https://medicalxpress.com/mental-health-news/ en-us Latest health news and information about Psychology and Mental Health Despite improvements in how AI chatbots detect and respond to suicidal ideation, they still struggle with most other mental health conditions, researchers found. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-mental-health-conditions-ai-liability.html Mon, 27 Jul 2026 09:20:02 EDT news704361602 Habit formation describes the repeated performance of a behavior until it becomes routine: in other words, the shift from deliberate to automatic decision-making. This concept is often invoked as a way to improve one's life by making beneficial activities that can otherwise feel tedious, such as cleaning, studying and regular exercise, part of a routine. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-neural-pathways-reveal-habits-vary.html Mon, 27 Jul 2026 05:00:01 EDT news704117941 Disrupted sleep and anxiety may be ongoing issues for many people after the pandemic, whether due to COVID-19 directly or to the stress and anxiety caused by the global pandemic, and may contribute to the fatigue commonly reported by people with Post-COVID-19 Syndrome (PCS, or "long COVID"). https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-pandemic-issues-late.html Sat, 25 Jul 2026 12:00:01 EDT news704030805 Social media has become as much a part of our daily lives as eating or sleeping. What started as a way for people to connect and share pictures has grown into a billion-dollar industry that shapes medical, political, and cultural narratives. Its algorithms are designed to keep people coming back, raising questions about how this constant engagement may affect the developing brain. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-teens-struggle-social-media-adhd.html Sat, 25 Jul 2026 09:40:01 EDT news704105208 Between 2018 and 2024, those who worked in construction and trades made up approximately one-third of deaths from opioid toxicity in Ontario where occupation was known, according to a report released this week by the Ontario Drug Policy Research Network (ODPRN). In addition to highlighting the toll of opioid toxicities in this sector, the report also draws attention to their impact among people across various occupations. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-opioid-toxicity-deaths-highest-workers.html Fri, 24 Jul 2026 22:40:01 EDT news704103090 Teenagers who spent six or more hours a day on social media were twice as likely to experience symptoms of anxiety and three times as likely to report suicidal ideation than those who spent less than one hour on social media each day, according to researchers at UTHealth Houston. The findings were published today in Pediatrics Open Science and led by Jeff Temple, Ph.D., professor and associate dean for clinical research at UTHealth Houston School of Behavioral Health Sciences. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-social-media-linked-anxiety-suicidal.html Fri, 24 Jul 2026 13:40:10 EDT news704115902 Modern health care systems ask much of primary care doctors. They are expected to diagnose, reassure, coordinate care, manage chronic illness and increasingly fill the gaps when other parts of the system come under strain. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-moral-distress-primary-doctors-impossible.html Fri, 24 Jul 2026 10:20:06 EDT news704101982 Mental disorders among young adults have surged, with new research showing the proportion of young Australians meeting diagnostic criteria for anxiety, mood or substance disorders increased from 23.4% to 36.2% from 2007 to 2022. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-mental-disorders-surge-young-adults.html Fri, 24 Jul 2026 08:40:06 EDT news704100182 Employees who engage with digital technology more mindfully are better protected against technostress, exhaustion and poorer mental well-being—and a new tool can now measure this capacity, according to new research. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-mindful-digital-technology-workplace-burnout.html Fri, 24 Jul 2026 08:00:01 EDT news704097782 Persistent financial hardship accelerates age-related cognitive decline, according to a new study led by University College London (UCL) researchers. The study, published in Innovation in Aging, looked at data from 2,759 people in the UK who filled out questionnaires throughout their lives as part of the MRC National Survey of Health and Development (also known as the 1946 British cohort study). https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-persistent-money-struggles-faster-brain.html Thu, 23 Jul 2026 19:10:04 EDT news704034302 Stress appears to play a role in women with young children who are diagnosed with post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection, known as Long COVID, and those who report having Long COVID symptoms. This finding, based on results from 2,500 U.S. women who completed an online survey in July 2023, is reported with related findings in an article published in Health Psychology. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-reveals-stress-significant-factor-women.html Thu, 23 Jul 2026 13:20:03 EDT news704029381 Depression is among the most common psychiatric disorders, estimated to affect between 280 million and 332 million people worldwide. This disorder is characterized by persistent sadness and hopelessness, low energy, a loss of interest in everyday activities and sometimes changes in appetite or sleep. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-aspirin-reverses-diet-driven-depression.html Thu, 23 Jul 2026 13:20:01 EDT news704029939 As substance use continues to be a major public health concern among adolescents, researchers from the University of California San Diego analyzed the latest data from one of the nation's largest longitudinal studies of youth to better understand when substance use begins, how it changes during adolescence and which substances are most commonly used together. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-adolescent-substance-mid-teens-national.html Thu, 23 Jul 2026 12:20:07 EDT news704027582 New research has found that a hormone is responsible for making mothers' interactions with newborns feel rewarding rather than just necessary. The University of Otago—Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka study, published in Science Advances, looked at how a mother's brain changes to help her devote her energy to providing for her infant's needs. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-mother-devotion-newborns-brain.html Thu, 23 Jul 2026 11:40:03 EDT news704025181 Seeing a psychiatrist via telehealth became easier from January 2022. That's when Medicare-reimbursed telepsychiatry arrangements became permanent. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-telehealth-fueling-surge-adhd-scripts.html Thu, 23 Jul 2026 09:40:03 EDT news704016182 Motor issues—such as coordination problems, motor slowing or sudden, uncontrolled movements—have been recognized as signs of psychological disorders since the 1800s. How they map to mental health conditions, however, remains unknown. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-motor-abnormalities-mental-illness-general.html Thu, 23 Jul 2026 07:00:01 EDT news704002262 Informal caregivers of individuals living with dementia experience notable reductions in stress and improvements in mindfulness within just three to four weeks of using a tailored mobile application, according to a secondary analysis published in JMIR Aging. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-digital-mindfulness-app-rapid-stress.html Wed, 22 Jul 2026 19:20:01 EDT news703951408 While more women globally are using medication to have abortions, a University of Maryland-led study published today in JAMA Psychiatry found no evidence that a first medication or procedural abortion caused an increase in mental health medication use. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-analysis-mental-health-prescriptions-abortion.html Wed, 22 Jul 2026 17:40:01 EDT news703951516 Prisoners convicted of serious violent offenses were found to be less aggressive and less likely to reoffend following a mental health intervention that could save money and reduce harm to society, according to new research led by King's College London. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-mental-health-treatment-society-money.html Wed, 22 Jul 2026 14:00:07 EDT news703933202 Research suggests people who often use cannabis start their day with higher cortisol levels than people who don't, indicating a relationship between frequent cannabis use and a possible dysregulation of the body's daily stress rhythms. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-frequent-cannabis-users-higher-cortisol.html Wed, 22 Jul 2026 13:10:01 EDT news703943523 The use of generative AI has become so widespread that ChatGPT is gradually becoming a verb, much like Google and Photoshop. Hundreds of millions of people now use large language model (LLM)-based chatbots for advice on personal, emotional and mental health problems. The reasons are largely practical: they are available 24/7, easy to access and nonjudgmental. Scientists are worried that this behavior might delay people from reaching out to health care professionals. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-ai-chatbots-mental-health-worse.html Wed, 22 Jul 2026 08:20:04 EDT news703927159 With fitness culture booming and "no days off" mindsets trending, new research is challenging common assumptions about "exercise addiction"—finding that the issue is real but often misunderstood and overstated. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-addiction-real-overstated.html Wed, 22 Jul 2026 07:00:11 EDT news703917841 Subjective olfactory impairment (SOI) is consistently associated with depression, according to a study published in JAMA Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-linked-mental-health.html Tue, 21 Jul 2026 19:20:03 EDT news703857178 People around the world are living longer than ever before but spending more of those additional years in poor health, according to a new Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study published in The Lancet Public Health. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-people-longer-years-poor-health.html Tue, 21 Jul 2026 18:30:03 EDT news703841701 Use of newer GLP-1 receptor agonists (semaglutide or tirzepatide) for obesity or diabetes among people with alcohol use disorder was associated with a reduction in alcohol-related hospital admissions, according to a study published online in the open-access journal BMJ Open. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-obesity-drugs-linked-alcohol-hospitalizations.html Tue, 21 Jul 2026 18:30:01 EDT news703828526 Children who grow up in unpredictable environments may face elevated risks for depression, anxiety, sleep disorders and other mental health challenges, according to a new study by researchers at the University of California, Irvine, Chapman University and Rady Children's Hospital Orange County, formerly called Children's Hospital of Orange County. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-unpredictable-childhood-routines-reveal-mental.html Tue, 21 Jul 2026 15:20:05 EDT news703856701 The amount of time Swedish teenagers spent on social media could not be linked to symptoms of depression or anxiety five years later, according to a new study from Karolinska Institutet published in the Journal of Adolescent Health. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-social-media-adolescence-linked-mental.html Tue, 21 Jul 2026 14:00:10 EDT news703857250 New research finds that the sounds and sights of nature are associated with significant mental health benefits compared with loud urban environments. The study, by North Carolina State University researchers, compared the effects of hearing different types of sounds in natural and urban environments on listeners' emotions. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-birdsong-forest-significant-mental-health.html Tue, 21 Jul 2026 13:00:07 EDT news703856762 Individuals with psychiatric conditions show reduced flexibility in their brain network dynamics, according to a new Rutgers study. The human brain is organized into networks that can adaptively shift and reorganize to meet ever-changing cognitive and emotional demands. This flexible reconfiguration of brain networks over time supports our ability to regulate our thoughts and behavior. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-brains-flexibility-psychiatric-conditions.html Tue, 21 Jul 2026 12:00:11 EDT news703852562 Two university faculty members, both certified audiologists, are the first to study how tinnitus affects student veterans as they navigate college classrooms. Hearing loss and tinnitus are the two most common service-related disabilities among U.S. veterans, affecting more than 3 million people nationwide. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-invisible-struggle-veteran-students.html Tue, 21 Jul 2026 11:20:05 EDT news703845002