Adding Asperger’s syndrome to the autism spectrum, eliminating the terms “substance abuse” and “dependence” in favor of “addiction and related disorders,” introducing the condition “hypersexual disorder” and introducing an assessment of mental illness based on severity are among the proposed changes for the new edition of the Diagnostic
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Fueling the debate over the existence of internet addiction, and new study from researchers at the University of Leeds finds that people who compulsively browse, chat and play online have higher rates of moderate to severe depression than people who aren’t compulsively driven to use the internet. Additionally, people with addictive
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When it comes to jealousy, men and women aren’t always on the same page. Previous studies have shown that, while men are more likely to see red over a partner’s sexual infidelity, women are more upset by emotional cheating. Evolutionary psychologists theorize that the difference is rooted in the sexes’ historical roles—men wanted to
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Beyond making you cranky and impatient, it turns out that being hungry—or more specifically, having low blood sugar—may actually change the way that you make decisions. In a new study published in the journal Psychological Science, University of South Dakota researchers X.T. Wang and Robert D. Dvorak found that people with lower
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Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a growing problem in the U.S., driven largely by the prevalence of the condition among soldiers and other military personnel returning from war in Iraq and Afghanistan. PTSD, which is characterized by feelings of numbness, depression, guilt, vivid nightmares and disrupted sleep, among other
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The idea that power can promote hypocrisy is not new, or lacking for anecdotal evidence. From the infamous example of former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer‘s public persona as an enforcer of ethics contradicted by his private appetite for prostitutes, to South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford‘s messages of family values undermined by his
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For patients battling severe depression, antidepressant medications are still the best option for treatment, but these drugs may offer little benefit to patients suffering from milder forms of depression, according to a new analysis published this week in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The review, which analyzed data
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Clarification added January 6, 2010.
A wealth of research has shown that selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI) are effective at reducing the symptoms of depression—though new research suggests that study populations limited to those with severe depression may skew these findings, and that antidepressants only show truly
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Video games are a controversial topic these days. Do popular games cater enough to a female audience? Can interactive games introduce a new forum for sexual predators? Is there such a thing as video game addiction? Yet, for all of the negative perceptions and criticisms of video games, there is a growing body of evidence suggesting their
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For several decades it has been widely accepted in the field of education that certain people learn better using specific teaching techniques—that some of us gain knowledge more efficiently through verbal training, while others are more visual learners, for example. Yet, according to a review of previous research into this subject
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Recalling a frightening moment or event can be unsettling as your body revisits the sense of danger and panic you first experienced, and the frequent recurrence of these recollections can even lay a foundation for anxiety disorders. Yet, according to new research from the department of psychology at New York University, there may
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In children, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) may inhibit the function of a brain region associated with memory, according to a new study published online today in the Journal of Pediatric Psychiatry. In an effort to better understand how trauma may impact brain function in children, researchers at Stanford University School of
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As most parents know, as adorable as they are, sometimes kids can also be very frustrating. So, when those trying parenting moments arise, what distinguishes the moms who lose their cool from those who stay in control? According to research published in the journal Psychological Science, it may come down to working memory. In a study of
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