Feature Channels: Mental Health

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As the United States population has doubled since 1955, the number of inpatient psychiatric beds in the United States has been cut by nearly 95 percent to just 45,000, a wholly inadequate equation when considering that there are currently 10 million U.S. residents with serious mental illness. A new viewpoint in JAMA looks at the evolution away from inpatient psychiatric beds, evaluates the current system for housing and treating the mentally ill, and then suggests a modern approach to institutionalized mental health care as a solution.

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Postpartum depression (PPD) may have a diverse clinical presentation and this has critical implications for diagnosis, treatment and understanding the underlying biology of the illness, a new study finds.

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It’s normal for a very young child to have tantrums and be otherwise disruptive, but researchers have found that if such behavior is prolonged or especially intense, the child may have conduct disorder. The Washington University team, led by senior investigator Joan L. Luby, MD, recommends that children who exhibit these symptoms be referred to mental health professionals for evaluation and possible intervention.

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Depression and other behavior changes may show up in people who will later develop Alzheimer’s disease even before they start having memory problems, according to a new study published in the January 14, 2015, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

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Depression and behavioral changes may occur before memory declines in people who will go on to develop Alzheimer’s disease, according to new research at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

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Neurobiologists at NYU Langone Medical Center found a surprising and paradoxical effect of abuse-related cues in rat pups: those cues also can lower depressive-like behavior when the rats are fully grown. This could shed light on why certain cues associated with early life abuse can reduce stress in those same individuals as adults.

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A Georgia State University School of Public Health researcher's web-based training program has been proven to not only reduce the likelihood of college-age men becoming involved in sexual assaults, but also to intervene to stop an assault from happening.

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For Jewish Americans, going to synagogue makes a difference for health, according to a study of five large Jewish urban communities by Baylor University’s Institute for Studies of Religion (ISR).

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A significant portion of state and federal prisoners are not receiving treatment for mental health conditions, according to research by The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) School of Public Health.

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o your neighbors have their house lights on? Is their walk shoveled? Are the newspapers and mail piling up? You might want to knock on the door and check on them, says Debbie Jansky, assistant manager, Gottlieb Home Health & Hospice. “Winter is isolating for us all but when really bad weather hits, the chronically ill or elderly really suffer the most,” she says.

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Why do some people develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) while others who suffered the same ordeal do not? A new UCLA discovery may shed light on the answer.

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Even with modern genomewide analysis techniques, it has proven difficult to identify genetic factors affecting risk for depression, according to a topical review in the January issue of Harvard Review of Psychiatry. The journal is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health.

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In a two-year longitudinal study involving 13 intensive care units in four U.S. hospitals, researchers found that better physical functioning — basic and complex activities considered essential for maintaining independence — is associated with remission of general anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms.

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A research team at McGill University has for the first time convincingly identified a network of neurons in a particular area of the brain, the lateral prefrontal cortex, that interact with one another to promptly filter visual information while at the same time ignoring distractions. It’s a discovery with potentially far reaching implications for people who suffer from diseases such as autism, ADHD and schizophrenia.

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A new study looked at police officers in the New Orleans area during and after Hurricane Katrina. The results suggested that they were shielded from PTSD by the protective qualities not only in the immediate aftermath of the hurricane, but years later as well.

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When faced with making choices, but lack sufficient evidence to guarantee success, our brain uses elapsed time as a proxy for task difficulty to calculate how confident we should be, a team of neuroscientists has found. Their findings help untangle the different factors that contribute to the decision-making process.

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“We found a clear difference between people with a mental illness who are incarcerated for a crime and those declared not criminally responsible for a crime and then hospitalized at a psychiatric institution.” - Dr. Alexandre Dumais

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Stimulants use such as cocaine and amphetamine is associated with a nearly two-fold greater likelihood of suicidal behaviour amongst people who inject drugs, say researchers at the University of Montreal and the CHUM Research Centre. Drug addiction had already been identified as a major risk factor for suicide, and it is in fact the cause of ten percent of deaths among drug users. The data from this groundbreaking study could help develop and evaluate more appropriate suicide prevention efforts in this highly vulnerable population.

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A new study links ADHD and conduct disorder in young adolescents with increased alcohol and tobacco use. The Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center study is among the first to assess such an association in this age group.

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The Hogg Foundation of Mental Health has created a free comprehensive guidebook on Texas’ entire mental health care system. The goal of the book is twofold: To help consumers of mental health understand their options, and to help policymakers and advocacy groups build a case for increasing more state funding for services and programs.

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The organismal performance assay detects subtle toxic effects by subjecting mice to a relentless, Darwinian competition for food, shelter and mates. If there is a defect in any physiological system, it is more likely to stand out if test animals have to compete for resources.

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In the shadow of the two year anniversary of one of the worst mass shootings in American history, at Sandy Hook Elementary School, an extensive new study by two Vanderbilt University researchers challenges common assumptions about gun violence and mental illness that often emerge in the aftermath of mass shootings. When a mass shooting occurs there seems to be a familiar narrative that untreated mental illness is the primary cause for the terrifying act. But a new study published in the American Journal of Public Health by Dr. Jonathan Metzl and Kenneth T. MacLeish finds that an isolated focus on mental illness is misguided.

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While the holidays are a time of merriment and festivities for many, some people struggle with depression during this time of year. Dr. Erika Saunders, interim chair of psychiatry at Penn State Hershey, says there are some distinct warning signs to watch for.

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Nitrous oxide, or laughing gas, has shown early promise as a potential treatment for severe depression in patients whose symptoms don’t respond to standard therapies. The pilot study, at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, is believed to be the first research in which patients with depression were given laughing gas.

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A recently published report in the Journal of Molecular Psychiatry supports the potential of focused ultrasound to treat certain patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).

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Computers scientists are tracking tweets to gather important information about common mental illnesses.

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People with mental illness are more likely to have been tested for HIV than those without mental illness, according to a new study from a team of researchers at Penn Medicine and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published online this week in AIDS Patient Care and STDs. The researchers also found that the most seriously ill – those with schizophrenia and bipolar disease – had the highest rate of HIV testing.

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The way medical doctors assess, treat and refer racial and ethnic minorities for mental health services may contribute to disparities in their use, according to a new study in Health Services Research.

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A group of psychology researchers at Florida State University have developed a simple computer-based approach to treating anxiety sensitivity, something that could have major implications for veterans and other groups who are considered at risk for suicide.

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An award-winning study has documented how homeless, mentally ill women in India face a vicious cycle:

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Differences in breast size have a significant mental health impact in adolescent girls, affecting self-esteem, emotional well-being, and social functioning, reports the December issue of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery®, the official medical journal of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS).

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NEWARK, NJ (November 20, 2014) – Navigating through the maze of health and medical services can be challenging for parents of children who have been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). A new resource is now available for caregivers, health professionals and, especially, parents. A pediatric neurologist and pediatrician/geneticist at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School recognized a need for a comprehensive guide to help parents obtain quality medical care for each stage of their child’s development.

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As the holiday season begins, the American Sociological Association (ASA) has sociologists available to discuss holiday-related topics ranging from shopping to sadness.

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Repeat suicide attempts and deaths by suicide were roughly 25 percent lower among a group of Danish people who underwent voluntary short-term psychosocial counseling after a suicide attempt, new Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health-led research suggests.

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A new study finds that having job authority increases symptoms of depression among women, but decreases them among men.

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An antidepressant commonly prescribed for women with postpartum depression may restore connections between cells in brain regions that are negatively affected by chronic stress during pregnancy, new research suggests.

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Researchers studying the roots of depression have developed a test to measure analytical thinking and rumination, that are hallmarks of the condition, leading them closer to the idea that depression may actually be an adaptation meant to help people cope with complex problems such as chronic illnesses or marriage breakups.

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Research suggests more referrals needed from primary care doctors to mental health professionals when dealing with eating disorders.

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The number of pregnant women who abuse or are dependent on opioids (narcotics) jumped 127 percent in 14 years, leading to an increased risk of maternal death and stillbirth among other serious problems, according to a review of more than 57 million American women admitted for delivery. The results were published in the December issue of Anesthesiology, the official medical journal of the American Society of Anesthesiologists® (ASA®).

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Major depressive disorder (MDD) should be re-conceptualized as an infectious disease, according to Turhan Canli, PhD, Associate Professor of Psychology and Radiology at Stony Brook University. In a paper published in Biology of Mood & Anxiety Disorders, Dr.Canli suggests that major depression may result from parasitic, bacterial, or viral infection. He presents examples that illustrate possible pathways by which these microorganisms could contribute to the etiology of MDD.

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Soldiers hospitalized with a psychiatric disorder have a significantly elevated risk for suicide in the year following hospital discharge, according to findings published in JAMA Psychiatry, Nov. 12, 2014. Although this has long been known in the civilian sector, it has never before been studied in the military population.

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A key brain region involved in emotion is smaller in older children diagnosed with depression as preschoolers, and predicts risk of later recurrence, according to researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

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Discovery of new molecular and behavioural connections may provide a foundation for the development of new treatments to combat some forms of depression

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Making friends is often extremely difficult for people with social anxiety disorder and to make matters worse, people with this disorder tend to assume that the friendships they do have are not of the highest quality. The problem with this perception, suggests new research from Washington University in St. Louis, is that their friends don’t necessarily see it that way.

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Several lines of research have opened exciting new frontiers in scientific understanding and clinical management of bipolar disorder. Recent advances in bipolar disease research are described in this month's special issue of Harvard Review of Psychiatry. The journal is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health.

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New DNA regulatory technique modifies the environment around a single gene to control gene expression and behavioral consequences

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The study, by researchers at NYU Langone Medical Center and Teachers College, Columbia University, applies the latest computational methodologies to nationally representative data from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System.