Frontier mental health research: psychedelics & drug studies

Each month our editorial team sifts through hundreds of papers and curates notable findings—for practitioners and informed readers who want to stay current with the evidence. Subscribe to the monthly Research Digest for expert analysis and concise summaries of key papers.

2 papers

Effect of breathwork on stress and mental health: A meta-analysis of randomised-controlled trials

Guy W. Fincham, Clara Strauss, Jesús Montero‐Marín, Kate Cavanagh
Scientific Reports Summary & key facts 2023 158 citations

This meta-analysis looked at randomized trials to see if deliberate breathing practices (breathwork) reduce self-reported stress. Across 12 trials with 785 adults, breathwork was linked with a small-to-medium drop in stress compared with non-breathwork controls (g = -0.35). Similar small-to-medium effects were seen for anxiety and depression. Most included studies…

Health and Wellbeing Research Health, psychology, and well-being Heart Rate Variability and Autonomic Control

The Role of Stress in Bipolar Disorder

Umeoka, Eduardo H. L., van Leeuwen, Judith M. C., Vinkers, Christiaan H., et al.
SpringerLink Summary & key facts 2020 16 citations

This chapter says stress is an important risk factor for bipolar disorder. Stress hormones like (nor)adrenaline and corticosteroids reach the brain and change how neurons work. Right after stress people tend to process emotions more and higher thinking less, and later the opposite can happen. In bipolar disorder, baseline corticosteroid…

Bipolar Disorder and Treatment Electrolyte and hormonal disorders Stress Responses and Cortisol
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