Experimental medication ketamine relives depression in just hours—Points to targets for new medications
A new study has revealed more about how the medication ketamine, when used experimentally for depression, relieves symptoms of the disorder in hours instead of weeks or months it takes for current antidepressants to work. While ketamine itself probably won’t come into use as an antidepressant because of its side effects, the new finding moves scientists considerably closer to understanding how to develop faster-acting antidepressant medications – among the priorities of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), part of the National Institutes of Health. [continue reading…]
Thomas Joiner, Florida State University Distinguished Research Professor and the Bright-Burton Professor of Psychology, has identified hopelessness as a distinguishing feature of double depression in a new paper published in the Journal of Affective Disorders. The finding could help therapists diagnose and treat the mood disorder. [continue reading…]
This new research study is published in in the August 2007 issue of Psychological Medicine. Lead author is Elizabeth Lloyd-Richardson,PhD, an assistant professor of psychiatry and human behaviour at Brown Medical School and The Miriam Hospital.She is a clinical psychologist, specializing in child and adolescent psychopathology, particularly as it realtes to medical conditions and health behaviours. [continue reading…]
The link between alcohol and aggression is well known. What’s not so clear is just why drunks get belligerent. What is it about the brain-on-alcohol that makes fighting seem like a good idea? And do all intoxicated people get more aggressive? Or does it depend on the circumstances? [continue reading…]
