Little evidence to back widespread prescribing of mood-altering drugs to children for mental health issues

Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain There’s limited evidence to back up the widespread and increasing rates of prescribing mood-altering drugs (psychotropics) as the mainstay of mental health treatment for children and…

How a stem cell bank is helping scientists understand psychiatric disorders

Credit: CC0 Public Domain When Ralda Nehme, a cell biologist and neuroscientist, first started her lab at the Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research at the Broad Institute of MIT and…

Tool evaluates 12 modifiable physical, lifestyle and social factors that can help patients protect their brain health

Credit: Human Brain Project Late-life depression, typically defined as depression with onset in individuals over 60 years of age, can affect up to a third or more of people older…

Why are some people happy when they are dying?

Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain Simon Boas, who wrote a candid account of living with cancer, passed away on July 15 at the age of 47. In a recent BBC interview,…

Mental health apps may help those waiting for care, study finds

Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain The recent surge in people seeking mental health care across the country has led to long wait times for first appointments with therapists and psychiatrists. Now,…

Friends of at-risk youth may need extra support for their mental well-being

Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain Friends of young people who self-harm or have suicidal thoughts may need additional support to prevent negative outcomes to their own mental well-being, in addition to…

Study finds abortion restrictions harm mental health, with low-income women hardest hit

Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain People living in states that enacted tighter abortion restrictions in the wake of the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health decision, which returned regulation of abortion access…

Research highlights upward trajectory of digital self-harm among US teens from 2016 to 2021

Researchers explored gender, race and sexual orientation, and also examined whether teens who experienced cyberbullying were more likely to engage in digital self-harm. Credit: Florida Atlantic University Adolescents worldwide have…

Run screaming or slow retreat? New study sheds light on brain responses to emotionally-charged scenes

Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain The ability to recognize and respond to emotionally-charged situations is essential to a species’ evolutionary success. A new study published in Nature Communications advances our understanding…

Daydream a lot? Feel sluggish? Stare into space? You might have cognitive disengagement syndrome

Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain Do you find that you daydream a lot? Are you often sluggish and tend to disengage easily when doing a task? You might have cognitive disengagement…