https://medicalxpress.com/ en-us provides the latest news from McLean Hospital Prescribing rates for stimulants that treat attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have increased significantly over the past decade, with some of the largest increases reported during the COVID-19 pandemic. A new study of adult emergency department admissions at Mass General Brigham, led by McLean Hospital researchers, found that individuals who are taking high doses of amphetamine (e.g. Adderall) face more than a five-fold increased risk for developing psychosis or mania. The findings are published in the American Journal of Psychiatry. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-09-high-doses-prescription-psychosis.html Thu, 12 Sep 2024 00:00:01 EDT news645278596 McLean researchers sought to examine whether neighborhood and individual resources prospectively predicted PTSD trajectories following a recent trauma. They found significant interaction between individual and neighborhood resources: Individuals with high self-reported individual resources who were exposed to more greenspace had a greater likelihood of experiencing little to no symptoms of PTSD following a trauma. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-07-impact-neighborhood-resources-resilience-trauma.html Wed, 31 Jul 2024 11:00:01 EDT news641633657 A new study led by researchers at McLean Hospital and Harvard Medical School, in collaboration with researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital and Cambridge Health Alliance, has uncovered concerning disparities in boarding rates of children and adolescents with severe mental health symptoms in emergency departments. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-07-racial-gender-disparities-youth-psychiatric.html Mon, 08 Jul 2024 12:15:56 EDT news639659749 In a new study, investigators from McLean Hospital, Harvard Medical School and the National Institute on Drug Abuse—Intramural Research Program (NIDA-IRP) have discovered that the tendency of people's arousal to wane over the course of brain scans has been distorting the brain connection maps produced by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-06-significant-problem-brain-imaging.html Wed, 19 Jun 2024 05:00:01 EDT news637943321 Binge-eating disorder is the most prevalent eating disorder in the United States, but previous studies have presented conflicting views of the disorder's duration and the likelihood of relapse. A new five-year study led by investigators from McLean Hospital, a member of the Mass General Brigham health care system, showed that 61% and 45% of individuals still experienced binge-eating disorder 2.5 and 5 years after their initial diagnoses, respectively. These results contradict previous prospective studies that documented faster remission times, according to the authors. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-05-binge-disorder-transient-previously-thought.html Tue, 28 May 2024 07:00:01 EDT news636021697 A comprehensive approach that examines the intersection of multiple biological processes is necessary to elucidate the development of stress-related disorders. In a new study, investigators from McLean Hospital, a member of the Mass General Brigham health care system, working with colleagues at The University of Texas at Austin and Lieber Institute for Brain Development, uncovered both shared and distinct molecular changes across brain regions, genomic layers, cell types, and blood in individuals with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and major depressive disorder (MDD). https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-05-unveil-unique-brain-molecular-dysregulations.html Thu, 23 May 2024 14:00:01 EDT news635673181 Schizophrenia is a complex disease with variable presentations, and the diverse nature of this mental health disorder has made understanding the mechanisms that cause the disease, and subsequently developing effective treatments, especially challenging. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-05-uncovers-cell-specific-genetic-insights.html Thu, 23 May 2024 14:00:01 EDT news635673601 A new study led by researchers at McLean Hospital (a member of Mass General Brigham) and Washington State University used advances in digital testing to demonstrate that naturally occurring glucose fluctuations impact cognitive function in people with type 1 diabetes (T1D). https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-03-glucose-affect-cognitive-people-diabetes.html Mon, 18 Mar 2024 06:33:44 EDT news629962419 The start of the COVID-19 pandemic led to unprecedented exposure to stressors driven by fears of a novel and deadly disease, intense uncertainty, and resulting isolation measures, which in turn resulted in increases in anxiety for many. According to new research, however, individuals who were in therapy for anxiety prior to the start of the pandemic did not experience upticks in their symptoms throughout this exceptionally challenging time. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-03-therapy-prior-covid-pandemic-anxiety.html Wed, 13 Mar 2024 14:00:01 EDT news629544686 Community engagement is important for developing research involving patients with mental illness, and funding agencies are increasingly requiring such engagement. However, many researchers are unable to pursue advisory boards with people with lived experience with mental illness, including psychotic disorders, due to financial and time constraints on the researchers and individuals who prefer limited participation burdens. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-01-framework-advisory-board-psychosis.html Thu, 25 Jan 2024 15:49:03 EST news625420141 A McLean Hospital study of 598 people across various industries who underwent a two-day training workshop where they learned about trauma-informed care and how to deploy these skills within their organizations, found participants reported significant gains in knowledge of trauma and made improvements to organizational policies, according to a comparison of survey data collected before and after the trainings. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-10-trauma-informed-workshops-prompt-meaningful-individual.html Mon, 30 Oct 2023 00:10:01 EDT news617617389 An international team led by investigators at McLean Hospital has analyzed the genes expressed in approximately 575,000 individual cells from the brains of people with and without post-traumatic stress and major depressive disorders (PTSD and MDD), revealing new insights into the mechanisms behind the brain's stress response in these conditions. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-07-brain-single-cell-reveals-genes-involved.html Wed, 26 Jul 2023 17:06:05 EDT news609609962 Black children in the United States are more likely to experience childhood adversity than white children, and these disparities are reflected in differential changes to regions of the brain linked to psychiatric disease like post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), according to new research led by McLean Hospital, a member of Mass General Brigham. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-01-racial-disparities-childhood-adversity-linked.html Wed, 01 Feb 2023 00:00:01 EST news594407412 Trauma can cause dissociative symptoms—such as having an out-of-body experience, or feeling emotionally numb—that may help an individual cope in the short term but can have negative impacts if the symptoms persist for a long period of time. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-11-brain-dissociative-symptoms.html Thu, 03 Nov 2022 15:57:03 EDT news586709821 Results from the largest prospective study of its kind indicate that for individuals who experience trauma, the presence of dissociation—a profound feeling of detachment from one's sense of self or surroundings—may indicate a high risk of later developing severe post-traumatic stress, depression, anxiety, physical pain, and social impairment. The research, which was led by investigators at McLean Hospital, is published in the American Journal of Psychiatry. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-06-detachment-worse-mental-health-outcomes.html Wed, 22 Jun 2022 03:14:54 EDT news575086427 The biological mechanisms behind stress-related psychiatric conditions, including major depressive disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), are poorly understood. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-06-uncovers-body-response-stress.html Fri, 18 Jun 2021 16:43:28 EDT news543253402 Older adults are especially vulnerable to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic—with higher risks of severe complications and death, and potentially greater difficulties accessing care and adapting to technologies such as telemedicine. A viewpoint article published in the Journal of the American Medical Association notes that there's also a concern that isolation during the pandemic could be more difficult for older individuals, which could exacerbate existing mental health conditions. Information gathered over the past several months suggests a much more nuanced picture, however. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-12-older-adults-coping-mental-health.html Tue, 01 Dec 2020 16:06:08 EST news526061160 Alcohol consumption is a common coping response to stress, and historically, it has increased in the United States following catastrophic events, such as terrorist attacks and large-scale natural disasters. Considering COVID-19, experts at McLean Hospital have published a viewpoint article in the Journal of General Internal Medicine that examines potential ways to moderate and reduce rising alcohol consumption in the face of the pandemic. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-11-excessive-alcohol-consumption-covid-pandemic.html Mon, 02 Nov 2020 14:36:12 EST news523550168 Fear and fear extinction learning (the gradual reduction of fear by repeated exposure to the feared object) are adaptive processes caused by molecular changes in specific brain circuits, and they're perturbed in conditions such as anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder. A new study by investigators at McLean Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital reveals that the expression of a particular gene may function as a switch to regulate feelings of fear and its extinction. The findings point to a potential new target for diagnosing, treating, and preventing fear-related psychiatric illnesses. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-10-neuron-based-gene-reveals-insights.html Mon, 26 Oct 2020 13:36:01 EDT news522938155 In a novel research study conducted by a team from the Neuroregeneration Institute at McLean Hospital, investigators believe they have found key brain cell type changes involving lipids, inflammation, and the development of Parkinson's disease (PD). Their findings appear in the current issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-10-reveal-link-lipids-key-role.html Fri, 16 Oct 2020 13:58:38 EDT news522075510 Being traumatized can cause what are known as dissociative symptoms—such as experiencing amnesia, an out-of-body experience, feeling emotionally numb—which may help people cope. Experiencing these symptoms intensely or for a long time, however, can negatively impact an individual's ability to function. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-09-neuroimaging-dissociative-symptoms-reveals-wounds.html Fri, 25 Sep 2020 03:09:54 EDT news520222175 A paper authored by researchers from McLean Hospital has determined that esketamine, a nasal spray to treat severe depression, is currently too expensive for widespread use. Titled "Cost-Effectiveness of Esketamine Nasal Spray for Patients With Treatment-Resistant Depression in the United States," the paper was published on July 7 in Psychiatric Services. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-07-hospital-cost-effectiveness-esketamine.html Mon, 13 Jul 2020 16:18:21 EDT news513875899 Results from a new study suggest that whether certain genes are expressed—turned on or off— may play a role in susceptibility to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The study, which was conducted by an international team led by investigators at McLean Hospital and appears in the journal Cell Reports, may provide insights for PTSD prevention and treatment. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-06-genes-affect-vulnerability-post-traumatic-stress.html Tue, 02 Jun 2020 12:45:04 EDT news510320699 Reprogramming a patient's own skin cells to replace cells in the brain that are progressively lost during Parkinson's disease (PD) has been shown to be technically feasible, reports a team of investigators from McLean Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) in the most recent issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-05-treatment-patient-cells-possibilities-parkinson.html Wed, 13 May 2020 17:00:02 EDT news508585601 A study by McLean Hospital's Mary Kathryn Dahlgren, Ph.D., Staci Gruber, Ph.D., and their team from McLean's Cognitive and Clinical Neuroimaging Core and the Marijuana Investigations for Neuroscientific Discovery (MIND) program, has found that recreational cannabis use affects driving ability even when users are not intoxicated by marijuana. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-01-impaired-drivingeven-high.html Tue, 14 Jan 2020 15:13:38 EST news498237215 In a paper published in the latest issue of the American Journal of Psychotherapy, McLean Hospital clinicians describe the success of the hospital's Spiritual Psychotherapy for Inpatient, Residential & Intensive Treatment (SPIRIT) program. The clinicians drew their conclusions from a sample of nearly 1,500 patients. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2019-09-team-successfully-spirituality-religion-mental.html Thu, 19 Sep 2019 14:08:16 EDT news488120888 Treatment for individuals who experience psychosis, such as hallucinations and delusions as a result of a psychiatric illness, can be targeted to a specific structural mutation, according to a study published by researchers from McLean Hospital and other institutions in the journal Biological Psychiatry. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2019-07-treatment-symptoms-psychosis.html Wed, 03 Jul 2019 10:42:44 EDT news481369355 Based on a study by McLean Hospital researchers, individuals with anxiety, depression, and other mental health conditions may soon be able to use a smartphone app to deliver on-demand cognitive bias modification for interpretation (CBM-I), a way to change mental habits without visiting a therapist. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2019-05-cognitive-therapy-pocket.html Thu, 30 May 2019 02:59:29 EDT news478403960 Researchers from McLean Hospital and Yale University have published findings of their study of large-scale systems in the brain, findings that could improve understanding of the symptoms and causes of bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, depression, and other mental illnesses. Their paper, "Functional Connectomics of Affective and Psychotic Pathology," published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, details their investigation into brain network connectivity in patients with psychotic disorders. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2019-05-fingerprints-severe-mental-diseases.html Mon, 13 May 2019 15:55:38 EDT news476981729 Certain drugs prescribed to teens and young adults with ADHD increase their risk of psychosis, say researchers at McLean Hospital and Harvard Medical School. Approximately 5 million individuals in the U.S. under the age of 25 are prescribed these drugs for the treatment of ADHD. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2019-03-big-drugs-psychosis-youth-adhd.html Wed, 20 Mar 2019 17:00:02 EDT news472293711