Science News
about Depression
Find
Press Releases and Science Updates
by Topic
- Mental Disorders Account for Large Percentage of Adult Role Disability
-
October 1, 2007
•
Science Update
An NIMH-funded study finds that more than half of U.S. adults have a mental or physical condition that prevents them from working or conducting their usual duties (e.g., role disability) for several days each year, and a large portion of those days can be attributed to mental disorders.
- Depressed Adolescents Respond Best to Combination Treatment
-
October 1, 2007
•
Press Release
A combination of psychotherapy and antidepressant medication appears to be the most effective treatment for adolescents with major depressive disorder—more than medication alone or psychotherapy alone.
- Scientists May Have Found Long-Pursued Binding Site for Antidepressants
-
September 28, 2007
•
Science Update
NIMH-funded scientists have a major new clue as to where the long-pursued binding site for commonly used antidepressants – potentially the site that triggers the medications’ effects – may be on brain cells. The finding could lead to better medications for depression, but also has important implications for other mental illnesses because it addresses a biological flaw that a number of them share.
- Genes Linked to Suicidal Thinking During Antidepressant Treatment
-
September 27, 2007
•
Press Release
Specific variations in two genes are linked to suicidal thinking that sometimes occurs in people taking the most commonly prescribed class of antidepressants, according to a large study led by scientists at NIMH. Depending on the particular mix inherited, these versions increased the likelihood of such thoughts from 2- to15-fold, the study found.
- Workplace Depression Screening, Outreach and Enhanced Treatment Improves Productivity, Lowers Employer Costs
-
September 26, 2007
•
Press Release
Enhanced and systematic efforts to identify and treat depression in the workplace significantly improves employee health and productivity, likely leading to lower costs overall for the employer, according to a study published September 26, 2007, in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
- Drops in SSRI prescription rates may coincide with increases in youth suicides
-
September 19, 2007
•
Science Update
A 2004 spike in suicide rates may have coincided with a drop in antidepressant prescriptions for youth, following warnings from U.S. and European regulatory agencies that the medications might trigger suicidal thoughts.
- New Technique Pinpoints Crossroads of Depression in Rat Brain
-
August 2, 2007
•
Science Update
NIMH-funded scientists have developed a new high-speed technique for imaging brain activity and used it to pinpoint a circuit signal in rats that may be at the crossroads of depression.
- Success or Failure of Antidepressant Citalopram Predicted by Gene Variation
-
August 1, 2007
•
Press Release
A variation in a gene called GRIK4 appears to make people with depression more likely to respond to the medication citalopram (Celexa) than are people without the variation, a study by NIMH has found.
- Faster-Acting Antidepressants Closer to Becoming a Reality
-
July 24, 2007
•
Press Release
A new study has revealed more about how the medication ketamine, when used experimentally for depression, relieves symptoms of the disorder in hours instead of the weeks or months it takes for current antidepressants to work.
- Gene Variants Linked to Suicidal Thoughts in Some Men Starting Antidepressant Treatment
-
June 7, 2007
•
Science Update
Some men who experience suicidal thoughts and behaviors after they first start taking antidepressant medications may be genetically predisposed to do so, according to the latest results from the NIMH-funded Sequenced Treatment Alternatives to Relieve Depression (STAR*D) study.
