Depression

A cross-sectional study of 1,994 individuals in a deprived area of Japan found that perceived discrimination was significantly associated with depressive symptoms and a...

Researchers distinguish between two different forms of perspective taking and examine their impact on helpers’ wellbeing.

A new study investigated whether participants guessing if they have an antidepressant or placebo affects response rates.

After a meta-analysis of RCTs of antidepressants was published in Lancet, psychiatry stated that it proved that "antidepressants" work. However, effectiveness studies of real-world patients reveal the opposite: the medications increase the likelihood that patients will become chronically depressed, and disabled by the disorder.

-Buzzfeed looks at the history -- and present -- of how antipsychotic drugs became a common treatment for depression, despite their apparent lack of effectiveness.

Major study finds that economic deprivation and a lack of social capital are driving increasing rates of suicide in the U.S.

The authors of Study 329 began recruiting adolescents for a comparative study of Paxil, imipramine and placebo in 1994 and finished their investigations in 1997. They dropped a large number of their original cohort, so the randomness element in the study must be open to question. Late in 1998, SmithKline Beecham, the marketers of Paxil, acknowledged in an internal document that the study had shown that Paxil didn’t work for adolescents in terms of the two primary and six secondary outcomes they had established at the start of the study. In a nutshell, Study 329 was negative for efficacy and positive for harm, contrary to their succinct upbeat conclusion.

In this piece for Aeon, David A. Sbarra discusses the philosophy and science behind cognitive behavioral therapy and explains why it is so effective. "Importantly, emotions...

In this piece for The Guardian, Dean Burnett critiques Johann Hari's new book challenging what we know about depression. According to Burnett, many of the points...

A controversial 2010 paper, "Antidepressant Medication Prevents Suicide in Depression", has been retracted by Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica. In a contemporaneous issue of British Journal of...

From The Guardian: In 2013, general practitioner Helen Kingston launched the Compassionate Frome Project, which provides the town's patients with social services and community support...

From the International Business Times: While people are living longer, healthier lives in more affluent circumstances than ever before, the rate of depression is skyrocketing. Potential...

From Quartz: Therapists may play a less significant role in mental health treatment than previously thought. A recent study found no significant difference in treatment outcomes...

Recent meta-analyses of antidepressant clinical trials have revealed that up to 82% of the effects associated with the drugs may be attributed to placebo and non-medication factors. A new study examined the attitudes of psychiatrists toward these non-pharmacologic factors and found a large discrepancy between their beliefs and the empirical evidence.

“Meditating before running could change the brain in ways that are more beneficial for mental health than practicing either of those activities alone,” Gretchen...

Scholars contend that stigma functions as a mechanism of power in analysis of UK Heads Together mental health campaign.

A fist of its kind neuroscience study, published this month in Cerebral Cortex, found changes in the brain electrical activity of infants exposed to SSRI antidepressants during pregnancy.

Men who report being self-reliant may be at greater risk of suicidal thinking.

In this piece for Psych Central, Dr. Viatcheslav Wlassoff discusses some of the safety issues and adverse effects of antidepressants. "When it comes to side effects, anticholinergic...

A massive number of meta-analyses of antidepressant clinical trials have financial conflicts of interest and are unduly influenced by pharmaceutical companies, according to a review to be published in an upcoming issue of the Journal of Clinical Epidemiology. Researchers also found that meta-analyses with industry ties almost never report any negative findings in their abstracts.

From The Hill: Research shows that LGBT individuals experience higher rates of physical and mental health problems than heterosexual people. Legislative policies that protect the rights of...

New research on a brief self-compassion focused course aimed at the college students.

Researchers outline the concept of ecologically driven grief due to climate change and recommend future research to better understand the psychological impact of climate change.

A Molecular Psychiatry study found that people who had recurrent depression developed smaller hippocampi and antidepressants protected against that effect -- except insofar as the study evidence seemed to show the opposite of what the media reported on it.

From The Atlantic: The pattern of constant smartphone and social media use among post-Millennials may be leading to a public mental health crisis. Research shows that...