The largest study to date confirms that ketamine — a “club drug” that is also legally used as an anesthetic — could be a quick and effective way to relieve depression. The results were presented at the annual meeting of the American Psychiatric Association and represent growing excitement about ketamine’s potential. ...

Improvements in treating depression could lead to broader benefits in other health outcomes. A new study of Oregon’s expansion of Medicaid disappointed advocates by failing to find improvements in health measures like high blood pressure and cholesterol within two years— but it did show a 30% reduction in depression rates. While ...

We don’t think of emotional states as passing from one person to another, but a new study suggests some depressive thoughts can go viral. Researchers studying a group of college students found that certain types of depressive thinking can spread from close-living roommates like a lingering flu. Although many people see ...

Exercise, Prozac and electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) may ultimately relieve depression in the same way. That’s what the latest research, conducted on mice, suggests, and the scientists are encouraged that similar processes are at work in the human brain as well. According to the findings, published in the journals Cell Stem Cell ...

Americans have been worrying about the negative health impact of our fast pace of life since the Industrial Revolution, but in the last few decades, the concept of “stress” has spread to almost every condition or situation imaginable — from obesity to terrorism to chipped nail polish. Stress is now a ...

Two studies explore some of the developmental roots of depression in childhood and adolescence. In the first study, published in the journal Clinical Psychological Science, researchers focused on depressive rumination, or the relentless focus on what has gone wrong or will go wrong, coupled with an inability to see a solution ...

The most depressing day of the year supposedly takes place right around now. It’s also prime time to be tempted into shopping as a cure for the blues. According to a new survey conducted by Harris Interactive on the behalf of CouponCabin.com, it is currently peak “retail therapy” season. By far, ...

Two new research projects – one published this month and another that is still preliminary – suggest why some professional football players, particularly those that get concussions, may be more vulnerable to developing depression. For both studies, researchers focused on a group of 34 retired NFL players, aged 41 to 79 ...

It’s an anesthetic popular with veterinarians, but the latest studies show ketamine also shows promise as a potential antidepressant. Ketamine produces hallucinations, out-of-body feelings, disorientation and even amnesia that can last a few hours, which has made it not just a staple in veterinary clinics but occasionally in nightclubs as well, ...

It’s a popular cosmetic treatment, but early data hints that Botox could have a role in treating not just aging but mental illness as well. And the connection may be skin deep. Research now suggests that treating frown lines and erasing the outward signs of aging may actually lift spirits among ...