Is Internet Use Changing Our Brains?

• ADHD, Depression, Patients and Families

It’s easy to see how much the internet has changed our lives. Most adults go online daily and more than one in four are online “almost constantly,” according to a recent Pew Research Center report. But is our extensive online activity affecting our brains? That is the question looked at in a recent study published in World Psychiatry.

Video-based Program Helps Reduce Anxiety

• Anxiety, Patients and Families

Technology is increasingly being used in many ways to help meet needs for mental health services and support. For example, apps can help track your mood or symptoms and can help connect you to providers or other support. Among the barriers that technology may help overcome are access to care, cost and stigma. Despite increased awareness and acceptance of mental health care, many people are reluctant to seek help.

Helping Children Through Play

• Anxiety, Depression, Patients and Families, Trauma

Play is natural and fun for children and an important part of learning and development. Play therapy is a therapy used by licensed mental health professionals to help children to better express their thoughts and emotions and to address a variety of problems. When children are unable to put into words their feelings or concerns, play can help them express themselves and learn ways to cope.

School-Based Program Brings Mental Health Services to Children in Rural Areas

• ADHD, Anxiety, Depression, Patients and Families

A program in West Virginia is using an innovative approach to bring much needed mental health services to children in rural communities. In 2016, the West Virginia Children’s Access Network began providing mental health services in rural schools via telepsychiatry.

Raising Awareness about Music and Wellness Connections

• Anxiety, Depression, Patients and Families

Music is often associated with mood—making us feel sad, lifting our mood, boosting our energy, or helping us relax. Music can also be therapeutic. It can help ease chronic pain, reduce anxiety and stress, help people with autism or help calm the agitation in people with Alzheimer’s.The Sound Health program is working to explore and better understand the music and wellness connection and to bring that understanding to the public. Sound Health is a partnership launched in 2016 between the Kennedy

January Issues of American Psychiatric Association Journals Cover New Research on Cannabis and Alcohol Use, Disparities in Coercive Treatment for Psychosis, and More

The January issues of two of the American Psychiatric Association journals, The American Journal of Psychiatry and Psychiatric Services are available online. Also available is the latest issue of The American Journal of Psychotherapy.

Researchers See an Increase in Self-Harm During the Pandemic

• Patients and Families

Non-suicidal self-harm is common, particularly among youth and young adults, and new research says it may have become more common during the pandemic.

Using Artificial Intelligence to Improve Psychotherapy Outcomes

• Patients and Families

Artificial intelligence, the ability of a computer program or a machine to think and learn, is increasingly being used in many areas, including mental health treatment. A new study uses artificial intelligence to measure psychotherapy treatment and to examine links between specific aspects of the therapy and outcomes. This information could potentially lead to improvements in psychotherapy.

Brain Imaging Shows the Impacts of Psychotherapy

• Depression, OCD, Trauma

Psychotherapy, or talk therapy, is an effective treatment for many mental health disorders. Advances in brain imaging are increasingly allowing researchers to observe the changes in the brain resulting from psychotherapy treatment.

New Survey Shows Increasing Loneliness, Including on the Job

• Patients and Families

Loneliness is a major public health concern and, according to a new national survey more Americans are saying they are lonely. Loneliness is associated with increased risk for both physical and mental health problems. The health impacts of loneliness are similar to that of other well-known health risks, such as smoking, obesity, physical inactivity and air pollution.

Coping with Isolation and Social Distancing

• Anxiety, Patients and Families

In these unprecedented, uncertain times when many of us are isolated, stuck at home and separated from friends and family, fear and stress are natural reactions.  With so much of what is happening out of our control, it’s helpful to focus on what you can do to take of yourself and your family. Keep in mind people react to stressful situations in different ways.  

Crisis Hotlines: A Vital Response Resource

• Anxiety, Depression

Crisis hotlines provide support and assistance easily available to anyone 24 hours a day, a vital resource at any time, but especially critical during our current national crisis. Many hotlines are seeing significant increases in calls. A national crisis hotline run by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), the Disaster Distress Helpline, saw an increase in calls of more than 300% in March compared to February this year.