Mental Health Archive

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recently updated their guidelines on screening for depression. This time around, they recommended widespread screening through primary care practices, plus gave special attention to women who are pregnant or recently gave birth. These matter-of-fact, achievable guidelines and goals have the potential to reap enormous health benefits.

Light therapy, either alone or in combination with an antidepressant, can alleviate major depression.

A recent study of nearly 3,000 patients who had an overdose during long-term opioid treatment found that more than 90% of these patients continued to receive opioids — even after their overdose. Poor communication between emergency rooms and prescribing doctors is likely the culprit. What’s more, doctors receive little training in recognizing patients at high risk for overdose, or in treating addiction when they do spot it. An important strategy to address the current opioid crisis is to improve how doctors are educated about opioids.

There’s almost always something we can do to improve our health and well-being — even at the end of our lives. Palliative care is designed to improve the quality of life for people with life-threatening illnesses and their families by keeping a person comfortable and making sure his or her values and preferences guide the medical team’s actions. For this reason, good communication with your care team — and your loved ones — is essential, even before you or a loved one has developed a serious illness.

Ask the doctor

Q. My daughter had a miscarriage a few months ago and since then she has been depressed and withdrawn. Do you know anything I can do to help?

A. Miscarriage can involve a difficult emotional recovery, and many women and their partners are surprised at the intensity of their feelings. Many women who have experienced a miscarriage feel that they have done something wrong. They may worry that the miscarriage resulted from stress or lifestyle choices they made during pregnancy. In fact, most miscarriages are the result of chromosomal abnormalities, structural abnormalities of the uterus, or maternal endocrine or autoimmune disorders.

Research we're watching

A nationwide survey conducted by researchers at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health indicates that prescription drug use rose from 51% of U.S. adults in the 1999–2000 calendar year to 59% in 2011–2012. In 2012, women were taking more prescription medications than men, with 65% taking at least one drug and 16% taking more than five.

Although the use of postmenopausal hormones declined, women's prescriptions for blood pressure medication, cholesterol-lowering drugs, antidepressants, and diabetes medications rose significantly. The study was published in the Nov. 3, 2015, issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association.

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The meditative practice is being used for everything from boosting happiness to treating high blood pressure.

Mindfulness, which trains you to focus your mind on the present moment, is more than a popular meditation technique. It's been shown to help treat depression and anxiety and improve sleep quality. And it's now being studied as a complementary therapy for cancer, stroke, multiple sclerosis, and pain. "We're seeing an exponential increase in doctors embracing mindfulness as a treatment," says Dr. Ronald Siegel, assistant professor of psychology at Harvard Medical School and faculty editor of the Harvard Special Health Report Positive Psychology.

About 1 in 3 people report at least one episode of fainting during their lifetime, so it’s surprising that we don’t see people fainting more often. Fainting is usually harmless, the body’s response to emotional or physical stress. But in some cases, fainting can indicate an underlying problem such as heart abnormalities or seizures. And even when the cause of fainting is not that serious, fainting that leads to a fall can cause injury.

Many people believe that the human tendency to want to act for the greater good is rooted in kindness. But research suggests that altruism may have evolved alongside the impulse to condemn and even chasten those put self-interests first.