Psychology & Psychiatry

A new review of antidepressant withdrawal effects—written by academics, many of whom have close ties to drug manufacturers—risks underestimating the potential harms to long-term antidepressant users by focusing on short-term, industry-funded studies.

Loneliness is common and is a strong and independent predictor of depression and poor health outcomes, according to a new study published in PLOS One by Dr. Oluwasegun Akinyemi, a Senior Research Fellow at the Howard University College of Medicine, Washington DC, U.S.

Researchers at Radboud University and the Radboudumc found that mothers with postpartum depression benefit from oxytocin nasal spray. The oxytocin causes mothers to respond more positively to their newborn child. “Although extra oxytocin does not affect mothers’ caregiving behavior and stress levels, it does contribute to better contact between mother and child,” according to psychologist Madelon Hendricx-Riem, one of the researchers.

A clinical trial led by the Germans Trias i Pujol University Hospital and Research Institute has found that women experience some of the subjective effects of acute alcohol intake, such as drunkenness and sedation, more intensely than men, when consumed over a short period of time.

A mental health hack designed to promote mental well-being could shift how teenagers view themselves—according to new research from the University of East Anglia.

An innovative partnership between a health system and local congregations in neighborhoods with high need that provides individual companionship to older adults has found significant reductions in loneliness and a corresponding reduction in emergency department visits.

Over the past decades, some lawyers have started using brain imaging scans as evidence during criminal trials, to provide a possible explanation for the criminal behavior of defendants. This was justified by recent neuroscientific studies, which found that some people who commit crimes present differences in specific parts of the brain. Yet a key question remains: are these brain changes causal, compensatory or incidental to the behavior?

When people are stressed, they make riskier decisions.

Researchers have found that even after recovery, individuals who previously experienced depression may retain a heightened sensitivity to negative cues and face challenges in regulating responses to potential punishment.

“Sleeping on it,” especially dropping deeper than a doze, might help people gain insight into certain kinds of tasks, according to a study published in PLOS Biology by Anika Löwe and colleagues.