Frontier mental health research: psychedelics & drug studies

Delivering Cognitive Behavior Therapy to Young Adults With Symptoms of Depression and Anxiety Using a Fully Automated Conversational Agent (Woebot): A Randomized Controlled Trial

Kathleen Kara Fitzpatrick, Alison Darcy, Molly Vierhile

JMIR Mental Health • Summary & key facts • 2017 • 2,318 citations

This small randomized trial tested a fully automated text-based conversational agent called Woebot as a way to deliver cognitive behavioral therapy to college-age young adults with symptoms of depression and anxiety. Over 2 weeks, the Woebot group (n=34) showed a statistically larger drop in depression scores (PHQ-9) than an information-only…

Digital Mental Health Interventions Impact of Technology on Adolescents Mental Health Research Topics

Effects of physical exercise on anxiety, depression, and sensitivity to stress

Peter Salmon

Clinical Psychology Review • Summary & key facts • 2001 • 1,332 citations

This 2001 review looked at studies on exercise, anxiety, depression, and stress. It found that short-term emotional effects of exercise are mixed, but many cross-sectional and longitudinal studies report that regular aerobic exercise training reduces anxiety and depression symptoms and may protect against the harmful effects of stress. The clearest…

Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes Eating Disorders and Behaviors Mental Health Research Topics

The serotonin theory of depression: a systematic umbrella review of the evidence

Moncrieff, Joanna, Cooper, Ruth E., Stockmann, Tom, et al.

Nature • Summary & key facts • 2023 • 830 citations

This umbrella review looked at the best existing reviews and large studies to see if depression is linked to low serotonin or low serotonin activity. Across measures of serotonin in fluids, receptor and transporter studies, tryptophan depletion experiments, and large genetic studies, the evidence was mixed or absent. The authors…

Mental Health Research Topics Treatment of Major Depression Tryptophan and brain disorders

Efficacy of Esketamine Nasal Spray Plus Oral Antidepressant Treatment for Relapse Prevention in Patients With Treatment-Resistant Depression

Ella Daly, Madhukar H. Trivedi, Adam Janik, Honglan Li, Yun Zhang, Xiang Li, et al.

JAMA Psychiatry • Summary & key facts • 2019 • 726 citations

This phase 3, double-blind trial tested whether continuing esketamine nasal spray plus an oral antidepressant could delay relapse in adults with treatment-resistant depression who had already improved after an initial esketamine course. Of 297 patients who entered the randomized phase, continuing esketamine reduced relapse compared with switching to placebo nasal…

Mental Health Research Topics Treatment of Major Depression Tryptophan and brain disorders

Synthesizing the Evidence for Ketamine and Esketamine in Treatment-Resistant Depression: An International Expert Opinion on the Available Evidence and Implementation

Roger S. McIntyre, Joshua D. Rosenblat, Charles B. Nemeroff, Gerard Sanacora, James W. Murrough, Michael Berk, et al.

American Journal of Psychiatry • Summary & key facts • 2021 • 646 citations

A group of international mood-disorder experts reviewed the research on ketamine and esketamine for adults whose depression did not get better with usual antidepressants. They found that these drugs work differently from standard antidepressants and can lift symptoms more quickly for some people with treatment-resistant depression. However, the experts also…

Mental Health Research Topics Treatment of Major Depression Tryptophan and brain disorders Ketamine

Single, Repeated, and Maintenance Ketamine Infusions for Treatment-Resistant Depression: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Jennifer L. Phillips, Sandhaya Norris, Jeanne Talbot, Meagan Birmingham, Taylor Hatchard, Abigail Ortiz, et al.

American Journal of Psychiatry • Summary & key facts • 2019 • 396 citations

Repeated ketamine infusions have cumulative and sustained antidepressant effects. Reductions in depressive symptoms were maintained among responders through once-weekly infusions. These findings provide novel data on efficacious administration strategies for ketamine in patients with treatment-resistant depression. Future studies should further expand on optimizing administration to better translate the use of…

Mental Health Research Topics Treatment of Major Depression Tryptophan and brain disorders

Core symptoms of major depressive disorder: relevance to diagnosis and treatment

Sidney H Kennedy

PubMed Central (PMC) • Summary & key facts • 2008 • 370 citations

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is defined without assuming a single cause and has two main symptoms: depressed mood and loss of interest or pleasure. The paper says we should also pay more attention to fatigue, sleep problems, anxiety, thinking (cognitive) problems, and sexual problems when diagnosing and judging treatment. Some…

Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes Mental Health Research Topics Treatment of Major Depression

More treatment but no less depression: The treatment-prevalence paradox

Johan Ormel, Steven D. Hollon, Ronald C. Kessler, Pim Cuijpers, Scott M. Monroe

PubMed • Summary & key facts • 2022 • 188 citations

Treatments for depression have gotten better and far more people can get them since the 1980s. Yet the share of people in the general population with depression has not gone down. The authors call this the “treatment-prevalence paradox” and review seven possible explanations. They find little evidence that more cases…

Mental Health Research Topics Mental Health Treatment and Access Treatment of Major Depression

Personalized brain circuit scores identify clinically distinct biotypes in depression and anxiety

Leonardo Tozzi, Xue Zhang, Adam Pines, Alisa Olmsted, Emily Zhai, Esther T. Anene, et al.

Nature Medicine • Summary & key facts • 2024 • 162 citations

The researchers created personalized brain circuit scores from both task-free and task-evoked fMRI scans in a large group of people with depression and anxiety. Using a standardized processing method, they measured 41 circuit features across six brain systems and used those measures to define six distinct “biotypes.” These biotypes showed…

Functional Brain Connectivity Studies Mental Health Research Topics Treatment of Major Depression

Efficacy of single and repeated administration of ketamine in unipolar and bipolar depression: a meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials

Joanna Kryst, Paweł Kawalec, Alicja Mikrut Mitoraj, Andrzej Pilc, Władysław Lasoń, Tomasz Brzostek

PubMed • Summary & key facts • 2020 • 145 citations

This meta-analysis combined 20 randomized clinical trials up to February 22, 2019, and found that a single dose of ketamine produced rapid antidepressant effects that were strongest at 24 hours and that these effects were still detectable up to 7 days. The analysis also found that repeated ketamine doses helped…

Mental Health Research Topics Treatment of Major Depression Tryptophan and brain disorders

Depression and eating disorders: Treatment and course

David Mischoulon, Kamryn T. Eddy, Aparna Keshaviah, Diana Dinescu, Stephanie L. Ross, Andrea E. Kass, et al.

Journal of Affective Disorders • Summary & key facts • 2010 • 137 citations

This long study followed 246 treatment-seeking women with anorexia or bulimia for about 9 years. Major depression was common and often long-lasting: 70% of those who had depression recovered, but 65% of those who recovered later relapsed. Recovery chances varied by type of eating disorder, and time on antidepressants was…

Eating Disorders and Behaviors Mental Health Research Topics Treatment of Major Depression

Perception of self and other in major depression.

Michael A. Gara, Robert L. Woolfolk, Bertram D. Cohen, Ruth B. Goldston, et al

Journal of Abnormal Psychology • Summary & key facts • 1993 • 116 citations

Researchers asked people with major depression and people without psychiatric disorders to write open, free descriptions of themselves and of other people. Compared with the control group, the depressed group named fewer positive traits and more negative traits for themselves and for parents and close others. A clustering analysis also…

Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development Mental Health Research Topics