Feature Channels: Psychology and Psychiatry

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Homelessness in Arizona has reached a new crisis point. In 2023, more than 14,000 people were without shelter—a 29% increase since 2020.Help could be on the way, thanks to grant funds that are fueling new research projects based at NAU and developed alongside community partners.Laura Noll and Robert Wickham, both associate professors of psychological sciences at NAU, recently received more than $1 million in grants from the Garcia Family Foundation to lead three projects aimed at not only finding housing and support for unsheltered Arizonans but also preventing future homelessness in the state.

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The global outbreak of COVID-19 in 2020 and resulting job losses led to a surge in suicidal ideation among Canadians, especially young people, a new UdeM-led study finds.

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A report released today by the Center for State Policy Analysis (cSPA) at Tufts University's Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life evaluates the potential impact of Massachusetts Ballot Question 4, which would legalize a group of naturally occurring psychedelic drugs — psilocybin, psilocyn, mescaline, DMT, and ibogaine — for use at home and eventually in a network of therapy centers.

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Mount Sinai Health System and IBM Research today announced the launch of the Phenotypes Reimagined to Define Clinical Treatment and Outcome Research (PREDiCTOR) study. The research effort aims to address the lack of objective measures in psychiatry by leveraging advances in artificial intelligence and incorporating rich behavioral data from clinical interviews, at-home data captured on smartphones, and cognitive testing.

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New research from the University of Georgia suggests the COVID-19 pandemic may have had an unexpected side effect for postpartum women: more benzodiazepine prescriptions. The new study found that the pandemic didn’t lead to increases in postpartum depression or anxiety diagnoses. But it did prompt a 15% increase in the number of privately insured new moms filling prescriptions for antianxiety medications like Valium, Xanax, Ativan and Klonopin.

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New mental health parity rules from the federal government aim to address issues with access and insurance coverage, but multiple experts from the University of Michigan say more effort is needed.

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Brain scans reveal that mindfulness meditation engages different neural pathways compared to placebo, demonstrating that pain relief from mindfulness meditation is not the result of the placebo effect.

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U.S. vice presidential candidate Sen. JD Vance recently made headlines after previous remarks he made in 2021 resurfaced in which he said that the U.S. was being run by Democrats, corporate oligarchs and a “bunch of childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives and the choices that they’ve made and so they want to make the rest of the country miserable, too.” While pundits often focus on the impact of suburban family voters, MSU psychologists say those without children should not be overlooked.

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Trosman, who studied the psychological roots of emotional suffering and dreams, worked at UChicago for 70 years.

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Bad behavior often occurs away from home, leading parents to blame and limit contact with peers. However, a new study shows that banning friendships can backfire, worsening behavior instead of improving it.

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A recent surgeon general’s advisory outlining an urgent need to support increasingly stressed-out parents highlights an important and growing issue, says a Virginia Tech expert. Rosanna Breaux, a psychologist at Virginia Tech who directs the Child Study Center, said how well parents manage their emotions is crucial for their own parenting experience and for the health of both themselves and their children.

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Aubyn Stahmer, professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, has been named the new director of the UC Davis MIND Institute.

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The only Injury Control Research Center in Texas has been established by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention at UTHealth Houston in partnership with Baylor College of Medicine.

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A recent study finds that hope appears to be more beneficial than mindfulness at helping people manage stress and stay professionally engaged during periods of prolonged stress at work. The study underscores the importance of looking ahead, rather than living “in the moment,” during hard times.

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A national initiative led by the National Institutes for Mental Health is now underway to find figurative “rulers” that can accurately measure and compare the quality of the various mental health treatments available.

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For the first time, UNC School of Medicine scientists created and successfully tested a closed-loop system to measure an individual’s alpha frequencies and stimulate the brain with a low-level alternating electrical current to bring balance to alpha oscillations and alleviate depression symptoms.