Physical Activity Can Reduce The Genetic Predisposition To Obesity By 40 Percent
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Insomnia and other sleep disorders are very common, yet are not generally well understood by doctors and other health care professionals. Now the British Association for Psychopharmacology (BAP) has released up-to-the-minute guidelines in the Journal of Psychopharmacology, published by SAGE, to guide psychiatrists and physicians caring for those with sleep problems.
Depression is actually defined by specific clinical symptoms such as sadness, difficulty to experience pleasure, and sleep problems that are present for at least two weeks with impairment of psychosocial functioning. These symptoms guide the physician to make a diagnosis and to select antidepressant treatment such as drugs or psychotherapy.
Adults with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) who received medication and individual sessions of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) showed greater improvement in symptoms through 12 months compared to patients who did not receive CBT, according to a study in the August 25 issue of JAMA.
Cravings are the triggers that often lead to relapse in a host of addictions, which carry a staggering economic and social cost. Cigarette smoking alone is responsible for over 400,000 deaths per year in the U.S. (more than all illicit drugs and alcohol combined). Standard therapeutic techniques decrease cravings of cigarette smokers by regulating activity in two separate but related areas of the brain, a new study led by a Yale University researcher shows.
A new survey of child psychiatrists indicates that insomnia is a major problem among children in mental health treatment and at least a quarter of these patients are given sleep medication. The results of the survey, conducted by Judith Owens, MD, a sleep expert with Hasbro Children’s Hospital, and colleagues, suggests that management of insomnia in this population is a common practice, although the clinical approach varies widely. The study is published in the August 2010 edition of Sleep Medicine.
Results of a study of antidepressant treatment for major depression suggest that changes in personality traits seen in patients taking the drug paroxetine (Paxil) may not be the result of the medication’s lifting of mood but may instead be a direct effect of this class of drugs and part of the mechanism by which they relieve depression. The results are published in Archives of General Psychiatry.
There is a great deal of interest in factors that contribute to the vulnerability to developing post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD. One factor that appears to contribute to the heritable vulnerability to PTSD is a variation in the gene that codes for the serotonin transporter, also known as the serotonin uptake site. Having a shorter version of the serotonin transporter gene appears to increase one’s risk for depression and PTSD after exposure to extremely stressful situations.
While studies have shown that cognitive therapy is an effective treatment for depression, it has still not been clear the role therapists’ training and expertise plays in making treatment successful. A new study finds that depressed patients show more symptom improvement when their therapists more competently follow the guidelines for delivering cognitive therapy. The research appears in a recent issue of the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology.
A nose job to treat a mental health problem? Teeth whitening to overcome a severe anxiety disorder? These are just two procedures that people with body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) have traditionally turned to in order to deal with body-related concerns. The excessive use of (and dissatisfaction with) cosmetic treatments, along with obsessive rituals and social [...]
Brief therapy in a primary care setting can effectively treat anxiety and depression. Researchers writing in the open access journal BMC Medicine found that cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) was effective for treating anxiety disorders, while CBT, problem solving therapy (PST), and counseling were all equally effective in treating depression and mixed anxiety and depression. Check [...]
Disease is a private matter to many of us. For many reasons, we want to keep it to ourselves, and no cluster of disorders challenges patients’ need for privacy more than inflammatory bowel disease. Teenagers with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), including Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, often have serious trouble coping with the disorders. But [...]
An early response to second-course treatment is associated with greater likelihood of remission among teens with hard-to-treat depression, according to recent data from an NIMH-funded study published online ahead of print May 17, 2010, in the American Journal of Psychiatry. “These results suggest that early treatment decisions are probably the most crucial to the recovery [...]
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