Science News about Treatments

Memory-sustaining Enzyme May Help Treat PTSD, Cognitive Decline

Science Update • November 02, 2007

Chemically blocking an enzyme in a specific area in the brain’s cortex, or outer mantle, erased a long-term memory of an aversive event that rats had learned, a study funded in part by NIMH has found.

Internet-based PTSD Therapy May Help Overcome Barriers to Care

Science Update • November 01, 2007

NIMH-funded researchers recently completed a pilot study showing that an Internet-based, self-managed cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) can help reduce symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression, with effects that last after treatment has ended.

Family Involvement and Focused Intervention May be Key to Helping Teens with Bulimia

Science Update • September 17, 2007

Family-based treatment for adolescent bulimia nervosa (FBT-BN) is more effective than an individual-based therapy called supportive psychotherapy (SPT) in helping teens overcome bulimia according to an NIMH-funded study.

New Research to Help Youth with Mental Disorders Transition to Adulthood

Science Update • September 05, 2007

As young people with mental health disorders transition from adolescence to adulthood, they frequently face new and difficult challenges such as the loss of state-issued benefits like Medicaid and foster care, or loss of family-based insurance coverage.

Studies Refine Understanding of Treatments for Bipolar Disorder

Science Update • September 01, 2007

Two new studies provide additional details on best practices for treating people with bipolar disorder, a sometimes debilitating illness marked by severe mood swings between depression and mania.

New Technique Pinpoints Crossroads of Depression in Rat Brain

Science Update • August 02, 2007

NIMH-funded scientists have developed a new high-speed technique for imaging brain activity and used it to pinpoint a circuit signal in rats that may be at the crossroads of depression — a possible "final common pathway" where different causes of, and treatments for, the disorder appear to converge.

Success or Failure of Antidepressant Citalopram Predicted by Gene Variation

Press Release • August 01, 2007

A variation in a gene called GRIK4 appears to make people with depression more likely to respond to the medication citalopram (Celexa) than are people without the variation, a study by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), part of the National Institutes of Health, has found.

Faster-Acting Antidepressants Closer to Becoming a Reality

Press Release • July 24, 2007

A new study has revealed more about how the medication ketamine, when used experimentally for depression, relieves symptoms of the disorder in hours instead of the weeks or months it takes for current antidepressants to work.

Improvement Following ADHD Treatment Sustained in Most Children

Press Release • July 20, 2007

Most children treated in a variety of ways for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) showed sustained improvement after three years in a major follow-up study funded by the National Institutes of Health's (NIH) National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH).

In Second Try to Treat Depression, Cognitive Therapy Generally As Effective As Medication

Science Update • May 01, 2007

Switching to or adding cognitive therapy (CT) after a first unsuccessful attempt at treating depression with an antidepressant medication is generally as effective as switching to or adding another medication, but remission may take longer to achieve

Intensive Psychotherapy More Effective Than Brief Therapy for Treating Bipolar Depression

Press Release • April 02, 2007

Patients taking medications to treat bipolar disorder are more likely to get well faster and stay well if they receive intensive psychotherapy, according to results from the Systematic Treatment Enhancement Program for Bipolar Disorder (STEP-BD), funded by the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH).

Study Sheds Light on Medication Treatment Options for Bipolar Disorder

Press Release • March 28, 2007

For depressed people with bipolar disorder who are taking a mood stabilizer, adding an antidepressant medication is no more effective than a placebo (sugar pill), according to results published online on March 28, 2007 in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Landmark Council Session Spotlights “Real World” Trials

Science Update • December 21, 2006

Principal investigators of NIMH's four large-scale clinical trials presented study results and their implications at the National Advisory Mental Health Council meeting on September 15, 2006.

Odds of Beating Depression Diminish as Additional Treatment Strategies are Needed

Science Update • November 01, 2006

An overall assessment of the nation's largest real-world study of treatment-resistant depression suggests that a patient with persistent depression can get well after trying several treatment strategies, but his or her odds of beating the depression diminish as additional treatment strategies are needed.

Subsequent Treatment Strategies for Persistent Depression Yield Modest Results

Science Update • September 01, 2006

Patients with treatment-resistant depression had a modest chance of becoming symptom-free when they tried different treatment strategies after two or three failed treatments, according to results from the nation's largest real-world study of depression.

College Women at Risk for Eating Disorder May Benefit From Online Intervention

Press Release • August 07, 2006

A long-term, large-scale study has found that an Internet-based intervention program may prevent some high risk, college-age women from developing an eating disorder.

Targeted Therapy Halves Suicide Attempts in Borderline Personality Disorder

Science Update • July 03, 2006

Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) reduced suicide attempts by half compared with other types of psychotherapy available in the community in patients with borderline personality disorder, an NIMH-funded study has found.

Properly Timed Light, Melatonin Lift Winter Depression by Syncing Rhythms

Science Update • May 01, 2006

Most Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) symptoms stem from daily body rhythms that have gone out-of-sync with the sun, a NIMH-funded study has found.

Studies Offer New Information About Treatment Choices for Schizophrenia — Phase 2 Results

Science Update • April 01, 2006

A national clinical trial comparing clozapine with other new-generation antipsychotic medications for the treatment of chronic schizophrenia has shown that people who switched to clozapine from their first medication because it failed to manage symptoms adequately were twice as likely to continue treatment as patients who switched to other antipsychotic medications.

New Strategies Help Depressed Patients Become Symptom-Free

Press Release • March 23, 2006

Results of the nation’s largest depression study show that one in three depressed patients who previously did not achieve remission using an antidepressant became symptom-free with the help of an additional medication and one in four achieved remission after switching to a different antidepressant.

Maintenance Treatment Prevents Recurrence in Older Adults with Single-Episode Depression

Press Release • March 16, 2006

People age 70 and older who continued taking the antidepressant that helped them to initially recover from their first episode of depression were 60 percent less likely to experience a new episode of depression over a two-year study period than those who stopped taking the medication, according to a study funded by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), part of the National Institutes of Health.

Early Findings from Largest NIMH-Funded Research Program on Bipolar Disorder Begin to Build Evidence-Base on Best Treatment Options

Science Update • February 01, 2006

Findings from an NIMH research program on bipolar disorder provide much needed long-term data on the chronic, recurrent course of the disorder, and begin the work of building an evidence-base on the best treatments for those with the disorder.

Initial Results Help Clinicians Identify Patients with Treatment-Resistant Depression

Press Release • January 06, 2006

Initial results of the nation’s largest clinical trial for depression have helped clinicians to track “real world” patients who became symptom-free and to identify those who were resistant to the initial treatment.

Cognitive Therapy Reduces Repeat Suicide Attempts by 50 Percent

Press Release • August 02, 2005

Recent suicide attempters treated with cognitive therapy were 50 percent less likely to try to kill themselves again within 18 months than those who did not receive the therapy, report researchers supported by the National Institutes of Health's (NIH) National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Psychotherapy, Medications Best for Youth With Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

Press Release • October 28, 2004

Children and adolescents with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) respond best to a combination of both psychotherapy and an antidepressant, a major clinical trial has found.

Combination Treatment Most Effective in Adolescents with Depression

Press Release • August 17, 2004

A clinical trial of 439 adolescents with major depression has found a combination of medication and psychotherapy to be the most effective treatment.

Research to Test Treatment of Cognitive Dysfunction in Schizophrenia

Press Release • May 06, 2004

The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), has awarded a four-year, $9 million contract to the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and five other academic medical centers to create a network of Treatment Units for Research on Neurocognition and Schizophrenia (TURNS).

New Program Treats Rural Youth And Targets Barriers To Care

Press Release • July 29, 2003

Adolescents and teens with emotional and behavioral problems will receive treatment as part of a new study in eight of the poorest Appalachian counties in Eastern Tennessee.

Medication and Psychotherapy Treat Depression in Low-Income Minority Women

Press Release • July 01, 2003

Treatment with medication or psychotherapy reduced depressive symptoms in women from minority populations, according to research funded by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH).

Treatment for Minor Depression

Press Release • March 21, 2003

In a new approach to research on minor depression, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has launched a four-year study to determine the safety and effectiveness of St. John's wort, a common herbal supplement, and citalopram, a standard antidepressant, compared to placebo.