News by Subject Social & Behavior

Brain imaging may one day be used to help diagnose mental health disorders--including depression and anxiety--with greater accuracy, according to a new study conducted in a large sample of youth at the University of Pennsylvania and led by Antonia Kaczkurkin, PhD and Theodore Satterthwaite, MD.

A new study finds that an interactive voice application using artificial intelligence is as accurate at tracking the wellbeing of patients being treated for serious mental illness as their own physicians.

In a UCLA-led study, children and adolescents with a high risk for developing bipolar disorder stayed healthier for longer periods when their family members participated in their psychotherapy sessions.

Autistic mothers are more likely to report post-natal depression compared to non-autistic mothers, according to a new study of mothers of autistic children carried out by researchers at the University of Cambridge. A better understanding of the experiences of autistic mothers during pregnancy and the post-natal period is critical to improving wellbeing.

A wearable lithium drug monitor developed by the University of Surrey could change the lives of patients who suffer from bipolar and depression.

Foods such as honey, licorice, oregano, and hot sauce have an antimicrobial effect and some of them trigger phage production in our gut. We could use compounds in these foods to control harmful microbes and balance microbial diversity in the gut microbiome.

Experts in the Japanese phenomena of hikikomori say the condition of extreme social isolation is more widespread than previously acknowledged, and it deserves a clear and consistent definition to improve treatment across the globe. A simplified and clear definition will improve the recognition and subsequent treatment for people who suffer from the condition, the authors write in a new article published in the journal World Psychiatry.

What drives a person to smoke cigarettes? What role do emotions play in this addictive behavior? Why do some smokers puff more often and more deeply or relapse many years after they've quit? If policy makers had those answers, how could they strengthen the fight against the global smoking epidemic? A new report by researchers based at Harvard University offers a key insight: sadness plays an especially strong role in triggering addictive behavior relative to other negative emotions like disgust.