Mental Health

What does it mean to be bipolar? Bipolar disorders are a set of pathologies characterized by the alternation of: depressive phases: characterized by depressed mood, markedly decreased interest and ability to experience pleasure, decreased self-esteem, feelings of guilt, psychomotor agitation or retardation, insomnia or hypersomnia, decreased appetite, asthenia, decreased libido, decreased the ability to think and concentrate, recurring thoughts of death etc.; phases of manic excitement: characterized, instead, by euphoria or irritability, tendency to accelerate thinking and speaking, decreased need for sleep, distractibility, excessive involvement in playful activities that have a high potential for harmful consequences, increased goal-directed activities social, work, sexual. The phases are interspersed with intercritical periods free of symptoms or with attenuated symptoms and follow one another according to variable configurations in the different individuals affected...

[unable to retrieve full-text content] What Is Postpartum Psychosis and How Can I Help My Partner ...    Healthnews.com

kmac/Elg21 A bombshell went off in psychiatry last year when Moncrieff and colleagues' systematic review in Molecular Psychiatry concluded, "We suggest it is time to acknowledge that the serotonin theory of depression is not empirically substantiated." Their review revealed that there is a lack of good science to support the notion that major depressive disorder (MDD) is due to low levels of the neurotransmitter serotonin. More importantly, it calls into question the use of antidepressants designed to address this deficiency (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors [SSRIs]), even though these drugs have been prescribed to tens of millions of people over the last 35 years. Within the press, the conclusion was clear: If the serotonin theory of depression is not true, then it's a waste of time to prescribe these drugs to patients with MDD. Clinicians have been a bit more ambivalent. Despite the absence of empirical evidence to...

Abstract Adolescents experience alarmingly high rates of major depressive disorder (MDD), however, gold-standard treatments are only effective for ~50% of youth. Accordingly, there is a critical need to develop novel interventions, particularly ones that target neural mechanisms believed to potentiate depressive symptoms. Directly addressing this gap, we developed mindfulness-based fMRI neurofeedback (mbNF) for adolescents that aims to reduce default mode network (DMN) hyperconnectivity, which has been implicated in the onset and maintenance of MDD. In this proof-of-concept study, adolescents ( n  = 9) with a lifetime history of depression and/or anxiety were administered clinical interviews and self-report questionnaires, and each participant's DMN and central executive network (CEN) were personalized using a resting state fMRI localizer. After the localizer scan, adolescents completed a brief mindfulness training followed by a mbNF session in the scanner wherein they were instruc...

[unable to retrieve full-text content] Why Jonah Hill changed his name from Feldstein    The Jewish Chronicle

Rawf8_AdobeStock The COVID-19 pandemic increased psychiatric, medical, and treatment risks for patients diagnosed with schizophrenia. This article provides an overview of risk factors and an example of patient-centered, collaborative care to promote safety and stabilization while providing available treatment options for cooccurring diagnoses of COVID-19 and schizophrenia spectrum disorder. COVID-19 and Increased Risks for Individuals With Schizophrenia The stress of the COVID-19 crisis crashed in waves across our country and its care continuum. Hospitals, medical offices, and care centers were all impacted significantly. The psychiatric service line was unquestionably negatively affected. Modifications in mental health services occurred in response to growing concerns related to the pandemic and the impacted workforce. Access to community-based services that many psychiatric patients relied on—such as in-person care, outreach, and transport mechanisms—decreased. There were additional ...

If you're one of the millions of Americans who lives with a mental disorder, your body might be older than you think. New research—presented this weekend at the European Congress of Psychiatry in Paris—shows that those with longstanding mental health conditions like depression, anxiety, and bipolar disorder are biologically older than their actual, chronological age. Researchers Dr. Julian Mutz and Cathryn Lewis, both with the King's College London, looked at the blood metabolites—small molecules produced during the process of metabolism like lipids, cholesterol, and amino acids—from more than 110,000 U.K. residents. They found that those with mental illness had a "metabolite profile" that indicated they were older than they actually were. "For example, people with bipolar disorder had blood markers indicating that they were around two years older than their chronological age," Mutz says in a release ahead of the presentation. ...

blackday_AdobeStock CASE VIGNETTE "William" is a 17-year-old male in the eleventh grade who is being evaluated by his school psychologist for declining academic performance. Last year, his grades were all As and Bs, but this year he has mostly Cs, with 1 D in an advanced math class. William has no active medical problems and has never seen a psychiatrist. He reports that he has had trouble sleeping over the past few months. He says he is in bed for approximately 8 hours per night and typically has 1 to 2 nocturnal awakenings. He reports feeling exhausted upon awakening in the morning, and his mother reports significant difficulties in waking him up for school. William does not currently use tobacco, alcohol, or illicit drugs, but admits to trying marijuana once at a party in the past year. There is no history of abuse. He has a paternal uncle with schizoaffective disorder. On interview, William's affect is slightly restricted, but it brightens when he talks about his hobb...