Depression

Patients who believe their depression stems from a chemical imbalance tend to take antidepressants twice as long and are less likely to attempt quitting, suggesting that biological messaging heavily influences long-term drug reliance.

A new study suggests the hallucinogen DMT might improve upon existing rapid treatments for severe depression. The research shows a single dose of DMT provides sustained relief from both depressive and anxiety-like symptoms in mice.

Recent research is dampening the hype around psychedelic therapy. By adjusting for how clinical trials are designed, scientists found that drugs like LSD and psilocybin offer similar depression relief to traditional antidepressants, rather than vastly superior results.

A double-blind trial suggests that microdosing the psychedelic drug LSD can reverse blunted neurological responses to emotional rewards, potentially offering targeted biological interventions for individuals struggling with mild to moderate depression.

A new study of over 6,600 adolescents reveals that bad daily habits rarely occur alone. When behaviors like poor sleep and physical inactivity cluster together, they dramatically increase a teen's risk of developing both anxiety and depression.

A new review of over 250,000 individuals reveals that having a clear sense of meaning in life is consistently linked to lower levels of depression, though the strength of this protection varies widely across different ages and cultural backgrounds.

A recent study found that consuming high amounts of sugar and sweetened beverages is associated with a greater chance of experiencing depression and anxiety.

While having fewer social contacts makes anyone feel lonely, a new study finds this effect is much more severe in depressed individuals. Researchers suggest depression treatments must actively help patients rebuild their social networks.

New research reveals that adolescent boys hospitalized with major depression have much higher testosterone levels if they experience suicidal thoughts. The findings point toward potential biological markers that could help doctors identify young men at risk of self-harm.

By analyzing brain scans from over 4,000 people, researchers trained AI to predict if a patient’s depression will improve with medication or brain stimulation. This newly discovered biomarker could finally end trial-and-error psychiatric care.

A sweeping analysis of over a million health records reveals that people living with autoimmune diseases experience depression and anxiety at nearly twice the rate of the general public, suggesting a profound link between physical inflammation and mental health.

New findings published in Nature Medicine indicate that a brief dose of the psychedelic DMT, administered with dedicated psychological support, safely and rapidly relieves major depression. These mental health improvements tend to last for up to three months.

While memory and planning issues linked to early adolescent depression typically fade, a new study reveals that inattention persists. Scientists found that poor focus and depressive symptoms continually reinforce each other as teenagers grow.

A new brain imaging study reveals an association between overlapping depression and cannabis use and less efficient brain communication. The heightened connectivity typically seen with cannabis use is less pronounced when depression symptoms are present.

Challenging the idea of depressive realism, new research shows that depression causes an active pessimistic bias. People with high depressive symptoms consistently underestimate the likelihood of positive events actually occurring in their everyday lives.