Behavioral Health News

Are kids getting too much homework?
School is starting back up, and families everywhere are once again embroiled in the homework wars. New research from the University of Michigan finds that Children are more likely to do their homework if they see it as an investment, not a chore, according to new research at the University of Michigan. August 30, 2010

Coping with other people's grief
The recent death of a young man living in a Pennsylvania residential facility for people with disabilities has resulted in criminal charges, an investigation, and a lot of media coverage. But what are the bigger issues this tragedy raises? August 23, 2010

Does Busy mean Happy?
Scientists have found that people who have something to do, even if it's pointless, are happier than people who sit idly. August 16, 2010

Handling Stress
Stress can take an enormous toll on mental and physical health, and few of us know how to deal with it effectively. August 9, 2010

Studies examine children and trauma in the aftermath of 9/11
Two new studies show that age played an important role in how children reacted to the terrorist attacks on New York City on September 11th, 2001. August 2, 2010

New research on bullying
New research published by the American Psychological Association found that a lack of problem solving skills and bullying are related. July 26, 2010

Dealing with family favoritism
Whether mom viewed you as the golden child or the black sheep, researchers say favoritism in families can have long-term effects on mental health. July 19, 2010

Understanding emotions that fuel fights
Many couples fight about the same issues over and over - dirty socks on the floor, being late, who was supposed to let out the dogs. New research investigates the underlying emotions that fuel these fights. July 12, 2010

Balancing ?want? and ?need? and why brand-new gadgets are so appealing
What do our desires tell us about ourselves, and our lives? July 5, 2010

Keeping long-term relationships strong
You might call it the "thirty year itch" - couples deciding to call it quits after having been married for decades. Some experts say this is a growing trend. June 28, 2010

Child?s Ordeal Shows Dangers of Antipsychotic Drugs
Powerful drugs are given to young children despite a lack of study on how they affect development. September 1, 2010

Can Preschoolers Be Depressed?
Researchers say that for some very young children, what looks like moodiness may actually be something more. August 25, 2010

Good Grief
A proposed change to psychiatry?s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders would confuse normal bereavement with major depression. August 15, 2010

The Carnegies: a Ghost Story
Generation after generation, descendants of Thomas Carnegie struggled with mental illness. One of them has now written a book about it. August 12, 2010

Behavior: Internet Use Tied to Depression in Youths
A large Chinese study suggests that otherwise healthy teenagers are much more vulnerable to depression if they spend too much time on the Internet. August 10, 2010

My Life in Therapy
What 40 years of talking to analysts has taught me. August 8, 2010

Psychiatric Patients? Advocates Sue New Jersey
Disability Rights New Jersey is seeking a court order to compel the state to provide judicial review of involuntary medication. August 4, 2010

After Spill, Broad Anxiety Among Gulf Residents, Survey Finds
Findings from the first major survey of Gulf Coast residents since the BP well was capped suggests that the spill?s effects have not been contained along with the oil itself. August 3, 2010

Evidence Grows of Problem of Clergy Burnout
Clerics, who suffer from high rates of obesity and depression, are being advised to take more time off. August 2, 2010

Brain Center at Columbia Gave Patients Impure Drugs
Columbia University doctors studying brain disorders routinely injected mental patients with drugs containing potentially dangerous impurities, investigators found. July 17, 2010

F.D.A. Panel Votes Against Obesity Drug
Food and Drug Administration advisory panel votes 10 to 6 against approval of Qnexa, new weight-loss drug developed by Vivus; final decision by FDA on drug will be issued in October; ruling is consistent with FDA track record of exercising caution when approving obesity drugs, which have history of safety problems; Onexa is noted to have some serious potential side effects like depression or suicidal thinking, increased heart rate and possible birth defects; Vivus argues that being obese carrie... July 16, 2010

N.Y. Agrees to Vast Changes in 4 Youth Prisons
A settlement will usher in the most significant expansion in years of mental health services for youths in custody. July 15, 2010

Discovering a Soft Spot for Circuitry; Robot Machines as Companions
After years of effort to coax empathy from machines, robots and devices designed to soothe, support and keep us company are venturing out of the laboratory. July 5, 2010

N.F.L. Players? Brain Damage May Not Be Root of All Behavior
Chris Henry, the wide receiver who died in December at 26, was found to have brain damage, but that may not explain his years of troubled behavior. June 30, 2010

State Must Move Mentally Ill From Group Homes Soon
New York state must hurriedly begin the process of developing and executing a plan to create at least 1,500 units of so-called supportive housing a year for the next three years. June 25, 2010

Brainy worms: Scientists uncover counterpart of cerebral cortex in marine worms
Unexpectedly, scientists have now discovered a true counterpart of the cerebral cortex in an invertebrate, a marine worm. Their findings give an idea of what the most ancient higher brain centers looked like, and what our distant ancestors used them for. September 3, 2010

Computer technique could help partially sighted 'see' better
Thousands of people who are partially sighted following stroke or brain injury could gain greater independence from a simple, cheap and accessible training course which could eventually be delivered from their mobile phones or hand-held games consoles, according to a new study. September 3, 2010

Social networks influence health behaviors
Individuals are more likely to acquire new health practices while living in networks with dense clusters of connections -- that is, when in close contact with people they already know well. September 3, 2010

Head start for migraine sufferers
Psychological migraine treatment gives sufferers a confidence boost in their ability to self-manage their symptoms. For severe migraine sufferers, psychological treatments build on the benefits of drug therapy, according to a new study. A comparison of the effects of various treatment combinations for severe migraine - drug therapy with or without behavioral management - shows that those patients receiving the behavioral management program alongside drug therapy are significantly more confident in their ability to use behavioral skills to effectively self-manage migraines. September 3, 2010

US neurologists agree on protocols for treatment of infantile spasms
Researchers from across the US, as part of the Infantile Spasms Working Group, established guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of infantile spasms. The goal of the ISWG is to improve patient outcomes by creating protocols that educate pediatricians on early diagnosis and treatment options. September 3, 2010

Link between everyday stress and obesity strenthened with study using an animal model
A new study examined the effects of stress on the meal patterns and food intake of animals exposed to the equivalent of everyday stress on humans. The results suggest that, not only does stress have an impact on us in the short term, it can cause metabolic changes in the longer term that contribute to obesity. September 2, 2010

Protecting the lungs against 'collateral damage' from the immune system
A new study shows how our bodies try to minimize potential 'collateral damage' caused by our immune system when fighting infection. The research may also provide new clues to why cigarette smoke is a significant risk factor for developing diseases of the lung such as chronic bronchitis and emphysema. September 2, 2010

Insight offered into superstitious behavior
People who believe that fate and chance control their lives are more likely to be superstitious -- but when faced with death they are likely to abandon superstition altogether, according to new research. September 2, 2010

Risk of marijuana's 'gateway effect' overblown, new research shows
New research shows that the "gateway effect" of marijuana -- that teenagers who use marijuana are more likely to move on to harder illicit drugs as young adults -- may be overblown. September 2, 2010

Shorter sleep durations linked to greater risks of mental distress in young adults
Results of a new study show a linear association between sleep durations of less than eight hours and psychological distress in young adults between 17 and 24 years of age. The risk of psychological distress increased by 14 percent for each hour of nightly sleep loss. Those sleeping less than six hours a night were twice as likely to be experiencing distress as average sleepers. Long sleep durations of more than nine hours showed no association with distress. September 2, 2010

Scientists identify protein that spurs formation of Alzheimer's plaques
In Alzheimer's disease, the problem is beta-amyloid, a protein that accumulates in the brain and causes nerve cells to weaken and die. Drugs designed to eliminate plaques made of beta-amyloid have a fatal problem: they need to enter the brain and remove the plaques without attacking healthy brain cells. New research, however, suggests that treatments modeled on the blockbuster cancer drug Gleevec could be the solution. September 2, 2010

Sensitivity to alcohol odors may indicate a genetic predisposition to alcohol dependence
Prior research had found an association between DNA sequence variations in a gene that encodes parts of the brain's gamma-amino butyric acid (GABA)-A receptors (the GABRA2 gene) and alcohol dependence. New research has found that the GABRA2 genotype can also affect the brain's reward responses to cues such as alcohol odors. September 2, 2010

Biochemical pathway may link addiction, compulsive eating
Ezlopitant, a compound known to suppress craving for alcohol in humans, was shown to decrease consumption of sweetened water by rodents in a new study. September 2, 2010

Text messages reveal the emotional timeline of September 11, 2001
The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, have been called the defining moment of our time. Thousands of people died and the attacks had huge individual and collective consequences. But less is known about the immediate emotional reactions to the attacks. For a new study, researchers analyzed text messages sent on September 11, 2001 for emotional words. They found spiking anxiety and steadily increasing anger through that fateful day. September 2, 2010

Stopping smoking cessation treatments too soon may reduce odds of success for 45 percent of smokers
A new study may change the way clinicians make treatment decisions for their patients who smoke. The findings suggest that current treatment theories that maintain any smoking after the planned target quit day predicts treatment failure need to be expanded to take into account a more dynamic quitting process. The research points to two types of successful quitters: those who quit immediately and remain abstinent through the end of treatment and those who are "delayed" in attaining abstinence but achieve success by the end of treatment. September 2, 2010