A novel “smartphone psychotherapy” application has been shown to relieve some of the anxiety and fear about cancer recurrence (FCR) that often causes distress to cancer survivors. The intervention is comprised of smartphone problem-solving therapy and behavioral activation apps, and was tested in a study that involved 447 survivors of breast cancer. The results showed … Read more
Halloween Ends? Yeah, sure. Like that’ll happen. The market for horror remains robust 44 years after the original Halloween movie premiered. Part of the reason (besides Michael Myers’s charm) is that we humans appear to be hard-wired to enjoy getting scared. Whatever happens in Halloween Ends, the latest entry in the long-running film series, you’ll … Read more
One in Seven Older Adults Die Within 1 Year After Surgery One in seven older adults die within 1 year of major surgery. The risk for mortality is higher among people older than 80 years or who are frail or may have dementia, according to a new study of community-living individuals. The study did not … Read more
Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is more effective than intravenous (IV) ketamine for patients experiencing a major depressive episode (MDE) in new findings that are in line with the KetECT study ― the first head-to-head trial of ketamine and ECT. As reported by Medscape Medical News, the KetECT trial was published earlier this year. It showed that … Read more
Despite a higher symptom burden, patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) and a history of childhood trauma (CT) can achieve significant recovery following treatment with a combination of pharmacotherapy and psychotherapy, new research suggests. Results from a meta-analysis of 29 studies from 1966 to 2019, which included almost 7000 adults with MDD, showed that more … Read more
Race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status are closely associated with visual impairments in adolescents in the United States, researchers have found. The study showed that adolescents who identified as Black, Mexican-American, of low-income, or as non-US citizens were two to three times more likely than White adolescents to report vision problems and to perform worse on … Read more
Older age is associated with many health conditions that could potentially benefit from psychedelic-assisted therapy, yet very few older adults have been included in clinical trials of psychedelics, new research shows. “Geriatric psychiatrists and others caring for older adults are interested in how much is known about psychedelic use in older adults,” study investigator C. … Read more
When Sue W’s mother died in 2018, she struggled terribly. She was already seeing a psychotherapist and was taking duloxetine, prescribed by her primary care physician. But her grief was profound, and her depression became paralyzing. She needed to see a psychiatrist, and there were many available in or near her hometown, a Connecticut suburb … Read more
Sept. 16, 2022 — You brought your computer home from work “for 2 weeks” in March 2020 and stayed home for 2 years. Schools went virtual. Club meetings got canceled. Gym closed. Friends and family became off-limits. Remember avoiding other people on the street? It’s gotten better since the outbreak, but we’ve remained in relative … Read more
Well-designed clinical trials to test the safety and efficacy of cannabidiol (CBD) for cardiovascular disease are needed, based on evidence from preclinical studies showing that it has anti-inflammatory effects, a new report suggests. The systematic review of nine preclinical studies found reproducible positive adverse outcomes in vivo models with CBD. Mechanisms for the findings included … Read more