. Topics include: exercise and obesity, Focused Ultrasound to treat uterine fibroids, neurology, diet supplements and cancer (day 4 in top 10), genetics, geology, skin cancer, sleep and Alzheimer's, and water conservation.

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The recent Great Recession was accompanied by a significant and sustained increase in major depression in U.S. adults, according to a Loyola study published in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry.

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Children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, are significantly more likely to have an eating disorder — a loss of control eating syndrome (LOC-ES) — akin to binge eating, a condition more generally diagnosed only in adults, according to results of a new Johns Hopkins Children’s Center study. The findings, reported ahead of print April 9 in the International Journal of Eating Disorders, suggest a common biological mechanism linking the two disorders, and the potential for developing treatment that works for both.

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Five years ago the BP Deepwater Horizon oil platform exploded. The spill caused enormous environmental damage, but it also caused great stress among Gulf Coast residents. Even now, a significant percentage of people there continue to deal with anxiety, depression and other mental health issues, researchers say.

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Johanna Olson, MD, is a pediatrician specializing in adolescent medicine at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles where she directs the Center for Transyouth Health and Development. In an effort to increase knowledge about the transgender experience, Olson frequently speaks to media on the topic.

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In a recent Johns Hopkins study, researchers found that nearly one-quarter of ICU survivors suffer from PTSD. They also identified possible triggers for PTSD and indicated a potential preventive strategy: having patients keep ICU diaries.

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A new study led by researchers at the Nisonger Center at Ohio State’s Wexner Medical Center has published online today in the Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychopharmacology (JCAP) and shows the addition of risperidone to parent training and a stimulant also improves teachers’ assessments of anxiety and social avoidance. Improvement in teacher-rated anxiety and social withdrawal also contributed to improvements in parent-rated disruptive behavior. Children who showed reduced anxiety also showed less disruptive behavior.

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The objective of the study was to evaluate the feasibility of sending supportive text messages to low-income mothers of racial and ethnic minority backgrounds with postpartum depression and gauge the perception of receiving such message for depression.

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An expert can speak on how treating sleep problems might reduce the potential of PTSD among military personnel. Seth Lederman, MD, co-founder and CEO of Tonix Pharmaceuticals Holding Corp., is overseeing the development of TNX-102 SL, an advanced sublingual reformulation of the FDA-approved muscle relaxant cyclobenzaprine, aiming to improve sleep quality and make a meaningful difference in the symptoms experienced by PTSD patients. Tonix’s AtEase Study is a Phase 2 clinical study to evaluate the potential therapeutic benefits of TNX-102 SL for PTSD in members of the military and its veterans.

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UNC researchers have published the first direct evidence that a low dose of electric current can enhance the brain’s natural alpha oscillations to boost creativity by an average of 7.4 percent. Next up: using the method to treat depression.

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Most people who attempt suicide make some type of healthcare visit in the weeks or months before the attempt, reports a study in the May issue of Medical Care, published by Wolters Kluwer.

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A new study finds that that 1.2 percent of American preschool children on Medicaid are using psychotropic drugs, including antidepressants, mood stabilizers and medications for attention-deficit disorder. Using 2000-2003 Medicaid Analytic Extract data from 36 states, a group of researchers at the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis and at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis found preschoolers are receiving psychotropic medications despite limited evidence supporting safety or efficacy.

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A study has found that one of three male teens who experienced sexual assault had attempted suicide in the previous year.

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A new University of Utah study is the first to provide clear insight into contributors to suicide risk among military personnel and veterans who have deployed. The study found that exposure to killing and death while deployed is connected to suicide risk. Previous studies that looked solely at the relationship between deployment and suicide risk without assessing for exposure to killing and death have shown inconsistent results.

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An estimated 9 percent of adults in the U.S. have a history of impulsive, angry behavior and have access to guns, according to a study published this month in Behavioral Sciences and the Law. The study also found that an estimated 1.5 percent of adults report impulsive anger and carry firearms outside their homes.

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The prevalence of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) decreases substantially as altitude increases

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Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have identified a molecule in the brain that triggers schizophrenia-like behaviors, brain changes and global gene expression in an animal model. The research gives scientists new tools for someday preventing or treating psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and autism.

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A new study has revealed that suicide figures may not be as accurate as they are reported, with key Western countries having a higher suicide rate than that reported in official figures.

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A new study published in the Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology shows that a subset of pre-psychopathic youth, who appear callous and unemotional, are actually masking unmanageable negative emotions and can be helped by cognitive behavioral or dialectical behavioral therapy.

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In the largest study to date documenting the significant risks to children’s health associated with prescription antipsychotics, results suggest that initiating antipsychotics may elevate a child’s risk not only for significant weight gain, but also for Type II diabetes by nearly 50 percent.

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This article looks at seasonal suicide that tends to peak in the Spring months.

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A new study by scientists at the Wayne State University School of Medicine demonstrates that communication between some of the brain’s most important centers is altered in children with obsessive-compulsive disorder.

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For chronically ill patients with major depression, an approach to cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) that incorporates patients' religious beliefs is at least as effective as conventional CBT, suggests a study in the April issue of The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease. The journal is published by Wolters Kluwer.

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Nathan Mitchell, a graduate student at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio wanted to know why the therapeutic benefit afforded by SSRIs was so limited in children and teenagers. If researchers can uncover the biological mechanisms preventing available treatments from producing antidepressant effects, scientists can then target those mechanisms to develop new antidepressants that will treat childhood and adolescent depression more effectively.

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People whose sexual identities changed toward same-sex attraction in early adulthood reported more symptoms of depression in a nationwide survey than those whose sexual orientations did not change or changed in the opposite direction, according to a new study by a University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) sociologist.

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A history of depression may put women at risk for developing diabetes during pregnancy, according to research published in the latest issue of the Journal of Obstetric, Gynecologic & Neonatal Nursing by researchers from Loyola University Chicago Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing (MNSON). This study also pointed to how common depression is during pregnancy and the need for screening and education.

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People whose sexual identities changed toward same-sex attraction in early adulthood reported more symptoms of depression in a nationwide survey than those whose sexual orientations did not change or changed in the opposite direction, according to a new study by a University of Illinois at Chicago sociologist.

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In addition to their physical injuries, women who are victims of domestic violence are also at a greater risk of mental health problems such as depression and psychotic symptoms.

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An estimated eight million adults in the U.S. suffer from binge eating disorder. Now, researchers have shown that compulsive binging on foods that are high in fat and sugar can trigger specific molecular changes that can lead to high blood pressure (hypertension). While others have studied the effects of binge eating on the brain, this study is the first to look at its molecular effects on the expression of certain proteins in the body.

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Scientists have recently discovered a link between inflammation and depression, which affects approximately 148 million people in the United States. A new study finds that resveratrol — a natural anti-inflammatory agent found in the skin of red grapes — can prevent inflammation as well as depression-related behaviors in rodents exposed to a social stress.

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Researchers have discovered an unconventional way that serotonin is released from neurons that could play an important role in the mechanism through which antidepressant drugs work.

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In popular culture, the phrase “battle of the sexes” seems to pit the male hormone (testosterone) against the female (estrogen). Now a Florida State University College of Medicine researcher has documented a way in which the two hormones work together to protect low-testosterone males from the effects of anxiety and depression.

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Rhodiola rosea (R. rosea), or roseroot, may be a beneficial treatment option for major depressive disorder (MDD), according to results of a study in the journal Phytomedicine led by Jun J. Mao, MD, MSCE, associate professor of Family Medicine, Community Health and Epidemiology and colleagues at the Perelman School of Medicine of University of Pennsylvania.

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New research from The Family Institute at Northwestern University, conducted by researchers including Jacob Goldsmith, PhD, Assistant Clinical Director at The Epstein Center, highlights the benefits of difficult moments between therapist and client.

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A new book summarizes research on the interplay of sleep and various components of emotion and affect that are related to mood disorders, anxiety disorders, bipolar disorder and depression.

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Researchers have found a powerful relationship between prenatal polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) exposure and disturbances in parts of the brain that support information processing and behavioral control.

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Suicidal patients who are under observation may be put at risk by relying on inexperienced staff and agency nurses, according to a new report issued today.