Medical doctors are more likely to die from suicide than members of any other profession in the US, suggests new research presented this week at the annual meeting of the American Psychiatric Association. And worse than that, few interventions seem to have helped make these suicides less common.
Depression is a tricky beast. Symptoms vary widely from person to person, as does the response to treatment. But there’s no question that genetic makeup plays an important role, and understanding the genetic architecture of depression could help us better understand how to treat it.
It might take just one puff of cannabis to quickly if temporarily dull depression, depending on the strain, suggests a new study published this month in the Journal of Affective Disorders. But smoking weed for too long might also make you sadder over time, the researchers found.
Reddit’s gotten plenty of deserved criticism over the years for hosting some of the most toxic communities on the internet. But a new study published this month in the Journal of Medical Internet Research suggests that at least some subreddits are helping people dealing with depression and other mental health issues…
Ketamine, a drug that’s been retooled as a “breakthrough” in depression treatment, is one step closer to becoming mainstream medicine, thanks to the results of a Phase II clinical trial published this week in the American Journal of Psychiatry. But some experts are wary of creating a new drug-abuse crisis by…
Anyone who’s taken the psychedelic drug LSD (formally known as lysergic acid diethylamide), or had the joy of listening to their favorite relative talk about it during Thanksgiving, knows it can be a utterly bonkers experience. A small new study published in the Journal of Neuroscience seems to offer some insight into…
There may not be a single depression gene, but there’s no question that our genetic makeup is an important factor in whether or not we get depressed. And our sex, it turns out, can be a factor in how those genes are expressed. In men and women diagnosed with major depressive disorder, the same genes show the opposite…
Today’s kids are better behaved than ever. They’re having less sex (and more safely when they do), committing less crime, and doing fewer drugs. But research has also started to show they might be unhappier than previous generations of youths. A new study published today in Emotion adds more support to a leading…
Depression is an equal opportunity malady. It affects people from all walks of life, be they rich or poor, young or old, or black or white. But it’s apparent there are some groups who are more vulnerable to depression than others, such as those living in poverty or who regularly face discrimination. A recent study,…
When it comes to preventing suicide, true breakthroughs are hard to come by. The overall rate of suicide in the U.S. has increased since the turn of the millennium, reaching a 30-year-high in 2016, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And although there are many drugs and therapy approaches…
Recent scientific progress has allowed us to begin decoding the significance of many different patterns of activity in the brain. Researchers have begun to understand patterns associated with disorders such as depression, in hopes of correcting it. Other research has zeroed in on how language and speech is signaled in…
How did a Massachusetts woman end up with two electrodes implanted into her brain? Why is the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency developing a controversial, cutting-edge brain chip technology that could one day treat everything from major depressive disorder to hand cramps? How did we get to deep brain…
Are you jaded? Filled with ennui? A so-called millennial who keeps being told to stop asking for handouts? Then oh boy, do I have a fun game for you—let’s figure out what kind of apathy you have!
The active ingredient in magic mushrooms, psilocybin, is remarkably effective at reducing feelings of anxiety, depression, and other forms of mental anguish in cancer patients, according to a pair of new studies.
Sunday marks the end of Daylight Savings Time. What does this mean? It means things are about to get really, really dark.
To address the burgeoning “loneliness epidemic” and the demands of an aging population, some think that we should deploy robotic caregivers. A new ad titled “B.E.N. (Biologically Engineered Nursing),” however, suggests that this is a dreadful idea.
Social media can already give others insight into your personal life and mental state (even if you don’t want them to), but according to a recent study, even something as small as your Instagram filter choices can be enlightening.
Our world is crumbling, and thanks to the “miracle” of technology, we now face infinite exposure to just how bad it is. With the 2016 election in full swing—#ImWithHer, #CrookedHillary, #DeleteYourAccount, #Sad!—I, personally, am glued to a stream of morbid news, memes and really shitty Trump tweets.
A discouraging new study concludes that most antidepressants are ineffective for children and adolescents, and may even be harmful in some cases. But the researchers caution that the low quantity and quality of clinical trials are obscuring the true effects of these drugs.
A new government reports shows that suicide rates in the U.S. have soared since 1999, with the most dramatic increases occurring among young white females and Native Americans. So why are Americans suddenly killing themselves in droves? It’s a major public health issue with no easy explanations.
