Australasian Science: Australia's authority on science since 1938

Articles related to mental health

Browse: Persistant Inflammatory Response Leads to Dementia
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Feature: Molecules that Mould the Mind
Molecular psychiatrists are revealing how stress during critical periods in adolescence can influence mental illness later in life.
Browse: Diet Influences Mental Health in Children
Separate studies have found a connection between diet and mental health in children.
Browse: Night Phone Use Harms Adolescent Mental Heath
Browse: Unhappiness Has No Effect on Mortality Browse: Faulty Gene Linked to Depression and Cardiovascular Disease
Feature: How Early Can We Predict and Prevent Psychosis?
The addition of a simple blood test could improve predictions of a first psychotic episode.
Browse: B-Vitamins Help Depression Meds
Browse: Electromagnetic Stimulation Reorganises Brain Browse: MRI Predicts Risk of Alzheimer’s Disease
Browse: Prenatal Attachment Affects a Child’s Personality Browse: Alcohol Doesn’t Dull the Minds of Older Men
Older men who consume alcohol excessively are not more likely to suffer from cognitive impairment in later life, according to research reported in Neurology.
Browse: Just 30 Minutes of Exercise Benefits the Brain Browse: Birth Size Link to Teen Mental Health Conditions
Browse: Head-Banging Music Soothes the Soul Browse: Nutrition’s Role in Early Psychosis Treatment
Browse: Genetic Overlap in Mental Illnesses
Genetic variations associated with depression, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder have substantial overlap, indicating possible relationships between the conditions.
Feature: Can Food Help Our Mood?
There is substantial interest in the role of nutrition in preventing and treating depression.
Cover Story: The Psychedelic Renaissance
Recent studies are finding that psychedelic medicines are effective treatments for mental health disorders such as depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder and addiction.
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Feature: A Party Worth Remembering
Euphoric and highly addictive, a popular party drug also causes long-term memory loss.
Feature: Normal Syndrome
What was once considered normal is becoming medicalised due to broader diagnostic criteria and the concoction of new disorders, but Julian Savulescu argues that this is merely biological enhancement by another name.
Feature: Stimulating Approaches to Depression
New forms of brain stimulation are offering hope to a substantial group of depressed patients who don’t get better with standard medical and psychological treatments.
Feature: Running for your Life
Exercise can improve the way the brain functions, even in cases of brain trauma. Here’s why.
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Feature: Gut Feeling
Does indigestion lead to anxiety and other mood disorders, and could a cure be in sight for both?
Browse: Vitamin B Boosts Teenage Mental Health
Parents of teenagers should give their children vitamin B-containing foods if they wish to reduce the behavioural issues commonly associated with those years, a new study suggests.
Browse: Exercise Helps Brain Repair
Gentle exercise improves the capacity of the brain to rewire itself, including the ability to restore functions unrelated to the exercise. However, it is important not to overdo things, as strenuous exercise can interfere with brain redevelopment.
Browse: Brain Stimulation to Treat Anxiety Browse: Junk Diet’s Role in Dementia
Browse: Nutraceuticals Can Boost Antidepressants conSCIENCE: Is “Mentally Ill” the New Normal?
Drug treatments for behaviours that were previously not considered mental health conditions raise several unintended consequences.
Expert Opinion: IVF Increases the Risk of Mental Retardation
A Swedish study has found that IVF was associated with a small risk of mental retardation.
Expert Opinion: Antidepressants during Pregnancy Linked to ADHD in Kids
Exposure to antidepressants in the womb may be linked to attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder in the child, but the risks of depressed mothers stopping their medication may be greater.
Naked Skeptic: The Myth of “The Myth of Mental Illness”
Scientologists argue against the existence of the mind, and therefore mental illness.
Neuropsy: Diagnosis, Dissent and the DSM
The publication of the DSM-5 prompts debates over the science of diagnosing and treating mental illness.
Neuropsy: All of This Has Happened Before
A new case report shows that déjà vu can be persistent, debilitating and psychogenic.
Neuropsy: Science and Pseudoscience in Mental Health
Neuropsy: Life in the Third Person
People with severely deficient autobiographical memory do not re-experience their past.
Neuropsy: Childhood Trauma and the Developing Brain
A new study has identified the neurological basis for why some adolescents who have experienced childhood trauma are resilient while others are prone to mood disorders.
Simon Says: Suicide Blondes and Blacks
Common perceptions of the incidence of suicide are shaped more by populist fears than real data.
Up Close: Vigor in the ville: Creating cities that promote health and well-being
Up Close: Hormones in a hurry: Uneasy passages through puberty and adolescence
Psychiatrist and adolescent health specialist, Prof George Patton, discusses why puberty – especially early puberty – and adolescence can be so tough, but how most of us survive the journey.
Up Close: Brains at risk: The curious link between strokes and Alzheimer’s disease
Up Close: The cost of cognition: The blessing and curse of human brain complexity
Up Close: MRI: Window into the brain
Up Close: From pole to pole: New research into treating bipolar disorder
Research psychiatrist Prof Allan Young discusses bipolar disorder, and examines leading edge research into finding new treatments for this condition. Presented by Sila Genc.
Up Close: Cannabis research: The state of the science in an age of weed liberalization
Psychiatrist and clinical researcher Prof David Castle discusses how cannabis represents both a public health risk and a wide-ranging therapeutic opportunity, as the once “evil weed” gains greater legal acceptance for recreational and medical use.
Up Close: Brain ever changing: Neuroplasticity and its role in mental health
Behavioural neuroscientist Prof Anthony Hannan gives a neuro-researcher’s view of the dynamic, bidirectional interplay of brain and body, and the protective and destructive implications for both our mental and physical health.
Up Close: Can't give it up: The science behind addiction and the brain
Behavioral neuroscientist Prof Andrew Lawrence discusses addictive and compulsive behaviors around drug and alcohol use, the power of psychological dependence, and how the brains of addicts differ from those of the rest of us.
Up Close: Twin engines of truth? How science and law interact to construct our world
Social science and legal scholar Prof Sheila Jasanoff discusses how science and the law interact or compete with one another in the formulation of public reason -- in the economy, the courts and the political landscape.
Up Close: Ongoing symptoms: Why isn't treatment for depression and anxiety leading to lower prevalence?
Public health researcher Prof Tony Jorm asks why prevalence of anxiety and depression in North America, Australia and elsewhere has not decreased despite a quarter century of more and better treatment for two of the world's most common mental health problems.
Up Close: Not merely emotion: Reclaiming "passion" as a driver of human behaviour
Philosopher of the emotions Prof Louis Charland argues that we need to reinstate the notion of "passion" in our understanding of human behaviour. Now little mentioned outside of the arts and self-help domains, passion has deep historical roots and may have important contemporary use as a lens through which to view certain psychiatric conditions.
Online Feature: Scientists link DNA to marital satisfaction
Study links genetics, emotions and marital satisfaction.
Online Feature: Sticks and stones: Brain releases natural painkillers during social rejection
Finding that the opioid system can act to ease social pain, not just physical pain, may aid understanding of depression and social anxiety
Browse: Electrical Stimulation Implant Bypasses Open Brain Surgery