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Psychiatry
Prolonged Grief Disorder: One year of mourning is enough rules APA’s new diagnostic manual
The latest edition of the American Psychiatric Association’s definitive diagnostic manual, DSM-5, published this week, lists a controversial new condition: Prolonged Grief Disorder (PGD),...
Ketamine for the treatment of mental health and substance use disorders – Meta-analysis
An Anglo-Canadian study found “strong evidence” that iketamine provides rapid and robust anti-depressant and anti-suicidal effects, but the effects were relatively short-lived. “However, repeated...
Psychiatric comorbidity doubles risk of premature mortality and suicide among those with chronic diseases
Among patients with chronic, non-communicable diseases, the risk of death is more than doubled if they also have a psychiatric comorbidity, according to a...
Continued increase in depressive symptoms over course of pandemic – representative US study
Almost a third (32.8%) of US adults experienced elevated depressive symptoms in 2021, compared to 27.8% at the start of the pandemic in 2020,...
Acceleration of biological ageing by stress can by modulated by developing psychological resilience
Measuring biological age by tracking DNA changes through an epigenetic clock, a Yale study stress does indeed make life’s clock tick faster, but people...
Largest study finds psychedelic ‘highly efficacious’ in serious depression — COMPASS 2b trial
The psychedelic drug psilocybin, the compound found in magic mushrooms, is highly efficacious as therapy for treatment resistant depression, found the largest yet randomised,...
Magnetic seizure therapy an option to electroconvulsive therapy in treatment-resistant depression
Magnetic seizure therapy (MST) may be a viable option to electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) in the treatment of depression, found a novel US study in...
SA warnings of possible post-pandemic mental health crisis echo global study
Medical scheme warnings in South Africa of a surging mental health problems in the wake of COVID-19 echo warnings in a study in The...
New research propels psychedelics into the mainstream
Psychiatry is on the brink of taking psychedelic drugs mainstream, writes The New York Times. Researchers and corporates stand poised to get involved, but...
Repeated ketamine infusions reduce PTSD symptom severity
Repeated intravenous (IV) ketamine infusions significantly reduce symptom severity in individuals with chronic post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and the improvement is rapid and maintained...
Therapy plus medication better than medication alone in bipolar disorder
A review of 39 randomised clinical trials by scientists from University of California - Los Angeles Health Sciences and their colleagues from other institutions...
Psychedelics in group therapy for 'demoralised' AIDS survivors
A first US study demonstrated the feasibility, relative safety, and potential efficacy of psilocybin-assisted group therapy for demoralisation in older, long-term AIDS survivors (OLTAS).
Psychedelic-assisted...
Targeted treatment for depression may benefit patients with psychosis
Patients with early onset psychosis may benefit from treatment for depression, including with anti-depressants alongside other medication, research shows. According to scientists at the...
Cognitive behaviour therapy as non-drug treatment to reduce inflammation
A review of more than 50 clinical trials has found that psychological and behavioural therapies may serve as effective non-drug treatments for reducing disease-causing...
Meta-analysis: Insufficient evidence for homeopathic remedies in psychiatric disorders
Available data on homeopathy in psychiatric disorders are insufficient to support their use in clinical practice, found an Italian systematic review of 212 randomised...
Religious attendance link to lower risk of 'deaths of despair' for health workers
People who attended religious services at least once a week were significantly less likely to die from "deaths of despair," including deaths related to...
New treatment relieves depression in 90% of participants in small study
A new form of magnetic brain stimulation rapidly relieved symptoms of severe depressioZn in 90% of participants in a small study conducted by researchers...
COVID-19 health workers face stress-based trauma and insomnia
More than a third of medical staff involved in the Covid19 outbreak in China suffered from insomnia, and these sleep-deprived health workers also were...
First genetic analysis of schizophrenia in SA's Xhosa
The first genetic analysis of schizophrenia in an ancestral African population, the South African Xhosa, has been published. An international group of scientists conducted...
Brain structure differences link to individuals with lifelong antisocial behaviour
Individuals who exhibit lifelong-persistent antisocial behaviour – for example, stealing, aggression and violence, bullying, lying, or repeated failure to take care of work or...
Risk factors for suicide over a lifetime — systematic review
A review of previous studies into suicide worldwide by Oxford University and the Karolinska Institutet identifies the effects of individual and environmental risk factors,...
Single dose of psilocybin gives long-term relief of psychiatric distress
Following up on their landmark 2016 study, researchers at NYU Grossman School of Medicine found that a one-time, single-dose treatment of psilocybin, a compound...
Long-term medication for schizophrenia is safe
A Karolinska Institutet data analysis suggests that long‐term antipsychotic use does not increase severe physical morbidity leading to hospitalisation, and is associated with substantially...
PTSD symptoms experienced by 1 in 6 women suffering miscarriage or ectopic pregnancy
One in six women who experience an early miscarriage or ectopic pregnancy have symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder nine months later, says a New...
In the long run, drugs and talk therapy hold same value for depression patients
Spending an hour in talk therapy with a trained counsellor costs much more, and takes more time, than swallowing an inexpensive antidepressant pill. But...
Anti-inflammatories effective and safe with major depression
Anti-inflammatory medicines were better than placebo and also enhanced the effects of standard antidepressant treatment, to safely curb the symptoms of major depression,...
Medical cannabis not proven in mental health — research review
Evidence is weak for whether medicinal cannabis treatments can relieve mental illnesses such as anxiety, depression and psychosis, and doctors should prescribe them with...
Shrines where the chained and padlocked mentally ill are 'cured'
The age-old practice of chaining the mentally ill to trees, to release them as "cured" after 40 days, persist in much of Afghanistan and...
Deep brain stimulation effective with treatment-resistant depression over long term
A study has found that deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the subcallosal cingulate (SCC) area provides a robust antidepressant effect that is sustained for...
The sums on mental health care in SA are 'not pretty'
Fewer than 1 in 10 people living with a mental health condition in South Africa receive the care they need and there are...
Political events like Brexit can trigger psychosis
Political events can take a serious toll on mental health, a doctor has warned, after treating a man with a brief episode of acute...
Antidepressants may reduce anxiety more than depressive symptoms
One of the most common antidepressants, sertraline, leads to an early reduction in anxiety symptoms, several weeks before any improvement in depressive symptoms, the...
Cheap, easily available dietary supplement may help with schizophrenia
A “freely available and relatively cheap” dietary supplement, sarcosine, may help with schizophrenia as part of a holistic approach complementing antipsychotic medication, according to...
Autism so over-diagnosed that term is becoming meaningless — study
Autism is now so over-diagnosed, following the progressively lowering over 50 years of the diagnostic bar, that by 2029 there will be no objective...
High levels of oestrogen in the womb linked to autism
Scientist have identified a link between exposure to high levels of oestrogen sex hormones in the womb and the likelihood of developing autism. The...
Ecstasy shows promise as post-traumatic stress treatment
An international study involving researchers from University of British Columbia Okanagan Campus has shown that MDMA, also known as ecstasy, may be a valuable...
Physical exercise: A ‘fundamental’ psychiatric intervention
When it comes to inpatient treatment of a range of mental health and mood disorders – from anxiety and depression to schizophrenia, suicidality and...
Consider non-surgical brain stimulation for major depression — trials review
Non-surgical brain stimulation techniques, such as electro-convulsive therapy and repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation, should be considered as alternative or add-on treatments for adults with...
Clear link between anxiety and depression in 20s to memory loss in 50s
A large longitudinal study carried out by the University of Sussex found a clear link between episodes of depression and anxiety experienced by adults...
OCD symptoms reduced by targeted deep brain stimulation
Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) at two areas of the brain significantly reduced OCD symptoms, with significantly improved cognitive flexibility from one area and a greater...