Although there have been cardiovascular safety concerns about attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) medications because of their ability to increase heart rate and blood pressure levels, an analysis that included more than 150,000 ADHD users found no evidence of an increased risk of heart attack, stroke, or sudden cardiac death associated with current use compared with non-use or rare-use among yo ...

Psychological interventions to prevent depression in children and adolescents can be useful and with protective effects that last for up to a year, finds a new systematic review. According to research cited in the new review, in 2002, depression ranked second greatest cause of disability in developed countries and first in many developing ones. The review appears in the current issue of The Cochrane Library ...

Investigators in a population-based study in Denmark reporting today at the American Epilepsy Society’s 65th annual meeting have found there is an increased risk of autism spectrum disorder and childhood autism in children born of mothers who are exposed to the anticonvulsant valproate during pregnancy. The Lead investigator was Dr. Jakob Christensen of Aarhus University Hospital, Denmark. The relative risk ...

People with anorexia nervosa struggle with questions about their real, or "authentic," self – whether their illness is separate from or integral to them – and this conflict has implications for compulsory treatment, concludes a study in the Hastings Center Report. The researchers also conclude that exploring ideas of authenticity may help clinicians formulate therapeutic approaches and provides insights int ...

This study suggests an innovative psychological treatment called 'concreteness training' can reduce depression in just two months and could work as a self-help therapy for depression in primary care. Led by the University of Exeter and funded by the Medical Research Council, the research shows how this new treatment could help some of the 3.5 million people in the UK living with depression. ...

Nicotine replacement therapy and smoking cessation intervention programs are associated with positive outcomes among current smokers, according to two studies in the November 28 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. “Despite advances in clinical care and policy, rates of smoking cessation have held constant in the past decade, indicating a need for novel approaches,” the ...

Experienced meditators seem to be able switch off areas of the brain associated with daydreaming, as well as psychiatric disorders, such as autism and schizophrenia, according to a new brain imaging study by Yale researchers. Meditation's ability to help people stay focused on the moment has been associated with increased happiness levels, said Judson A. Brewer, assistant professor of psychiatry and lead au ...

A recent trial shows cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) reduces functional disability and depressive symptoms in adolescents with juvenile fibromyalgia. The psychological intervention was found to be safe and effective, and proved to be superior to disease management education. Full findings from this multi-site clinical trial are published in Arthritis & Rheumatism, a peer-reviewed journal of the Ameri ...

A new psychosocial approach shows promise in helping preschoolers with symptoms of depression function better and learn to regulate their emotions, according to an NIMH-funded study published online ahead of print October 31, 2011, in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry. Background Recent studies have shown that symptoms of clinical depression can arise in children as young as 3, and may in fact ...

Results from the first multi-center pilot study of deep brain stimulation (DBS) for major depressive disorder were published online today by the Journal of Neurosurgery. The study, conducted at three research facilities in Canada, was designed to replicate and build upon an earlier study by Dr. Andres Lozano and Dr. Helen Mayberg which was published in the journal Neuron in 2005. Sponsored by St. Jude Medic ...