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.

10 papers

Telling Stories: The Health Benefits of Narrative

James W. Pennebaker
Literature and medicine Summary & key facts 2000 410 citations

Pennebaker reviews more than ten years of research on how telling or writing stories about traumatic or difficult experiences relates to health. He highlights studies done by him and other teams around the world. The essay focuses mainly on reported physical health benefits of writing about these experiences and summarizes…

Art Therapy and Mental Health Mental Health via Writing Pain Management and Placebo Effect

The Effects of Tai Chi on Depression, Anxiety, and Psychological Well-Being: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Fang Wang, Eun‐Kyoung Othelia Lee, Taixiang Wu, Herbert Benson, Gregory L. Fricchione, Weidong Wang, et al.

This review collected studies of tai chi up to May 31, 2013 and found that many trials reported benefits for mood and psychological well-being. The authors included 37 randomized controlled trials and 5 quasi-experimental studies from English and Chinese databases. A small pooled analysis of three randomized trials that measured…

Art Therapy and Mental Health Balance, Gait, and Falls Prevention Physical Activity and Health

Somatic experiencing – effectiveness and key factors of a body-oriented trauma therapy: a scoping literature review

Marie Kuhfuß, Tobias Maldei, Andreas Hetmanek, Nicola Baumann

The results concerning effectiveness and method-specific key factors of SE are promising; yet, require more support from unbiased RCT-research. Future research should focus on filling this gap.

Art Therapy and Mental Health Psychosomatic Disorders and Their Treatments Psychotherapy Techniques and Applications

A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Nature Walk as an Intervention for Anxiety and Depression

Simone Grassini
PubMed Summary & key facts 2022 53 citations

This review looked at studies from the past decade on whether walking in nature affects depression and anxiety. Seven studies met the review rules, and data from six experiments were combined in a meta-analysis. The pooled results showed reductions in depression and anxiety symptoms after nature walks, both when people…

Art Therapy and Mental Health Child Therapy and Development Urban Green Space and Health

Mindful walking in psychologically distressed individuals: a randomized controlled trial

Michael Teut, E. J. Roesner, Miriam Ortiz, Frauke Reese, Sylvia Binting, Stephanie Roll, et al.
PubMed Summary & key facts 2013 50 citations

This randomized trial put 74 adults with moderate-to-high perceived stress into either an 8-session mindful walking program over 4 weeks or a waiting-list control. After 4 weeks, the mindful walking group had a much larger drop in perceived stress scores than the control group. The study also reported better quality-of-life…

Art Therapy and Mental Health Mindfulness and Compassion Interventions Psychosomatic Disorders and Their Treatments

The effects of body scan meditation: A systematic review and meta‐analysis

Ruochen Gan, Liuyi Zhang, Shulin Chen

The authors reviewed 14 randomized trials to see if doing only body scan meditation helps people. A pooled analysis found a small improvement in mindfulness compared with passive control (Hedge's g = 0.268, 95% CI 0.032 to 0.504, p < .05). However, the studies were low quality, results varied a…

Art Therapy and Mental Health COVID-19 and Mental Health Mindfulness and Compassion Interventions

Depression: Out-of-Tune Embodiment, Loss of Bodily Resonance, and Body Work

Mette Toft Rønberg
Medical Anthropology Summary & key facts 2018 24 citations

Based on fieldwork among adults suffering from depression in Denmark, I explore depression as an out-of-tune embodiment, characterized by disturbances of bodily experiences and loss of bodily resonance. I depict my informants' efforts to attune to the rhythm of the everyday through different kinds of body work. This perspective calls…

Art Therapy and Mental Health Body Image and Dysmorphia Studies Empathy and Medical Education

Walk-and-Talk Therapy Versus Conventional Indoor Therapy for Men With Low Mood: A Randomised Pilot Study

Andrea Dickmeyer, Jordan Smith, Sean Halpin, Stacey McMullen, Ryan Drew, Philip J. Morgan, et al.
PubMed Summary & key facts 2025 5 citations

This was a small randomized pilot study that tested whether outdoor “walk-and-talk” therapy is feasible and might work compared with regular indoor therapy for men with low mood. The trial included 37 men. Their average depression score (PHQ‑9) was 11.4 (SD 5.0) and their average age was 44.1 years (SD…

Art Therapy and Mental Health Physical Activity and Health Urban Green Space and Health

Social relationship dimensions and network links to loneliness and depression in midlife and older adulthood

Chaerim Park, Huiyoung Shin

This study used network analysis to examine many parts of social life—friend and spouse ties, contact frequency, social engagement, support and strain, and relationship quality—in 502 South Korean adults aged 40–69 (mean 54.4; 49.4% male). Loneliness was most strongly connected to friend network size and the quality of friendships and…

Art Therapy and Mental Health Health disparities and outcomes Mental Health Research Topics

Differential effects of a brief body scan session on pain and anxiety levels

Geneviève Bouchard, Janelle Gallant

This study tested a single 14‑minute body scan on 355 undergraduate and graduate students. Participants filled in questionnaires before and after the exercise to measure current anxiety and pain and to classify people as having low or high everyday symptoms. The results showed the body scan reduced anxiety and pain…

Art Therapy and Mental Health Mindfulness and Compassion Interventions Virtual Reality Applications and Impacts
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