http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. (Medical Xpress)—Drugs for psychiatric disorders such as depression and schizophrenia often require weeks to take full effect. "What takes so long?" has formed one of psychiatry's most stubborn mysteries. Now a fresh look at previous research on quite a different drug—nicotine—is providing answers. The new ideas may point the way toward new generations of psychiatric drugs that work faster and better. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-approach-common-psychiactric-treatments.html Psychology & Psychiatry Wed, 21 Nov 2012 07:50:13 EST news272706592 Researchers at Thomas Jefferson University and the University of Sao Paulo in Brazil analyzed the cerebral blood flow (CBF) of Brazilian mediums during the practice of psychography, described as a form of writing whereby a deceased person or spirit is believed to write through the medium's hand. The new research revealed intriguing findings of decreased brain activity during mediumistic dissociative state which generated complex written content. Their findings will appear in the November 16th edition of the online journal PLOS ONE. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-brazilian-mediums-brain-trance-state.html Neuroscience Fri, 16 Nov 2012 17:00:01 EST news272274780 More than 15 percent of Norwegian teenagers ages 15 to 16 reported “mental distress,” or symptoms of depression and anxiety, with significantly more girls reporting distress than boys, according to a new study in the Journal of Adolescent Health. Girls with mental distress were also more likely than their male counterparts to be prescribed psychotropic drugs—those that alter chemical levels in the brain, affecting behavior and mood. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-girls-mental-distress-psychiatric-drugs.html Psychology & Psychiatry Wed, 11 Jan 2012 09:20:03 EST news245494979 (AP) -- Government inspectors will tell lawmakers Wednesday that the Medicare health plan needs to do more to stop doctors from prescribing powerful psychiatric drugs to nursing home patients with dementia, an unapproved practice that has flourished despite repeated government warnings. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-inspector-highlights-psych-drug-elderly.html Health Wed, 30 Nov 2011 14:27:49 EST news241885658 Medical evidence suggests that psychiatric drugs known as atypical antipsychotics are effective in reducing symptoms for some off-label conditions, but not others, according to a new RAND Corporation study. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-atypical-antipsychotics-aid-symptons-off-label.html Psychology & Psychiatry Tue, 27 Sep 2011 16:00:07 EST news236352442