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A team of researchers at Tulane University used Google search data to determine the extent of panic attacks related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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During the lockdown with COVID-19 restrictions in place, an interactive gaming room built to accelerate stroke patient recovery in The Johns Hopkins Hospital wasn’t getting much use. The therapists and neurologists running the gaming room decided to make the room available to staff treating COVID-19 patients to allow them to decompress.

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Researchers have shown there may be key genetic differences in the causes of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) between African Americans and people of European ancestry, which may play an important part in how patients of different ethnic backgrounds respond to treatments for this condition.

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A new study suggests that the messages Black girls hear at home about being Black, and about being Black women in particular, can increase or decrease their risk of exhibiting the symptoms of depression.

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A new study has uncovered a correlation between psychological distress and genital and urinary health problems in female survivors of childhood sexual abuse.

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Irvine, Calif., Sept. 18, 2020 – Experiencing multiple stressors triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic – such as unemployment – and COVID-19-related media consumption are directly linked to rising acute stress and depressive symptoms across the U.S., according to a groundbreaking University of California, Irvine study. The report appears in Science Advances, published by the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

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Researchers at Penn State College of Medicine are conducting a study to determine if a wearable device can measure wellness and predict burnout among resident physicians. The results from the clinical trial could be used to develop targeted interventions for depression and burnout in graduate medical education.

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Assessing the potential for violent behavior by patients with psychiatric disorders is an essential but challenging responsibility for mental health professionals. A five-part series currently being published in the Journal of Psychiatric Practice summarizes an expert approach to screening, assessment, and management of the risk of “other-directed violence.” The journal is published in the Lippincott portfolio by Wolters Kluwer.

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People contemplating suicide want help. As the COVID-19 pandemic raises the overall level of anxiety, a Penn State Health expert explains how you can help people in crisis in this week’s Medical Minute.

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People generally want to improve on things like being more emotionally connected to others, but researchers found that this leads to changes in their political souls as well.

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“You have to eat!” It’s a sentiment that illustrates how central food is to Italian culture, but the woman who uttered these words also happens to be struggling with bulimia nervosa.

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Just how stressed are teachers? A recent Gallup poll found teachers are tied with nurses for the most stressful occupation in America today.

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UCLA researchers and their colleagues from two other institutions have been awarded a $52 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to lead an international study to better understand the cause and effect of schizophrenia in high-risk youth.

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Researchers at University of Illinois Chicago are studying a novel approach to delivering care to those with moderate depression and anxiety: through artificial intelligence, or AI. The first part of the two-phase, five-year project will develop and test a voice-enabled, AI virtual agent named Lumen, trained to deliver Problem Solving Therapy (PST), for patients with moderate, untreated depressive and/or anxiety symptoms. This first phase is awarded for two years.

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Digital phenotyping approaches that collect and analyze Smartphone-user data on locations, activities, and even feelings – combined with machine learning to recognize patterns and make predictions from the data – have emerged as promising tools for monitoring patients with psychosis spectrum illnesses, according to a report in the September/October issue of Harvard Review of Psychiatry. The journal is published in the Lippincott portfolio by Wolters Kluwer.

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A new suicide prevention training program developed by a team from Palo Alto University and the County of Santa Clara Behavioral Health Services Department aims to better prevent suicide by being more culturally aware of the populations it serves.

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Staying close to home can help older adults reduce their risk of COVID-19. But a new national poll suggests it comes with a cost. In June of this year, 56% of people over the age of 50 said they sometimes or often felt isolated from others – more than double the 27% who felt that way in a similar poll in 2018.

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UChicago Medicine Ingalls Memorial Hospital will expand its behavioral health services to Calumet City, Illinois in September 2020, providing essential outpatient mental healthcare to Southland residents.

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When it comes to self-control, young children are better able to resist temptation and wait for greater rewards if they take into consideration the opinions of others

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In honor of Gynecologic Cancer Awareness Month, the Johns Hopkins Medicine Kelly Gynecologic Oncology Service is hosting a series of 60-minute webinars during which top experts will address important issues related to gynecologic cancers and survivorship.

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A $3.6 million NIMH grant awarded to the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania will help improve the implementation of an evidence-based firearm safety program and identify the best approach for deploying this program as a suicide prevention strategy.

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Now more than ever, Americans and people all over the world are under increased stress, which may adversely affect their health and well-being. Researchers explore the possibility that mindfulness with paced breathing reduces blood pressure. One of the most plausible mechanisms is that paced breathing stimulates the vagus nerve and parasympathetic nervous system, which reduce stress chemicals in the brain and increase vascular relaxation that may lead to lowering of blood pressure.

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Cigarette smoking is associated with frequent substance use and poor behavioral and physical health in sexual and gender minority populations, according to Rutgers researchers.

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Exercise has been shown to reduce anxiety and stress, but it may not be enough for the levels caused by COVID-19.

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People who were children when their parents were divorced showed lower levels of oxytocin — the so-called “love hormone” — when they were adults than those whose parents remained married, according to a study led by Baylor University. That lower level may play a role in having trouble forming attachments when they are grown.

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A new UCLA study shows partially overlapping patterns of brain function in people with anorexia nervosa and those with body dysmorphic disorder, a related psychiatric condition characterized by misperception that particular physical characteristics are defective.

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Using alcohol to cope with distress was associated with increased drinking during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new study. Adults experiencing greater depression or lower social connectedness, and those with children under age 18, were among those at risk for drinking to cope. The COVID-19 pandemic brought extensive disruptions to daily life, involving elevated stress among the general public. This increased the likelihood of people using alcohol to cope, a motive linked to solitary drinking, heavier drinking, and alcohol-related problems. At the same time, social distancing and closures meant that access to healthier supports, such as counseling and recreation, was reduced. The study in Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research explored adult drinkers’ use of alcohol to cope with distress during the early pandemic, with the goal of informing interventions to address long-term alcohol-related harms.

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During the pandemic and nationwide protests firearm purchases have soared — a concern for suicide prevention specialists, says a Rutgers expert

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To better understand the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on cannabis and CBD use, the UCLA Cannabis Research Initiative has launched the Cannabis, CBD and COVID Survey.

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The COVID-19 pandemic has spurred a remarkable number of psychologists across the United States to shift to delivering mental health care to patients remotely, according to a national study led by researchers at Virginia Commonwealth University.

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Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been empirical and anecdotal reports of declines in both emergency and ambulatory medical visits.

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A first-of-its-kind study from the Boston University School of Public Health (BUSPH) finds 27.8% of U.S. adults had depression symptoms as of mid-April, compared to 8.5% before the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Although researchers have known for decades that depression runs in families, new research from Binghamton University, State University of New York, suggests that children suffering from social anxiety may be at particular risk for depression in the future.

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Performing acts of kindness and helping other people can be good for people’s health and well-being, according to research published by the American Psychological Association. But not all good-hearted behavior is equally beneficial to the giver. The strength of the link depends on many factors, including the type of kindness, the definition of well-being, and the giver’s age, gender and other demographic factors.

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Caring for a partner or spouse with a new diagnosis of Alzheimer's or related dementia is associated with a 30% increase in depressive symptoms, compared to older adults who don't have a spouse with dementia—and these symptoms are sustained over time, a new University of Michigan study found.

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Less screen time and more green time are associated with better psychological outcomes among children and adolescents, according to a study published September 2 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Tassia Oswald of the University of Adelaide, and colleagues.

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Researchers have long sought to explain precisely how the most common genetic mutation linked to both amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal dementia causes the death of nerve cells.