Mental Health Research / 07.04.2025

Editor's note: This piece discusses mental health issues. If you have experienced suicidal thoughts or have lost someone to suicide and want to seek help, you can contact the Crisis Text Line by texting "START" to 741-741 or call the Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255.    There are days when everything feels off, but you can’t explain why. You might feel tired, disconnected, or overwhelmed even when things seem “fine.” You push through, hoping it passes. But sometimes, those feelings stick around longer than expected. That’s when it might be time to pause and look closely at what’s really happening. In Georgia, mental health struggles are more common than most people realize. Stress, anxiety, and depression affect thousands every year. While many continue to live with these feelings in silence, more individuals are now taking steps to seek help. Yet, others hesitate—unsure if they’re “bad enough” to reach out. This article will help you spot signs that shouldn’t be ignored and show you where to start.
  1. You’re Constantly Overwhelmed or Anxious
If your mind is always racing or you’re constantly on edge, that’s not something to overlook. Anxiety can show up in many ways—feeling tense, having trouble focusing or even struggling to fall asleep. When worry becomes part of your daily life, it may be time to talk to someone. A licensed professional can help you understand and learn how to manage these feelings. (more…)
Addiction, addiction-treatment, Alcohol / 20.03.2025

hangover-anxiety Experiencing a hangover can be a challenging ordeal, not just physically but mentally as well. For many, the aftermath of a night of indulgence is accompanied by a wave of anxiety that can feel overwhelming. This phenomenon, often referred to as hangover anxiety, can exacerbate feelings of guilt, worry, and unease. Understanding how to manage these feelings is crucial for a smoother recovery. Below are effective strategies and tips to help navigate hangover anxiety.

Understanding Hangover Anxiety

Hangover anxiety is a specific type of anxiety that occurs after consuming alcohol. It often manifests as feelings of dread, worry about past actions, or fear of the future. This reaction is not uncommon, as alcohol can disrupt the balance of neurotransmitters in the brain, leading to heightened anxiety levels. Many individuals find themselves reflecting on the previous night's events, replaying conversations, and scrutinizing their behavior, which can exacerbate feelings of anxiety. (more…)
Author Interviews, Mental Health Research, Microbiome / 10.02.2025

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Associate Professor Shawn Je Neuroscience and Behavioural Disorders Programme, Duke-NUS Medical School MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What questions were you trying to address?  Response: The project started in 2013 when I met Professor Sven Petterson, then a visiting professor from the Karolinska Institute, during his time at the National Cancer Centre Singapore (NCCS) in Singapore. At the time, our lab was studying autism, and we discovered that many children with autism also had gastrointestinal problems. This sparked my interest in the relationship between gut microbiota and brain disorders. Professor Petterson had already established a germ-free facility at NCCS to study the link between cancer and gut microbiota. I asked him if he could create germ-free C57BL/6 mice, a strain often used to study learning, memory and brain disorders. After developing the mice, we subjected them to behavioural testing at the Duke-NUS Behavioural Phenotyping Facility to assess their emotional responses (fear, anxiety, depression), cognitive abilities (learning and memory), and social interactions. We were surprised to find that the germ-free C57BL/6 mice exhibited increased anxiety, although no significant changes in social behaviours typical of autism were observed. Anxiety was assessed using tests in which mice were placed in an elevated arena with open and closed sections, and the time spent in each area was measured. The increased anxiety in these germ-free mice had not been reported before, so we repeated the tests several times to confirm the findings. Interestingly, other researchers had observed hyperactivity in germ-free mice of different strains, but our C57BL/6 mice showed unusual anxious behaviour, even though this strain typically has lower anxiety. This led us to investigate the underlying mechanisms behind the increased anxiety in these mice, with the goal of discovering why this particular strain exhibited such pronounced anxiety. (more…)
Mental Health Research / 13.12.2024

This post discusses mental health.
  • If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. Call or text 988 or chat at org. To learn how to get support for mental health, drug or alcohol conditions, visit FindSupport.gov. If you are ready to locate a treatment facility or provider, you can go directly to FindTreatment.govor call 800-662-HELP (4357).
  • S. veterans or service members who are in crisis can call 988 and then press “1” for the Veterans Crisis Line. Or text 838255. Or chat online.
  • The Suicide & Crisis Lifeline in the U.S. has a Spanish language phone line at 1-888-628-9454 (toll-free).
  Why are more people experiencing anxiety? Stressful lifestyles and uncertain times often contribute to rising mental health challenges. Fortunately, effective treatments are available to provide relief and support. Let us explore why anxiety is a growing concern and how treatment can help.

Understanding the Rise in Anxiety

Many individuals struggle with anxiety due to various factors. Increased anxiety from work, family responsibilities, and economic pressures often play a role. Anxiety treatment Lakewood professionals has observed that societal changes also contribute to heightened mental health issues. Social isolation, digital pressures, and health concerns increase emotional challenges. With proper care, professionals can address these root causes, offering effective support. Awareness of these issues is the first step toward improvement.

Common Symptoms of Anxiety

Symptoms can range from mild to severe, affecting daily life, and recognizing them is essential for seeking help in significant ways. Physical symptoms like fatigue, restlessness, and muscle tension are common. Emotional signs include excessive worry, irritability, and feelings of dread. Anxiety can cause concentration issues, disrupted sleep, and behavioral changes, such as avoiding certain situations. These symptoms impact relationships, work, and overall well-being. Recognizing these signs encourages individuals to seek help, and early intervention leads to better outcomes. Understanding treatment options is crucial for managing and alleviating anxiety effectively. (more…)
Complementary Medicine, Mental Health Research, Psychological Science, Stress / 05.11.2024

If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. Call or text 988 or chat at org. To learn how to get support for mental health, drug or alcohol conditions, visit FindSupport.gov. If you are ready to locate a treatment facility or provider, you can go directly to FindTreatment.govor call 800-662-HELP (4357). The relationship between mental and physical health has been a topic of increasing interest, highlighting how closely our minds and bodies interact. This connection, often referred to as the "mind-body connection," underscores the significant impact that mental well-being can have on physical health. Stress, anxiety, and other mental health challenges can cause a range of physical symptoms, from fatigue and headaches to digestive issues and chronic illnesses. As people continue to learn more about this link, there is growing evidence that caring for mental health can lead to improved physical wellness and vice versa. A fascinating aspect of this connection is how mental health struggles can trigger the body's stress response, leading to heightened levels of cortisol, also known as the "stress hormone." While this response can be helpful in short bursts—preparing us for challenges—it can lead to harmful effects if sustained over long periods. Understanding and prioritizing mental health care, therefore, is crucial in promoting overall wellness and helping individuals manage both physical and emotional challenges. (more…)
Mental Health Research / 28.10.2024

Do you need to find a way to stop feeling stressed and anxious all the time? Nowadays, it seems like everyone is constantly feeling overwhelmed for a number of different reasons. Your mental and physical health should always be a priority, and many innovations are being implemented to combat stress and anxiety—one of which is Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT). Could hyperbaric oxygen therapy be the solution to reducing your stress and anxiety levels? In this article, we’ll dive into what hyperbaric oxygen therapy is and the benefits it presents, which can help you to better manage the stress and anxiety you’re feeling.

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Mental Health Research / 20.06.2024

The pandemic may be over, but its effects linger. According to a paper on the psychological impact of COVID-19 on children and adults in the United Arab Emirates, 71% of the UAE general population have generalized anxiety disorder. Younger people and females register the highest levels of anxiety, and teachers also report a higher incidence of emotional problems in children. Mental health awareness and solutions are more crucial than ever in the face of this increased risk for anxiety. Fortunately, you and the people you care about have access to interventions like neurofeedback in Dubai to address various mental health conditions.

What Is Neurofeedback Therapy?

Neurofeedback therapy is a biofeedback technique that monitors brain waves and provides real-time feedback about those brainwaves to the brain. The brain can learn to self-regulate its functions by becoming aware of its activity. Through consistent brain training, the brain can instinctively prevent, manage, or control undesirable brain wave patterns. Consequently, it can be more effective at curbing the negative behavior, mental state or physiological symptoms associated with unwelcome brain activity. (more…)
Alzheimer's - Dementia, Author Interviews, Medical Imaging, Mental Health Research / 01.12.2020

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Maria Vittoria Spampinato, MD Neuroradiology Division Director Department of Radiology and Radiological Science Medical University of South Carolina Charleston, SC 29425-3230 MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Alzheimer’s disease (AD) represents a major public health crisis worldwide. More than 5 million people currently have AD in the United States. AD is a slowly progressing neurodegenerative brain disorder with a long preclinical phase. Many people with AD first suffer from mild cognitive impairment (MCI), a decline in cognitive abilities like memory and thinking skills that is greater than that associated with normal aging. A person with MCI is at an increased risk of developing AD or another dementia, although some individuals with MCI remain cognitively stable or improve. Anxiety is frequently observed in individuals with MCI. The reported prevalence of anxiety in MCI patients varies between 10 and 50%.  In this study we evaluated a cohort of 339 individuals with MCI participating in the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative study (ADNI2). During the five years of study participation, 72 patients experienced cognitive decline and were diagnosed with AD. We did not find difference in age, gender and education among patients with and without AD conversion. Patients who progressed had greater atrophy of the hippocampi and entorhinal cortex on their MRI scan, as expected (hippocampal atrophy is often used as a marker of neurodegeneration in AD), as well as greater prevalence of APOE4 is the strongest known genetic risk factor for AD.   Patients who progressed to Alzheimer’s disease also had greater severity of anxiety during the study, as measured using the Neuropsychiatric Inventory-Questionnaire. Next we determined the effect of the MRI findings (hippocampal and entorhinal cortex atrophy), of the genetic risk factor (APOE4) and of the severity of anxiety on the time to progression to AD. We found that higher levels of anxiety were associated with faster progression from MCI to AD, independently of whether they had a genetic risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease or brain volume loss. We still need to understand better the association between anxiety disorders and cognitive decline. We do not know whether increased levels of anxiety are a consequence of cognitive decline or if anxiety exacerbates to cognitive decline. If we were able to find in the future that anxiety is actually contributing to cognitive decline, then we should more aggressively screen for anxiety disorders in the elderly population.  (more…)
Author Interviews, Emergency Care, Mental Health Research, Psychological Science / 03.06.2019

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Stephen L. Ristvedt, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Anesthesiology Washington University St. Louis, MO  63110-1093  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Having a usual source of healthcare – either with a regular doctor or a medical clinic – is the best way to manage one’s health in a proactive way.  Doctors and clinics can provide ongoing guidance with regard to the use of preventive medical screenings as well as the management of chronic illness.  Unfortunately, a significant proportion of US adults do not have a usual source of healthcare.  Also, many people often rely for their healthcare needs on a hospital emergency department, where there is neither sufficient continuity of care nor counseling for prevention. We wanted to investigate what factors might contribute to suboptimal utilization of healthcare resources.  We were particularly interested in looking at individual psychological factors that might play a role in the choices that people make when seeking healthcare.  One specific psychological characteristic proved to be important in our study.  That characteristic is called “threat sensitivity,” and it is measured with a simple questionnaire.  People who are relatively high in threat sensitivity are prone to experience high levels of anxiety in potentially threatening situations  (more…)
Author Interviews, Mental Health Research / 26.04.2019

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Yoshinori SUGIURA Ph.D. Associate Professor Hiroshima University Graduate School of Integrated Arts and Sciences Behavioural Sciences Section Higashi-Hiroshima, Japan  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Lengthy worrying or repeated checking if the door is locked are common manifestations of anxiety in the general population. However, if their frequency, intensity, and interference become too much, they are diagnosed as Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) respectively. People with OCD are tortured by repeatedly occurring negative thinking and they take some strategy to prevent i. GAD is a very pervasive type of anxiety. GAD patients worry about everything. Despite their burden, both are relatively difficult to treat. Furthermore complicated, as they are two different disorders, mental health professionals have to master separate strategies. To overcome such situation, transdiagnostic research, which seeks common causes for different disorders, is now eagerly pursued by psychologists/psychiatrists. As one of such endeavors, we predicted that inflated responsibility is the common predictor of both OCD and GAD symptoms. (more…)
Author Interviews, Depression, Exercise - Fitness, JAMA, Parkinson's / 10.04.2019

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Jojo Kwok  R.N., BN(Hons), MPH, Ph.D. School of Nursing, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine The University of Hong Kong MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?  Response: Before the study, we knew that mind-body exercises such as yoga and stretching improves the physical health of patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD), however the benefits to their mental health was not known. This study concludes that mindfulness yoga alleviates psychological distress, improves spiritual well-being and quality of life, not to mention motor symptoms and mobility. When it comes to managing the stress and symptoms of Parkinson Disease, what is exciting, is that yoga has now been proven to be a better strategy than just stretching. Yoga draws together body, mind and spirit through mindful practice of 1) yoga posture, 2) breathing and 3) meditation. These form the three core components of our Mindfulness Yoga Program. Mindfulness is non-judgemental awareness of the present moment - of one’s physical sensations and thoughts, be they positive or negative. By adopting a mind-body approach, patients are much better positioned to reframe their illness journey than through physical training alone. By learning to relate non-judgmentally to their physical symptoms and emotions, they develop new coping skills that cultivate openness, acceptance and resilience to these symptoms. They feel better.  (more…)
Author Interviews, Depression, Dermatology / 24.03.2019

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Jonathan L. Silverberg MD PhD MPH Assistant Professor in Dermatology Medical Social Sciences and Preventive Medicine Northwestern, Chicago, Illinois MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?  Response: Atopic Dermatitis is characterized by chronic and often severe and debilitating itch, skin pain, sleep disturbances, skin lesions and multiple comorbid health conditions. The signs, symptoms and comorbidities of atopic dermatitis can lead to significant psychosocial distress and mental health burden We performed a cross-sectional, population-based study of 2893 US adults. We found that adults with atopic dermatitis had more severe symptoms scores for anxiety and depression (Hospital Anxiety and Depression anxiety). Adults with atopic dermatitis also had higher prevalences of anxiety and depression. Mean symptom scores and prevalences of anxiety and depression were even higher in adults with moderate and severe atopic dermatitis compared to those with mild atopic dermatitis. All respondents with severe PO-SCORAD, POEM and PO-SCORAD-itch scores had elevated anxiety and depression scores. Many adults with atopic dermatitis that had elevated anxiety and depression scores reported no diagnosis of anxiety or depression.  (more…)
Alcohol, Author Interviews, Depression, JAMA / 09.01.2019

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Ingunn Olea Lund, PhD The Norwegian Institute of Public Health Oslo, Norway MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: There are significant amounts of research on children of parents with alcohol use disorders – where the children are shown to be at risk of several adverse outcomes, including mental disorders, substance use disorders, suicide, impaired school performance, and employment problems. There is very little previous research on how other, more normal levels of parental drinking may influence child outcomes, such as mental health. This is a grave oversight, as there are vastly more parents with normal drinking patterns than there are parents who suffer from an alcohol use disorder. This means that there are potentially a lot more cases of adverse effect for children, and the number of children at risk may be higher than previously assumed. In addition to parents' alcohol use, several other risk factors in the family that may affect child mental health outcomes, such as parents' mental health and socio-economic status. Researchers have tended to look at these risk factors separately, but as these risks tend to co-occur, it may be more informative to consider them together. To our knowledge, this is the first study that examines possible harm from normal levels of parental drinking, alone or in combination with other parental risk factors, on children’s anxiety and depression. The sample consists of more than 8700 triads: children and both their parents. We combined information from three health registries with survey data where both adolescents and their parents provided information about health and social conditions. The health registers include information about the children 's actual contact with the health care system; we used information about whether children received diagnoses and/or treatment for anxiety and/or depression. (more…)
Author Interviews, JAMA, Mental Health Research, Omega-3 Fatty Acids / 15.09.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: “omega 3” by Khaldaa Photographer is licensed under CC BY 2.0Yutaka MATSUOKA, MD, PhD Division Chief of Health Care Research, Behavioral Sciences and Survivorship Research Group, Center for Public Health Sciences, National Cancer Center Japan MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Anxiety is the most commonly experienced psychiatric symptom. We have now two major treatment options that include cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) and pharmacotherapy.  However, CBT is time-consuming, costly, and limited in availability. And there is concern over potential side effects in pharmacotherapy. Evidence-based and safer treatment options are required. Omega-3 fatty acids have potential preventive and therapeutic effects on depression and anxiety. Clinical and preclinical studies support the effectiveness of omega-3 fatty acids as a treatment for anxiety disorders. Despite the largely positive findings of these trials, the clinical application of the findings is unfortunately limited by their small sample size. Improvement in anxiety symptoms were associated with omega-3 fatty acids treatment compared with controls. The anxiolytic effects of omega-3 fatty acids were also stronger in patients with clinical conditions than in subclinical populations.  (more…)
Author Interviews, JAMA, Mental Health Research, Pediatrics / 22.08.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr Alexandra Rouquette MD PhD Center for Research in Epidemiology and Population... French Institute of Health and Medical Research Paris MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?  Response: There is a growing number of clues in the literature that suggest that the onset of adult psychopathologic disorders can be traced back to behavioral or emotional symptoms observed in childhood or adolescence. Targeting early childhood symptoms might thus be effective in preventing future mental disorders. However, these interventions are challenging to implement because we lack knowledge on which specific childhood symptoms have predictive associations with adult psychopathologic disorders. In our study, we used a novel methodologic approach, the network perspective, in which symptoms are conceptualized as distinct entities that can causally influence each other, be self-reinforcing and are thus part of causal chains which can culminate in disorders. We investigated longitudinally the network structure among a broad range of emotional and behavioral symptoms (symptoms of attention deficit, symptoms of hyperactivity, disruptive symptoms, internalizing symptoms, prosocial symptoms) collected in elementary school girls (6-10 years) included in the Quebec Longitudinal Study of Kindergarten Children. We showed that symptoms “irritable”, “blames others”, “not liked by other children”, “often cries”, and “solitary” retained a distinctive position in the network because most of the direct relationships between the disruptive and internalizing symptom clusters transited through them. These symptoms have been termed bridge symptoms in the network perspective, as they constitute pathways that can connect different disorders. We then investigated the relationships between this emotional and behavioral symptoms network in childhood and the occurrence of anxiety disorders at age 15 and 22 years. Importantly, the bridge symptoms (particularly “not liked by other children” and “irritable”) exhibited the strongest relationships with future anxiety disorders. (more…)
Author Interviews, Depression, JAMA, OBGYNE / 15.07.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Rebecca Pearson, PhD Lecturer in Psychiatric Epidemiology Centre for Academic Mental Health School of Social & Community Medicine University of Bristol MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?  Response: We know depression and anxiety are common in young women and during pregnancy when there are also implications for the developing child. It is therefore important to investigate whether symptoms are rising given the pressures of modern life. We found that compared to their mothers generation in the 1990s young pregnancy women today are more likely to be depressed. This was driven largely by symptoms of anxiety and feeling overwhelmed rather than feeling down.  (more…)
Author Interviews, Mental Health Research, PLoS, Probiotics / 21.06.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Daniel Reis MA Graduate Student Clinical Psychology University of Kansas MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Probiotics have generated considerable interest as a possible treatment for numerous forms of physical and mental illness. Preliminary evidence from both preclinical and clinical studies suggest that probiotics may be able to reduce anxiety. Our goal was to comprehensively review and summarize existing preclinical and clinical studies. Overall, probiotic administration reduced anxiety-like behaviors in rodents, but only in those with some form of experimentally-induced disease (such as early-life stress or socieal defeat). Probiotics did not reduce anxiety in humans. (more…)
Author Interviews, Depression, Endocrinology, JAMA, Mental Health Research, Thyroid Disease / 14.05.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Thyroid gland Wikipedia imageTeja Grömer PD Dr. med. Habil Facharzt für Psychiatrie und Psychotherapie Lehrbefugter der Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg im Fach Psychiatrie Bamberg  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? 1) I had seen hundreds of clinical cases with combined depression and anxiety and noted end of 2015 that most (far more than 50%) from the subjective clinical impression were associated with autoimmune thyroiditis (AIT) 2) Autoimmune thyroiditis on the mental side leads to specific symptoms, exhaustion, tachycardia, restlessness. 3) I thus decided to do a systematic review and meta-analysis.  (more…)
Author Interviews, CDC, Depression, Pediatrics / 04.05.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Rebecca H. Bitsko, PhD National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities Centers for Disease Control and Prevention  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: CDC’s National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities(https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/index.html) (NCBDDD) is committed to helping children who have mental, emotional, and behavioral disorders. Anxiety and depression are both internalizing mental disorders that often start during childhood, and that frequently occur together. In this study, we show that more than 1 in 20, or 2.6 million, US children aged 6-17 had a current diagnosis of anxiety or depression, by parent report, in 2011-12. We also found an increase of diagnosed anxiety in these children from 1 in 28 in 2007 to 1 in 24 in 2011-12. Further, in 2011-12, approximately 1 in 5 children with current anxiety or depression did not receive mental health treatment in the past year. Children with current anxiety or depression were more likely than those without to have:
  • Another mental, behavioral, or developmental disorder such as ADHD, learning disability, or speech or language problems
  • School problems
  • Parents who report high levels of stress and frustration with parenting
  • Unmet medical and mental health service needs
(more…)
Author Interviews, Mental Health Research, Pediatrics, Primary Care / 15.04.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Anna Scandinaro Medical student Penn State College of Medicine MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?  Response: Dr. Usman Hameed, a child and adolescent psychiatrist, and Dr. Dellasega wrote a previous paper called "What is irritability?" which examined the idea and concept of what irritability in school aged children can encompass. After considering possible definitions of irritability, we wanted to see how the concept manifested in clinical practice, especially with the controversy around the new diagnosis of Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder (DMDD) in the DSM 5. The main findings of this study are that primary care providers (PCP)​identified a need for more training and education in how to assess irritability in pediatric and adolescent populations. In contrast, the child and adolescent psychiatrists we interviewed thought more triage from PCPs who care for school aged children with irritability would be helpful.  (more…)
Author Interviews, Autism / 04.01.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Tamara Rosen Graduate student in Clinical Psychology Stony Brook University MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Approximately 40 percent of youth with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are diagnosed with a co-occurring anxiety disorder.  Social anxiety is a common presenting problem for these youth. Youth with ASD and increased social anxiety have heightened threat sensitivity, particularly in relation to performance fears, as measured by a brain signal response called the error-related negativity (ERN), which measures response to errors. The threat sensitivity-performance fears association remained even after controlling for anxiety symptoms other than social fearfulness. (more…)
Author Interviews, Mental Health Research, Pain Research / 20.10.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Fu-Chi Yang, M.D., Ph.D.Assistant Professor Department of Neurology, Tri-Service General Hospital National Defense Medical Center Taipei, Taiwan MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Migraineurs are likely to suffer from comorbid depression and anxiety. Furthermore, increased migraine frequency is associated with an increased risk of mood/anxiety disorders. It is not distinguished by grouping frequency of migraine attacks, whether it is associated with severity scores of depression and anxiety. Thus, we evaluated the relationship between severity of depression/anxiety and migraine frequency We mainly found that the severity of depression (BDI and HADS-depression scores) and anxiety (HADS anxiety score) were related to migraine frequency, after adjusting confounding factors. (more…)
Author Interviews, Mental Health Research, Pharmacology, Psychological Science / 10.10.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Vanda Faria PhD Department of Psychology Uppsala, Sweden  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: It has been debated whether selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), which are commonly prescribed for depression and anxiety, are more effective than placebo. Concerns have been raised that the beneficial effects of SSRIs, as measured in double-blind clinical trials, may be explained by expectancies (a crucial placebo mechanism) rather than the biochemical compound. But no study has tested experimentally the extent to which the SSRI treatment effect can be influenced by expectancies induced by verbal suggestions. We compared the efficacy of overt vs. covert administration of an SSRI (escitalopram) in patients with social anxiety disorder. Rather than comparing the SSRI with placebo, we compared it with itself while manipulating the patients’ expectations of improvement. This was achieved by informing one group correctly about the SSRI and its effectiveness (overt group) whereas the comparison (covert) group received incorrect information. By use of a cover story, the covert group was led to believe they were treated with a so called “active placebo”, an ineffective neurokinin-1 antagonist yielding similar side effects as the SSRI but lacking anxiety-reducing properties. But the treatment, dosage and duration was in fact identical in both groups. Results showed that overt outperformed covert SSRI treatment, as the number of treatment responders was more than three times higher on the main clinical outcome measure when correct information was given. Using neuroimaging (fMRI) we also noted differences between the overt and covert SSRI groups on objective brain activity measures. There were differences between the groups e.g. with regard to activation of the posterior cingulate cortex with treatment, and the functional coupling between this region and the amygdala which is a brain region crucially involved in fear and anxiety. The fMRI  results may reflect the interaction between cognition and emotion as the brain changes differently with treatment pending on the expectations of improvement. (more…)
Author Interviews, JAMA, Mental Health Research / 07.09.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Patricia Moreno-Peral, PhD Research Unit, Primary Care District of Málaga-Guadalhorce Prevention and Health Promotion Research Network Institute of Biomedical Research in Málaga Málaga, Spain  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response:  No systematic reviews or meta-analyses have been performed on the effectiveness of preventive psychological and/or educational interventions for anxiety in varied populations. Previously, other systematic reviews have been focused on prevention efficacy in specific interventions (e.g. cognitive behavior interventions) or age groups (e.g. adolescents). (more…)
Author Interviews, Mental Health Research, PLoS, University of Pennsylvania / 29.08.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Yuanyuan Xie, PhD Postdoctoral Researcher Department of Neuroscience University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA 19104 MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: I joined Dr. Richard Dorsky’s lab in mid 2013 after a lab switch toward the end of the fourth year in my PhD. By then, the Dorsky lab at the University of Utah had published zebrafish lef1 mutants with a hypothalamic neurogenesis phenotype. I was asked to perform an RNA-sequencing (RNA-seq) experiment to identify Lef1-dependent genes. In doing so, I also characterized the cellular phenotype in the hypothalamus of our zebrafish mutants in a greater detail. The first transition of this project happened when I proposed in late 2013 to test whether Lef1’s function was conserved in the mouse hypothalamus. Dr. Dorsky liked that idea, but told me that I could only pursue that idea if there was a Lef1-flox mouse strain available, because he did not want me to delay my graduation after a lab switch by making a new mouse line. Fortunately, a quick google search located the right mouse line published from the group of Dr. Hai-Hui Xue, who was generous enough to share some mice with us. Because the Dorsky lab was a zebrafish lab by then, we collaborated with Dr. Edward Levine to maintain our mice under his animal protocol. I was initially trained by Dr. Levine and his lab specialist Anna Clark for general mouse colony management. After Dr. Levine moved to Vanderbilt University in early 2016, we began to maintain our mice under Dr. Camille Fung’s animal protocol. Dr. Dorsky also supported me in attending a 3-week Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Course on Mouse Development, Stem Cells & Cancer in mid 2015, which made me much more confident in handling mouse work afterwards. (more…)
Author Interviews, Mental Health Research, Psychological Science / 19.05.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Justin M. Kim, Ph.D Dartmouth College Advisor: Paul J. Whalen MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Anxiety (and its co-conspirator ‘worry’) is an active, energy consuming process. You haven’t given up - you are still fighting back, trying to anticipate what might happen tomorrow. The problem of course is that there are an infinite number of ‘what if…’ scenarios you can come up with. For some individuals, the uncertainty of what ‘might happen’ tomorrow, is actually worse than the negative event itself actually happening. These individuals are intolerant of uncertainty. We were interested in how uncertainty and ambiguity of potential future threat contribute to the generation of anxiety and how they might be represented in our brain. In the psychology literature, how we deal with an uncertain future can be quantified as intolerance of uncertainty (IU). As is the case with any other personality characteristic, we all have varying degrees of IU. For example, individuals high in IU display difficulty accepting the possibility of potential negative events in the future. Importantly, psychiatric disorders such as generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) or obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), whose symptoms are marked with worrying/obsessing, are commonly associated elevated IU. We noticed that while much of the neuroimaging research on IU has been primarily focused on brain function, brain structural correlates of IU have received little attention so far. As such, we believed that it was an important endeavor to assess the relationship between IU and the structural properties of the brain, which can be done through the use of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques. (more…)