anxiety Archives

Unravelling the links between substance use and binge-like eating disorders

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The researchers explore the role of brain reward systems in eating disorders and substance use disorders.

Binge eating disorder (BED) and substance use disorders (SUD) are characterised by maladaptive responses in the reward system of the brain. Dr Mary C Olmstead at Queen’s University, Canada, and Dr Katia Befort, University of Strasbourg, France, are using rodent models to explore how a part of the reward system, called the endocannabinoid system (ECS), affects the two conditions. They hope […]

Loneliness and social isolation: How can we protect our mental health and cognitive functions?

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How can we protect our mental health and cognitive functions? Dr Jing Liang and her team study social isolation in mice and DHM treatments.

It is well known that social isolation can cause poor mental and physical health. Our recent global experience of compulsory social isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic has created a need to find new ways to prevent its devastating consequences, such as anxiety-induced cognitive decline, from manifesting. Dr Jing Liang and her team at the University of Southern California’s Mann School […]

Mental Health: Why is stigma increasing?

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Efforts have increased to combat mental health stigma over the past few decades. But why, paradoxically, are rates of prejudice and discrimination rising for those with severe mental illness? Research reveals that the biomedical model of mental illness has increased rates of stigma for those living with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Despite small gains in public perceptions of people living […]

Should pre-anaesthesia consultations be done telephonically?

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Dr Sibylle Kietaibl is advocating for patient-centred decision-making around blood management, suggesting that pre-anaesthesia consultations could happen virtually.

Anaesthesiologists play a crucial role in preparing a patient ahead of surgery, and not just physically. Pre-anaesthesia consultations are an opportunity to engage with patients, involve them in important choices, and consider these when making diagnostic, therapeutic, or palliative care decisions. Dr Sibylle Kietaibl at the Evangelical Hospital Vienna in Austria suggests such consultations should also consider patient preferences around […]

Comfort Talk^®: Transforming the experience of pain and anxiety in clinical settings

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Dr Elvira Lang used clinical trials to develop a self-hypnotic relaxation app that is proved to reduce pain and anxiety in clinical settings

Dr Elvira Lang – founder of Comfort Talk® – and colleagues, developed a mobile self-hypnotic relaxation app to improve pain and anxiety management in clinical settings. The app has been developed based on previous findings from Dr Lang’s team showing that specific word sequences can be used to improve patients’ experiences in clinical settings. The results of their placebo-controlled clinical […]

How sleep may be key to antisocial behaviour in young people

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Better sleep could be encouraged by better sleep hygiene - for example, limiting screen use in the evening.

Sleep is vital to our health and yet remains understudied in young people and especially in its links to behaviours. Professor Alexander Vazsonyi at the University of Kentucky is focused on highlighting the role of sleep in problem behaviours in adolescents. His work on sleep unearths some important influences on deviant behaviour but also points to ways that young people […]

The anxiety-reducing effects of cannabidiol treatment in teenagers with social anxiety disorder

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Nobuo Masataka, Professor of Primate Research Institute at Kyoto University, Japan has recently completed and published exciting research into the treatment of the debilitating condition of social anxiety disorder with cannabidiol, a constituent of cannabis. Social anxiety disorder has a major impact on sufferers and the condition is becoming increasingly prevalent. Here, Professor Masataka’s promising new research findings are presented […]

Fluoxetine (Prozac) use in children: working towards a customised approach

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Science article about the behavioural effects of fluoxetine (Prozac) on children

Dr Mari Golub from the Environmental Toxicology Department at the University of California at Davis, has recently completed a five-year research project looking at the behavioural effects of fluoxetine (Prozac) on brain development. Her findings, which have so far been published in eight academic papers, supplement information on the safety of fluoxetine use in children, and show for the first […]