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.

16 papers

Risks of all-cause and suicide mortality in mental disorders: a meta-review

Edward Chesney, Guy M. Goodwin, Seena Fazel
World Psychiatry Summary & key facts 2014 2,040 citations

This study reviewed systematic reviews to measure death risks in major mental disorders. The authors screened 407 reviews and found 20 that reported mortality risks for 20 different disorders, covering over 1.7 million patients and more than a quarter of a million deaths. Every disorder showed higher all-cause death rates…

Bipolar Disorder and Treatment Mental Health Treatment and Access Suicide and Self-Harm Studies

Adult ADHD and comorbid disorders: clinical implications of a dimensional approach

Martin A. Katzman, Timothy S. Bilkey, Pratap Chokka, Angelo Fallu, Larry J. Klassen
BMC Psychiatry Summary & key facts 2017 648 citations

This review says adult ADHD affects about 2.5% of adults and often occurs with other mental health problems. Adults with ADHD commonly have trouble with attention, memory, planning, self-control, and emotions. The condition is often missed or undertreated, is linked with big personal and social problems, and the evidence on…

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Functional Brain Connectivity Studies Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies

Empathy in narcissistic personality disorder: From clinical and empirical perspectives.

Arielle Baskin–Sommers, Elizabeth A. Krusemark, Elsa Ronningstam

This review examines empathy in people with narcissistic personality disorder (NPD). It says empathy is not simply missing in NPD, but is complex and varies by situation and motivation. The paper notes empathy has two parts—feeling with others (emotional empathy) and understanding others' thoughts and feelings (cognitive empathy)—and finds emotional…

Obsessive-Compulsive Spectrum Disorders Personality Disorders and Psychopathology Personality Traits and Psychology

Mentalization-Based Treatment for Pathological Narcissism

Robert P. Drozek, Brandon T. Unruh

This 2020 article reviews studies on parenting, attachment, and empathy in people with pathological narcissism and proposes using mentalization-based treatment (MBT) as a main therapy. The authors say problems with mentalization — understanding one’s own and others’ thoughts and feelings — are central to their model. They describe core MBT…

Obsessive-Compulsive Spectrum Disorders Personality Disorders and Psychopathology Personality Traits and Psychology

Can neuroscience help to understand narcissism? A systematic review of an emerging field

Emanuel Jauk, Philipp Kanske
Personality Neuroscience Summary & key facts 2021 54 citations

This paper reviewed 34 neuroscience studies about different kinds of narcissism, including grandiose, vulnerable, pathological forms, and Narcissistic Personality Disorder. The authors found that neuroscience studies often show people with grandiose narcissism are more alert to threats to their ego and show stronger stress responses after such threats, and they…

Obsessive-Compulsive Spectrum Disorders Personality Disorders and Psychopathology Personality Traits and Psychology

Narcissistic Personality Disorder: Progress in Understanding and Treatment

Igor Weinberg, Elsa Ronningstam
PubMed Central (PMC) Summary & key facts 2022 49 citations

This review sums up what researchers have learned about narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) in the last decade. It explains that diagnosis now includes both the old yes/no view and a newer scale-based view, describes two main types called grandiose and vulnerable narcissism, reports many possible causes and mechanisms across areas…

Obsessive-Compulsive Spectrum Disorders Personality Disorders and Psychopathology Personality Traits and Psychology

Pathological Narcissism: A Study of Burden on Partners and Family

Nicholas J. S. Day, Marianne E. Bourke, Michelle L. Townsend, Brin F. S. Grenyer
PubMed Summary & key facts 2020 37 citations

This study asked 683 people who lived closely with a relative with pathological narcissism about their grief, burden, mental health, and coping. Most participants were romantic partners. The study found very high levels of burden and mental-health problems in this group, and it notes that sample selection limits how the…

Obsessive-Compulsive Spectrum Disorders Personality Disorders and Psychopathology Personality Traits and Psychology

Transference-Focused Psychotherapy for Narcissistic Personality Disorder: An Object Relations Approach

Diana Diamond, Richard G. Hersh

Transference-focused psychotherapy (TFP) is a psychodynamic treatment with research support for borderline personality disorder (BPD). The authors describe an adapted form called TFP-N for people with narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) or narcissistic traits. TFP-N keeps core elements like a treatment contract and an interpretive process to identify and change harmful…

Personality Disorders and Psychopathology Psychotherapy Techniques and Applications Transactional Analysis in Psychotherapy

Atypical depression.

Tanvir Singh, Kristi Williams
PubMed 2006 18 citations

Atypical depression is a recognized subtype of depressive illness in the DSM-IV. It often starts early, lasts a long time, and is common in clinic samples. The DSM-IV diagnosis requires mood reactivity plus at least two of: increased appetite, increased sleep, heavy limbs (“leaden paralysis”), or long-standing sensitivity to rejection.…

Bipolar Disorder and Treatment Personality Disorders and Psychopathology Treatment of Major Depression

Proposition of a transdiagnostic processual approach of emotion dysregulation based on core triggers and interpersonal styles

Blay, Martin, Duarte, Miguel, Dessouli, Marie-Alix, et al.
www.frontiersin.org Summary & key facts 2024 13 citations

This paper reviews research showing that emotion dysregulation (ED) is not only part of borderline personality disorder (BPD) but also appears across other diagnoses. The authors examined evidence for ED in 8 specific disorders and propose a transdiagnostic model that describes core triggers and interpersonal styles. They say this model…

Mental Health and Psychiatry Obsessive-Compulsive Spectrum Disorders Personality Disorders and Psychopathology

Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory (MCMI)

Jennifer Andrews, Sara Bender

The Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory, now in its fourth edition (MCMI-IV), is a 175-question true-or-false test that clinicians use to identify personality problems and related clinical syndromes. It was built from Theodore Millon’s ecological-motivational theory, which says personality grows from basic survival drives and life experiences. When used alongside a…

Mental Health and Psychiatry Personality Disorders and Psychopathology Psychotherapy Techniques and Applications

Bipolar disorders and narcissism: Diagnostic concerns, conceptual commonalities and potential antecedents

Madeline G. Nagel, David K. Marcus, Virgil Zeigler‐Hill

This review examines similarities between narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) and bipolar disorders. Both NPD and manic or hypomanic episodes show grandiosity, and the authors say this could reflect a real shared basis or a superficial likeness. The review notes evidence that narcissism can be linked to mood instability (including depression)…

Bipolar Disorder and Treatment Obsessive-Compulsive Spectrum Disorders Personality Disorders and Psychopathology
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