The Mental Health Social Worker

Scientists Reverse Depression-Like Behaviors In Mice Without Raising Serotonin Levels

New research adds to evidence of potentially better molecular targets in the brain to treat depression and other mental disorders, according to NIMH-funded scientists.

The researchers suggest that imbalances in the activity of an enzyme called GSK3ß may be closer to the root cause of mental illnesses than are low serotonin levels. Serotonin, a brain chemical, is the ultimate target of several current medications that work by indirectly increasing it to relieve symptoms. In preliminary findings, the scientists suggest that GSK3ß might be a more fundamental – and thus, perhaps, better and faster – target for new medications. (more…)

Finding Could One Day Help Identify People at Risk

Certain variations in a gene that helps regulate response to stress tend to protect adults who were abused in childhood from developing depression, according to new research funded by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), part of the National Institutes of Health. Adults who had been abused but didn’t have the variations in the gene had twice the symptoms of moderate to severe depression, compared to those with the protective variations. (more…)

Cutting the connection between sweets and calories may confuse the body, making it harder to regulate intake

Washington—Want to lose weight? It might help to pour that diet soda down the drain. Researchers have laboratory evidence that the widespread use of no-calorie sweeteners may actually make it harder for people to control their intake and body weight. The findings appear in the February issue of Behavioral Neuroscience, which is published by the American Psychological Association (APA).

Psychologists at Purdue University’s Ingestive Behavior Research Center reported that relative to rats that ate yogurt sweetened with glucose (a simple sugar with 15 calories/teaspoon, the same as table sugar), rats given yogurt sweetened with zero-calorie saccharin later consumed more calories, gained more weight, put on more body fat, and didn’t make up for it by cutting back later, all at levels of statistical significance. (more…)

Arlington, Va. - Patients with recent-onset schizophrenia who use marijuana (or other forms of cannabis) over a period of up to five years loose more brain volume, compared with patients who don’t use cannabis. These decreases in brain volume appear over time as excessive loss of gray matter, along with corresponding increases in the volumes of both the third and lateral ventricles (two cavities within the brain). (more…)

Arlington, Va. - Intense media coverage of violence perpetrated by people with mental disorders-such as the April, 2007 shootings at Virginia Tech-has unintentionally reinforced a common public misconception: mental illness equals violence. However, more than a decade of research has shown that the equation is not so straightforward. Research has also shown that focusing on people with mental illness who commit public acts of violence has obscured the fact that persons with mental disorders are more often victims of physical assaults, rape, and robbery. The February issue of Psychiatric Services features articles that examine recent research with the goal of clarifying the relationship between mental illness and violence. The important matter of prevention is also addressed: is it possible for mental health professionals to predict, with any accuracy, whether a patient in their care will physically harm other people? (more…)