https://medicalxpress.com/mental-health-news/ en-us Latest health news and information about Psychology and Mental Health A team of researchers led by the University of Aberdeen has found that private gardens played a vital role in supporting people's well-being during the U.K.'s first COVID-19 lockdown, when access to public green spaces was significantly restricted. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04-private-gardens-covid-lockdown.html Sat, 18 Apr 2026 11:00:05 EDT news695564874 Scientists who use imaging to understand the brain's complexity often focus on the strongest signals and ignore the rest. But this strategy, researchers warn, may reveal only the tip of the iceberg. A study published in Nature Human Behavior reveals that connections routinely overlooked as "noise" during neuroimaging data analysis can predict behavior with remarkable accuracy—and implicate entirely different brain networks. The finding could open many new targets for treating psychiatric illness, the researchers say. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04-discarded-brain-noise-overlooked-networks.html Fri, 17 Apr 2026 12:40:06 EDT news695645521 Over 1 billion people worldwide are living with one or more mental health disorders that affect their mood, thinking processes and behavior, impacting their daily functioning to varying degrees. Identifying variations in the brain's structure and organization that are commonly linked with mental health disorders could help to devise more effective tools to diagnose these conditions or create personalized treatment plans. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04-real-world-mri-brain-signatures.html Fri, 17 Apr 2026 10:00:01 EDT news695638187 The gut microbiome influences numerous physiological processes. Researchers at the University of Vienna have now demonstrated for the first time that, in healthy adults, the diversity of gut bacteria and their capacity to produce certain metabolites are associated with the acute stress response—particularly stress reactivity. Higher microbial diversity was associated with stronger hormonal and subjectively perceived stress reactivity. The results suggest that the gut microbiome may play a role in regulating the acute stress response. The study was published in Neurobiology of Stress. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04-gut-microbes-reveal-cortisol-spikes.html Thu, 16 Apr 2026 19:20:01 EDT news695564745 New research led by a scholar at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign suggests that watching and creating videography of scenic locations cultivates nature-based mindfulness—conveying the same cognitive and emotional benefits as outdoor activities and fostering a deep sense of connection with nature. The findings are published in the Journal of Sustainable Tourism. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04-nature-videos-calm-mind-mood.html Thu, 16 Apr 2026 15:00:10 EDT news695564070 Depression is among the most widespread mental health disorders worldwide, affecting an estimated 1 in 20 people. It is characterized by persistent sadness, hopelessness, disrupted sleep patterns, changes in appetite and a loss of interest in everyday activities. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04-movement-mood-depression-early.html Thu, 16 Apr 2026 11:40:01 EDT news695552078 Placebo effects, in which patients experience relief without therapeutic treatment, increasingly have been considered as potentially powerful clinical treatments for ailments such as depression and pain. Yet the neurological mechanisms underlying such processes are not fully understood. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04-neurobiologists-hack-brain-circuits-placebo.html Thu, 16 Apr 2026 11:00:03 EDT news695547901 An international clinical trial led by researchers at the Center for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) and University of California San Diego School of Medicine, published in The Lancet Psychiatry, has found that magnetic seizure therapy (MST) is as effective as electroconvulsive therapy (ECT)—the current gold-standard treatment for severe, treatment-resistant depression—with significantly fewer cognitive side effects. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04-depression-treatment-rival-electroconvulsive-therapy.html Wed, 15 Apr 2026 18:30:09 EDT news695484121 Researchers at Cincinnati Children's, working with collaborators at University College London and Oak Ridge National Laboratory, have identified a practical, data-centered strategy to reduce bias in artificial intelligence (AI) systems used in children's mental health care. The findings, published in Communications Medicine, address growing concern that AI tools designed to assist clinicians may not perform equally well across patient groups. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04-method-advances-efforts-bias-ai.html Wed, 15 Apr 2026 16:40:01 EDT news695486823 Drug trials generally involve comparing a treatment with a nonactive, placebo version, an approach called "blinding" because patients must be "blind" as to which they've received for the trial to work. Canadian researchers say this is a huge issue for studies of psychedelic therapies because it's fairly obvious to patients whether they've been given a psychedelic or a placebo. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04-psychedelic-mental-health-trials-reliable.html Wed, 15 Apr 2026 15:40:07 EDT news695483130 From van Gogh to Amy Winehouse, the trope of the suffering artist has been around nearly as long as art itself—but is the connection between creativity and pain mere metaphor, or grounded in science? According to Constructor University Neurobiologist Dr. Radwa Khalil, not only do the two share underlying neurological mechanisms, but their connection holds therapeutic potential to use creativity to reshape how our brains process pain. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04-pain-creativity-brain-machinery-bold.html Wed, 15 Apr 2026 13:00:09 EDT news695476768 On March 25, a California trial awarded $6 million to a plaintiff who argued that the addictive qualities of social media had caused her harm. Google and Meta, which were the companies that were found liable, disagree with the verdict and intend to appeal. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04-jury-sharpens-heavy-social-media.html Wed, 15 Apr 2026 11:20:01 EDT news695468864 A new Yale study shows how the timing of depression in mothers and fathers affects mental health in their adult children. This includes influences on depression, anxiety, and psychotic disorders. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04-parental-depression-adult-children-mental.html Tue, 14 Apr 2026 16:40:01 EDT news695401980 A research team led by Professor Hyun Ghang Jeong from the Department of Psychiatry at Korea University College of Medicine (Korea University Guro Hospital), in collaboration with the research team at Geovision Inc., has published the results of a large-scale validation study investigating the feasibility of early detection of self-harm behavior using artificial intelligence (AI) in psychiatric wards. The study was published in the journal Scientific Reports. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04-ai-early-behavior-psychiatric-wards.html Tue, 14 Apr 2026 15:40:09 EDT news695398921