Feature Channels: Mental Health

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New research from the University of Georgia suggests the COVID-19 pandemic may have had an unexpected side effect for postpartum women: more benzodiazepine prescriptions. The new study found that the pandemic didn’t lead to increases in postpartum depression or anxiety diagnoses. But it did prompt a 15% increase in the number of privately insured new moms filling prescriptions for antianxiety medications like Valium, Xanax, Ativan and Klonopin.

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One in 5 older adults used cannabis products that include THC in the last year. Among them, 20% said they drove within 2 hours of using cannabis, and a similar percentage said they experience at least one potential signs of addiction.

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Researchers have for the first time identified degeneration-associated “molecular markers” – observable changes in cells and their gene-regulating networks – that are shared by several forms of dementia that affect different regions of the brain.

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New mental health parity rules from the federal government aim to address issues with access and insurance coverage, but multiple experts from the University of Michigan say more effort is needed.

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New research from the University of Washington found lockdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in unusually accelerated brain maturation in adolescents. This maturation was more pronounced in girls. When measured in terms of the number of years of accelerated brain development, the mean acceleration was 4.2 years in females and 1.4 years in males.

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Since the COVID-19 pandemic, rates of chronic absenteeism have nearly doubled across the nation for students in kindergarten through grade 12.This increase was tied to the mode of instruction during the early years of the pandemic.

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On Sept. 11, 2024, Iris Udasin, the medical director of the World Trade Center Health Program, will receive the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Foundation’s “Service Above Self” award on behalf of law enforcement officers nationwide, presented at the National Law Enforcement Museum in Washington, D.C.

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A survey of 50,000 primary and secondary school students has found a clear link between night time phone use, sleep deprivation, cyberbullying and poor mental health.

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A recent surgeon general’s advisory outlining an urgent need to support increasingly stressed-out parents highlights an important and growing issue, says a Virginia Tech expert. Rosanna Breaux, a psychologist at Virginia Tech who directs the Child Study Center, said how well parents manage their emotions is crucial for their own parenting experience and for the health of both themselves and their children.

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Ketamine, whether given as an IV, a nasal spray or sublingual, may harm a developing fetus, but a study shows clinics vary greatly in handling patients who could become pregnant during treatment.

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A national initiative led by the National Institutes for Mental Health is now underway to find figurative “rulers” that can accurately measure and compare the quality of the various mental health treatments available.

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Primary care providers are well positioned to address emotional eating because of their long-term relationships with patients, noted Jana DeSimone Wozniak, PhD and Hsiang Huang, MD, MPH, of Harvard Medical School and Cambridge Health Alliance in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

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Irvine, Calif., Aug. 28, 2024 — University of California, Irvine public health researchers have published a study in the journal Environmental Research Health highlighting the compounded effects of frequent wildfires and smoke exposure on physical and mental health, local economies and community resilience in Southern California.

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A $4 million grant to the Merrill Palmer Skillman Institute (MPSI) at Wayne State University aims to prevent serious emotional and behavioral problems in Detroit’s young children while promoting healthy development and reducing health disparities.

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For the first time, UNC School of Medicine scientists created and successfully tested a closed-loop system to measure an individual’s alpha frequencies and stimulate the brain with a low-level alternating electrical current to bring balance to alpha oscillations and alleviate depression symptoms.

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In this study, the pandemic was associated with minor changes in youth mental health overall. Black and low-income youth experienced small improvements in ADHD symptoms, while those with pre-pandemic mental health issues generally showed overall improvement in their outcomes.