https://medicalxpress.com/mental-health-news/ en-us Latest health news and information about Psychology and Mental Health Often diagnosed in the teenage years, childhood-onset lupus is a serious, potentially fatal autoimmune disease that causes the body to attack itself. For as many as 10,000 U.S. youths, it can bring extreme fatigue, mood changes, pain and inflammation that affect many parts of the body. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04-therapy-kids-lupus-sessions.html Sat, 18 Apr 2026 13:00:02 EDT news695564219 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 In a new study exploring stigma associated with the use of GLP-1 drugs for weight loss, women who lost weight using GLP-1 medications were judged more harshly than those who lost weight through diet and exercise, with negative reactions driven largely by beliefs that medication-assisted weight loss is a "shortcut." The study also found higher levels of stigma when the women in sample scenarios were portrayed as white rather than Black. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04-stigma-women-weight-glp-medications.html Fri, 17 Apr 2026 10:20:03 EDT news695639582 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 A new University of Michigan study, published in Injury Prevention, tested a method called the Family Safety Net in Alaska, which shifts suicide prevention away from individual screening and toward household action. This change, researchers say, could help reach people who are often missed by standard tools. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04-family-firearm-strategy-screen-curb.html Fri, 17 Apr 2026 09:40:04 EDT news695636822 Expanding access to NHS Talking Therapies may help reduce the long-term economic inactivity faced by people with entrenched mental health problems, University of Manchester researchers say. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04-therapy-access-tackle-joblessness.html Fri, 17 Apr 2026 07:40:03 EDT news695627282 A widely used anxiety medication is being pulled from shelves due to "failed dissolution specifications," the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04-lot-xanax-recalled-nationwide-quality.html Thu, 16 Apr 2026 22:00:01 EDT news695564149 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 Researchers at The University of Manchester have identified a range of key risk and protective factors influencing whether young people vape, drink alcohol, smoke or use drugs. Based on data from more than 30,000 pupils aged 12–15, the study, published in the International Journal of Drug Policy, provides one of the most comprehensive pictures to date of adolescent substance use in England, highlighting the importance of social, emotional and environmental influences. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04-teen-substance-linked-peer-pressure.html Thu, 16 Apr 2026 17:00:02 EDT news695564612 Loneliness is something most of us will experience at some point. It is a normal emotion, not a character flaw. But it is also something that can quietly affect how we think and remember, and researchers have long debated whether it might even raise the risk of dementia. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04-loneliness-affect-memory-doesnt-dementia.html Thu, 16 Apr 2026 15:40:01 EDT news695564835 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 The more optimistic a person is, the lower their risk of developing dementia, according to a new study led by Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. The research, published April 8 in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, was led by Säde Stenlund, research associate in the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences. Other Harvard Chan co-authors included Hayami Koga, Peter James, Justin Farmer, Colleen McGrath, and Laura Kubzansky. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04-greater-optimism-dementia-years.html Thu, 16 Apr 2026 13:00:01 EDT news695559242 As Australia's population ages and loneliness becomes a growing public health concern, new research from Monash University has found that older Australians without close family ties face significantly higher rates of loneliness. The study, "Family ties, kinlessness, and loneliness among older Australians," published in the Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics, is one of the first studies to examine how different family configurations shape loneliness across both community and long-term care settings. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04-loneliness-highest-older-australians-partners.html Thu, 16 Apr 2026 12:40:01 EDT news695559061 A major international research collaboration led by UNSW Sydney's Center for Healthy Brain Aging (CHeBA), in partnership with an international consortium of six leading universities, has found that social health—how individuals interact with and are supported by their social environments—plays a critical role in maintaining cognitive function and building the brain's resilience against dementia. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04-strong-social-health-linked-brain.html Thu, 16 Apr 2026 12:20:01 EDT news695559001 U.S. overdose deaths involving polysubstance use—particularly opioids combined with stimulants—have risen sharply in recent years, with disproportionate increases among non-Hispanic Black and Hispanic populations, especially men. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04-widening-racial-gender-inequities-polysubstance.html Thu, 16 Apr 2026 12:00:08 EDT news695456279 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 A routine component of many medical appointments—stepping on the scale to be weighed—may be a stigmatizing experience that raises patients' blood pressure and potentially impacts their health care, according to new research from Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) researcher Angela Incollingo Rodriguez. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04-weight-stigma-doctor-office.html Wed, 15 Apr 2026 22:40:02 EDT news695475182 One in four psychiatric patients in Denmark are readmitted and that carries major personal and societal costs. But can we predict who will be readmitted, while others return to everyday life without symptoms? That is exactly what Professor Kamilla Miskowiak aims to support through her latest research. The paper is published in the journal Neuropsychopharmacology. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04-brain-scan-reveal-psychiatric-hospitalization.html Wed, 15 Apr 2026 22:20:01 EDT news695490601 Research published earlier this year found the strongest evidence yet that the introduction of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) has played a key role driving up autism diagnoses in Australia. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04-autism-largely-fueled-national-disability.html Wed, 15 Apr 2026 20:40:01 EDT news695472781 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 New research from Edith Cowan University (ECU) suggests schools relying on one-off well-being surveys may be overlooking students who need mental health support. The study, led by psychology researcher Dr. Shane Rogers, found that tracking students' moods over several weeks provides a more accurate picture than a single snapshot in time. The results are published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04-school-mental-health-students.html Wed, 15 Apr 2026 17:40:06 EDT news695476917 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 Cognitive decline not only affects a woman's quality of life but also her ability to lead an independent lifestyle later in life. A new large-scale study suggests that a longer reproductive lifespan, resulting in greater exposure to endogenous estrogen, is associated with better cognitive health. Results of the study are published in Menopause. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04-longer-reproductive-span-linked-slower.html Wed, 15 Apr 2026 15:40:01 EDT news695482382 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 Our brains anticipate sensory signals—such as sight, sound, smell, or touch—by relying on past experiences. When we bite into an apple, for example, we expect a sweet crunch because of all the other times we have eaten one. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04-music-symptoms-psychosis.html Wed, 15 Apr 2026 12:20:01 EDT news695471402 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 Food calorie labels on menus in cafes and restaurants can be helpful for people with binge eating disorders, even aiding their recovery, finds new research from UCL and King's College London. For the study, published in BMJ Public Health, the researchers surveyed 1,001 people aged 16 or over who lived in England and had experienced disordered eating. Since 2022, all restaurants, take-aways and cafes in England with 250 employees or more have had to display the calories of the food and drink they sell on menus, online menus and take-away platforms as part of measures to curb obesity and encourage healthy eating. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04-england-calorie-disorders.html Tue, 14 Apr 2026 19:10:06 EDT news695395682