Mental Illness: Difference Between The Sexes
posted by ATS
When it comes to mental illness, the sexes are different: Women are more likely to be diagnosed with anxiety or depression, while men tend toward substance abuse or antisocial disorders, according to a new study published by the American Psychological Association.
Published online in APAs Journal of Abnormal Psychology, the study looked at the prevalence by gender of different types of common mental illnesses. The researchers also found that women with anxiety disorders are more likely to internalize emotions, which typically results in withdrawal, loneliness and depression. Men, on the other hand, are more likely to…
A new clue to the genetics of bipolar disorder: Pi…
posted by ATS
Understanding the genetics of bipolar disorder could lead to new treatments, but identifying specific genetic variations associated with this disorder has been challenging.
A new study in Biological Psychiatry implicates a brain protein called Piccolo in the risk for inheriting bipolar disorder. In the orchestra of neuronal proteins, Piccolo is a member of a protein family that includes another protein called Bassoon. Piccolo is located at the endings of nerve cells, where it contributes to the ability of nerve cells to release their chemical messengers.
Choi and colleagues conducted a creative study to implicate the gene coding for…
Possible Therapeutic Target For Depression And Add…
posted by ATS
Researchers studying mice are getting closer to understanding how stress affects mood and motivation for drugs.
According to the researchers, blocking the stress cascade in brain cells may help reduce the effects of stress, which can include anxiety, depression and the pursuit of addictive drugs.
A research team from St. Louis and Seattle reports in the Aug. 11 issue of the journal Neuron that in mice exposed to stress, a protein called p38? mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) influences the animals behavior, contributing to depression-like symptoms and risk for addiction.
The first author is Michael R. Bruchas, PhD, assistant…
NIDA InfoFacts: Comorbidity: Addiction and Other M…
posted by ATS
What Is Comorbidity?
Comorbidity is a term used to describe two or more disorders or illnesses occurring in the same person. They can occur at the same time or one after the other. Comorbidity also implies interactions between the illnesses that can worsen the course of both.
Is Drug Addiction a Mental Illness?
Yes, addiction changes the brain in fundamental ways, disturbing a persons normal hierarchy of needs and desires and substituting new priorities connected with procuring and using the drug. The resulting compulsive behaviors that weaken the ability to control impulses, despite the consequences, are similar to…
Self-medication of Anxiety: Some Statistics
posted by ATS
Self-medication of anxiety symptoms with alcohol, other drugs or both has been a plausible mechanism for the co-occurrence of anxiety disorders and substance use disorders, the authors write as background information to a report in the August issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
Given the significant consequences of mental illness comorbidity [coexistence with another illness] and its high prevalence in the general population, clarifying the underlying mechanisms through which comorbidity develops will have considerable implications for prevention and treatment.Jennifer…
Mood and Experience: Life Comes at You
posted by ATS
Living through weddings or divorces, job losses and childrens triumphs, we sometimes feel better and sometimes feel worse. But, psychologists observe, we tend to drift back to a set point a stable resting point, or baseline, in the minds level of contentment or unease.
Research has shown that the set points for depression and anxiety are particularly stable over time. Why?
The overwhelming view within psychiatry and psychology is that is due to genetic factors, says Virginia Commonwealth University psychiatrist Kenneth S. Kendler. Yet we know that extreme environmental adversities,…
Global Depression St…
posted by ATS
Depression affects 121 million people worldwide. In can affect a persons ability to work, form relationships, and destroy their quality of life. At its most severe depression can lead to suicide and is responsible for 850,000 deaths every year. New research published in BioMed…
Yogas Ability to Improve Mood and Lessen An…
posted by ATS
Yoga has a greater positive effect on a persons mood and anxiety level than walking and other forms of exercise, which may be due to higher levels of the brain chemical GABA according to an article in The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, a peer-reviewed journal published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. The article is available free online.
Yoga has been shown to increase the level of gamma-aminobutyric acid, or GABA, a chemical in the brain that helps to regulate nerve activity. GABA activity is reduced in people with mood and anxiety disorders, and drugs that increase GABA activity are commonly prescribed to improve mood…
Comorbidity: What is it?
posted by ATS
Comorbidity is a topic that our stakeholderspatients, family members, health care professionals, and othersfrequently ask about. It is also a topic about which we have insufficient information, and so it remains a research priority for NIDA. This Research Report provides information on the state of the science in this area. And although a variety of diseases commonly co-occur with drug abuse and addiction (e.g. HIV, hepatitis C, cancer, cardiovascular disease), this report focuses only on the comorbidity of drug use disorders and other mental illnesses.*
To help explain this comorbidity, we need to first recognize that drug…
Study reveals new ta…
posted by ATS
Study reveals new target for antidepressants
By Kate Kelland
LONDON (Reuters) British scientists using human stem cells say they have found out how antidepressants make new brain cells a finding that should help drug researchers develop better and more efficient…