mental health

Annie Valentina Castanon knows the endless scroll of social media well — one short video on an app like Instagram or TikTok turns into another, she said, and soon a minute turns into hours. The quick rush from flashy entertainment gives way to anxiety as she worries about losing time that should have been spent on her Advanced Placement classes. And then depression sets in over the sense that she’s setting her future self up for failure. The senior at DSST: Montview High School in Denver has joined a push at the Colorado…

Mobile phone ownership has become standard for people of most ages, and, while there's a convenience argument, experts and regulators alike have expressed concerns about children's well-being and distraction while learning. To that end, the UK government has become the latest to announce guidance for banning the use of phones during school. It follows other European countries like France and Italy, which prohibit phones in classrooms.Some schools in the UK already have no-phone policies in place, but these guidelines…

New York Mayor Eric Adams (D) announced Wednesday a lawsuit targeting five major social media platforms, alleging the companies that host the platforms are responsible for “fueling the nationwide youth mental health crisis.” The lawsuit, filed in California by the City of New York, seeks accountability from the companies behind five major platforms: Meta’s Facebook and Instagram, Snap’s Snapchat, ByteDance’s TikTok, and Google’s YouTube. “Over the past decade, we have seen just how addictive and…

But this is only half of the problem that needs solving. For those who do want to seek treatment, there simply aren’t enough resources to help them. Clinical psychologists are supposed to limit the number of patient consultations they do in a day, so they don’t burn out. Before the full-scale invasion, Inna Davydenko saw a maximum of four patients daily. Today, Davydenko, a mental health specialist at the City Center of Neurorehabilitation in Kyiv, sees twice that number. When we speak, she’s just finished a video call…

A study from the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus reveals that the use of antidepressants during pregnancy, specifically fluoxetine, can affect fetal brain development, particularly in the prefrontal cortex, and increase the risk of mental health disorders in children. Credit: SciTechDaily.comFirst study to provide evidence of the direct impact of serotonin on the development of prefrontal cortex.A new study published today (February 16) in Nature Communications provides direct evidence that antidepressant…

Recent research from the University of Otago has demonstrated that kiwifruit, a rich source of vitamin C, can quickly enhance mood and vitality, showing effects in as little as four days. The study, which involved 155 adults with low vitamin C levels, utilized smartphone surveys to track improvements in mood, vitality, and overall well-being. The findings underscore the benefits of incorporating nutrient-rich foods like kiwifruit into one’s diet for mental health and introduce a novel approach to nutritional research.…

Bullying in childhood is directly linked to the development of severe mental health issues in later life through the pathway of increased interpersonal distrust. This connection underscores the importance of early intervention programs focused on building trust among peers. Credit: SciTechDaily.comUCLA Health researcher says teens who experience bullying and develop distrust of others are 3.5 times more likely to experience clinically significant mental health issues by age 17.A new study, co-led by UCLA Health and the…

Anthony Montgomery: The most important part of burnout is that it’s about yourself, but it’s also about others.Shayla Love: One of my New Year’s resolutions was to be less burned-out. Maybe you can relate; you think, 'I’m going to better manage my stress this year. I’m going to make time for activities that I find nourishing and finally nail that work/life balance.' But just a few weeks into January, I found myself hitting a wall. The sense of renewal of a new year didn’t manifest. The burnout I felt from 2023 had…

Another week, another study finding that Ozempic/Wegovy and similar drugs may do a lot more than just help people lose weight. New research has found that patients who start taking GLP-1 drugs are less likely to be diagnosed with depression and anxiety afterward, compared to similar patients not on the drug. The findings do not prove a cause-and-effect relationship, but provide further evidence that these drugs are not typically harmful to people’s mental health.The Animal Kingdom Imagines a World of Humans Turning Into…

A UC San Francisco study shows a correlation between depression and higher body temperatures, hinting at new treatment methods through temperature regulation. With data from over 20,000 global participants, this research suggests that heat-based treatments could offer benefits for those with depression. Credit: SciTechDaily.comNew study may support heat-based treatment to stimulate self-cooling as new treatment.People with depression have higher body temperatures, suggesting there could be a mental health benefit to…