Women At Risk Of Post Natal Depression May Be Identified By Blood Test
Researchers at Warwick Medical School have discovered a way of identifying which women are most at risk of postnatal depression (PND) by checking for specific genetic variants. The findings could lead to the development of a simple, accurate blood test which checks for the likelihood of developing the condition...

Off-Label Use Of Antipsychotic Medications
Reducing the non-FDA-approved use of antipsychotic drugs may be a way to save money while having little effect on patient care, according to a Penn State College of Medicine study. Researchers say that 57.6 percent of patients prescribed antipsychotic medications in data from 2003 did not have schizophrenia or bipolar disorder, the conditions for which the drugs were approved for use...

Study Suggests Nature Walks Improve Cognitive Abilities For People With Clinical Depression
A walk in the park may have psychological benefits for people suffering from depression. In one of the first studies to examine the effect of nature walks on cognition and mood in people with major depression, researchers in Canada and the U.S. have found promising evidence that a walk in the park may provide some cognitive benefits...

10-Year Roadmap To Prevent, Fight Depression
Major depressive episodes can be prevented, and to help ensure that they are, the health care system should provide routine access to depression-prevention interventions, just as patients receive standard vaccines, according to a new article co-authored by UCSF researcher Ricardo F. Munoz, PhD...

Post-Traumatic Stress After ICU
Women are more likely to suffer post-traumatic stress than men after leaving an intensive care unit (ICU), finds a new study published in BioMed Central's open access journal Critical Care. However, psychological and physical 'follow-up' can reduce both this and post-ICU depression...

Quality Of Life And Symptoms Rapidly And Significantly Improved By Non-Drug Depression Treatment
New data released at the annual meeting of the American Psychiatric Association show that patients with unipolar, non-psychotic Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) receiving transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) with NeuroStar TMS Therapy® achieved significant improvements in both depression symptoms and in quality of life measurements...

Depression - How Effective Is Collaborative Care Intervention?
A study published in the May issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, reveals that individuals with depression and poorly controlled diabetes mellitus, coronary heart disease, or both, can benefit from a collaborative care intervention...

Antidepressive Treatment For Schizophrenia Leads To Reduction In Suicides
Antidepressive drugs reduce the mortality rate of schizophrenic patients, while treatment with bensodiazepines greatly increases it, especially as regards suicide. Giving several antipsychotics simultaneously, however, seems to have no effect at all. This according to a new study examining different drug combinations administered to patients with schizophrenia...

Late-Life Depression May Signal Alzheimer's Disease; Lifelong Depression May Increase Risk Of Vascular Dementia
Depressive symptoms that occur in both midlife and late life are associated with an increased risk of developing vascular dementia, while symptoms that occur in late life only are more likely to be early signs of Alzheimer's disease, according to University of California at San Francisco and Kaiser Permanente researchers...

Depressed Patients Should Be Regularly Assessed For Suicide Risk
After receiving a small number of complaints that criticized GPs for failing to appreciate that a patient represented a suicide risk, GPs are being advised to ensure they regularly assess patients with depression for risk of suicide...

Middle Aged And Elderly With Depression Have Higher Risk Of Dementia
A report in the May issue of Archives of General Psychiatry draws a link between people in mid-life and late-life, suffering from depression and the possibility of them developing dementia. More than five million people in the US alone suffer from Alzheimer's disease, and the health care costs run at a staggering $172 Billion. Deborah E. Barnes, Ph.D., M.P.H...

The Brain May Avoid 'Traffic Jams' Via Multiple Thought Channels
Brain networks may avoid traffic jams at their busiest intersections by communicating on different frequencies, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, the University Medical Center at Hamburg-Eppendorf and the University of Tubingen have learned...

How A Persons "Ranks" Their Suffering May Stop Them Seeking Help For Depression And Anxiety
People's judgements about whether they are depressed depend on how they believe their own suffering "ranks" in relation to the suffering of friends and family and the wider world, according to a new study...

Finding That Emotion Is Reversed In Left-Handers' Brains Could Lead To New Treatment For Anxiety, Depression
The way we use our hands may determine how emotions are organized in our brains, according to a recent study published in PLoS ONE by psychologists Geoffrey Brookshire and Daniel Casasanto of The New School for Social Research in New York. Motivation, the drive to approach or withdraw from physical and social stimuli, is a basic building block of human emotion...

Compliance By African-Americans To HIV Therapy Problematic, Untreated Depression Makes It Worse
African-Americans with HIV are much less likely to adhere to drug therapy than others with the disease, according to a University of Michigan study. Moreover, untreated depression may greatly hinder adherence to antiretroviral therapy (ART) for all low-income, HIV-infected patients, regardless of race...