Transitioning to high school can be a tough time, and studies have shown that teenagers are increasingly likely to have symptoms of depression over the course of their freshman year of school. Now an intriguing study seems to show that a simple intervention can ease these symptoms quite effectively.

A new study provides strong evidence that chronic marijuana use during adolescence can lead to significant social and psychiatric issues later in life.

Inflammation is hot, both literally and figuratively. The medical literature is replete with studies implicating inflammation as a possible root cause of diseases as varied as heart disease, cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, depression and, of course, arthritis. A recent meta-analysis of all randomized controlled studies for depression yielded some intriguing results.

Transient ischemic attacks (TIAs)—commonly referred to as “mini-strokes”—don’t leave people with any permanent neurological symptoms, but in some individuals they may lead to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) for the event, according to a new study.

It’s commonly known that the risk of developing dementia is related to education level, history of head trauma, family history, and genetics. But could personality also play a role?

Addiction and violence are often linked. Despite this, few studies have looked at whether substance abuse treatment reduces aggressive behavior.

Brief depression screening questionnaires are popular, especially with primary care providers (PCPs). However, a new study suggests that PCPs who use these questionnaires might be prescribing antidepressants to patients who don’t need them.

Sunshine and other forms of bright light are considered to be helpful for depressed patients. Patients with seasonal affective disorder (SAD) feel better as the days lengthen, and bright light therapy is effective for the depression in patients with and without SAD. However, seasonal studies of suicide have found that the prevalence is highest in the spring, which is counterintuitive if we consider light to be an antidepressant.

Most of you would hesitate to put a patient with bipolar I on antidepressants without adding a mood stabilizer, in order to prevent a switch to mania. If this is your clinical practice, you are following the recommendations of the APA consensus guidelines for the treatment of bipolar depression. But the hard data to support the danger of switching is surprisingly weak.

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) has been shown to be effective in reducing the symptoms of anxiety disorders. But there’s not a lot of information about whether it improves patients’ quality of life (QoL), even though one would think improvement in QoL is inherent when anxiety is reduced.