Patients who talk with a therapist after suffering a stroke are less depressed and live longer than patients who don’t, a new study asserts. Researchers randomly assigned half of 411 stroke patients to see a therapist for up to four 30- to 60-minute sessions and the other half to no visits with a therapist. Forty-eight [...]
Living in a city or growing up in one is associated with differences in the way the brain handles stress, according to a new study. Researchers, whose findings are reported in the journal Nature, used functional MRI to study the brain activity of healthy volunteers from urban and rural areas. They found that urban living [...]
Living with a father who has depressive symptoms or other mental health problems is associated with increased rates of emotional or behavioral difficulties in their children, according to a new study. Using data from 20,260 children aged 5-17 from 2004-2008, the study found that in households where the father had clinically significant depressive symptoms, 15.5 [...]
The level of support that people perceive in their surroundings when they come out as lesbian, gay, or bisexual is closely related to their mental health and overall well-being, according to a new study. That may mean that for some people coming out is less damaging than has been believed. Researchers surveyed 161 people between [...]
A new program now being offered on college campuses is helping students who are trying to recover from substance use disorders. The Collegiate Recovery Communities began at Texas Tech University and now has spin-offs at several U.S. universities. The program is a peer-based, on-campus model that aims to promote a culture of recovery. The first [...]
More people are getting treatment for prescription drug abuse than a decade ago, a new government analysis shows. The report, released by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), found that the percentage of patients treated for opiates other than heroin rose from 1 percent of all substance abuse admissions (to both outpatient [...]
Individuals with a family member who has a mental illness report they receive little help from their churches, according to a new study. A survey given to nearly 6,000 adults who attend 24 Protestant churches in 10 states found that 27 percent of churchgoers said they had at least one family member with a mental [...]
Proposed guidelines that have been issued for a fund that will compensate first responders and those exposed to the 9/11 terror attacks would exclude coverage for those claiming mental health problems. The first version of the fund, created just after the 2001 terror attacks, also did not pay for mental health problems. The proposed rules [...]
A free, nationally available program can significantly improve a family’s ability to cope with an ill relative’s mental disorder, according to an NIMH-funded study published June 2011 in Psychiatric Services, a journal of the American Psychiatric Association. Background The Family-to-Family (FTF) education and support program is a free, 12-week course offered by the National Alliance [...]
Rats on high-fat diet gained more weight after eating low-calorie potato chips made with fat substitutes WASHINGTON—Synthetic fat substitutes used in low-calorie potato chips and other foods could backfire and contribute to weight gain and obesity, according to a study published by the American Psychological Association. The study, by researchers at Purdue University, challenges the [...]
Little-known Enzyme Pivotal – NIH-funded Study In Mice A study in mice has pinpointed a pivotal new player in triggering the rapid antidepressant response produced by ketamine. By deactivating a little-known enzyme, the drug takes the brakes off rapid synthesis of a key growth factor thought to lift depression, say researchers supported by the National [...]
Women who have suffered from eating disorders or have been abused in the past may be at an increased risk of developing depression during and soon after pregnancy, the results of a new study indicate. Researchers surveyed 158 women who were pregnant or had recently given birth. All were undergoing treatment for depression. They found [...]
Being depressed doesn’t reduce the effectiveness of weight loss surgery, a new study finds. University of Michigan researchers analyzed data from more than 25,469 patients who had weight loss surgery and found that patients who were depressed or depression-free before the surgery all lost nearly 60 percent of their excess weight within one year. They [...]
Pregnant women who screen positive for depression are unlikely to receive consistent treatment, according to a new study. The may lead to women spending more time in the hospital before their babies are born. Researchers, whose findings are published in General Hospital Psychiatry, tracked 20 health care providers in six Michigan clinics and revealed a [...]
Children on Medicaid are much more likely than kids with private health insurance to be denied appointments with medical specialists and wait longer on average to be seen, according to a new study. Research assistants posing as mothers of sick children called to make appointments for specialty care at 273 clinics in Cook County, Illinois, [...]
Individualism a stronger predictor of well-being than wealth, says new study WASHINGTON—Freedom and personal autonomy are more important to people’s well-being than money, according to a meta-analysis of data from 63 countries published by the American Psychological Association. While a great deal of research has been devoted to the predictors of happiness and life satisfaction [...]
Evidence in both humans and animals points to emotional benefits from exercise, both physical and mental. Now, in recent experiments with mice, scientists have traced the stress-buffering effect of activity to a brain circuit known to be involved in emotional regulation as well as mood disorders and medication effects. The finding is a clue to [...]
Children of divorced parents often have worse math and social skills than their classmates and are more likely to suffer anxiety, stress and low self-esteem, according to a new study. The findings, published in the American Sociological Review, are based on data that tracked the development of 3,585 students from kindergarten through fifth grade to [...]
Children who are aggressive and disruptive in class are more likely to have sleep-disordered breathing than well-behaved children, according to new research. Conduct problems, parent-reported bullying, and school disciplinary problems were all associated with higher scores on a measure of sleep-related breathing disorders, according to researchers. The study, published in the journal Sleep Medicine, collected [...]
Children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) face a significantly higher risk of developing a substance use problem, according to a new study. Researchers, whose findings are reported in the Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, looked at data that had been previously collected by two studies exploring psychiatric and behavioral problems among [...]