A new treatment program teaches people who suffer from panic disorder how to reduce the terrorizing symptoms by normalizing their breathing. The method has proved better than traditional cognitive therapy at reducing both symptoms of panic and hyperventilation, according to a new study. A video demonstration is included in this report whereby the researcher explains how the treatment works with a participan ...

The National Institute for Mental Health (NIMH) announced the release of "Social Phobia (Social Anxiety Disorder): Always Embarrassed" in their continuing series of free e-booklets that demystify common psychological disorders. Included in this review is a link to download this 6-page, full color e-booklet in PDF format. ...

Current diagnostic procedures for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) fail to adequately reflect research into the broad nature of a traumatic event, according to a study that will appear in the January print issue of Psychological Bulletin. The relevancy of an individual's subjective experience in determining what constitutes a traumatic event has been a source of debate among PTSD specialists for years. ...

Recognition of others' emotions is an important aspect of interpersonal communication. In major depression, a significant emotion recognition impairment has been reported. It remains unclear whether the ability to recognize emotion from facial expressions is also impaired in anxiety disorders. There is a need to review and integrate the published literature on emotional expression recognition in anxiety dis ...

Have you ever felt uneasy sitting in a doctor's waiting room or climbed the walls waiting for your test results? That feeling of anxious uncertainty can be more stressful than knowing you have a serious illness, according to a study presented today at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA). ...

Research from the Norwegian Institute of Public Health (NIPH) shows that children with severe congenital heart defects have twice the risk of anxiety at 18 months of age compared to healthy children. Children with mild and moderate heart defects, on the other hand, did not show an increased risk of anxiety. ...

Exhaustion syndrome, also called burnout and exhaustion depression, leaves objectively measurable changes in the brain – including reduced activity in the frontal lobes and altered regulation of the stress hormone cortisol. This is shown in a new dissertation from Umeå University in Sweden. Check the end of this report for a link to download the original university dissertation. ...

Antisocial behavior and substance use disorders have serious consequences for youth, their families, and costs to society in terms of education, mental health and health treatment, and criminal justice system involvement. Evidence has shown that genetic and environmental factors contribute to the development of these problems, although a clearer understanding of how genetics and environmental factors work t ...

Mothers of children with severe heart disease are more likely to suffer from anxiety and depression than mothers of healthy children, even once any medical interventions are over. Every year some 500 children with congenital heart defects are born in Norway. Most of them survive, but how does the children’s illness affect the mental health of their mothers? ...

A brain scan with functional MRI (fMRI) is enough to predict which patients with pediatric anxiety disorder will respond to cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) or “talk therapy,” and so may not need to use psychiatric medication, say neuroscientists from Georgetown University Medical Center. The results of the study are being presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience in San Diego. ...