ScienceDaily (May 7, 2008) — A team of McGill University scientists has discovered important differences between the brains of suicide victims and so-called normal brains. Although the genetic sequence was identical in the suicide and non-suicide brains, there were differences in their epigenetic marking – a chemical coating influenced by environmental factors.
The Midwestern Higher Education Compact has just released The Ripple Effect of Virginia Tech, a report detailing what policies colleges have implemented as a result of the tragic events in Blacksburg, Virginia in April 2007. Most notable has been the expansion and perfection of emergency notification systems. Less visible or detectable this early after the tragedy are changes to admission procedures and other strategies for recognizing and responding to student behavior.
Arlington, Va. - The American Psychiatric Association (APA) applauds House passage of the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act, which overhauls key features in Medicare coverage of treatment for mental health, most notably by reducing the discriminatory 50 percent coinsurance patients must pay for outpatient mental health services to the same 20 percent co-payment charged for all other Medicare Part B services. The House passed H.R. 6331 by a vote of 355 to 59.
New AJP Analysis Details Differences Between Medications’ Effects
ARLINGTON, Va. (June 2, 2008) - Psychiatric and behavioral symptoms associated with Alzheimer’s disease-such as anger, agitation, aggression, and paranoid thoughts and ideas-may improve with the use of second-generation antipsychotic medications, a new federally funded study has found. Improvements were seen both in global measures and in measures of specific symptoms. In addition, the analysis indicates that particular symptoms may respond better to different second-generation antipsychotic medications.
The new analysis of data from the Clinical Antipsychotic Trials of Intervention Effectiveness-Alzheimer’s Disease (CATIE-AD), funded by the National Institute of Mental Health, will be published online ahead of print by The American Journal of Psychiatry (AJP), the official journal of the American Psychiatric Association. The report will appear online1 under AJP in Advance (http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/pap.dtl) on June 2, and will appear in print in the July issue of AJP. Read the rest of this entry »
For the first time, researchers show that preventive treatment with an antidepressant medication or talk therapy can significantly reduce the risk or delay the start of depression following an acute stroke, according to a study funded by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), part of the National Institutes of Health. These findings differ from past studies attempting to prevent poststroke depression. The study appears in the May 28, 2008, issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. Read the rest of this entry »
HIV-positive people who have experienced childhood sexual abuse are less likely to engage in risky sexual behavior if they receive a group intervention designed to help them cope with their traumatic history, according to an NIMH-funded study published April 1, 2008, in the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome.
Previous research has found that people living with HIV are more likely than the general population to have experienced sexual abuse during childhood. Those with a history of sexual abuse are also more likely to engage in unprotected sexual behavior that can contribute to the spread of HIV and AIDS. In addition, the psychological consequences of childhood sexual abuse, such as low self-esteem, avoidance, and self-destructiveness, are associated with risky sexual behavior. Read the rest of this entry »
Drug-related cues may sway adolescent preference more strongly
Scans Hint at Why It Can Be Unhealthy Even at the Top
Human imaging studies have for the first time identified brain circuitry associated with social status, according to researchers at the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) of the National Institutes of Health. They found that different brain areas are activated when a person moves up or down in a pecking order – or simply views perceived social superiors or inferiors. Circuitry activated by important events responded to a potential change in hierarchical status as much as it did to winning money.
“Our position in social hierarchies strongly influences motivation as well as physical and mental health,” said NIMH Director Thomas R Insel, M.D. “This first glimpse into how the brain processes that information advances our understanding of an important factor that can impact public health.” Read the rest of this entry »
Long-term maintenance treatment is likely to sustain improvement and prevent recurrence among adolescents with major depression, according to an NIMH-funded study published in the April 2008 issue of the Archives of General Psychiatry.
The study, led by Paul Rohde, Ph.D., of Oregon Research Institute, analyzed data from the Treatment of Adolescents with Depression Study (TADS), a large, NIMH-funded trial in which depressed teens were randomized to one of three treatments for 36 weeks—fluoxetine (Prozac), cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) or a combination of both. Read the rest of this entry »
Several variations within the same gene act together to raise the risk of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), new NIMH research suggests. The gene produces a protein that helps make the brain chemical serotonin available to brain cells.
OCD, an anxiety disorder, affects an estimated 2.2 million Americans age 18 or older. Symptoms usually begin sometime between childhood and early adulthood. The rituals and intrusive, unshakeable thoughts of OCD sometimes become severely disabling. Read the rest of this entry »
News Date: 04/06/2008
Outlet: Philadelphia Inquirer
Contact: Cook, Bonnie
Scott S. Metheny’s presentation on the choking game starts with a 911 call.
Hi, I have an emergency, a distressed boy can be heard telling the operator. My little brother might be dead.
OK, why do you think he’s dead? the operator asks.
Because there’s a rope around his neck tied to a bunk bed, and he’s all purple and stuff, the crying child says.
There’s a shocked silence in the Upper Moreland Middle School auditorium in Hatboro as Metheny, an Upper Moreland Township patrolman, drives home his point.
The taped young voice belongs to Samuel Mordecai, 13, of Paradise, Calif. On May 6, 2005, he found the body of his twin brother, Gabriel, who had strangled himself while playing the choking game. Read the rest of this entry »
ARLINGTON, Va. (April 1, 2008) - Treatment of children with stimulant medications for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) does not increase the risk of substance abuse later in adolescence and early adulthood.
A new 17-year study of 176 boys, ages 6 to 12, who were treated with the stimulant medication methylphenidate (marketed as Ritalin and other brand names) shows that the risk of substance abuse during late adolescence and into early adulthood is related to the age at which the boys began taking stimulant medications. For the first time, the new study shows that risk of substance abuse was lowest in the group of boys who began stimulant treatment for ADHD at an earlier age.
Specifically, the rate of drug abuse (excluding alcohol dependence or abuse) in those who had started taking methylphenidate early in the disease process (at age 6 or 7) was similar to the rate in a group of healthy comparison subjects. On the other hand, the rate of drug abuse was statistically significantly higher among those who had begun methylphenidate treatment at later ages, between 8 and 12. Read the rest of this entry »
Analysis Finds Competitive and Individual-Type Learning Lead to Lower Achievement, Poorer Social Interaction
Competitive environments can disrupt children’s ability to form social relationships, which in turn may hurt their academic potential, according to researchers at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. Cary J. Roseth, PhD, David W. Johnson, PhD, and Roger T. Johnson, PhD, reviewed the last eight decades of research on how social relationships affect individual behavior and achievement. Their findings are published in the current issue of Psychological Bulletin, published by the American Psychological Association. Read the rest of this entry »
People with schizophrenia have high rates of rare genetic deletions and duplications that likely disrupt the developing brain, according to studies funded in part by the National Institutes of Health.
These tiny anomalies were found in 15 percent of adult onset schizophrenia patients and 20 percent of child and adolescent onset patients, compared with only 5 percent of healthy participants. Collectively, the mutations carried by patients were significantly more likely than those in healthy participants to disrupt genes involved in brain development — potentially implicating hundreds of genes in the illness, which affects about 1 percent of adults. Read the rest of this entry »
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) reports that on an average day in 2006, US youth used the following substances for the first time:
Counselors may wish to access a practical guide to prevention strategies in each of these areas created by SAMHSA, including a comprehensive list of print and electronic resources, that is posted on the agency web site.
Research conducted by the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network has found harassment and bullying as a result of family structure to be a significant concern for children in lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) families. The report, “Gay…Families and Education,” also suggests that LGBT parents exhibit a greater involvement in their children’s education.
Four teams of scientists, using resources supported in part by NIMH, have pinpointed two different sites in the genome, each conferring a different type of genetic risk for autism. At one site, risk genes appear to be inherited. At the other, risk stems from spontaneous mutations, not seen in the genetics of the parents. In both examples, evidence suggests the suspect genes are critical for development of brain circuits impaired in autism.
In the inherited form of risk, people with autism were more prone than healthy controls to have certain versions of a gene on Chromosome 7. In the spontaneous form, one percent of autism was traced to a conspicuous “hot spot” of missing or duplicated genes on Chromosome 16. Read the rest of this entry »
A traumatic event is much more likely to result in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in adults who experienced trauma in childhood – but certain gene variations raise the risk considerably if the childhood trauma involved physical or sexual abuse, scientists have found. The research was conducted with funding from the National Institute of Mental Health, which is part of the National Institutes of Health, and others. Read the rest of this entry »
Five Organizations Receive APA’s Psychologically Healthy Workplace Awards, Nine Honored for Best Practices
Washington—Feeling overworked, underpaid, worried about job security and making ends meet, three-fourths of Americans say they are stressed about work and money. But workplaces that invest in the well-being of employees reap rewards for employer and employees alike, including benefits such as reduced stress, lower employee turnover and enhanced organizational performance.
At a ceremony in Washington DC yesterday, the American Psychological Association (APA) recognized five organizations for their comprehensive efforts to promote employee health and well-being, while enhancing organizational performance. Read the rest of this entry »
WASHINGTON—Workplace bullying, such as belittling comments, persistent criticism of work and withholding resources, appears to inflict more harm on employees than sexual harassment, say researchers who presented their findings at a conference today.
“As sexual harassment becomes less acceptable in society, organizations may be more attuned to helping victims, who may therefore find it easier to cope,” said lead author M. Sandy Hershcovis, PhD, of the University of Manitoba. “In contrast, non-violent forms of workplace aggression such as incivility and bullying are not illegal, leaving victims to fend for themselves.”
This finding was presented at the Seventh International Conference on Work, Stress and Health, co-sponsored by the American Psychological Association, the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health and the Society for Occupational Health Psychology. Read the rest of this entry »