Giving Support to a Mentally Ill Family Member

adminMental Health Leave a Comment

When a loved one is diagnosed with a mental illness, it can throw the whole family into a tailspin, rife with self-doubt, suspicion, guilt, and helplessness.  How we respond to the illness of a family member can make all the difference to their recovery and the rebuilding of the family’s foundations. Through many years of practice, we have evolved some …

Shared Gene Expression

Shared Gene Expression in Mental Disorders

Peter ForsterDiagnosis, Psychobiology Leave a Comment

Four distinct psychiatric disorders – autism, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and depression – have shared gene expression, according to research published online Feb. 8 in the journal Science. Researchers arrived at the study’s findings by analyzing RNA in 700 tissue samples from the brains of dead people who had autism, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, major depression or alcohol abuse disorder, then comparing those samples …

Naltrexone for Alcohol Use

Peter ForsterPhysical Conditions and Health

Naltrexone is one of several new medications (the others are topirimate and acamprosate) that has been shown to reduce the risk of relapse in people with alcohol use disorders. But naltrexone is used relatively rarely for this purpose. A new study suggests that it may be possible to predict which patients are especially likely to respond to naltrexone treatment. The …