Copyright 2009 Medical News Today Latest Psychology / Psychiatry News From Medical News Today. http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/sections/psychology-psychiatry/ admin@medicalnewstoday.com (MNT Admin) editors@medicalnewstoday.com (MNT Editors) en-us Fri, 20 Nov 2009 04:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171672.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171672.php Children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) have a number of cognitive deficits, but mathematical ability seems particularly damaged. Little is known about the brain structures related to mathematical deficits in children with FASD. A new study that used diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) to investigate the relationship between mathematical skills and brain white matter structure in children with FASD supports the importance of the left parietal area for mathematical tasks. Alcohol / Addiction / Illegal Drugs Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171566.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171566.php Patients coping with the chaos and misery of Borderline Personality Disorder now have reason for strong confidence in making major life changes through a new treatment, Schema Therapy. For the first time, three major outcome studies have shown that many patients with Borderline Personality Disorder can achieve full recovery across the complete range of symptoms. Psychology / Psychiatry Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171573.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171573.php The European Medicines Agency has been formally notified by Otsuka Pharmaceutical Europe Ltd of its decision to withdraw its application for an extension of indication for the centrally authorised medicine Abilify (aripiprazole) tablets, orodispersible tablets and oral solution. Abilify was expected to be used in the treatment of major depressive episodes, as adjunctive therapy, in patients who have had an inadequate response to previous treatment with antidepressants. Psychology / Psychiatry Thu, 19 Nov 2009 03:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171465.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171465.php People who experience a lot of negative emotions and do not express these experience more health problems, says Dutch researcher Aline Pelle. She discovered that heart failure patients with a negative outlook reported their complaints to a physician or nurse far less often. The personality of the partner can also exert a considerable influence on these patients. Aline Pelle investigated patients with a so-called type D personality. Psychology / Psychiatry Thu, 19 Nov 2009 01:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171406.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171406.php Parental nurturing is backfiring, and as a result a generation of teens is growing up less independent, less skilled at common tasks - from doing laundry to choosing college classes - and increasingly unprepared for adulthood, studies show. Even young adults often are highly reliant on their parents; more than 60 percent of 23-year-olds and 30 percent of 25-year olds are still financially supported by their parents. Pediatrics / Children's Health Thu, 19 Nov 2009 00:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171382.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171382.php A study by researchers at the University of Bergen, Norway, and the Institute of Psychiatry (IoP) at King's College London has found that depression is as much of a risk factor for mortality as smoking. Depression Thu, 19 Nov 2009 00:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171384.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171384.php Parents have long suspected that the brains of their teenagers function differently than those of adults. With the advent of magnetic resonance imaging, or MRI, we have begun to appreciate how the brain continues to develop structurally through adolescence and on into adulthood. High emotionality is a characteristic of adolescents and researchers are trying to understand how 'emotional areas' of the brain differ between adults and adolescents. Neurology / Neuroscience Thu, 19 Nov 2009 00:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171403.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171403.php If you feel like you're in a losing battle with a triple-chocolate cake, a "mental budget" can help, according to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research. "There are some behaviors that consumers try to limit but have trouble doing so," write authors Parthasarathy Krishnamurthy (University of Houston) and Sonja Prokopec (ESSEC Business School, France). Obesity / Weight Loss / Fitness Wed, 18 Nov 2009 05:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171353.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171353.php A new study in the Journal of American College Health finds that students placed by their universities in coed housing are 2.5 times more likely to binge drink each week than students placed in all-male or all-female housing. More than 500 students from five college campuses around the country participated in the study: 42 percent of students in coed housing reported binge drinking on a weekly basis. Alcohol / Addiction / Illegal Drugs Wed, 18 Nov 2009 03:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171299.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171299.php Monetary gain stimulates activity in the brain. Even the mere possibility of receiving a reward is known to activate an area of the brain called the striatum. A team of Japanese researchers report in the January 2010 issue of Cortex, published by Elsevier, the results of a study in which they measured striatum activation in volunteers performing a monetary task and found high-risk/high-gain options to cause higher levels of activation than more conservative options. Psychology / Psychiatry Wed, 18 Nov 2009 03:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171300.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171300.php Some obese people misperceive that their body size is normal and think they don't need to lose weight, according to research presented at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2009. In the Dallas Heart Study of 5,893 people, researchers found that 8 percent of the 2,056 who were obese said they were satisfied with their body size or felt they could gain weight. Obesity / Weight Loss / Fitness Wed, 18 Nov 2009 02:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171271.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171271.php Adults who use pet therapy while recovering from total joint-replacement surgery require 50 percent less pain medication than those who do not. These findings were presented at the 18th Annual Conference of the International Society of Anthrozoology and the First Human Animal Interaction Conference (HAI) in Kansas City, Mo. Pain / Anesthetics Wed, 18 Nov 2009 00:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171229.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171229.php Unrealistic optimism about drinking behavior can lead to later alcohol-related problems, according to research published in the current issue of Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin (PSPB), the official monthly journal of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology. Researchers interviewed 800 college students several times over the course of two years about whether their drinking resulted in hangovers, memory loss or trouble with police. Alcohol / Addiction / Illegal Drugs Tue, 17 Nov 2009 19:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171201.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171201.php On the day that the consultation period for the Government's Green Paper on adult social care closes, mental health charity Mind has expressed its concerns that the Paper does not address the needs of adults with mental health problems, instead skewing the debate towards older people. Mental Health Tue, 17 Nov 2009 06:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171212.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171212.php Sleep deprivation adversely affects automatic, accurate responses and can lead to potentially devastating errors, a finding of particular concern among firefighters, police officers, soldiers and others who work in a sleep-deprived state, University of Texas at Austin researchers say. Sleep / Sleep Disorders / Insomnia Tue, 17 Nov 2009 05:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171187.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171187.php Drivers who engaged in self-harm were at increased risk of motor vehicle crashes, even after controlling for psychological distress and substance abuse, found a study of 18 871 Australian drivers published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal)). Psychology / Psychiatry Tue, 17 Nov 2009 05:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171206.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171206.php The first ever large-scale, longitudinal study of ketamine users has been published online in the journal Addiction. With Ketamine (K, Special K) use increasing faster than any other drug in the UK (British Crime Survey, 2008) this research showing the consequences of repeated ketamine use provides valuable information for users and addiction professionals alike. Alcohol / Addiction / Illegal Drugs Tue, 17 Nov 2009 04:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171166.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171166.php Researchers have discovered a genetic variation that may contribute to how empathetic a human is, and how that person reacts to stress. In the first study of its kind, a variation in the hormone/neurotransmitter oxytocin's receptor was linked to a person's ability to infer the mental state of others. Interestingly, this same genetic variation also related to stress reactivity. Anxiety / Stress Tue, 17 Nov 2009 02:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171119.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171119.php One in four Australian adults has taken an action that puts their health at risk as a result of the global financial crisis (GFC), according to a new MBF Healthwatch poll. The results show that lack of job security was particularly hard on families, with almost one in five parents turning up to work ill and close to one in 10 parents sending sick children to school. Anxiety / Stress Tue, 17 Nov 2009 00:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170981.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170981.php A study including 18,871 Australian drivers published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ) reports that drivers who engaged in self-harm were at increased risk of motor vehicle crashes, even after controlling for psychological distress and substance abuse. The DRIVE study was conducted by The George Institute for International Health. It included newly licensed drivers aged 17 to 24 in New South Wales, Australia. Psychology / Psychiatry Tue, 17 Nov 2009 00:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171079.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171079.php Persons convicted of serious crimes by age 23 did not have the normal heightened response to cues associated with loud, unpleasant noise when they were tested at 3 years of age, according to a new study published in The American Journal of Psychiatry. Psychology / Psychiatry Tue, 17 Nov 2009 00:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171080.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171080.php The British Psychological Society welcomes the passage of measures protecting young people from harm caused by tobacco into law in the Health Act 2009. The President of the Society, Sue Gardner, says: "We regard the protection of children and young people from smoking as an extremely high priority. All the available evidence suggests that the earlier young people start to smoke the more difficult they will find it to quit. Smoking / Quit Smoking Mon, 16 Nov 2009 04:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171053.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171053.php The results of the 2009 Pfizer Health Index announced at the Royal College of Physicians Ireland reveal that the recently unemployed are four times more likely to claim to have depression than the general population. There is also evidence that the recession is leading to anxiety over money, is bad for self-esteem and is leading to relationship tension. The greatest impact of the recession is apparent among those between the ages of 25 and 50, who are parents and who live in urban areas. Depression Mon, 16 Nov 2009 04:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171058.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171058.php An international study of more than 17,000 people with schizophrenia has found striking similarities in symptoms, medication, employment and sexual problems, despite the fact that it covered a diverse range of patients and healthcare systems in 37 different countries. Schizophrenia Mon, 16 Nov 2009 01:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171023.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171023.php Martha Wadsworth, associate professor of psychology at the University of Denver (DU), says during the holidays families should focus on what has been proven to matter most in psychological research - quality family time. "I love the winter holidays because most of them are about being together with those you love and getting back to what is important in life and that's our relationship with each other," she says. Psychology / Psychiatry