Psychiatry

Video games have come under attack from those who instinctively feel they are related to violent behavior. But two new studies find they can be therapeutic.

Study results suggest that more than 80% of patients with depression in the general population appear to not be eligible for clinical trials of antidepressant medications.

An article in Schizophrenia Bulletin makes a strong case for a scaling up of schizophrenia care that could yield breakthroughs in treatment for the condition and, ultimately, many other mental health disorders. Such a scaling up would involve breaking down significant barriers but could yield significant breakthroughs in treatment.

A study in Translational Psychiatry has identified three potential genes that could prove to be responsible for disturbances in mitochondrial function and DNA repair mechanisms in bipolar disorder. The genes in question – POLG, OGG1, and NDUFV2 – may open new targets for examination. The study authors themselves consider the results to be "somewhat promising."

Children with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE)/mixed connective tissue disease (MCTD) often suffer from significant bouts of depression and potentially suicide ideation, a study in the Journal of Pediatrics determined.

Even as many as seven years following a stroke, the spouses of stroke survivors experience a reduced health-related quality of life

Better understanding the relationship between bipolar disorder (BD) and circadian cycles can help establish new treatment protocols and treatment modalities, according to a review in the Journal of Affective Disorders.

Close relatives or friends often serve as surrogate decision-makers for patients in intensive care units. Physicians are usually comfortable answering their medical questions. But what happens when spiritual or religious issues arise in the context of end-of-life decisions?

Stress resulting from frequent migraine headaches may contribute to the development of medical and psychological comorbidities that can result in an ugly cycle of more migraines, according to a study in the Journal of Pain Research.

Two comprehensive reviews in the Indian Journal of Psychiatry looked at the use of pharmacologic therapy for psychiatric conditions during pregnancy and lactation. One review looked at mood stabilizers and the other focused on antidepressants, anxiolytics, and hypnotics.

A Japanese study suggests that parental bonding style during childhood is associated with the prevalence of chronic pain in adults in the general population and that the association is more robust for paternal bonding than for maternal bonding.

Three recent studies – in three very different publications – add to a growing cache of evidence showing that music can have significant benefits for patients with pain.

Reproducing study results can be difficult in any scientific field, but a study in the journal Science showed that confirming research in psychology is particularly challenging.

Yoga has shown to improve heart health and benefit patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Even those with breast cancer have gotten in on the action. A new study in Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine provides evidence that yoga offers progressive beneficial anti-stress benefits to members of a prison population.

Recent study results suggest Internet-based cognitive behavioral therapy (ICBT) could be useful for adolescents with anxiety disorders along with standard treatment delivered in child and adolescent psychiatric clinics.

Researchers seek to determine whether depression subtype is an useful predictor of which medication regimen might be most effective in treating patients with those subtypes.

Researchers have found that infants as young as 6 months old reveal atypical sensorimotor development that can be associated with autism spectrum disorder at 24 months.

Not only have researchers from Mount Sinai Hospital discovered that common antidepressants can help treat neuropathy, but they also identified the gene associated with pain and depression.

Children with multiple sclerosis (MS) with higher levels of physical activity have lower relapse rates, are less depressed, and suffer less fatigue, according to a study published on August 12, 2015 in Neurology.

Low vitamin D levels in otherwise healthy young women may increase their risk for depression, according to findings published in Psychiatry Research.

Patients with multiple sclerosis experience decreased connectivity between brain regions leading to the cognitive changes that are a trademark of the disease, according to research published in Neuropsychology.

A new cohort review in BMJ suggests that even light to moderate alcoholic consumption is associated with minimally increased risk of overall cancer. Earlier studies have made the link to increased risk of cancer (particularly colorectal, female breast, oral cavity, pharynx, larynx, liver, and esophagus) for heavy consumption, but the news here is that even amounts less than 30 g/day have potential bearing on cancer risk.

Dementia drugs may pose a risk for patient death more than previously understood, claims a JAMA Psychiatry study.

Investigators have shown that changes in toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) mRNA expression level are significantly associated with major depressive disorder (MDD). The study, which appeared in Neuropsychiatric Disease and Treatment, is a follow-up to an earlier study by the same researchers that first established the connection between TLR4 and MDD.

There has been a great deal of study on the placebo effect in the medical literature, and despite some evidence suggesting that placebo response rates in randomized controlled trials are higher in children and adolescents compared to adults, there has only been limited research involving the placebo response of children.

Obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) presents several diagnostic and treatment challenges, in part because etiology and pathogenesis remains relatively unknown. Most studies of OCD focus on adult patients, but there have been some studies of OCD onset before the age of 6 years, and the vast majority of OCD patients (80%) report that related symptoms began before age 18.

In autoimmune diseases, one size doesn't fit all when it comes to tools to encourage adherence to treatment..

Depression and anxiety may color patients' reports of sleep quality, researchers report in the June issue of the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry.

When humans form new memories, changes happen at the individual neuron level, a UK team has shown.

The FDA today approved flibanserin, the first drug to treat a form of sexual dysfunction in premenopausal women.