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New research from McMaster University suggests the pandemic has created a paradox where mental health has become both a motivator for and a barrier to physical activity.
People want to be active to improve their mental health but find it difficult to exercise due to stress and anxiety, say the researchers who surveyed more than 1,600 subjects in an effort to understand how and why mental health, physical activity and sedentary behavior have changed throughout the course of the pandemic.
The results are outlined in the journal
PLOS ONE. Maintaining a regular exercise program is difficult at the best of times and the conditions surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic may be making it even more difficult, says Jennifer Heisz, lead author of the study and an associate professor in the Department of Kinesiology at McMaster.
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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in early 2020, many families found themselves suddenly isolated together at home. A year later, new research has linked this period with a variety of large, detrimental effects on individuals and families well-being and functioning.
The study led by Penn State researchers found that in the first months of the pandemic, parents reported that their children were experiencing much higher levels of internalizing problems like depression and anxiety, and externalizing problems such as disruptive and aggressive behavior, than before the pandemic. Parents also reported that they themselves were experiencing much higher levels of depression and lower levels of coparenting quality with their partners.
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IMAGE: Anna Rommel, PhD, Instructor, Department of Psychiatry, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai view more
Credit: Mount Sinai Health System
New York, NY - Major depressive disorder is highly prevalent, with one in five people experiencing an episode at some point in their life, and is almost twice as common in women than in men. Antidepressants are usually given as a first-line treatment, including during pregnancy, either to prevent the recurrence of depression, or as acute treatment in newly depressed patients. Antidepressant use during pregnancy is widespread and since antidepressants cross the placenta and the blood-brain barrier, concern exists about potential long-term effects of intrauterine antidepressant exposure in the unborn child.
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IMAGE: In their lab at the Atlanta VA and Emory University, Dr. Thomas Wingo and Dr. Aliza Wingo (foreground) have found genes and corresponding proteins that could open doors for new. view more
Credit: Lisa Pessin
Using an innovative protein-based approach, researchers at the Atlanta Veterans Affairs Medical Center and nearby Emory University have found genes and corresponding proteins that could point the way to new depression treatments.
Using a proteome-wide association study (PWAS) that integrated genome-wide association study (GWAS) data with human brain proteomic and genetic data, researchers have identified 19 genes that may lead to depression by altering brain protein levels. They also pinpointed 25 such proteins that offer promise as potential targets for new depression treatments.
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CHICAGO - A new study shows that youth arrested as juveniles with psychiatric disorders that remain untreated, struggle with mental health and successful outcomes well beyond adolescence.
Research from Northwestern Medicine shows nearly two-thirds of males and more than one-third of females with one or more existing psychiatric disorders when they entered detention, still had a disorder 15 years later.
The findings are significant because mental health struggles add to the existing racial, ethnic and economic disparities as well as academic challenges from missed school, making a successful transition to adulthood harder to attain. Kids get into trouble during adolescence.Those from wealthier families also use drugs and get into fights. But these situations are most often handled informally by the school and parent, and don t culminate in arrest and detention, said lead author Linda Teplin, Owen L. Coon Professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Northwestern U