APA Blogs
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Pets and Mental Health: 2025 Social Media Toolkit
We're back again with #Paws4MentalHealth! We’re celebrating the mental health impact of our cats, dogs and other furry (and not furry) friends. Join the movement and take a "paws" in your day to share how your pets positively influence your well-being. Let's make this a month to remember! #Paws4MentalHealth
Move Your Mind: How Daily Physical Activity Boosts Brain Health and Mental Well-Being
- By Michael Bowen, M.D and Brook Choulet, M.D.
Most people understand exercise, and more broadly physical activity, to be beneficial to health from a physical perspective. In other words, it’s good for your heart, muscles, and potentially your waistline. What is often less appreciated is the importance of exercise to several aspects of brain health. Physical activity has been shown to be helpful in a variety of neurologic and psychiatric conditions, including reduced risk of dementia, reduced feelings of anxiety and depression (in individuals with and without clinical diagnoses), improved cognitive function, and improved sleep.
Psychodermatology: Addressing the Skin - Mental Health Connections
There are many complex connections between skin conditions and mental health conditions. Psychodermatology is the subspecialty that addresses these connections. A recent Special Section in Psychiatric News, authored by Mohammad Jafferany, M.D., professor of psychodermatology, psychiatry, and behavioral sciences at Central Michigan University College of Medicine, addressed it.
Group Music Therapy: A Promising Approach
Group music therapy, delivered in person or online, may be effective in helping address symptoms of mental health conditions, according to several recent studies. The studies looked at the use of group music therapy in women with depression, older adults with dementia, and college students experiencing stress. One consistent theme in this research is that participants have improved quality of life.
Updated Resource to Help Psychiatrists Plan for an Unexpected Practice Closure
- By APA Ethics Committee
At any stage of our careers, we psychiatrists are busy planning for the future. We all hope to practice as long as we want and to have retirements that proceed at our preferred pace. But as we make our plans, we need to acknowledge that the future doesn’t always go the way we expect. Life can intervene in unpredictable ways and make even the best laid plans go awry. Recognizing these possibilities is an important part of a psychiatrist’s responsibilities; doing so can greatly ease the turbulence when stormy conditions arise. To help in situations where a psychiatrist must unexpectedly close their practice, the APA Ethics Committee has recently updated a resource document that assists with planning in advance for such unanticipated and often difficult situations.