A network of emotion-regulating brain regions implicated in the pathological worry that can grip patients with anxiety disorders may also be useful for predicting the benefits of treatment.
A new study appearing online Jan. 2 reports that high levels of brain activity in an emotional center called the amygdala reflect patients’ hypersensitivity to anticipation (more…)

Contact with nature has long been suspected to increase positive feelings, reduce stress, and provide distraction from the pain associated with recovery from surgery. Now, research has confirmed the beneficial effects of plants and flowers for patients recovering from abdominal surgery.
A (more…)

Anxiety disorders in children and adolescents should be recognized and treated to prevent educational underachievement and adult substance abuse, anxiety disorders and depression, says a nationally recognized child psychiatrist from UT Southwestern Medical Center.
In an editorial appearing in the Dec. 25 issue of New England Journal of Medicine, Dr. Graham Emslie, (more…)

Earthquakes have aftershocks not just the geological kind but the mental kind as well. Just like veterans of war, earthquake survivors can experience post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and anxiety.
In 1988, a massive earthquake in Armenia killed 17,000 people and destroyed nearly half the town of Gumri. Now, in the first multigenerational study of its kind, UCLA researchers studying (more…)

The PruHealth Vitality Index, a major study published today, reveals a clear gap between Britons’ perceptions of what it means to be healthy and having a real understanding of the impact of lifestyle, diet and fitness levels on current and future health. The Index - which will be repeated on a biannual basis to track the nation’s health trends - provides a comprehensive analysis of general health and wellbeing (more…)

Breast cancer patients who have a poor relationship with their spouse may face a more difficult road to recovery than would other women, according to a new study.
Buy levitra without prescription Researchers found that, over five years, patients in distressed marriages had higher levels of stress, less physical activity, slower (more…)

Being nervous, socially isolated, anxious or neurotic during childhood protects young men from becoming criminal offenders until they enter adulthood, but the protective effect seems to wear off after the age of 21. These are the findings of Dr. Georgia Zara, from the University of Turin in Italy, and Dr. David Farrington, from the University of Cambridge in the UK, who explored whether or not certain childhood factors delay (more…)

The Anxiety and Panic Treatment Program of The Family
Institute at Northwestern University, a premier center for couple and family therapy,
community outreach, education and research, announces its generalized anxiety disorder
(GAD) research project.
The primary focus of the GAD research project is on improving the effectiveness of
treatment for GAD. This research is especially timely given the current economic turmoil
as many people with (more…)

In patients who receive implantable cardiac defibrillators after a sudden heart event, there is a higher likelihood of death within five years if they experience symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, according to a report released on November 3, 2008 in Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
When a life-threatening heart condition is severe and has (more…)

Researchers in the US found that either cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) or the antidepressant sertraline (brand name Zoloft) were more
effective than a placebo drug in treating a range of childhood anxiety disorders, but a combination of Zoloft and CBT worked even better.
The Child/Adolescent Anxiety Multimodal Study (CAMS), which took part in six separate centers across the US, (more…)