Most students taking prescription medications for pain, sleep, anxiety or attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) do not misuse the drugs, a new study finds. And proper use of these medications was not associated with a …
Depression
Timely Treatment for Depression Hard to Get, Even for the Insured
Massachusetts requires health insurance for all, is second in the nation in the number of doctors per capita, and mandates equal coverage for mental and physical illnesses. Yet when researchers there posed as well-insured …
The Healthland Podcast: Superobese Kids, Parents on Facebook and Betty Ford’s Mixed Legacy
This week on the podcast, Healthland editor Sora Song asks whether child obesity is child abuse. TIME editor-at-large Belinda Luscombe reports that adults are less savvy on Facebook than teens. And TIME senior writer John Cloud …
Antidepressant Use During Pregnancy Linked to Higher Risk of Autism
Children whose mothers use antidepressants during pregnancy may be more likely to develop autism than kids whose mothers do not, say researchers in California.
A Mystery Partly Solved: How the ‘Club Drug’ Ketamine Lifts Depression So Quickly
A new study sheds light on why the anesthetic and “club drug” ketamine can relieve depression rapidly — in hours, instead of weeks or months. The findings may help provide new targets for developing antidepressants and increase …
For Men, Good Health May Be Found at the Museum
Listen up, guys. If your buddies give you a hard time for preferring Monet over the Mets, you can hit them with this: a study finds that an appreciation of culture and the arts can do wonders for a man’s health, including …
Could a Body-Clock Drug Help Ease Depression?
Sad mood and sleep problems often go together — sleep disturbances like insomnia or, conversely, sleeping too much are common symptoms or warning signs of depression. Now, some doctors say that drugs that help regulate sleep …
Q&A: Positive Psychologist Martin Seligman on the Good Life
These days Martin Seligman, author of the best-selling book Authentic Happiness, is perhaps best known as a father of positive of psychology — the study of people’s strengths and virtues, rather than on pathological behavior.
In Defense of Motherhood: Why We Keep Having Kids When They’re So Clearly Bad for Us
Here at Healthland, we devote a considerable amount of virtual ink to reporting on research that disses parenthood. I’ve written several stories in this vein, and I find them both wryly amusing and often uncomfortably accurate. But at least in my experience parenting three young kids, they’re not the whole truth.
Depression and the Mommy Wars: Who’s Worst Off?
Are working moms more prone to depression than those who stay at home? One faces long hours away from her family, a lot of juggling and exhaustion. The other faces long hours with needy little humans, a lot of isolation and …
Why Happiness Isn’t Always Good: Asians vs. Americans
Among journalists — and less so among psychologists — the subset of mental-health research called “positive psychology” has become powerfully influential. Positive psychology, which was more or less founded by a …
Drug War: How Advil May Thwart the Benefits of Prozac
The common painkillers known as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), a class of medication that includes aspirin, naproxen (Aleve), and ibuprofen (Advil), can significantly reduce the effectiveness of certain …
Does Your Baby Cry Too Much at Night? It Could Signal Future Behavior Problems
Crying and waking up in the middle of night are routine during any newborn’s first few months. But if those wailing episodes continue on a regular basis past the first year, then they may signal possible behavioral problems down the road.