Summary: Researchers are developing AI-driven smartphone applications to detect signs of depression non-invasively. One system, PupilSense, monitors pupillary reflexes to identify potential depressive episodes with 76% accuracy. Another tool, FacePsy,…
Tag: Depression
Men are carrying the brunt of the ‘loneliness epidemic’ amid potent societal pressures
A few weeks before Justin Bieber and his wife, Hailey, announced in May 2024 that they were expecting, the pop icon posted a selfie where he appears tearful and distraught.…
Wind phones help the bereaved deal with death, loss and grief − a clinical social worker explains the vital role of the old-fashioned rotary phone
My mother died in my home in hospice in 2020, on the day my state of Washington went into COVID-19 lockdown. Her body was taken away, but none of the…
Role of Serotonin Release in Depression Uncovered
Summary: Researchers developed a highly selective fluorescent probe to image serotonin in cells and animal models, shedding light on its role in depression. The study revealed that while serotonin levels…
Environment and Hippocampal Size Impact Depression in Youth
Summary: Challenging social environments and the size of the left hippocampus in children aged 9-11 contribute to an increased risk of depression. Researchers found that children with larger hippocampal volumes…
Creative arts therapy programs can help health care workers dance, write and draw their way through burnout and on-the-job stress
Doctors and nurses seldom learn in school how to tell a family that their loved one is not going to survive. Yet health care professionals face the immense burden of…
Knowingly Taking Placebos Reduces Stress and Anxiety
Summary: Researchers have discovered that nondeceptive placebos—placebos given with the full knowledge that they are placebos—can effectively manage stress, even when administered remotely. In a two-week randomized controlled trial, participants…
High-Dose Psilocybin Shows Potential as an Antidepressant Treatment
Summary: A meta-analysis suggests that high doses of psilocybin may alleviate depressive symptoms similarly to the SSRI drug escitalopram. While the effect size was small, psilocybin outperformed placebo in clinical…
Blood sugar fluctuations after eating play an important role in anxiety and depression
The proverbial “sugar high” that follows the ingestion of a sweet treat is a familiar example of the potentially positive effects of food on mood. On the flip side, feeling…
Hard-to-treat traumas and painful memories may be treatable with EMDR – a trauma therapist explains why it is gaining popularity
If you’ve been to a therapist’s office in the past few years, there’s a good chance you’ve heard of eye movement desensitization and reprocessing, or EMDR, therapy. Most commonly used…
