In his free time, Sven Laumer serves as a referee for Bavaria’s highest amateur football league. A few years ago, he noticed several footballers had quit Facebook, making it hard to organize events on the platform. He was annoyed, but as a professor who studies information systems, he was also intrigued. Why would the young men want to give up Facebook? Social scientists had been saying the social network was a good thing.

A new study adds to growing evidence that depression can affect even very young children Only in the past two decades has depression in children been taken seriously. Now, it’s becoming clear that kids as young as three can have major depression. That’s due largely to the work of Dr. Joan Luby, the director of the Early Emotional Development Program at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, who is credited with spurring the small but...

As the Panthers and Broncos faced off in the third quarter of last night’s Super Bowl, wide receiver Philly Brown suffered a possible concussion—and to the disappointment of Panthers fans, he never returned to the game. But for good reason: concussions are now known to be much more serious injuries than once thought. And the danger may not be limited to the immediate repercussions. Researchers have already linked more severe...

Non-African humans are estimated to have inherited on average 1.5 to 4% of their genomes from Neandertals. However, how this genetic legacy affects human traits is unknown. Simonti et al. combined genotyping data with electronic health records. Individual Neandertal alleles were correlated with clinically relevant phenotypes in individuals of European descent. These archaic genetic variants were associated with medical conditions affecting the skin, the blood, and the risk of depression.

When Aaron was an intern, or a first-year doctor in training, he knew something was wrong with him. He had trouble sleeping. He had difficulty feeling joy. He was prone to crying at inopportune times. Even worse, he had trouble connecting with patients. He felt like he couldn’t please anyone, and he found himself susceptible to feelings of despair and panic. He wasn’t alone. That’s the topic of this week’s Healthcare Triage.

A 24-year-old Belgian woman who suffers from depression and has had a "death wish" since childhood has been granted the right to die — even though she's not terminally ill. Doctors gave the young woman, identified only as Laura, the go-ahead to be euthanized by lethal injection after she spent her life battling suicidal thoughts, she told Belgian newspaper De Morgen. "Life, that's not for me," she said. "Death feels to me not as a choice.

An international team of researchers lead by the University of Granada has scientifically proven, for the first time, that depression is associated with important alterations of the oxidative stress, so it should be considered a systemic disease. An international team of researchers lead by the University of Granada (UGR) has scientifically proven, for the first time, that depression is more than a mental disorder...

“It’s like you’re watching your own brain.”

Everyone’s depression is different, but Ted, a 40-year-old resident of Portland, Oregon, describes his as a “continuous dark veil — a foul, dark, awful perspective that informs every moment of your whole life.” He’d tried to treat it with antidepressants, therapy, visits to psychiatrists, “the whole nine,” but although the antidepressants kept him functional, they by no means offered relief. He was getting desperate...

The most alone I have ever felt was standing on my front porch on a chilly February evening. My sister had taped a note to the front door that said “Eleni, if you’re the first one here don’t go in the basement. Just call 911. I don’t want you to see me like this. I love you! Love, Aletha.” She put an identical sign on the back door. Even in the midst of consuming depression, Aletha tried to protect me from the full horror of her suicide.

The relationship between insomnia and mental illness is bidirectional: about 50% of adults with insomnia have a mental health problem; up to 90% of adults with depression have sleep problems.

It is very common when I first encounter a client struggling with mental health issues that they report their problem is that they feel anxious or depressed. Here is a typical exchange: Me: So, can you share with me what brings you in? Client: Well, I have not been feeling good. I have these low moods that I can’t shake off. I want to stop feeling depressed. Me: What is it that gets you feeling depressed? Client: I don’t know. Nothing really. It just comes out of the blue...

Parts of the St John's Wort plant are used medicinally to treat a number of conditions affecting the nervous and immune systems. In modern times, St John’s Wort has been shown to be as effective as placebo and standard antidepressants in the treatment of mild to moderate depression.

A hallucinogenic chemical found in magic mushrooms has successfully lifted severe depression in previously untreatable patients. Scientists at Imperial College London induced intense psychedelic trips in 12 people using high doses of the banned substance psilocybin. A week after the experience all the volunteers were depression-free, and three months later five still had no symptoms of the condition.

Living in poverty can cause changes to people’s DNA that make them more likely to become depressed, anxious and possibly take drugs, according to a ground-breaking new study. Researchers in the United States found that teenagers from deprived backgrounds tended to undergo changes to a gene that increases the activity of a part of the brain involved in the ‘fight or flight’ response and panic attacks.

America’s lawyers aren’t happy. One in five licensed lawyers having a drinking problem, while almost one in three experienced symptoms of depression, according to a new study published in the February issue of the Journal of Addiction Medicine. Men and young lawyers were found to be particularly at-risk for drinking problems. For instance, 25% of male lawyers tested positively for hazardous, potentially dependent drinking. And over 30% of lawyers 30 years old or younger had similarly alarming scores on the alcohol use test. Only about 11.8% of the highly-educated workforce has a drinking problem...

Team finds rapid-acting, non-addicting agent in mouse study. A chemical byproduct, or metabolite, created as the body breaks down ketamine likely holds the secret to its rapid antidepressant action. This metabolite singularly reversed depression-like behaviors in mice without triggering any of the anesthetic, dissociative, or addictive side effects associated with ketamine. The discovery fundamentally changes scientists' understanding of how this rapid antidepressant mechanism works and holds promise for improved treatments.

Just 30 minutes a week spent outdoors - whether you’re visiting the park, hiking, or exploring new tracks with your dog - is enough to lower your risk of developing high blood pressure and depression, a new study has found . Australian researchers...

In the digital age, bad news seems always at our fingertips. For people who are already prone to anxiety or depression, it’s hard not to feel overwhelmed by the world’s problems. If Brexit didn’t hit you in the literal gut, perhaps it was this month’s mass shooting at a gay dance club in Orlando, Florida that shook you to your core. Or the possibility that Donald Trump could yet become the next president of the United States. Or this week’s tragic terror attack in Istanbul.

Suicide attempts actually increased. The most commonly available antidepressants are not only ineffective in young people, they can actually be dangerous, with a major review finding children and teens with depression are better off taking nothing at all. The findings have