Bipolar Disorder News and Research

Latest Bipolar Disorder News and Research

Researchers identify potential drug target that may improve cognition in people with mental illnesses

More than a dozen drugs are known to treat symptoms such as hallucinations, erratic behaviors, disordered thinking and emotional extremes associated with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and other severe mental illnesses.

3 Dec 2020

Researchers assess benefits of magnetic seizure therapy to treat depression in bipolar patients

Researchers are assessing whether magnetic seizure therapy (MST) can help relieve treatment-resistant depression in bipolar patients in a clinical trial led by The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth).

24 Nov 2020

Altered white matter connectivity linked with disruption of conscious access in psychosis

Altered white matter limits the brain’s conscious access to information, potentially contributing to delusions and other psychotic symptoms of mental health disorders, according to new research published in JNeurosci.

17 Nov 2020

Study could provide a new tool to predict relapse in bipolar disorder

Relapse in people with bipolar disorder can be predicted accurately by their tendency towards having pessimistic beliefs, according to a study published today in eLife.

10 Nov 2020

Study focuses on current practices of restraint use in emergency settings

A study published in the most recent issue of Academic Emergency Medicine (AEM), journal showed an increased risk of restraint use in Black patients compared with white patients in the emergency setting.

2 Nov 2020

McLean Hospital joins public-private partnership to find cure for schizophrenia

In September, McLean Hospital joined the National Institutes of Health, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and several public and private organizations to find early therapeutic interventions for people at risk for schizophrenia.

29 Oct 2020

Combination therapy is more effective at preventing recurrence of bipolar disorder

A review of 39 randomized clinical trials by scientists from UCLA and their colleagues from other institutions has found that combining the use medication with psychoeducational therapy is more effective at preventing a recurrence of illness in people with bipolar disorder than medication alone.

15 Oct 2020

STAT3 deficiency reduces emotional reactivity, shows study

Numerous scientific studies indicate that inflammatory processes play a key role in the development of psychiatric disorders.

14 Oct 2020

Hard lives made harder by COVID: Homeless endure a ‘slow-moving train wreck’

The message wasn't lost on Daniel Gonzalez. Early in the pandemic, one of the first things Imperial County did to ward off the virus was close the public bathrooms and, later, public cooling centers. In this sprawling Southern California desert, where summer brings blistering triple-digit heat, that lack of access could amount to a death sentence for people without shelter.

8 Oct 2020

Scientists receive two-year grant to develop tool for treating mood disorders

A team of Georgia State scientists has received a two-year, $875,110 grant from the National Institute of Mental Health to further develop a tool to help psychiatrists treat mood disorders.

1 Oct 2020

Researchers use fruit fly to develop a novel disease model for Pitt-Hopkins syndrome

The researchers from the TalTech molecular neurobiology laboratory headed by professor Tõnis Timmusk used the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster to develop a novel disease model for Pitt-Hopkins syndrome (PTHS).

29 Sep 2020

Weighted blanket intervention reduces insomnia severity

Weighted blankets are a safe and effective intervention in the treatment of insomnia, according to Swedish researchers who found that insomnia patients with psychiatric disorders experienced reduced insomnia severity, improved sleep and less daytime sleepiness when sleeping with a weighted chain blanket.

23 Sep 2020

Study: Elevated adverse mental health conditions are associated with COVID-19

Social isolation. Financial worries. They're two unfortunate realities causing great anxiety for many people during the COVID-19 pandemic. They also may raise the risk of death by suicide.

17 Sep 2020

Digital phenotyping and machine learning can help assess severe mental illness

Digital phenotyping approaches that collect and analyze Smartphone-user data on locations, activities, and even feelings - combined with machine learning to recognize patterns and make predictions from the data - have emerged as promising tools for monitoring patients with psychosis spectrum illnesses, according to a report in the September/October issue of Harvard Review of Psychiatry

16 Sep 2020

Machine learning system can predict bipolar disorder 4 years before it manifests in young people

An international team of doctors have developed a machine learning system which can predict the development of Bipolar Disorder up to 4 years before onset in young people: at age 18 it was able to predict which individuals would develop the condition at age 22.

15 Sep 2020

Electroconvulsive therapy can reduce suicide risk by 84% in bipolar patients

One of the largest ever studies of patients with untreatable bipolar disorder has shown that ECT (Electroconvulsive Therapy) was able to reduce suicide risk by 84% in high-risk patients, as well as giving effective treatment to around 72% of sufferers.

12 Sep 2020