Loneliness can creep into your life at any age. But it's a more common problem among older adults, who can easily become isolated and detached from friends and family.

The one hundred billion neurons of the human brain are powered by blood sugar and shoot electrical signals at each other. Your ups and downs, joys and fears, hunger and sleep are made from cell networks communicating electrochemically. More than one scientist or doctor has had the idea that changing the electrical states of the brain could produce improved clinical outcomes for depression, anxiety or schizoaffective disorder. Combined with state of the art surgical technique, doctors can now directly apply current to the brain, and some patients respond very well. If your depres...

While postpartum depression is a topic discussed with some regularity in the public sphere, mental health during pregnancy is an issue not often discussed. Though joyous and exciting, pregnancy can also be a stressful and difficult time for moms-to-be, and their mental health should be monitored along with their physical well being as they prepare for motherhood. From what’s normal to feel, to treatment for mental health issues, to how depression can manifest itself during delivery, there are a lot of elements to consider when exploring the interplay of pregnancy and mental health...

When it rains it pours, they say. The old adage may hold more truth than expected when it comes to mental health diagnosis. Commonly, those who are diagnosed with depression are also suffering from anxiety as well. This seems to hold true for both unipolar and bipolar depressive disorders, and it presents unique challenges for both patient and clinician. Difficulties in Diagnosis Proper diagnosis of depression and anxiety disorders is difficult. For starters, patients commonly report physical symptoms, like back or chest pain, shortness of breath, fatigue and loss of appeti...

Recent studies have shown that many Americans are finding it harder and harder to get a decent amount of sleep, but why? Studies have pointed to physical issues, like obstructive sleep apnea, as well as mental health issues, like stress and depression. It's been proven that losing weight can greatly improve symptoms of sleep apnea. But what about treating mental health issues? In a question similar to the "chicken versus the egg" conundrum, could sleep problems traditionally thought to be symptoms of mental disorders actually be the cause of the mental disorders? Could treating sleep disord...

It's a staple of mental and emotional health that you must know how to build and maintain healthy relationships with others. But foster students lack this luxury.

Concussions don’t have to knock a person out cold to cause brain damage. A couple of good tackles in a contact sport can cause damage that can affect a person’s ability to process emotions and information later in life. 

If a teenager in your family reports hearing voices when no one is around, how concerned should you be?  If you feel both seriously depressed and very anxious, to the point where you are missing work, are you depressed, anxious, both, or neither?

The detrimental effects of stress and depression have long been evident: heart problems, high blood pressure, obesity, diabetes, immune system problems and a host of other health issues. While many of these effects are acutely felt by the sufferer, many more go unseen.

All of us feel sad from time to time, but true clinical depression brings with it a host of other symptoms, including anxiety, poor sleep, difficulty concentrating and memory problems.