About 20 percent of U.S. youth during their lifetime are affected by some type of mental disorder to an extent that they have difficulty functioning, according to a new NIMH survey published in the October 2010 issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. The data support the observation from [...]
A 1-minute video showing computer screensavers next to videos of dancing children may prove to be a simple, inexpensive screening tool for autism spectrum disorders (ASD) in toddlers. According to an NIMH-funded study, infants as young as 14 months old who had autism spent more time looking at the moving shapes than social images, in [...]
Survivors’ cognitive functioning, physical health not significantly affected, says decades of research WASHINGTON — Holocaust survivors show remarkable resilience in their day-to-day lives, but they still manifest the pain of their traumatic past in the form of various psychiatric symptoms, according to an analysis of 44 years of global psychological research. Jewish Holocaust survivors living [...]
ARLINGTON, Va. (Sept. 15, 2010) — Women with postpartum depression who viewed pictures of scared or angry faces had less activity as shown by functional magnetic resonance brain imaging than did healthy mothers in the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, a part of the brain that controls emotional responses and recognizes emotional cues in others. The mothers [...]
Mental abilities decline with age, but drops not as steep as previously noted WASHINGTON — A new look at tests of mental aging reveals a good news-bad news situation. The bad news is all mental abilities appear to decline with age, to varying degrees. The good news is the drops are not as steep as [...]
The arc of anxiety and related disorders in at-risk children may be changed with brief intervention by parents, researchers say. In a study involving inhibited preschool-age children, clinical psychologists with experience in treating anxious children evaluated parent-focused intervention that included six session of 90 minutes focusing on parenting skills, cognitive restructuring, and in vivo exposure. [...]
The number of older adults who were treated for substance abuse more than doubled since 1992, government data finds. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration said that number of patients age 50 and older who were treated increased from 102,700 to 231, 170 in 2008. The report also finds that those seeking services [...]
A new type of brain scan could tell doctors if a child’s brain is maturing properly and provide a warning of developmental problems, a new study suggests. Researchers have been testing an approach to brain assessment that relies on functional connectivity MRI. The scan can be done in about five minutes and doesn’t require a child [...]
Take 5 to Save Lives Contact: Steve Vetzner, (703) 797-2588 or svetzner@mentalhealthamerica.net ALEXANDRIA, Va. (September 9, 2010)-Mental Health America is joining forces with the National Council for Suicide Prevention and other partner organizations to spread the word about World Suicide Prevention Day on September 10th and the Take 5 to Save Lives campaign (http://www.take5tosavelives.org/). Suicide [...]
An experimental drug that lifts depression in hours likely works by rapidly stimulating connections between brain cells, a study in rats has revealed. The drug, called ketamine, quickly generated such synapses in a brain circuit implicated in human depression by triggering a key enzyme. “Discovery of this cellular mechanism helps point the way to development [...]
Cheaters score high on tests for manipulativeness, callousness and antisocial tendencies Washington — Students who cheat in high school and college are highly likely to fit the profile for subclinical psychopathy – a personality disorder defined by erratic lifestyle, manipulation, callousness and antisocial tendencies, according to research published by the American Psychological Association. These problematic [...]
High blood pressure, slow pace, balance problems and self-reported poor health are warning signs WASHINGTON — Older adults with diabetes who have high blood pressure, walk slowly or lose their balance, or believe they’re in bad health, are significantly more likely to have weaker memory and slower, more rigid cognitive processing than those without these [...]