Researchers from Oxford University in England carefully compared and analyzed data collected in 12 large-scale epidemiological studies on mental illness carried out in the United States, England, Australia, New Zealand and Europe from the 1990s through the 2000s. Led by Oxford clinical psychologist Daniel Freeman, this team of medical scientists sought confirmation for the widely…
News has surfaced that the DEA has made its first seizure of the online currency Bitcoin; a landmark moment for law enforcement’s battle against online drug sales. Many drug users scour the “Deep Web,” using the encrypted online currency to purchase illicit narcotics from the online drug marketplace Silk Road. This has attracted the attention…
Teen suicide is devastating. When a teen feels so desperate that he contemplates, attempts, or succeeds at taking his own life, the repercussions are far-reaching. No teen should ever have to get to that point, and no family should have to cope with the loss of a child to suicide. There are ways that you…
Bullying has always been a problem with kids, but something has changed. In modern times, there is a new component to these acts of aggression: the Internet. Especially with the advent of social media, teens have new avenues for targeting and bullying peers. It does not require much imagination to discern the harm bullying can…
Obsessive-compulsive disorder, also known as OCD, belongs to a class of mental illnesses called anxiety disorders. People with OCD feel as if bad things will happen unless they go through certain routines. In some patients, these routines and bad feelings can be severe enough to overwhelm their lives. In others, the symptoms are mild. Anxiety…
For the last several years, headlines have told the story of the new drug scourge in the U.S. Prescription narcotic painkillers are being used and abused like never before. From young teens experimenting, to adults with legitimate prescriptions, to junkies needing a new, cheap high, the number of people falling victim to abuse continues to…
As a teenager, Leigh Anne had moved from one group of close friends to the next in rapid succession. She found herself in repeated conflicts with others, and each time, she believed she’d been the victim of the other person’s ignorance or lack of insight. Occasionally she grew friendly with someone who possessed some quality…
Years ago, Dr. Michael Baron made a surprising discovery: Prescription painkillers often make chronic pain worse, not better. When he published his original research in 2006, this finding defied all logic. “When I told my patients they’d have less pain if they stopped using pain meds, they told me I was crazy,” Dr. Baron recalls.…
Hailey was 26 the first time she felt she was “truly breaking down.” She’d taken leave from her job as a medical records clerk due to an intense episode of clinical depression and anxiety, and although she’d been released by her psychiatrist to return to work, she felt unable to go back. Her symptoms seemed…
As a child, Olivia, who never knew the identity of her father, was consistently abused and neglected by her mother. Her mother’s emotional temperament was highly variable—shifting from dark moods during which she was verbally and physically abusive to her daughter, and manic periods during which arm she left Olivia to fend for herself for…