Depression

Depression is a serious medical illness that involves the brain. It's more than just a feeling of being "down in the dumps" or "blue" for a few days. If you are one of the more than 20 million people in the United States who have depression, the feelings do not go away. They persist and interfere with your everyday life.

Clinical Depression: Diagnosis, Causes & Treatment

Depression is a clinical condition that, contrary to popular opinion, cannot simply be overcome with time and it needs to be treated.

Causes of Depression

How Does Your Diet Affect Depression?

Depression Diagnosis

Genes and Depression

Symptoms of Depression

Treatment of Depression

Depression in children

How Can I Tell if My Child is Depressed?

How is Depression in Children Diagnosed?

Treatment Options for Children with Depression

Contributing Factors to Post-Adoption Depression

See more featured articles »

Ghrelin and Depression

Prisoner Depression and Low Mood

Intrusive Thoughts and Depression

Supporting Children with Mental Health Disorders

Depression and Sleep Length

Link Between Chronic Illness and Depression

Situational Depression: Symptoms, Causes, Treatments

Can Depression and Anxiety Occur Together?

Antidepressants and Weight Changes

Latest Depression News and Research

WHO develops new guidelines to prevent mental health conditions among adolescents

New guidelines from WHO recommend a set of psychosocial interventions to promote mental health and prevent mental health conditions among adolescents, aged 10-19 years.

28 Sep 2020

Low levels of prenatal alcohol consumption can affect child's brain development

New research from the University of Sydney finds that even low levels of alcohol consumption during pregnancy can have an impact on a child's brain development and is associated with greater psychological and behavioral problems in youth including anxiety, depression and poor attention.

25 Sep 2020

Carers of adults with intellectual disability report higher rates of lockdown mental health problems

Family carers for children and adults with intellectual disabilities have reported rates of mental health problems under lockdown that are up to 10 times higher than parents without those responsibilities, a new study has found.

24 Sep 2020

As fires and floods wreak havoc on health, new climate center seeks solutions

For the past month, record-breaking wildfires have torched millions of acres from the Mexican border well into Canada, their smoke producing air so toxic that millions of people remained indoors for days on end while many visited hospitals because of respiratory distress.

24 Sep 2020

Prenatal cannabis exposure may increase risk for psychopathology in middle childhood

While cannabis use during pregnancy is on the rise, researchers at Washington University in St. Louis have found evidence that the resulting children are more likely to have psychopathology in middle childhood.

23 Sep 2020

Weighted blanket intervention reduces insomnia severity

Weighted blankets are a safe and effective intervention in the treatment of insomnia, according to Swedish researchers who found that insomnia patients with psychiatric disorders experienced reduced insomnia severity, improved sleep and less daytime sleepiness when sleeping with a weighted chain blanket.

23 Sep 2020

Cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia provides relief

Insomnia causing sleepless nights, daytime fatigue and poor health outcomes is a cycle worth busting, experts say, with depression, anxiety and stress a common co-occurrence.

23 Sep 2020

Study documents mental health of informal carers during COVID-19 lockdown

The challenges faced by informal carers - usually mothers - of children and adults with intellectual disability have been largely overlooked during the coronavirus crisis.

23 Sep 2020

Late-life depression not linked with increased amyloid deposits in the brain

Depression in elderly people can include symptoms such as memory loss, making it hard to distinguish from the early stages of Alzheimer's disease and other types of dementia.

23 Sep 2020

Research shows how the brain balances emotion and cognition

Navigating through life requires balancing emotion and reason, a feat accomplished by the brain region “area 32” of the anterior cingulate cortex.

23 Sep 2020

Study examines the mental health of adolescents before and after the pandemic lockdown

The COVID-19 crisis has taken a psychological toll on people of all ages, but one group especially affected is teenagers. School closures and enforced social distancing have cut off many teens from major means of psychological support, putting them at higher risk of developing anxiety and depression.

23 Sep 2020

Psychological and physical impacts of childhood sexual abuse are closely tied, shows study

A new Canadian study reveals that the psychological and physical effects of childhood sexual abuse are closely tied.

22 Sep 2020

Fertility treatment suspensions during COVID-19 has a negative impact on mental health

The suspension of fertility treatments due to the COVID-19 pandemic has had a variety of psychological impacts on women whose treatments were cancelled, but there are several protective factors that can be fostered to help in the future, according to a new study by Jennifer Gordon and Ashley Balsom of University of Regina, Canada, published 18 September in the open-access journal PLOS ONE.

22 Sep 2020

People with severe dementia are unaware of COVID-19 outbreak, indicates study

The ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has substantially affected patients with dementia and their caregivers.

21 Sep 2020

Study highlights the need for new strategies to treat patients with treatment-resistant depression

Clinical trials happen in a highly controlled setting and while they are extremely useful in gathering robust information about drugs and how they work, there are many more variables that might affect how a drug works in a real-life setting outside of clinical trials e.g. different patient populations and environments.

21 Sep 2020

Type 1 diabetes is associated with increased risk of falls

New research presented at this year's annual meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD), held online this year (21-25 September), shows that having type 1 diabetes (T1D) is associated with a 33% increase in the risk of falls compared with the general population, while having type 2 diabetes (T2D) is associated with a 19% increased risk of falls.

21 Sep 2020

Evidence-based approaches improve employment outcomes after spinal cord injury

Researchers at Kessler Foundation authored a new article, "Employment after spinal cord injury," (DOI: 10.1007/s40141-020-00266-4), published by Current Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Reports on May 24, 2020.

19 Sep 2020

U.S. adults experienced increased mental health issues as COVID-19 cases skyrocketed

U.S. adults increasingly experienced symptoms associated with acute stress and depression as COVID-19 cases and deaths skyrocketed between mid-March and mid-April 2020, according to a study of more than 6,500 people from three large, nationally representative cohorts.

19 Sep 2020

Rising stress and depressive symptoms linked to pandemic-related losses, media consumption

Experiencing multiple stressors triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic – such as unemployment – and COVID-19-related media consumption are directly linked to rising acute stress and depressive symptoms across the U.S., according to a groundbreaking University of California, Irvine study.

19 Sep 2020

Scientists investigate how psychedelic drugs interact with brain cells at the molecular level

Psychedelic drugs such as LSD, psilocybin, and mescaline cause severe and often long-lasting hallucinations, but they show great potential in treating serious psychiatric conditions, such as major depressive disorder.

18 Sep 2020