https://medicalxpress.com/psychiatry-news/ en-us Latest medical news and research in Psychiatry 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 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 GLP-1 receptor agonists are among the active ingredients in so-called weight-loss injections. Originally developed to treat type 2 diabetes, they are now also used to treat severe obesity. In recent years, studies have provided evidence that they may also reduce the consumption of alcohol and other substances. However, it has not been clear whether these potential effects persist after the medication is discontinued. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-consequences-discontinuing-glp-medications-addiction.html Tue, 21 Jul 2026 15:00:10 EDT news703856461 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 People with dementia, mild cognitive impairment, alcohol addiction or psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia show increased brain aging, each in specific patterns within the brain, according to a study published in PLOS Medicine by Shile Qi from the Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, China, and colleagues. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-brain-scans-reveal-aging-signatures.html Tue, 21 Jul 2026 14:00:01 EDT news703756261 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 For millennia, people have used the psychedelic mescaline as a spiritual and religious tool. Mescaline is a naturally occurring chemical found in cacti, mainly peyote cacti, that are located in the Southwest United States and Mexico. The drug has been used for 5,700 years, according to archaeological evidence, making it one of the oldest hallucinogens. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-oldest-psychedelics-modern-brain-imaging.html Tue, 21 Jul 2026 10:00:01 EDT news703845722 Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) have made remarkable progress restoring movement and speech in people with paralysis. While brain-computer interface technology thus far has largely focused on decoding motor function, the disorders responsible for the greatest global burden of brain disease—including depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, and obsessive-compulsive disorder—are fundamentally disorders of cognition: how we attend, remember, decide, and regulate emotion. As researchers seek to expand the clinical potential of BCIs, a new review argues that treating cognitive disorders will require fundamentally different approaches than the current BCI motor applications. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-roadmap-brain-interfaces-depression-anxiety.html Tue, 21 Jul 2026 04:10:01 EDT news703824926 Pediatricians who participated in the collaborative mental health program at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago were more likely to diagnose and treat anxiety and depression in children without relying on additional support from specialists, according to a study published in Academic Pediatrics. The findings suggest that the program—called Mood, Anxiety, ADHD Collaborative Care (MAACC)—successfully prepares pediatricians to manage these conditions independently, allowing more children to access care despite the ongoing shortage of pediatric mental health professionals. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-pediatricians-child-anxiety-depression-specialists.html Mon, 20 Jul 2026 17:40:01 EDT news703759475 A CU Anschutz study exploring more than 10,000 youth suicides suggests gaps in the system are costing kids' lives, pointing to a critical need for new approaches in responding to the national crisis. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-kind-classification-youth-suicide-earlier.html Mon, 20 Jul 2026 15:40:23 EDT news703776288 Severe flooding may contribute to higher mortality rates from opioid use in rural Appalachia, according to a study by researchers at Penn State. The findings—published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences—are particularly relevant as severe floods are increasing in prevalence and severity because of climate change, said Kristina Brant, assistant professor of rural sociology and co-lead author of the paper. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-severe-linked-deaths-opioid-rural.html Mon, 20 Jul 2026 15:00:06 EDT news703748650 For more than two decades, scientists have uncovered remarkable links between the trillions of microbes living in our gut and the health of our brains. This research has transformed our understanding of stress, depression, anxiety and neurodevelopment, opening new possibilities for preventing and treating mental illness. What if much of this science is based on studying only a narrow slice of global diversity? https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-brain-health-microbiome-science-world.html Mon, 20 Jul 2026 14:24:59 EDT news703776265 An international team led by the Central Institute of Mental Health in Mannheim has presented the largest genome-wide association study on borderline personality disorder to date. Data from about 13,000 affected people and more than 1.1 million controls from 14 countries were analyzed. The study identified 11 independent risk regions and nine genes that could contribute to the development of the disorder. The findings, published in Nature Genetics, show clear genetic overlaps with other mental and physical illnesses and open new perspectives for research and care. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-largest-genetic-analysis-borderline-personality.html Mon, 20 Jul 2026 14:20:07 EDT news703774454 Researchers have conducted one of the most comprehensive studies on how the autistic brain processes faces. Some hallmark characteristics of autism include tendencies to avoid looking at others' faces and to make less eye contact. Many autistic individuals have a harder time remembering faces and recognizing facial emotions than their neurotypical counterparts. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-autistic-brains-differently.html Mon, 20 Jul 2026 13:00:07 EDT news703770181 From headlines and social media, psychedelic therapies, cannabis use and GLP-1 medications have seemingly become commonplace overnight, but the science underlying these treatments and the pathway to drug approval are often more nuanced than the headlines suggest. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-qa-psychedelics-cannabis-glp-1s.html Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:40:04 EDT news703753742 The strange noises, the bright lights, the unfamiliar setting, the constant busyness—these stimuli and more can take a toll on a patient's mental well-being when they're in the hospital for a physical ailment. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-early-intervention-rapid-response-team.html Mon, 20 Jul 2026 08:00:01 EDT news703747862 Nearly half of pregnant women in the United States report poor sleep quality, which has been associated with gestational diabetes and high blood pressure during pregnancy. A new study led by researchers at Washington University in St. Louis' Bursky School of Public Health found that depressive symptoms, prenatal distress and anxiety are the strongest predictors of poor sleep during late pregnancy, with environmental exposures such as air pollution and noise also playing significant roles. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-mental-health-environment-pregnancy.html Mon, 20 Jul 2026 07:20:07 EDT news703747621 A landmark study that started in 2021 to learn about wartime trauma among Vietnamese Americans has received an additional $13.3 in funding to delve deeper into how trauma affects aging and brain health. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-resilience-healthy-aging-trauma.html Sun, 19 Jul 2026 20:30:04 EDT news703255442 Social connections are known to contribute greatly to people's psychological and emotional well-being. In fact, difficulties socializing and bonding with others have been linked to various psychiatric conditions, including depression, social anxiety disorder (SAD), schizophrenia and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-sports-boosts-oxytocin-synchronizes-heartbeats.html Sun, 19 Jul 2026 08:20:01 EDT news703496346 For many teenagers, anxiety is more than occasional stress or nerves. It can make school feel overwhelming, strain friendships and turn everyday situations into something that feels unmanageable. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-video-game-anxiety-treatment-teens.html Sun, 19 Jul 2026 06:20:01 EDT news703656654 Have you ever looked at a photograph of a raging wildfire, a flooded neighborhood or a starving polar bear and immediately felt something before you even had time to think? Most of us have. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-climate-human-emotions.html Sat, 18 Jul 2026 09:40:01 EDT news703254950 Jeans that fit perfectly. The ideal Netflix show for a Tuesday night. Your one and only soulmate. Modern life promises that with enough options, you will happily find the best of everything. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-choices-day-brain.html Sat, 18 Jul 2026 04:40:01 EDT news703566460 A study by the University of Barcelona has identified nearly 20 genes that could contribute to some people being more susceptible to depression, anxiety and traits such as irritability and neuroticism. These genes are regulated by the RBFOX1 gene, which acts as the central hub of a genetic network linked to several key processes in brain function. According to the researchers, this genetic overlap between different disorders and traits could help explain why they often appear together in the same person. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-genes-people-susceptible-depression-psychiatric.html Fri, 17 Jul 2026 10:40:06 EDT news703497095 A research team at Fujita Health University led by Professor Tsuyoshi Miyakawa has uncovered a novel mechanism of cellular plasticity in which repeated neuronal stimulation can durably alter the identity of mature neurons. Using a neural stimulation pattern termed "Repetitive Optogenetic Stimulation (REPOPS)," the researchers found that granule cells of the hippocampal dentate gyrus undergo long-lasting changes in nuclear structure and gene expression, revealing a novel process which the team terms "nuclear reprogramming." https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-ect-immature-state-adult-mouse.html Fri, 17 Jul 2026 05:00:04 EDT news703402967 A study using positron emission tomography (PET) imaging has found that patients with schizophrenia had significantly lower muscarinic acetylcholine M1 receptor availability (about 13%–19%) across multiple brain regions than healthy individuals. Reduced M1 receptor availability affects several brain regions involved in cognition, learning, memory and executive function. The findings in Biological Psychiatry provide the first in vivo evidence supporting widespread M1 receptor deficits in schizophrenia. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-brain-imaging-reveals-receptor-dysfunction.html Thu, 16 Jul 2026 17:00:06 EDT news703427743 Patient trust in medical professionals might hinge on what artificial intelligence (AI) has to say, according to a team led by Penn State researchers. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-ai-disagreement-patient-doctors.html Thu, 16 Jul 2026 13:40:05 EDT news703421701 A new study examining the impact of depression on all five senses could significantly improve how the condition is diagnosed and treated, opening the door to more targeted solutions for patients. Led by the University of New England's Professor of Neuroscience, Christopher Sharpley, alongside colleagues Dr. Lorenzo Odierna, Professor Vicki Bitsika, and Christopher Watson, the first-of-its-kind study highlights how depression is more than just a cognitive-emotional disorder. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-depression-impacts.html Thu, 16 Jul 2026 08:20:05 EDT news703401541 Black and Asian doctors in the UK are up to 30 times less likely to be offered medical training posts in some specialties than white candidates, data published exclusively by The BMJ today show. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-black-asian-doctors-specialties.html Wed, 15 Jul 2026 18:30:08 EDT news703314686