People with asthma are more likely to have symptoms of depression. Those with asthma and depressive symptoms are more likely to sleep less, be physically inactive and smoke than asthmatic people without symptoms of depression. The combination of mental distress and asthma may lead to a worsening of asthma symptoms and an overall decline in health.
A new study provides evidence that changes in gene regulation may contribute to the development of bipolar disorder. Researchers found low levels of a transcription factor in the brain’s prefrontal cortex and cerebellum in postmortem samples from patients with bipolar disorder, suggesting a new target for drug therapy.
Patients with major depression do better by learning to create a more positive outlook about the future, rather than by focusing on negative thoughts about their past experiences, researchers at Cedars-Sinai say after developing a new treatment that helps patients do this.
Two Washington and Lee University economists leading a group of researchers have found that individuals who have suffered from long-term unemployment in the past year — those unemployed for longer than 25 weeks — are three times more likely than people employed throughout the past year to experience mental-health issues for the first time.
University of Pennsylvania researchers found that homeowners in default or foreclosure showed an increase in mental health symptoms and physical symptoms.
Using skin cells from patients with mental disorders, scientists are creating brain cells that are now providing extraordinary insights into afflictions like schizophrenia and Parkinson’s disease.
Our life experiences – the ups and downs, and everything in between – shape us, stay with us and influence our emotional set point as adults, according to a new study led by Virginia Commonwealth University researchers.
How teens think and whether their thoughts might indicate a personality disorder is the focus of a new research study led by Carla Sharp, associate professor in clinical psychology and director of the Developmental Psychopathology Lab at the University of Houston (UH).
For the first time, researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania have shown that a psychosocial treatment can significantly improve daily functioning and quality of life in the lowest-functioning cases of schizophrenia.
Prolonged exposure therapy, cognitive therapy, and delayed prolonged exposure therapy, appear to reduce posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms in patients who have experienced a recent traumatic event, according to a report published Online First by Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
A new study in The Journal of Pain, published by the American Pain Society, www.ampainsoc.org, shows that changes in pain severity can predict subsequent depression severity and, likewise, a worsening change in depression is an equally strong predictor of subsequent pain severity.
A review of previous studies suggests that even though atypical antipsychotic medications are commonly used for off-label conditions such as behavioral symptoms of dementia, anxiety, and obsessive-compulsive disorder, these medications are effective for only a few off-label conditions, and that the benefits and harms of these medications for these uses vary, according to an article in the September 28 issue of JAMA.
The risk of depression appears to decrease for women with increasing consumption of caffeinated coffee, according to a report in the September 26 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
The prevalence of self-reported mental health disabilities increased in the U.S. among non-elderly adults during the last decade, according to a study by Ramin Mojtabai, MD, PhD, of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. At the same time, the study found the prevalence of disability attributed to other chronic conditions decreased, while the prevalence of significant mental distress remained unchanged.
Researchers at Vanderbilt University have identified chemical compounds that could lead to a major advance in the treatment of schizophrenia.
In a transaction announced this week, Vanderbilt has licensed the compounds to Karuna Pharmaceuticals in Boston, Mass., for further development leading to human testing.
Andrew Newberg, MD, director of Research, Daniel Monti, MD, medical and executive director and Aleeze Moss, PhD, instructor of the Mindfulness-Based Art Therapy program at the Jefferson-Myrna Brind Center of Integrative Medicine at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital review the most commonly used CAM practices in the management of patients with mood disorders and the available data on CAM use for mood disorders in the recent issue of the Expert Reviews in Neurotherapeutics.
Cannabinoids (marijuana) administration after experiencing a traumatic event blocks the development of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)-like symptoms in rats, according to a new study conducted at the University of Haifa and published in the journal "Neuropsychopharmacology".
Children and teens with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) who were receiving some benefit from treatment with medication had a significantly greater reduction in OCD symptoms with the addition of cognitive behavior therapy, according to a study in the September 21 issue of JAMA.
An analysis of nearly 30 studies including more than 300,000 patients finds that depression is associated with a significantly increased risk of developing stroke and dying from stroke, according to an article in the September 21 issue of JAMA.
This study of more than 50,000 adults ages 18 and older provides new molecular evidence that 11 DNA regions in the human genome have strong association with these diseases, including six regions not previously observed.
A small group of veterans with spinal cord injuries who underwent a four-day scuba- diving certification saw significant improvement in muscle movement, increased sensitivity to light touch and pinprick on the legs, and large reductions in post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, according to Johns Hopkins researchers.
A new model of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) that mirrors both symptoms of the disease and the timing of its treatment in humans has been created by University of Chicago researchers, according to a new study.
A new report found significantly lower rates of substance abuse disorders among probationers and parolees in 2009 compared to previous years. At the same time, the percentage of parolees who received substance abuse treatment increased. The study also found the rate of probationers and parolees who reported an unmet need for substance abuse treatment was lower in 2009 than in previous years.
Researchers are beginning to decipher what exactly happens in our brains when we are making decisions. Three experts in in the field describe the genesis of this cutting-edge field and potential practical applications of this research.
Men who channeled positive thoughts into a five-week writing assignment about their testicular cancer showed signs of improved mental health afterward, in contrast to men who wrote negatively or neutrally about their condition, according to results of a Baylor University pilot study.
Information researchers at the University of Arkansas have found evidence that suggests dangerous mobile phone usage while driving may be attributed to obsessive-compulsive disorder traits rather than addiction. The findings have significant policy implications because most legislation prohibiting mobile phone usage while driving – which generally has failed – has relied on research that links dangerous and excessive usage to addictive traits.
Eating disorders as the primary reason for entering the hospital have declined, but from 1999 to 2009, hospitalizations jumped 93 percent for patients with an eating disorder called pica.
About half of Medicaid-covered children and adolescents in Ohio who are in treatment for depression complete their first three months of prescribed antidepressants, and only one-fifth complete the recommended minimum six-month course of drugs to treat depression, new research suggests.
People who volunteer may live longer than those who don’t, as long as their reasons for volunteering are to help others rather than themselves, suggests new research published by the American Psychological Association.
Asking people who join a gym, fitness or wellness center just one short question about their stress level can identify those who are at risk of health problems and poor health habits.
Yoga is commonly seen as a practice beneficial to body and mind. Increasingly, yoga is being taken a step further and applied as a form of complementary and alternative medicine in treating psychiatric disorders. Can this ancient lifestyle practice for spiritual awareness stand up to testing standards required by modern science to prove that it is an effective treatment?
The harassment, discrimination and negative feelings about homosexuality that black gay and bisexual men often experience can contribute significantly to mental health disorders such as depression and anxiety, a small new study finds.
In the late nineteenth century, reform of insane asylums was a hotly debated topic that pitted two emerging medical specialties—psychiatry and neurology—against each other, according to a historical paper presented and discussed in the September issue of The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease. The journal is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health.
Exercise can be as effective as a second medication for as many as half of depressed patients whose condition have not been cured by a single antidepressant medication.
An extreme form of pregnancy-related nausea and vomiting known as hyperemesis gravidarum (HG)—which already takes a heavy toll on thousands of women each year and can lead to hospitalization and pregnancy termination—is also linked to an increased risk of anxiety, bipolar disorder and depression in adulthood among individuals whose mothers had the condition.
About half of Medicaid-covered children and adolescents in Ohio who are in treatment for depression complete their first three months of prescribed antidepressants, and only one-fifth complete the recommended minimum six-month course of drugs to treat depression, new research suggests.
New stem cell lines developed from the skin of adults living with bipolar disorder are providing researchers at the University of Michigan Health System an unprecedented opportunity to delve into the genetic and biological underpinnings of the devastating mood disorder.
Working moms have lower rates of depression than their stay-at-home counterparts, but buying into the supermom myth could put working mothers at greater risk for depression, suggests new research to be presented at the 106th Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association.
Working mothers who expressed a supermom attitude that work and home lives can be blended with relative ease showed more depression symptoms than working moms who expected that they would have to forego some aspects of their career or parenting to achieve a work-life balance. Katrina Leupp, a University of Washington sociology graduate student, will present the findings at the American Sociological Association’s annual meeting in Las Vegas, Nev.
When it comes to mental illness, the sexes are different: Women are more likely to be diagnosed with anxiety or depression, while men tend toward substance abuse or antisocial disorders, according to a new study published by the American Psychological Association.
Alcohol and impulsivity are a dangerous mix: People with current drinking problems and poor impulse control are more likely to die in the next 15 years, a new study suggests.