Medicine
Do You Need to ‘Trip’ for Psychedelics to Work as Medicine?
Psychedelic researchers are engaged in heated debate over whether the mind-altering effects of the drugs are necessary for realizing their therapeutic potential.
Mental Illness30 articles archived since 1845
Neurology
How Dangerous Are Soccer Concussions? They May Cause Lasting Damage
As the 2023 Women’s World Cup kicks off, repeated concussions and head injuries in the sport raise discussion about the lifelong consequences on the brain
Mental Illness
How My Mother’s Dementia Showed Me Another Side of Neurodiversity
My mother taught me to love words. Her dementia taught me to listen more closely
Consciousness
Why Dying People Often Experience a Burst of Lucidity
New research shows surprising activity levels in dying brains and may help explain the sudden clarity many people with dementia experience near death
Mental Illness
How Dreams Reveal Brain Disorders
Examining dream content can assist in the diagnosis of psychiatric and neurological illnesses. What does fighting off a lion mean?
Mental Health
A Look at the Mental Health Provisions in the New Gun Law
Most of the $13 billion appropriated in the new legislation Congress recently passed focuses on mental health programs
Mental Health
Mass Shootings Leave Lasting Psychological Wounds
Tragedies such as the ones in Uvalde, Tex., and Buffalo, N.Y., can lead to major depression, PTSD and other lingering mental distress among survivors
Mental Illness
When an Intellectual Disability Means Life or Death
This new guest podcast from Undark discusses the death penalty case of Pervis Payne and why it reveals the convoluted relationship between science and the courts
Neurology
COVID Can Cause Forgetfulness, Psychosis, Mania or a Stutter
The virus induces neurological symptoms that persist long after the pandemic ends
Neuroscience
Electrical Brain Stimulation May Alleviate Obsessive-Compulsive Behaviors
Noninvasive electrical zaps, tuned specifically to individual brain-activity patterns, appear to reduce checking, hoarding and other compulsions for up to three months
Climate Change
Climate Anxiety and Mental Illness
We don’t know for sure to what degree the former leads to the latter, but we need to be vigilant about the plausible connection
Mental Health
COVID-19 Worsens Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder—but Therapy Offers Coping Skills
The pandemic has heightened OCD phobias such as fear of germs. Yet some patients say experience with anxiety, and treatment for it, gives them an advantage
Behavior
Pregnancy Anxiety? Here’s How to Keep Calm and Carry On
Pregnancy is a time of overwhelming emotions—some anxiety is normal! Use these four indispensable tips to keep calm so you can enjoy this magical time
Mental Health
MDMA Could Be Tailored to Make It More Suitable for Treating Mental Illness
A mouse study demonstrates it is possible to separate the substance’s ability to enhance sociability from its addictive potential
Behavior
Cyberchondriacs Just Know They Must Be Sick
Researchers are unraveling the psychological reasons why some people relentlessly self-diagnose themselves online for hours a day
Mental Health
A Three-Hour Fix for Phobia, a Four-Day Therapy for OCD
Brief but intensive treatments are proving to be effective for many anxiety disorders
Mental Health
Mania May Be a Mental Illness in Its Own Right
Hundreds of thousands of people experience mania without ever getting depressed. Why does psychiatry insist on calling them bipolar?
Evolution
Susceptibility to Mental Illness May Have Helped Humans Adapt over the Millennia
Psychiatrist Randolph Nesse, one of the founders of evolutionary medicine, explains why natural selection did not rid our species of onerous psychiatric disorders
Mental Health
How to Ease Travel Anxiety
Savvy Psychologist Dr. Ellen Hendriksen puts to rest four common travel anxieties
Neurology
Huge Brain Study Uncovers “Buried” Genetic Networks Linked to Mental Illness
Enormous genomic analysis yields tantalizing insights into mechanisms behind conditions such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder
