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.
10 papers
Research points to two clear groups of treatments for anxiety. First, ordinary approaches like exercise — especially walking and other regular physical activity — have strong, high-quality evidence showing medium-sized reductions in anxiety symptoms. These are proven in many randomized trials and reviews. Second, newer substance-assisted therapies (often called psychedelic‑assisted therapy) are promising. Small clinical trials and reviews show reductions in anxiety and related problems after carefully supervised doses of drugs such as psilocybin, MDMA, ketamine, and ayahuasca. However, these drug approaches are mostly early-stage or done in special research settings and need more, larger trials before they can become routine care. People thinking about or treating anxiety should know that drug‑assisted therapies are almost always given together with serious psychological support. How the drug is given, the preparation before it, and follow-up therapy matter a lot. There are also safety and equity issues to watch: some psychedelics can have rare lasting side effects, many studies are small, and people of color have been underrepresented in trials. For now, exercise has the clearest and broadest evidence. Other treatments are promising but still need more testing and careful medical oversight.
Treatment-resistant depression means depression that does not get better after usual treatments. Scientists do not all agree on one clear definition, which makes it hard to know exactly how common it is or which treatments work best. Using the definition that regulators often use, about 30% of people with depression…
This paper is a careful review of research about treatment-resistant depression. The authors looked through medical studies to see how doctors define this kind of depression, what makes it hard to assess, and which treatments have been tried. They describe drug strategies like adding lithium or thyroid hormone, switching antidepressant…
The CANMAT 2023 update gives doctors clear, up-to-date advice for treating adults with major depressive disorder. It puts evidence into a practical, clinician-friendly format. The update says treatment should be a team effort between patients and clinicians, be tailored to each person, and follow a planned, systematic process with regular…
Researchers ran a clinical trial that directly compared ketamine treatment with electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) in people whose major depression had not improved with other treatments and who did not have psychosis. The trial found that ketamine was “noninferior” to ECT, which means ketamine worked at least as well as ECT…
This review explains how ketamine can lift depression symptoms much faster than standard antidepressants. Researchers describe the clinical results, how doctors usually give ketamine, and the brain changes it seems to cause. They also say that the treatment must be given carefully because small dose changes matter, the exact brain…
This large review combined 441 randomized trials with 33,881 patients to measure how many people show a clear response to psychotherapy across eight mental disorders. Response was defined as at least a 50% reduction in symptoms from before to after treatment. Pooled response rates were modest (for example, about 42%…
Researchers looked at sixty studies to see how biology, social life, and psychology mix together to affect substance use problems and mental health. They found that brain systems, genes, childhood experiences, parenting, personality, and existing mood or anxiety problems all interact. This makes addiction and related psychiatric symptoms complicated, especially…
This study used mouse brain cells grown in the lab and live mice to find how low doses of ketamine act quickly to reduce depression-like and anxiety-like behaviors. The researchers found that ketamine lowers activity of a molecule called calcineurin. That change leads to more of a specific kind of…
This paper reported a small, randomized trial of 64 people with treatment-resistant major depression who were given a single intravenous dose of ketamine or a saline placebo. The authors said depression and suicidal thoughts dropped quickly — within an hour — and that benefits lasted up to two months, but…
This American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry guide explains what depression looks like in children and teens, why it may happen, how it is diagnosed, and how serious the risks can be. It says depression is a real illness that is more common in adolescents (ages 12–18) and can…
