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A new and innovative computer based treatment program may be effective at decreasing the symptoms and negative thought bias associated with Major Depressive Disorder or MDD. Researchers at the Hunan Normal University determined that using the program could help reduce the depression and associated symptoms in patients who were diagnosed with MDD, especially adolescents. In the USA alone it is estimated that more than 10% of adolescents will have MDD, and this group is approximately 5 times as likely to attempt suicide as their peers who do not suffer from this type of mental illness. The researchers determined that attention bias modification or ABM can help individuals with MDD shift their thoughts and word associations from negative to neutral and then to positive.
ABM is a computer based treatment program which could help when Major Depressive Disorder is an issue. During the study the participants were divided into treatment and control groups. The control group received placebo training sessions while the other group actually received the ABM treatment program. There were 45 adolescents diagnosed with MDD who took part in the study and these teens were chosen from a school population. The placebo group also performed the same types of tasks as the treatment group but the teens in the placebo group had their attention directed to neutral and sad words equally rather than positive associations. The study data and results were published in JAACAP, the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. Further studies will be needed before the data can be verified but this study shows great promise in treatment for MDD.
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A new study by Brown University researchers may have identified a link between mindfulness and glucose levels. Mindfulness refers to being aware of the thoughts and emotions that are presently being experienced, and people who have healthier glucose levels tend to be more mindful than those whose glucose levels are not as healthy. The research shows that improving the level of mindfulness and being able to live in the now and this specific moment can be beneficial and lead to better physical and mental health in the long run. The study researchers do caution that the data does not prove cause and effect though, but it does suggest that a higher level of mindfulness could lead to an improvement in cardiovascular health. A connection between healthier blood glucose levels and a higher level of mindfulness was seen by the researchers but there could be many other factors at play as well.
Brown University School of Public Health assistant professor of epidemiology and lead study researcher and author Dr. Eric Loucks explained the study on mindfulness and glucose levels and the results seen from this study. Loucks and the other researchers explained “This study demonstrated a significant association of dispositional mindfulness with glucose regulation, and provided novel evidence that obesity and sense of control may serve as potential mediators of this association. As mindfulness is likely a modifiable trait, this study provides preliminary evidence for a fairly novel and modifiable potential determinant of diabetes risk. There’s been almost no epidemiological observational study investigations on the relationship of mindfulness with diabetes or any cardiovascular risk factor. This is one of the first. We’re getting a signal. I’d love to see it replicated in larger sample sizes and prospective studies as well.”
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In the past research has shown that the stress reaction in pregnant women can be passed to the fetus along the placenta, and this reaction can have a negative impact on the unborn child after they are born. Some of the symptoms associated with prenatal stress after birth include a low birth weight, a higher susceptibility to illness, and brain development that is poor compared to babies who were not exposed to prenatal stress. A new study shows that these problems can be overcome with sensitive infant care and good parenting. The researchers determined that after birth parenting that is loving and attentive can overcome the prenatal stress exposure and reduce the negative genetic impacts that the prenatal depression in the mother can cause.
Dr. Elisabeth Conradt, an assistant professor at the Department of Psychology at the University of Utah, was one of the researchers who studied sensitive infant care and prenatal depression, discussed the study and stated “We were curious about whether maternal behavior could buffer the child against the effects of maternal depression, and if this buffering could be observed at the level of the infant’s epigenome. Many mothers struggle with depression but interact quite sensitively with their infants. In these instances, the mother may be turning on certain genes that we think allow infants to manage stress in adaptive ways. We are excited about the possibility that this research may lead to specific ways one can effectively intervene with pregnant women at risk for postpartum depression.” Further research may be needed to evaluate the true effectiveness of sensitive infant care and how this care minimizes the prenatal stress exposure in infants.
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A new study from the University of California Davis Health System that involved imaging showed that intense exercise could help fight depression and promote overall better mental health. What researchers found was that two of the critical neurotransmitters that are associated with depression, gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and glutamate, are boosted by intense exercise and that this can help fight depression. These neurotransmitters are important for good mental health and individuals with depression are usually deficient in these compounds in the brain. The study has been published in the scientific publication The Journal of Neuroscience. Researchers believe that intense exercise could be an important component of treatment for those who suffer from depression or other psychiatric disorders that have been associated with neurotransmitter deficiencies in the brain.
The study in intense exercise and depression showed that a deficiency in neurotransmitters which drive communications between different brain cells will have an impact on mental, physical, and emotional health. According to Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of California Davis Health System professor and lead study author Dr. Richard Maddock “Major depressive disorder is often characterized by depleted glutamate and GABA, which return to normal when mental health is restored. Our study shows that exercise activates the metabolic pathway that replenishes these neurotransmitters.” Maddock went on to say “From a metabolic standpoint, vigorous exercise is the most demanding activity the brain encounters, much more intense than calculus or chess, but nobody knows what happens with all that energy. Apparently, one of the things it’s doing is making more neurotransmitters.”
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When it comes to adolescent treatment for psychotic like symptoms many parents may not know where to turn or which approach to take. A cooperative study by researchers from the University of Helsinki, the Helsinki University Hospital Department of Psychiatry, and the National Institute for Health and Welfare in Finland has found that the best approach for these adolescents is home treatment that is network centered instead of hospital based treatment. The researchers determined that this treatment method offered a similar reduction in the psychotic like symptoms experienced to what was seen in hospital based treatment. In addition the teens who were treated at home and school instead of in a hospital had fewer hopeless and depressed feelings and they were better able to function.
HUH Department of Psychiatry researcher Docent Niklas Granö, Ph.D., explained the findings on adolescent treatment for psychotic like symptoms. Dr. Granö stated “The improved ability to function observed in the network-centered early intervention group is crucial, since this is usually a major challenge for people with psychotic-like symptoms. A poor ability to function makes it difficult to cope with everyday tasks and keep up with one’s peers. This is particularly true of those with psychotic-like symptoms or full-blown psychosis.” Granö went on to say “When young people receive real support with things that weigh on them and cause them stress, their mood lightens, their ability to function improves, feelings of hopelessness wane, and their recovery speeds up. The advantage of the early intervention method tested in this study is that its implementation does not require new resources, only reforms to old practices.”
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A recent scientific review explored available evidence to evaluate whether common bipolar medications can help to restore normal brain function, and this review was made possible thanks to the last two decades of MRI acquisition and analysis advancements. These advancements make it possible for researchers to identify the neuroanatomical abnormalities which can be found in a number of mental disorders. The researchers who performed the review evaluated the effect of the most common bipolar medications on the brain of individuals with bipolar disorder. These medications included antidepressants, lithium, anti psychotics, and mood stabilizers. People who have bipolar disorder are typically treated with drugs that help stabilize mood. During episodes of mania or depression the individual is usually given antidepressant or anti psychotic drugs as well, depending on whether the patient is displaying depression or mania.
Past studies and MRI analysis efforts have shown that patients who need bipolar medications because they have this disorder also tend to have deficits in the volume of gray matter in the brain. This is especially true in brain areas that are associated with mood regulation Previous research has also shown that this specific mental disorder also has associations with white matter disorganization in certain areas. The latest analysis showed that bipolar medications did seem to restore more normal brain function and brain anatomy. Some of the evidence evaluated showed that lithium and other mood stabilizers are associated with an increase in the volume of gray matter. This latest review is very promising and it means that bipolar medications may not only treat the symptoms of this disorder but also work at treating the cause as well.
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A majority of children who have symptoms of ADHD tend to see their symptoms slowly lessen as they get older but this is not always the case, and when these symptoms persist as the child grows older one cause may be parental criticism according to the latest research study. Lead study author and Florida International University assistant professor of psychology Erica Musser, Ph.D. said “Why ADHD symptoms decline in some children as they reach adolescence and not for others is an important phenomenon to be better understood. The finding here is that children with ADHD whose parents regularly expressed high levels of criticism over time were less likely to experience this decline in symptoms.” The results of the study were published in the Journal of Abnormal Psychology.
The recent study on parental criticism and persistent symptoms of ADHD shows that there is a link but this does not mean that causation is shown by the study results. According to Dr. Musser “The novel finding here is that children with ADHD whose families continued to express high levels of criticism over time failed to experience the usual decline in symptoms with age and instead maintained persistent, high levels of ADHD symptoms. “We cannot say, from our data, that criticism is the cause of the sustained symptoms. Interventions to reduce parental criticism could lead to a reduction in ADHD symptoms, but other efforts to improve the severe symptoms of children with ADHD could also lead to a reduction in parental criticism, creating greater well-being in the family over time.”
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A new study by researchers at the University of Toronto shows that individuals who have schizophrenia also have a much higher risk of suicide, and that is not all that the study showed. Schizophrenic individuals who were victims of childhood physical abuse were 5 times more likely to attempt suicide as those who were not. For the population without schizophrenia the suicide rate is 2.8%, with schizophrenia the rate of suicide is a staggering 39.2% according to the results of this newest study. Lead study author Dr. Esme Fuller-Thomson reported “Even after taking into account most of the known risk factors for suicide attempts, those with schizophrenia had six times the odds of having attempted suicide in comparison to those without schizophrenia. Clearly those with schizophrenia are an extremely vulnerable population. Knowledge of the added risk of suicide attempts associated with childhood abuse and substance abuse could help clinicians improve targeting and outreach to this population.”
The researchers who explored the link between schizophrenia, physical childhood abuse, and an increase in suicide risks used a representative sample of more than 21,000 Canadians who responded to the 2012 Canadian Community Health Survey-Mental Health. 101 respondents reported having schizophrenia. Study co-author Bailey Hollister explained “When we focused only on the 101 individuals with schizophrenia, we found that women and those with a history of drug or alcohol abuse and/or major depressive disorder were much more likely to have attempted suicide.” The study researchers also found that traumatic experiences during childhood tended to strongly influence suicidal ideation in individuals.
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ADHD medications are often in the news because someone overdosed on these drugs, either accidentally or on purpose. ADHD drugs are commonly abused, especially by students and those who want to stay awake for longer periods of time. Some researchers are now saying that some of the benefits provided by ADHD medications may be overlooked, and one of these benefits could be a reduction in the number of suicides and attempts at suicide. The latest research on these drugs and their use can be found in The Lancet Psychiatry journal. The black box warnings found on ADHD medications can be confusing, and University of Montreal and CIUSSS de l’Est-de-l’Île-de-Montréal researchers teamed up to identify the risks and consequences including the suicide risk that may be associated with these drugs.
One of the authors of the study on ADHD medications and suicide risk was Dr. Alain Lesage, who stated “Health Canada has issued a series of black-box warnings about the suicidal potential of ADHD medications. However, these warnings have failed to take into account epidemiological studies showing the opposite, that increased use of this medication has been associated with reduced suicide risk in adolescents.” Study co-author and scientific researcher Dr. Edouard Kouassi wrote that “Clearly, the increased use of ADHD drugs indicates that they might actually reduce rather than augment the risk of suicide.” The study authors also concluded that “Randomized controlled trials have shown ADHD medication to alleviate the usual symptoms of hyperactivity and attention deficit. It has also been associated with improvements in school performance, better self-esteem, and reductions in conduct disorders, drug abuse, and pregnancies in girls. In fact, these disorders or precarious social situations are especially associated with increased risk of suicide, not the actual taking of these drugs, which, on the contrary, may prevent suicide.”
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Researchers have found that teen gambling is associated with other risky behaviors that include substance abuse like tobacco, alcohol, and marijuana. Gambling covers everything from scratch off lottery tickets to video poker games to table games and slot machines inside casinos. The research results were published in the Journal of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics. The study involved over 1,300 children in grades 6 through 8 in Italian schools, and all of the participants were in an underage substance abuse prevention program. The students answered questions about personal gambling experiences and types, and also questions about their experiences with substance abuse. University of Padova, Italy, researcher Dr. Alessandra Buja explained that the close link between substance abuse and gambling “provides further evidence of the need for a greater awareness of gambling behavior in early adolescence.”
According to Dr. Buja and the co-authors of the study paper “Today’s youth are the first generation for whom gambling opportunities are as close as the neighborhood corner store and as easily accessible as the Internet. Our data show that a history of gambling is associated with risk-taking behavior relating to the use of other substances in very young adolescents. Impulsiveness may be an important common denominator linking gambling with substance abuse in adolescence. It is important for healthcare professionals, teachers, and parents to recognize this problem and take it seriously.” Children and teens who gamble are also more likely to engage in substance abuse, but the connection could be linked to the level of impulse control in the individual and that has not been determined yet.
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Methamphetamine use during pregnancy is a very big problem in North America and it can have a profound impact on the child while still in the womb. Researchers have determined that nearly 25% of women who sought treatment for substance abuse at a federal facility while pregnant needed help for methamphetamine use. Using this drug during pregnancy can cause many problems for the children exposed in the uterus, and they can develop emotional and behavioral problems that can be very severe at times. Research does show that a supportive environment in the home can be beneficial for children who had this exposure though, and this step could improve the outcome considerably. The newest research will be published in The Journal of Pediatrics at a future date, and it concluded that behavioral problems caused by exposure to methamphetamine use during pregnancy could be managed better or even minimized when the home environment was supportive.
Methamphetamine use during pregnancy can lead to children who develop severe issues, and these behavioral issues can become a vicious cycle if not treated early on. Providing a supportive environment in the home can help avoid a negative outcome and provide the support that these children need to develop control over their behaviors and emotions. Researcher Lynne M. Smith, M.D. and the leading study author noted that “In the first study of its kind, we followed children, who experienced prenatal methamphetamine exposure, up to the age of 7.5 years and found that adversities, such as poverty and continued drug abuse by a parent, contributed to behavioral and emotional control issues. While additional study is needed, these findings indicate that providing a supportive home life for children with prenatal methamphetamine exposure would reduce their behavioral and emotional control issues.”
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The latest research on mental health disorders and a full recovery offers some hope for anyone who struggles with mental illness. The researchers concluded that 4 out of 10 Canadians who were previously depressed and suicidal have done a complete turn around and have reached a full recovery. These individuals no longer have any suicidal thoughts, any substance abuse has been stopped, and they experience no signs of mental illness. These patients also reported having a high level of daily satisfaction with their current lives. University of Toronto Ph. D student and lead study author Philip Baiden explained “We found that among formerly suicidal individuals, those who have someone they could confide in were seven times more likely to have complete mental health, after adjusting for potential confounders.”
Studies have shown that support can lessen mental health disorders, and a strong support system is a must for a full recovery from mental illness when this goal is possible. Researcher and study co-author Dr. Esme Fuller-Thomson stated “Our findings provide a hopeful message for those in the depths of despair and their loved ones,. Long-term recovery goals should be not limited to mere remission from suicidal thoughts. A large minority of suicidal individuals can achieve a high level of happiness and complete mental health.” In order to perform the study a representative sample of data from the 2012 Canadian Community Health Survey-Mental Health from Statistics Canada was examined. Patients who also struggled with chronic pain, insomnia, and substance abuse did not fare as well in achieving a full recovery.
