Study Suggests Link Between Social Pain and Physical Pain

Individuals throughout the world have felt the impact of social rejection. Whether it occurred in elementary school, high school or the work place, social rejection can wreak havoc on a person’s mental health.

Now, research is finding a link between physical pain sensitivity and social pain sensitivity, putting to shame the phrase, “Your words can never hurt me.” UCLA psychologists argue that they indeed can hurt.

Science Daily published a summary of a study completed by these psychologists. According to their findings, variation in the mu-opioid receptor gene (OPRM1), which is often associated with physical pain, is related to how much social pain a person feels in response to social rejection.

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ADHD Patients Found to Have Chemical Imbalance

New research shows the first definitive evidence that there is a chemical imbalance in the brains of those suffering from attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

The study, conducted by the US Department of Energy’s (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory in New York State, has found that ADHD sufferers have deficiencies in the way the brain deals with dopamine, an amino acid involved in regulation of movement, thought, and behavior.

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Children of a Deployed Parent at High Risk for Psychological Problems

A new study by military doctors and researchers finds that a third of military children who have a parent deployed in a war zone are at high risk for psychological problems. The study surveyed military spouses of deployed Army soldiers with children aged 5 to 12, according to CNN.com.

Results found that stress levels were high for children and spouses of deployed troops but also that support networks from military to religious helped mitigate the problems. The number of children found to be high-risk is more than 2½ times the national level and higher than historical military samples.

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Research Finds Smoking and Binge Drinking Occur Together Among Adolescents

Smoking and drinking have long been preached against within the walls of the local school’s heath class. Researchers now suggest lessons combine binge drinking and smoking into a single lesson regarding health as they tend to go hand in hand with today’s adolescents.

Science Daily published a release examining the findings from Temple researchers. This group determined rates of smoking and binge drinking through anonymous survey data from 2,450 students in public high schools in Philadelphia. The responses were compiled from the 2007 Philadelphia Youth Behavioral Risk Survey (YRBS).

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Study Identifies Link between Gene and Behavioral Problems in Disabled Adults

Adults who struggle with developmental and intellectual disabilities may often exhibit behavioral problems. As this can be an issue for loved ones or caregivers, it is important to understand the cause and identify possible treatments.

Science Daily recently published a release that examined a study of a common variation of the gene involved in regulating serotonin and norepinephrine in the brain. The findings from this study suggest a link between this gene and behavioral problems.

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Depression Screening Could Start as Early as Second Grade

In some reports, depression has been called the most “over diagnosed” disease in this country. In others, it is still considered to be a mental health issue largely undetermined in a number of individuals due to lack of symptoms or other contributing factors. Practitioners are trying to better implement depression screening, but exactly when to introduce the process can still be somewhat questionable.

Now, Science Daily has released a report examining new research that suggests screening could begin in children much earlier than previously thought. As depression is the most common mental health disorder in the United States, screening early and effectively is critical for an individual’s wellbeing.

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Scientists Suggest Current Testing to Predict Schizophrenia Inaccurate

Testing for schizophrenia and bipolar disease may be dangerously inaccurate, according to scientists. A recent Reuters report on Health News suggests that as many as 30,000 different gene variations could underlie these diseases, making the predictability of these diseases very difficult to determine.

A multinational group of researchers examined the DNA of 10,000 people with schizophrenia and 20,000 without, and found 30,000 common gene variations linked with the mental illness. This research also highlighted just how complex these diseases really are.

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Major Depression Contributes to Pain Symptoms

Pain is a complicated thing as symptoms cannot always be fully attributed to an organic origin for those suffering from depression. Dirk Frieser, psychologist at the Institute of Psychology at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, notes in a recent Science Daily report that women are more frequently affected by depression and by the so-called somatoform pain disorder.

Somatoform symptoms are those that cannot by fully explained in medical terms. Surprisingly, this is a widespread phenomenon. Frieser noted, “up to 80 percent of the symptoms reported in GP practices are somatoform. However, this does not mean that patients are simply ‘imagining’ that they have these symptoms.”

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