Psychology Space

Psychotherapy Reduces OCD Symptoms In Young Children, Helps Some Achieve Clinical Remission - Although children as young as 5 can be diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), few research studies have looked at treatments specifically geared toward young children with this disorder. Now, a new study from the Bradley Hasbro Children’s Research Center provides some of the first evidence-based data on a successful intervention for early childhood OCD.
Regulate Anti Psychotic Drugs Now, UK - Help the Aged have backed an MPs bid to regulate the prescription of anti-psychotic drugs for people with dementia in care homes.
Could Violent Video Games Reduce Rather Than Increase Violence? - Does playing violent video games make players aggressive? It is a question that has taxed researchers, sociologists, and regulators ever since the first console was plugged into a TV and the first shots fired in a shoot ‘em up game.
Link Between Mothers’ Depression And Young Children’s Injuries Confirmed By Study - Infants and toddlers whose mothers are severely depressed are almost three times more likely to suffer accidental injuries than other children in the same age group, according to a new study. The study’s findings, published in the Advanced Access edition of the Journal of Pediatric Psychology, suggest that proper treatment for depression would improve not only the mothers’ health, but the health of young children as well.
Discovery Of Cell Linked To Learning And Memory - Queensland Brain Institute (QBI) neuroscientists at The University of Queensland have discovered a fundamental component of the process that regulates memory formation. QBI Director Professor Perry Bartlett said the discovery explains, for the first time, how new nerve cells form in an area of the brain associated with learning and memory - which is known to deteriorate in people with stroke and dementia.
Female Sex Offenders Often Have Mental Problems - Women who commit sexual offences are just as likely to have mental problems or drug addictions as other violent female criminals. This according to the largest study ever conducted of women convicted of sexual offences in Sweden. Between 1988 and 2000, 93 women and 8,500 men were convicted of sexual offences in Sweden. Given that previous research has focused on male perpetrators, knowledge of the factors specific to female sex offenders has been scant.
Distinct Treatment Needed: Tourette’s And Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, Canada - While 30 to 50 percent of people with Gilles de la Tourette Syndrome are also affected with obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), both illnesses have a distinct neurocognitive profile, according to a new study published in the print edition of the journal Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology & Biological Psychiatry by researchers from the Université de Montréal and the Fernand-Seguin Research Centre of the Louis-H Lafontaine Hospital.
Congress Passes Rep. Napolitano’s Mental Health Month Resolution - The U.S. House of Representatives passed H. Res. 1134 today, a resolution introduced by Rep. Grace F. Napolitano (D-Norwalk) recognizing May as Mental Health Month. “An estimated 57 million Americans suffer from diagnosable, treatable mental illnesses,” noted Rep. Napolitano. “This number is growing because of the epidemic of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder among veterans returning from Iraq.” “Only one in three Americans suffering from mental illness receives treatment.
Washington Post Series Examines Sedation Of Detained Immigrants Without Medical Reason - The Washington Post as part of a four-day series, titled “Careless Detention,” examined access to health care for immigrants to the U.S. who are in immigration detention centers.
New Nationwide Report Estimates One In Every 12 Adolescents Experienced Major Depression In The Past Year - About 2.1 million teens aged 12 to 17 experienced a major depressive episode in the past year, according to a new nationwide report by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. For almost half of the teens, depression drastically reduced their abilities to deal with aspects of their daily lives, the report said. Overall, 8.
Hyperactivity Is Associated With Decreased Numbers Of Interneurons - A new study published in Biological Psychiatry on May 15th is “another example of how basic science research conducted in animals may help to identify new molecular targets that may be studied for the treatment or even prevention of psychiatric disorders,” according to Dr. John Krystal, Editor of Biological Psychiatry and affiliated with both Yale University School of Medicine and the VA Connecticut Healthcare System.
Breast Cancer Campaign Warns Surviving Breast Cancer ‘Is Not Enough’ - Women are living longer after breast cancer but simply surviving is not enough, Pamela Goldberg, Chief Executive, Breast Cancer Campaign, says.Speaking at the second Breast Cancer Campaign Scientific Conference in London, Pamela Goldberg outlined how earlier diagnosis, new treatments, and increased awareness of symptoms has resulted in breast cancer moving towards becoming a chronic but controllable condition.
Asthma Linked To Higher Suicidal Thoughts With Attempts - Asthma is associated with higher suicidal thoughts with attempted suicide, but does not seem to be linked with suicidal thoughts without attempts, according to a report published this month in Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology, the scientific journal of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI).
Washington Post Series Examines Errors In Psychiatric Diagnoses, Medications Of Detained Immigrants - The Washington Post as part of a four-day series, titled “Careless Detention,” is examining how some immigrants to the U.S. do not receive needed health care while in immigration detention centers.
I Do Not See It, But My Brain Does - Patients suffering from “hemineglect” ignore things presented to their left side. However, sometimes these ignored stimuli may be processed without awareness. In a paper recently published in Cortex Issue 6, Sackur and colleagues reported that unconscious processing in hemineglect is not limited to low level features of the stimuli. They showed that the brain may extract the meaning of symbols that the patient has not consciously perceived.
LUNESTA(R) Study Of Patients With Insomnia And Co-Morbid Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) Published In Archives Of General Psychiatry - Sepracor Inc. (Nasdaq: SEPR) announced the publication of a study of LUNESTA tablets in patients with insomnia and co-morbid generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) in the May issue of the Archives of General Psychiatry. This 595-patient study examined the safety and efficacy of LUNESTA co-administered with escitalopram oxalate, which is commonly used in the treatment of anxiety, versus co-administration of escitalopram and placebo in patients with insomnia and co-existing GAD.
Link Between Psychological Stress And Overeating Discovered By Yerkes Researchers - Researchers at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Emory University, have found socially subordinate female rhesus macaques over consume calorie-rich foods at a significantly higher level than do dominant females.The study, which is available in the online edition of Physiology and Behavior, is a critical step in understanding the psychological basis for the sharp increase in obesity across all age groups since the mid-1970s.
Professor Studies What Cars Can Learn From Drivers’ Words - Years ago, Stanford communication and sociology researcher Clifford Nass wondered why some people treated their computers as humans, instead of machines, a question that led him down a path of interesting research. Now he wonders about drivers willing to have personal conversations with the artificial voice in their cars - and what will become of the secrets the humans share with their four-wheeled friends.Nass is not the only one wondering.
Sexual Harassment Negatively Affects Both Boys And Girls - A new study in Psychology of Women Quarterly explored the outcomes of sexual harassment on both boys and girls. While girls were harassed more frequently, boys were indirectly yet negatively affected through a school climate that tolerates the harassment of girls.The study, led by Alayne J.
Religion And The Narrative Of Biological Science - There exists much ethical controversy brought about by advances in biology and medicine and the relationship to religion. In a new essay in The Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics, Laurie Zoloth takes an approach to medical ethics that draws upon Jewish texts, traditions, and philosophy to show how acting to change the world is indicative of this faith tradition.
Concern Over Strong Media Influence On Women’s Body Image - As France’s parliament considers a landmark bill that would outlaw media images glamorizing the extremely thin, psychology researchers are reporting some of the most definitive findings yet on how these images affect women.In the May issue of Psychological Bulletin, University of Wisconsin-Madison postdoctoral researcher Shelly Grabe and psychology professor Janet Hyde describe a sweeping analysis of 77 previous studies involving more than 15,000 subjects.
International Study Of Animal Behaviour Has Important Implications For Human Decision-Making - For animals that live in social groups, and that includes humans, blindly following a leader could place them in danger.To avoid this, animals have developed simple but effective behaviour to follow where at least a few of them dare to tread - rather than follow a single group member.This pattern of behaviour reduces the risk of imitating maverick behaviour of an individual as the group recognise that consensus is better than following someone that goes it alone.
Confirmation Of Effectiveness Of Naltrexone For Alcohol Dependence In Alaska Natives And Other Alaskans Living In Rural Areas - Access to treatment for alcohol dependence (AD) in rural and remote areas is limited. This study evaluated the effectiveness of two pharmacotherapies for AD - naltrexone alone, and in combination with sertraline - among Alaska Natives (ANs) and other Alaskans living in rural settings. Findings indicate that naltrexone is just as effective on its own as it is in combination with sertraline.
New Research Reveals 32% Of Those With Depression Experience Frequent Thoughts Of Death Or Suicide - Launched recently, Mind Yourself - The Lundbeck Mental Health Barometer report has revealed the most common symptoms amongst those with personal experience of depression are frequent thoughts of death or suicide (32%), low self esteem (29%) and sleep disturbance (28%).
Population Viscosity Can Promote The Evolution Of Altruistic Sterile Helpers And Eusociality - Over the last 10 years there has been controversy about whether limited dispersal can be an important factor favoring altruism. To address this issue we investigated whether limited dispersal can favor the evolution of a caste of sterile workers as they occur in ants and other social insects. We show that even under the simplest life-history conditions a sterile worker caste (i.e.