News and Multimedia Featuring DSIR
-
Improving Firearm Safety in Pediatric Primary Care• Research HighlightAn automatic reminder supported by low-burden facilitation increased delivery of a universal secure firearm storage program during pediatric primary care.
-
Smartphone Data May Not Reliably Predict Depression Risk in Diverse Groups• Research HighlightNIMH-supported research suggests AI tools built on smartphone data may struggle to predict clinical outcomes like depression in large and diverse groups of people.
-
Collaborative Care Could Help Reduce Disparities in Mental Health Treatment• Research HighlightIn an NIMH-funded study, a comprehensive collaborative care intervention significantly reduced post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms among trauma patients from racial and ethnic minority backgrounds.
-
Understanding the Availability of Mental Telehealth Services• Research HighlightIn an NIMH-funded study, researchers examine the availability and structure of mental telehealth services.
-
Saving Lives Through the Science of Suicide Prevention• Feature StoryEvidence-based efforts to improve suicide risk screening, assessment, and intervention are helping to save lives, thanks to research supported by NIMH.
-
Emergency Department Intervention Reduces Adult Suicide Risk• Research HighlightEvidence-based practices for suicide prevention effectively reduced suicidal behaviors among adults seen for care in emergency departments.
-
Helping People With Serious Mental Illness Quit Smoking• Research HighlightIn a study funded by the National Institute of Mental Health and published in JAMA Psychiatry, Gail Daumit, M.D., of Johns Hopkins University, A. Eden Evins, M.D., of Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, and colleagues developed a tobacco smoking cessation intervention for people with serious mental illness.
-
RAISE-ing the Standard of Care for Schizophrenia: The Rapid Adoption of Coordinated Specialty Care in the United States• Feature StoryThe Recovery After an Initial Schizophrenia Episode research initiative, launched by NIMH to test the effectiveness of coordinated specialty care to treat first-episode psychosis, has transformed the mental health landscape in the United States and helped thousands of people with schizophrenia achieve better outcomes.
-
Dr. Patricia A. Areán Named New Director of NIMH’s Division of Services and Intervention Research• Institute UpdatePatricia A. Areán, Ph.D., has been selected as the new director of the National Institute of Mental Health’s (NIMH) Division of Services and Intervention Research (DSIR).
-
Youth Emergency Department Visits for Mental Health Increased During Pandemic• Research HighlightHospital visits for urgent mental health care increased among children and teens in the second year of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to an NIMH-supported study.
-
Chatbot Encourages People With Eating Disorders to Seek Care• Research HighlightIn a new NIMH-funded study, Ellen Fitzsimmons-Craft, Ph.D., an associate professor of psychiatry at Washington University School of Medicine, and colleagues developed a chatbot to encourage people with eating disorders to connect with care.
-
Medicaid Data Show Wide Differences in Mental Health Care in the United States• Research HighlightA new NIMH-supported study revealed differences in rates of mental health care among Medicaid enrollees based on where they live in the United States.
-
NIMH Turns Challenges into Opportunities• Research HighlightThe recent NIMH Mental Health Services Research conference covered a range of topics, including mental health equity, policy, and funding.
-
Family-Based Intervention Lowers Long-Term Suicide Risk in Youth• Research HighlightIn a recent study supported by the National Institute of Mental Health, researchers examined the impact of a family-based intervention on suicide risk in youth and found risk-reduction benefits up to 10 years later.
-
Study Furthers Understanding of Disparities in School Discipline• Research HighlightA new NIMH-supported analysis shows that disciplinary disparities occur as early as preschool and that their effects can negatively influence how well students do in later years.
-
Study Shows REACH VET Program Effective for Veterans at High Risk for Suicide• Research HighlightA recent NIMH co-authored study shows that a Department of Veterans Affairs suicide prevention program was associated with fewer inpatient mental health admissions and emergency department visits, and a 5 percent reduction in documented suicide attempts.
-
Mindful Mood Balance Effective for Treating Residual Depressive Symptoms and Suicidal Ideation• Research HighlightNIMH-supported researchers have found an online mindfulness-based cognitive behavioral therapy—called Mindful Mood Balance—is effective at reducing residual depressive symptoms and at reducing suicidal ideation in those who experience these symptoms.
-
Multistage Autism Screening in Early Intervention Settings May Reduce Disparities• Research HighlightAn NIMH-supported study shows that incorporating a multistage screening process for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) into federally funded early intervention services may reduce disparities in early ASD diagnosis.
-
Dr. Robert Heinssen to Step Down as DSIR Director• Institute UpdateIn June 2022, Robert Heinssen, Ph.D., ABPP, will step down as director of the NIMH Division of Services and Intervention Research (DSIR) and transition to a new role as a senior advisor in the NIMH Office of the Director.
-
NIMH Livestream Event on Seasonal Affective Disorder• VideoNIMH conducted a livestream event on seasonal affective disorder (SAD). Matthew Rudorfer, M.D., chief of the Adult Psychopharmacology, Somatic, and Integrated Treatment Research Program at NIMH, discussed the signs, symptoms, treatments, and the latest research on SAD.
-
Improved Emotion Regulation in Dialectical Behavior Therapy Reduces Suicide Risk in Youth• Research HighlightAn analysis of clinical trial data shows that improvements in emotion regulation in youth at high risk for suicide who received dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) led to a reduction in self-harm behaviors.
-
Navigating a Neuroscience Career For Scientists of Color• VideoThis webinar familiarized the audience with a rising star in neuroscience, Dr. Damien Fair. Dr. Fair described his academic journey and the traits that have made him one of the most productive and sought-after collaborators in the field of brain imaging.
-
Assessing Suicide Risk Among Childbearing Women in the U.S. Before and After Giving Birth• Research Highlight
NIMH-supported researchers investigated suicide risk among women in the year before and year after giving birth.
-
Investigating Unintentional Injury as a Risk Factor for Self-Harm• Research HighlightIn a recent study, NIMH-supported researchers found that certain types of unintentional injury have stronger associations with self-harm than others in adolescents.
-
NIMH Addresses Critical Need for Rapid-Acting Interventions for Severe Suicide Risk• Research HighlightNIMH is working to meet the urgent need for rapid-acting suicide prevention interventions by supporting research investigating the feasibility and safety of treatment protocols that have the potential to quickly reduce severe suicide risk in youth and adults.
-
Adaptive Screener May Help Identify Youth at Risk of Suicide• Press ReleaseIn a study supported by NIMH, researchers have developed a computerized adaptive screener that can help identify youth at risk for attempting suicide.
-
NIH Initiative Expands Access to Resources for Early Psychosis Treatment and Research• Research HighlightThe Early Psychosis Intervention Network (EPINET), an NIMH initiative aimed at determining how to best provide treatment for individuals experiencing symptoms of early psychosis, is increasing access to resources for researchers, providers, and families through a growing network of research hubs and a new website.
-
Using Mobile Technology to Improve Care for Teens with Depression• Research Highlight
In a project funded by the NIMH Small Business Technology Transfer program, researchers are investigating whether mobile technology can be used to create a passive monitoring system that can predict teens’ depressive symptoms and improve the quality of their care.
-
NIMH Awards Funding for Research on Preventing Firearm Injury and Mortality• Research Highlight
Suicide attempts by firearm are especially dangerous, with as many as 9 out of 10 attempts resulting in death. NIMH is supporting three projects focused on preventing and reducing firearm injury and mortality to help address the critical need for more research in this area.
-
Brief Suicide Prevention Interventions in Acute Care Settings May Reduce Subsequent Suicide Attempts• Research HighlightA research project supported by NIMH analyzed multiple studies to determine the effectiveness of brief suicide prevention interventions in acute care settings.
-
Differences in Suicide Risk Among Subgroups of Sexual and Gender Minority College Students• Research HighlightIn an NIMH-supported study, researchers found that college students identifying as a sexual or gender minority had higher rates of suicidal risk factors than cisgender and heterosexual peers, and that there were significant differences in risk among sexual minority subgroups.
-
NIMH Leadership Describes Suicide Prevention Research Priorities• Institute UpdateIn a new paper, published in JAMA Psychiatry, NIMH looks forward, outlining the next stages in the Institute’s suicide prevention research priorities.
-
Emergency Drug Overdose Visits Associated with Increased Risk for Later Suicide• Press ReleaseA new data analysis has found patients who visited the emergency department for an opioid or sedative/hypnotic drug overdose were at higher risk of dying by drug overdose or suicide in the year after being discharged relative to the general population.
-
Identifying Practices for Reducing Incarceration of Those with Mental Illnesses—A Study of “Stepping Up”• Research HighlightAccording to a 2017 report by the Bureau of Justice Statistics, approximately two-thirds of female inmates in prisons and jails and around a third of men in prisons and jails report having been diagnosed as having mental health disorder by a mental health professional.
-
Transforming Mental Health Care Through ALACRITY• Research HighlightIn 2018, 11.4 million adults in the United States experienced a serious mental illness, such as schizophrenia-spectrum disorders, severe bipolar disorder, and severe depression.
-
Developing Rapid, Accurate Assessment of Mental Disorders, Suicide Risk in Youth• Research HighlightFor many adults who have a mental disorder, symptoms were present—but often not recognized or addressed—in childhood and adolescence. Early treatment can help prevent more severe, lasting impairment or disability as a child grows up.
-
Emergency Department Study Reveals Patterns of Patients at Increased Risk for Suicide• Press ReleaseA new NIMH-funded study found that people who presented to California emergency departments with deliberate self-harm or suicidal ideation had suicide rates significantly higher than those of demographically similar Californians in the year after discharge.
-
NIH Announces Funding Awards for National Early Psychosis Learning Community• Press ReleaseNIMH awarded six research grants for studies to develop a learning health care system for the treatment of early psychosis.
-
Mental Health Research Centers Forge Collaborations – with ALACRITY• Institute UpdateMental health research center directors emerged from a recent meeting with a renewed commitment to help each other achieve their common mission – to transform care of children, adolescents and adults with severe psychiatric disorders.
-
Studies Support Use of Team-Based Care for Early Psychosis• Science UpdateTwo recent studies add to the evidence that team-based early intervention services are feasible in real-world health care settings and result in improved outcomes for patients.
-
Team-based Care Optimizes Medication Treatment for First Episode Psychosis• Science UpdateFindings from NIMH’s Recovery After an Initial Schizophrenia Episode (RAISE) project indicate that team-based coordinated specialty care (CSC) for first episode psychosis (FEP) results in more optimal prescribing of antipsychotics and fewer side effects when compared with typical community care.
-
NIMH Explores the “Next Big Thing” in Mental Health Services Research• Institute UpdateThe National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)’s 24th biennial Mental Health Services Research (MHSR 2018) conference held August 1-2, in Rockville, MD, brought together mental health researchers, trainees, consumers, advocates, and mental health care providers to learn about current research findings and discuss new research that might close the gap between what science shows is most effective and what services people actually receive in real-world settings.
-
NIMH Addresses Strategies for Suicide Prevention in Live Event• Institute UpdateDuring NIMH’s Facebook Live event held in recognition of Suicide Prevention Week, NIMH Director Dr. Joshua Gordon and Dr. Jane Pearson, chair of the Suicide Research Consortium in NIMH’s Division of Services and Intervention Research, discussed some of the most recent suicide prevention research findings from NIMH, warning signs, and prevention strategies.
-
Facebook Live - Suicide Prevention• VideoIn recognition of Suicide Prevention week in September, NIMH hosted a Facebook live event on Friday, September 14th from 1:00 – 1:30 p.m. ET. During this event, NIMH Director Dr. Joshua Gordon and Dr. Jane Pearson, chair of the Suicide Research Consortium in NIMH’s Division of Services and Intervention Research, discussed some of the most recent suicide prevention research findings from NIMH, warning signs, and prevention strategies.
-
Media Advisory: NIMH Researchers Available to Discuss the Suicide Prevention Research• Institute Update
For National Suicide Prevention Awareness Month, NIMH Director Dr. Joshua Gordon and Dr. Jane Pearson, chair of the Suicide Research Consortium at the NIMH, are available for interviews on suicide prevention research, trends, and the findings and implications of recent studies.
-
A Shorter—but Effective—Treatment for PTSD• Science UpdateResearch supported by the National Institute of Mental Health has shown that a shorter therapy (written exposure therapy) may be just as effective as lengthier first-line treatments for PTSD.
-
Therapy Reduces Risk in Suicidal Youth• Science UpdateA recent clinical trial of a psychotherapy called dialectical behavior therapy (DBT)—which has been shown to be effective in reducing suicide-related behavior in adults—showed that DBT can also reduce suicide attempts and suicidal behavior in adolescents.
-
NIMH Conference to Explore Mental Health Services Research• Institute UpdateOn August 1-2, 2018, the NIMH is hosting the 24th Mental Health Services Research (MHSR) Conference with the theme: What’s the Next Big Thing? The conference aims to promote high-priority areas in mental health services research and identify opportunities with potential for significant impact for people with mental disorders.
-
Life-Saving Post-ER Suicide Prevention Strategies are Cost Effective• Press ReleaseThree interventions designed for follow up of patients who are identified with suicide risk in hospital emergency departments save lives and are cost effective relative to usual care.
-
Pediatrics-based Brief Therapy Outdoes Referral for Youths with Anxiety and Depression• Science UpdateA streamlined behavioral therapy delivered in a pediatrics practice offered much greater benefit to youth with anxiety and depression than a more standard referral to mental health care with follow-up in a clinical trial comparing the two approaches.
-
Prescribing Patterns Change Following Direct Marketing Restrictions• Press ReleaseA study of how policies restricting pharmaceutical promotion to physicians affect medication prescribing found that physicians in academic medical centers (AMCs) prescribed fewer of the promoted drugs, and more non-promoted drugs in the same drug classes, following policy changes to restrict marketing activities at those medical centers.
-
Adding Better Mental Health Care to Primary Care• Science UpdateMedicare’s new policy supports Collaborative Care and could improve the lives of millions of people with behavioral health conditions.
-
NIMH Funds 3 ‘Zero Suicide’ Grants• Science UpdateNIMH is supporting Zero Suicide efforts with 3 new research grants. Each project focuses on prevention and health care systems.
-
A BRIGHT Technological Future for Mental Health Trials• Science UpdateIs mobile mental health research the next frontier for smartphones? Based on Dr. Patricia Areán’s pioneering BRIGHTEN study, research via smartphone app is already a reality.
-
Team-based Treatment for First Episode Psychosis Found to be High Value• Press ReleaseCoordinated Specialty Care for First Episode Psychosis is Cost Effective
-
Combating Early Death in People with Serious Mental Illness• Science UpdateRecent articles in JAMA Psychiatry report and comment on the premature mortality seen among adults with schizophrenia; NIMH research is underway to reduce health risk factors in people with serious mental illness.
-
Federal Agencies Partner to Promote Coordinated Services for Patients with First Episode Psychosis• Science UpdateOn October 16, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced support for a new treatment for first episode psychosis called coordinated specialty care (CSC). This decision means more clinics may be able to offer CSC and it may become more readily available.
-
Team-based Treatment is Better for First Episode Psychosis• Press Release
New research shows that a team-based, coordinated specialty care treatment plan produces better outcomes than typical community care for people with first episode psychosis. Investigators also found that treatment is most effective for people who receive care soon after psychotic symptoms begin.
-
Embracing the SPIRIT of reducing suicide• Science UpdateNIMH, NIH, and the National Institute of Justice are collaborating on a 4-year, $6.8 million study called Suicide Prevention for at-Risk Individuals in Transition or “SPIRIT.” The study focuses on the high-risk individuals who are transitioning from jail to community. SPIRIT is NIMH’s first major investment in suicide prevention in the justice system.
-
Psychosis Treatment Program Expands in New York• Science UpdateNew York expanded OnTrackNY, a treatment program for youth with psychosis which is an offshoot of one of the two NIMH-funded Recovery After an Initial Schizophrenia Episode (RAISE) studies.
-
A New Look at Racial/Ethnic Differences in Mental Health Service Use Among Adults• Science UpdateNew report on mental health service use among racial/ethnic groups
-
Soldiers at Increased Suicide Risk after Leaving Hospital• Press ReleaseSoldiers hospitalized with a psychiatric disorder have a higher suicide risk in the year following discharge from the hospital.
-
Medications for Patients with First Episode Psychosis May Not Meet Guidelines• Press Release
Many patients with first-episode psychosis receive medications that do not meet guidelines. A study finds that almost 40 % of people with first-episode psychosis in community mental health clinics across the country might benefit from medication treatment changes.
-
Groundbreaking Suicide Study• Science UpdateA groundbreaking study will help researchers learn more about treating people with suicidal thoughts. Nearly 20,000 patients will be able to enroll in the trial. One of the treatments being tested was developed with the help of other patients
-
Increased Health Risks Linked to First-episode Psychosis• Press Release
Many patients with psychosis develop health risks associated with premature death early in the course of their mental illness, researchers have found.
-
Personalized Screen to ID Suicidal Teens in 14 ERs• Science Update
A new study will develop and test a personalized, computer-based suicide risk screening tool to help ERs identify troubled teenagers.
-
New Grants Fund Cross-lifespan Services Research for Autism Spectrum Disorder• Press Release
NIH-funded projects aim at improving access, timeliness of interventions.
-
Schizophrenia’s Genetic “Skyline” Rising• Press ReleaseThe largest genomic dragnet of any psychiatric disorder to date has unmasked 108 chromosomal sites harboring inherited variations in the genetic code linked to schizophrenia, 83 of which had not been previously reported.
-
How Might New Neurons Buffer Against Stress?• Science UpdateOver the past decade or so, evidence has emerged suggesting that the birth of new neurons in the adult brain’s memory hub, or hippocampus, may play a key role the action of antidepressants, resilience to stress, the benefits of exercise and enriched environments, and preventing memory loss. But understanding how it might work has remained elusive. NIMH researchers in NIH’s new Porter Neuroscience Research Center are following up leads.
-
For Schizophrenia, Newer Injectables Not Necessarily Better• Science UpdateTreatment adherence is a problem among people with schizophrenia, who may not take medications because they don’t perceive its need or benefit, don’t like the side effects, or forget. To combat this issue, long-acting injectable medications are administered every 2-4 weeks. But are the new forms of these drugs better than the old ones?