News tagged with psychiatric disorders

Is this peptide a key to happiness?

(Medical Xpress)—What makes us happy? Family? Money? Love? How about a peptide? The neurochemical changes underlying human emotions and social behavior are largely unknown. Now though, for the first time in humans, scientists ...

Psychology & Psychiatry created Mar 07, 2013 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (8) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Origin of intelligence, mental illness linked to ancient genetic accident

Scientists have discovered for the first time how humans – and other mammals – have evolved to have intelligence.

Neuroscience created Dec 02, 2012 | popularity 3.8 / 5 (33) | comments 12 | with audio podcast

Changes in nerve cells may contribute to the development of mental illness

Reduced production of myelin, a type of protective nerve fiber that is lost in diseases like multiple sclerosis, may also play a role in the development of mental illness, according to researchers at the Graduate School of ...

Neuroscience created Nov 28, 2012 | popularity 4.2 / 5 (5) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Schizophrenia genetic networks identified: Connection to autism found

Although schizophrenia is highly genetic in origin, the genes involved in the disorder have been difficult to identify. In the past few years, researchers have implicated several genes, but it is unclear how they act to produce ...

Neuroscience created Nov 11, 2012 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (8) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Decreased gene activity is likely involved in childhood risk for anxiety and depression

Decreased activity of a group of genes may explain why in young children the "fear center" of the anxious brain can't learn to distinguish real threats from the imaginary, according to a new University of Wisconsin study.

Psychology & Psychiatry created Oct 18, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Mystery gene reveals new mechanism for anxiety disorders

A novel mechanism for anxiety behaviors, including a previously unrecognized inhibitory brain signal, may inspire new strategies for treating psychiatric disorders, University of Chicago researchers report.

Genetics created May 15, 2012 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (4) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Sleepwalking more prevalent among US adults than previously suspected

What goes bump in the night? In many U.S. households: people. That's according to new Stanford University School of Medicine research, which found that about 3.6 percent of U.S. adults are prone to sleepwalking. The work ...

Neuroscience created May 14, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0 | with audio podcast

New study confirms that mom's love good for child's brain

School-age children whose mothers nurtured them early in life have brains with a larger hippocampus, a key structure important to learning, memory and response to stress.

Psychology & Psychiatry created Jan 30, 2012 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (11) | comments 3 | with audio podcast

Patients' own cells yield new insights into the biology of schizophrenia

After a century of studying the causes of schizophrenia-the most persistent disabling condition among adults-the cause of the disorder remains unknown. Now induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) generated ...

Medical research created Apr 13, 2011 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (5) | comments 2 | with audio podcast

Do you obsess over your appearance? Your brain might be wired abnormally

Body dysmorphic disorder is a disabling but often misunderstood psychiatric condition in which people perceive themselves to be disfigured and ugly, even though they look normal to others. New research at UCLA shows that ...

Neuroscience created Apr 29, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Use of anti-epileptic drug during pregnancy associated with increased risk of autism

Maternal use of valproate (a drug used for the treatment of epilepsy and other neuropsychological disorders) during pregnancy was associated with a significantly increased risk of autism in offspring, according to a study ...

Autism spectrum disorders created Apr 23, 2013 | popularity 2 / 5 (1) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Researchers reveal more effective way of testing therapies to treat depression

(Medical Xpress)—Researchers have found a new method for studying depression in rats that mirrors an aspect of the mood-related symptoms of the condition in humans. Until now, the lack of animal models ...

Psychology & Psychiatry created Apr 19, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Fight control: Researchers link individual neurons to regulation of aggressive behavior in flies

(Medical Xpress)—Scientists have long pondered the roots of aggression—and ways to temper it. Now, new research is beginning to illuminate the cellular-level circuitry responsible for modulating aggression ...

Neuroscience created Apr 19, 2013 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Changes to psychiatry's 'bible' could widen definition of ADHD

(HealthDay)—When the latest version of what is considered the "bible" of psychiatry is unveiled in May, experts believe several changes in it will broaden both the definition and diagnosis of attention-deficit/hyperactivity ...

Attention deficit disorders created Apr 12, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Somatic symptom disorder: New condition could classify millions of people as mentally ill

Millions of people could be mislabeled as mentally ill when psychiatry's bible of diagnoses is updated in May, warns a senior doctor in this week's BMJ.

Psychology & Psychiatry created Mar 19, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Mental disorder

A mental disorder or mental illness is a psychological or behavioral pattern that occurs in an individual and is thought to cause distress or disability that is not expected as part of normal development or culture. The recognition and understanding of mental disorders has changed over time and across cultures. Definitions, assessments, and classifications of mental disorders can vary, but guideline criteria listed in the ICD, DSM and other manuals are widely accepted by mental health professionals. Categories of diagnoses in these schemes may include dissociative disorders, mood disorders, anxiety disorders, psychotic disorders, eating disorders, developmental disorders, personality disorders, ambulatory disorders and many other categories. In many cases there is no single accepted or consistent cause of mental disorders, although they are often explained in terms of a diathesis-stress model and biopsychosocial model. Mental disorders have been found to be common, with over a third of people in most countries reporting sufficient criteria at some point in their life. Services for mental disorders may be based in hospitals or in the community. Mental health professionals diagnose individuals using different methodologies, often relying on case history and interview. Psychotherapy and psychiatric medication are two major treatment options, as well as supportive interventions and self-help. Treatment may be involuntary where legislation allows. Several movements campaign for changes to services and attitudes.

For more information about Mental disorder, read the full article at Wikipedia.
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