Mental Health

US psychiatry gets makeover in new manual

The latest makeover to a massive psychiatric tome honored by some, reviled by others and even called the "Bible" of mental disorders is being released Saturday with a host of new changes.

Psychology & Psychiatry created 19 hours ago | popularity not rated yet | comments 1

Youth who have their first drink during puberty have higher levels of later drinking

Research shows that the earlier the age at which youth take their first alcoholic drink, the greater the risk of developing alcohol problems. Thus, age at first drink (AFD) is generally considered a powerful predictor of ...

Health created May 17, 2013 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Physical & emotional impairments common, often untreated in people with cancer

A new review finds cancer survivors suffer a diverse and complex set of impairments, affecting virtually every organ system. Writing in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians, Julie Silver, M.D., associate professor at Harvar ...

Cancer created May 17, 2013 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Sexual assaults in psych wards show urgent need for reform

Women admitted to psychiatry wards experience high levels of violence and sexual assaults, according to a report released this week by the Victorian Mental Illness Alliance Council.

Health created May 17, 2013 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

One in five U.S. kids has a mental health disorder, CDC reports

(HealthDay)—As many as one in five American children under the age of 17 has a diagnosable mental disorder in a given year, according to a new federal report.

Psychology & Psychiatry created May 16, 2013 | popularity 2.2 / 5 (5) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Depression linked to almost doubled stroke risk in middle-aged women

Depressed middle-aged women have almost double the risk of having a stroke, according to research published in Stroke: Journal of the American Heart Association.

Cardiology created May 16, 2013 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Researchers say they are shocked by new statistics on head injuries among people who are homeless

Men who are heavy drinkers and homeless for long periods of time have 400 times the number of head injuries as the general population, according to a new study by researchers who said they were shocked by their findings.

Health created May 16, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Young women often less healthy than young men before heart attacks

Young women tend to be less healthy and have a poorer quality of life than similar-aged men before suffering a heart attack, according to research presented at the American Heart Association's Quality of Care and Outcomes ...

Cardiology created May 15, 2013 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Father absence in early childhood linked to depression in adolescent girls

(Medical Xpress)—New research from the Children of the 90s study at the University of Bristol shows that girls whose fathers were absent during the first five years of life were more likely to develop depressive ...

Psychology & Psychiatry created May 15, 2013 | popularity 2 / 5 (1) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Mental health and NCDs

Non-communicable diseases (NCD) and mental disorders each constitute a huge portion of the worldwide health care burden, and often occur together, so they should be addressed together. These are the conclusions of the third ...

Psychology & Psychiatry created May 14, 2013 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

New program successful in reducing service and substance use among frequent health care users

A program co-led by St. Michael's Hospital could be the next widely used model to treat patients who are frequent users of the health care system and have severe addictions, often complicated by homelessness and mental health ...

Health created May 14, 2013 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Flu in pregnancy may quadruple child's risk for bipolar disorder

Pregnant mothers' exposure to the flu was associated with a nearly fourfold increased risk that their child would develop bipolar disorder in adulthood, in a study funded by the National Institutes of Health. The findings ...

Psychology & Psychiatry created May 14, 2013 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Social considerations not accounted for in DSM-5

(HealthDay)—Social and population variations in mental diagnosis are not accounted for in the newly revised fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), according to ...

Psychology & Psychiatry created May 14, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 1

Self-image worse for teens with untreated scoliosis

(HealthDay)—Adolescents with untreated adolescent idiopathic scoliosis report worse pain and worse self-image than unaffected adolescents, although the difference is clinically significant only for self-image, ...

Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes created May 13, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

To suppress or to explore? Emotional strategy may influence anxiety

When trouble approaches, what do you do? Run for the hills? Hide? Pretend it isn't there? Or do you focus on the promise of rain in those looming dark clouds? New research suggests that the way you regulate ...

Psychology & Psychiatry created May 13, 2013 | popularity 3 / 5 (2) | comments 2 | with audio podcast


Mental health describes a level of psychological well-being, or an absence of a mental disorder. From the perspective of 'positive psychology' or 'holism', mental health may include an individual's ability to enjoy life, and create a balance between life activities and efforts to achieve psychological resilience. Mental health can also be defined as an expression of emotions, and as signifying a successful adaptation to a range of demands.

The World Health Organization defines mental health as "a state of well-being in which the individual realizes his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to his or her community". It was previously stated that there was no one "official" definition of mental health. Cultural differences, subjective assessments, and competing professional theories all affect how "mental health" is defined. There are different types of mental health problems, some of which are common, such as depression and anxiety disorders, and some not so common, such as schizophrenia and Bipolar disorder.

Most recently, the field of Global Mental Health has emerged, which has been defined as 'the area of study, research and practice that places a priority on improving mental health and achieving equity in mental health for all people worldwide'.

This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.

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For combat veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, 'fear circuitry' in the brain never rests

Chronic trauma can inflict lasting damage to brain regions associated with fear and anxiety. Previous imaging studies of people with post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, have shown that these brain regions can over-or ...