http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. A UCLA-led study of adolescents receiving treatment for methamphetamine dependence has found that girls are more likely to continue using the drug during treatment than boys, suggesting that new approaches are needed for treating meth abuse among teen girls. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-teen-girls-successful-boys-meth.html Addiction Tue, 30 Apr 2013 17:35:36 EST news286562129 Belief in God may significantly improve the outcome of those receiving short-term treatment for psychiatric illness, according to a recent study conducted by McLean Hospital investigators. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-faith-god-positively-treatment-individuals.html Psychology & Psychiatry Thu, 25 Apr 2013 00:00:04 EST news286045296 Veterans who sustained major limb injuries during combat reported little improvement in symptoms of depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other mental-health problems up to 2 years post injury, according to research presented today. In contrast, pain showed the most improvement 3-6 months after acute hospitalization, and then leveled off after 1 year. The investigative team, led by Rollin M. Gallagher, MD, MPH, reported results during a poster session at the 29th Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Pain Medicine. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-pain-year-mental-health-problems-linger.html Psychology & Psychiatry Thu, 11 Apr 2013 16:59:19 EST news284918354 Adolescents participating in wilderness and adventure therapy programs are at significantly less risk of injury than those playing football and are three times less likely to visit the emergency room for an injury than if they were at home, a new study by University of New Hampshire researchers finds. These findings, based on an analysis of risk management data from 12 programs providing outdoor behavioral healthcare in 2011, were reported in the latest issue of the Journal of Therapeutic Schools and Programs. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-wilderness-therapy-risky-daily-life.html Health Thu, 28 Mar 2013 12:05:12 EST news283691103 Chronic illness takes a significant toll on children, but the psychological toll can often go overlooked. Children with chronic illness are twice as likely to have more emotional or behavioral challenges in comparison to healthy children. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-child-cope-chronic-medical-condition.html Health Fri, 01 Mar 2013 08:50:03 EST news281347316 (HealthDay)—In a final rule, which will make purchasing health coverage easier for consumers, mental health and substance use benefits will be expanded to 62 million Americans, according to a report published Feb. 20 by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-mental-health-substance-disorder-benefits.html Health Fri, 22 Feb 2013 15:30:01 EST news280765815 In a study examining the impact of a parity policy for mental health insurance benefits, researchers have concluded that parity had a different impact on spending and service utilization for enrollees with illnesses that are more severe and chronic. As a result of the parity policy, individuals seeking treatment for major depression or bipolar disorder had lower out-of-pocket spending, despite no significant difference in the amount of behavioral health services they used. However, individuals with adjustment disorder (a less severe, acute illness) had lower spending, in part because they also received fewer psychotherapy services after the parity policy was implemented. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-mental-health-parity-pocket-expenses.html Psychology & Psychiatry Fri, 01 Feb 2013 04:56:48 EST news278916992 When a child is born with a disorder of sex development, decisions regarding gender assignment and genital surgery are often made quickly and under pressure. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-u-m-parents-children-disorders-sex.html Health Wed, 16 Jan 2013 15:38:25 EST news277573098 (HealthDay)—Prescription painkillers are second only to marijuana when it comes to drug abuse, a new government report claims. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-prescription-painkillers-trail-marijuana-abuse.html Medications Thu, 10 Jan 2013 14:20:01 EST news277044770 (Medical Xpress)—Black urban teenagers from low-income families face a rate of sexually transmitted disease up to 10 times higher than their white counterparts, but recent studies at Oregon State University have identified approaches to prevention programs that might reduce this problem. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-std-epidemic-black-teenagers.html Health Tue, 25 Sep 2012 14:53:51 EST news267803623 (HealthDay)—Getting some babies to sleep can test a parent's sanity, but bleary-eyed mothers and fathers can be reassured that popular sleep training techniques have no long-lasting positive or negative effects on children's sleep quality, mental and behavioral health, or parent-child attachment, a new study suggests. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-multiple-methods-safely-babies.html Pediatrics Mon, 10 Sep 2012 14:40:01 EST news266497177 Richard Gershon has a shiny new toolbox for neuroscientists that will revolutionize their clinical research by making it radically faster, cheaper and more accurate. It also will help researchers recruit children and adults for studies because participation will be much less time consuming. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-neuroscience-faster-cheaper-easier.html Neuroscience Thu, 30 Aug 2012 15:20:27 EST news265558493 Autism Speaks, the world's leading autism science and advocacy organization, today released An Introduction to Behavioral Health Treatments, Applied Behavior Analysis and Toilet Training parent's guides. These latest tool kits, all developed as part of the work of the Autism Treatment Network through its participation as the HRSA-funded Autism Intervention Research Network on Physical Health (AIR-P), are available for free download on Autism Speaks Tool Kits webpage. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-autism-strategies-child-difficult-behaviors.html Autism spectrum disorders Thu, 21 Jun 2012 13:26:14 EST news259503928 American Soldiers are reaping the rewards of an innovative Army program designed to identify and treat Soldiers at risk of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or depression earlier by conducting behavioral health screening at all primary care visits. During the American Psychiatric Association's annual meeting last month, Col. Charles Engel, M.D., M.P.H., described the RESPECT-Mil program and its results to date in his presentation, "Effective Integrated Mental Health & Primary Care Services in the U.S. Military." Col. Engel is the RESPECT-Mil program director, director of the Department of Defense Deployment Health Clinical Center at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, and senior scientist at the Center for the Study of Traumatic Stress. He is also associate chair (Research) of the Department of Psychiatry at the Uniformed Services University School of Medicine in Bethesda, Md. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-ptsd-outcomes-army-behavioral-health.html Psychology & Psychiatry Wed, 06 Jun 2012 12:56:10 EST news258206161 Early symptoms of major mental illness can be subtle personality changes. Therefore, initial warning signs can often be missed, or even ignored due to conventional wisdom that suggests it's better to wait for true behavioral deterioration and prolonged patterns of abnormality before diagnosing and treating a mental illness. But experts warn that waiting until someone is so ill that the psychological sickness is unmistakable can be detrimental and can lead to long-term health concerns. In an effort to end the waiting game, Northwestern Medicine behavioral health experts from the Stone Institute of Psychiatry at Northwestern Memorial Hospital and Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine have launched First Contact, a program aimed at preventing the onset of long-term disability due to severe mental illness by increasing awareness of signs and symptoms and encouraging people to seek help earlier. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-contact-early-intervention-key-diagnosis.html Psychology & Psychiatry Mon, 16 Apr 2012 13:53:10 EST news253803160 (HealthDay) -- Adults with mental illness are more likely to have certain types of chronic physical health problems than those without mental illness, according to a U.S. government report released this week. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-mental-illness-tied-higher-physical.html Psychology & Psychiatry Fri, 13 Apr 2012 09:47:03 EST news253529194