Mental Health
Failed College Dreams Don’t Spell Depression
A wise person once said, “It is better to shoot for the stars and miss than aim at the gutter and hit it.” That’s right on, says Florida State University Sociology Professor John R. Reynolds, who just completed a study to determine whether unrealized educational expectations are associated with depression among adults. Reynolds also is the director of the Pepper Institute on Aging and Public Policy at Florida State.
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Antidepressants Help Patients with Physical Illness
Antidepressants are effective against depression in patients suffering from physical illnesses, according to a new systematic review by Cochrane researchers at King’s Health Partners Academic Health Sciences Centre in the UK. The researchers found the drugs were more effective than placebos at treating depression in these patients. One of the most neglected areas of healthcare research is the effects of physical illness on an individual’s mental health.
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Short Online Questionnaire a Valid Tool for Screening Psychiatric Illnesses
A one-page, 27-item questionnaire that is available free online is a valid and effective tool to help primary care doctors screen patients for four common psychiatric illnesses, a study led by University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill researchers concludes. Results of the My Mood Monitor (M-3) checklist study are published in the March/April 2010 issue of Annals of Family Medicine.
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Meaningful Conversations Linked to Happiness
A new study examining how conversation connects to happiness found that substantial, meaningful conversations (as opposed to small talk) may make people happier. The researchers, led by Matthias Mehl at the University of Arizona, looked at the different types of conversation that happy and unhappy people participate in. The study, published in the journal Psychological Science, involved 79 undergraduates.
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Video Games that Include Exercise May Help Older Adults with Depression
Research at the Sam and Rose Stein Institute for Research on Aging at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine suggests a novel route to improving the symptoms of subsyndromal depression (SSD) in seniors through the regular use of “exergames,” or entertaining video games that combine game play with exercise.
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Childhood Stress Contributes to Depression
New research using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) shows that childhood stress such as abuse or emotional neglect, in particular when combined with genetic factors, can result in structural brain changes, rendering these people more vulnerable to developing depression. The study led by scientists at Trinity College Dublin has just been published in the international scientific journal Neuropsychopharmacology.
Husbands’ Anti-Social Behaviors Increase Wives’ Symptoms of Depression
In the United States, nearly 10 percent of the population suffers from a depressive disorder, according to the National Institute of Mental Health. While the causes of depression vary, a new study at the University of Missouri reveals that marital hostility is a contributing factor. MU researcher, Christine Proulx, found that husbands’ hostile and anti-social behaviors increased their wives’ symptoms of depression over time.
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Happy Emotions Protect Against Heart Failure
People who are usually happy, enthusiastic and content are less likely to develop heart disease than those who tend not to be happy, according to a major new study published February 17. The authors believe that the study, published in the Europe’s leading cardiology journal, The European Heart Journal, is the first to show such an independent relationship between positive emotions and coronary heart disease.
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Depression and Cognitive Problems Not Necessarily Associated
Many clinicians believe that depression goes hand in hand with cognitive difficulties such as memory problems or difficulties concentrating and paying attention, but a recent review of nearly 20 years of literature conducted by researchers from UT Southwestern Medical Center has found that depression does not always lead to such impairments.
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Researcher Develops Technique for Quick Diagnosis of Mental Conditions
Is it really as easy to detect depression and other mental conditions as it is to detect a heart problem? It may be as a diagnostic technique invented by a Monash University researcher could make diagnosis and treatment a much more simple and rapid task.
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