Brain & Mental Health

Mood & mental health

A pregnant person sitting on a sofa typing on a laptop, seen from above and behind.

Online mindfulness course lowered depression relapse in 500 pregnant women, 33% against 44%

Oct 21, 2026

A therapist holding a pen and paper rests a hand on the knee of a seated client whose hands are clasped; faces are out of frame.

Bergen four-day OCD treatment beat an unguided online course, 42% to 14% in remission

Oct 19, 2026

Close-up of two hands holding and tapping a smartphone with a blank glowing screen in the dark, blurred lights behind.

Sports betting laws tied to more anxiety and depression care in US states

Oct 16, 2026

View from an upper window of high-rise apartment blocks and a rain-wet street with cars below on a grey day.

Traffic noise at home tracked with slightly more depression in 2.9 million Danish adults

Oct 16, 2026

A pregnant woman in a pale linen dress stands by a white wall with one hand on top of the belly and one beneath it.

First-trimester benzodiazepine prescriptions not linked to more birth defects in 4.2 million US pregnancies

Oct 14, 2026

Two young people in a grey hoodie and a plaid shirt sit on a bench with hands clasped, a skateboard propped beside them.

About 1 in 6 US adolescents reported moderate or severe anxiety symptoms in 2024, and many had no treatment

Oct 14, 2026

A hand holds a hand-rolled joint above a wooden table, beside an ashtray and a box of matches.

Cannabis use disorder rose among US adults from 2021 to 2024 while alcohol use disorder held steady or fell

Oct 9, 2026

Cannabis leaves lit in bright green against a dark background.

Cannabis and violence: what a review of 265,000 people found, and what the link does and does not mean

Oct 9, 2026

A small group sits in a circle in a living room while one of them, holding papers, speaks and gestures.

Open Dialogue did not delay relapse in its first trial, though fewer people were admitted to hospital

Oct 9, 2026

A child in a navy T-shirt sits in an armchair using a tablet, beside a windowsill lined with small potted plants.

More screen use, slightly lower school achievement and more behavior problems, across 2.8 million children

Oct 9, 2026

A pregnant person in a navy dress stands beside a sunlit window with both hands resting on the belly, face out of frame.

Antidepressants in pregnancy linked to a small rise in special educational needs among 167,000 children

Oct 6, 2026

A woman meditating with her eyes closed and her palms pressed together.

Does meditation help anxiety? What the research shows

Sep 29, 2026

Brown sugar cubes scattered around a spoon on a pink background.

Sugar rationing in the first 1,000 days tied to lower anxiety risk in adulthood

Sep 28, 2026

A therapist taking notes while talking with a client seated on a sofa in a bright room.

Semaglutide use tied to 21% fewer psychiatric hospital stays in people with bipolar disorder

Sep 26, 2026

A woman sitting alone on a kitchen chair, looking towards a window

Loneliness more than doubled the risk of a first depression diagnosis in 445,678 adults

Sep 21, 2026

A mother holding her sleeping newborn against her cheek

Infant deaths were nearly three times as common when mothers screened positive for depressive symptoms

Sep 18, 2026

A young woman resting her head on her arm while writing in a workbook on the floor

Mild brain stimulation cut procrastination in a small trial, with some effect still visible six months later

Sep 17, 2026

A teenage girl resting her head on her arm on a sofa, looking pensive

Loneliness and wanting to be thinner may explain much of why teenage girls report more depression than boys

Sep 17, 2026

An older patient in a hospital gown sitting on the edge of a bed

Treating depression before surgery helped older patients, almost entirely in the cancer group

Sep 16, 2026

Two empty infusion chairs beside drip stands in a clinic room

Ketamine beat a sedative comparison by 7 points in bipolar depression that had resisted two treatments

Sep 8, 2026

An older man sitting on the edge of a bed with his head lowered

People with a common cause of brain bleeds had 16 times the odds of possible depression

Sep 7, 2026

A carer in a yellow polo shirt lifting a small grey dog toward an older person lying in a care-home bed, with a second carer at the bedside

Therapy animals eased depression in older adults across 20 studies, but not loneliness

Aug 26, 2026

A woman sitting cross-legged on the floor by a sofa, following a session on a phone propped on a small tripod

Digital self-help cut anxiety and depression in chronic illness, coach or no coach

Aug 26, 2026

A man sitting cross-legged with his eyes closed and hands resting on his knees

Slow yoga breathing helped anxiety on top of usual psychiatric care in 150 patients

Aug 24, 2026

A teenager in a yellow t-shirt holding a game controller, looking at the screen

PlaySmart video game nudged teen depression scores down a point over a year

Aug 19, 2026

A man reclined in a padded seat with over-ear headphones on and his eyes closed

Binaural beats did not calm dental anxiety in a trial

Aug 18, 2026

Acceptance skills added nothing to mindfulness training in a trial of 392 people

Aug 18, 2026

Two dark armchairs facing each other in front of a window with closed blinds in a dim room

Psilocybin beat placebo in the first NHS-funded trial

Aug 9, 2026

A middle-aged man sitting on a pale sofa at home, holding a phone to his ear and gesturing

Self-guided therapy beat clinician sessions for chronic pain

Aug 8, 2026

A yellow St Johns wort flower with long radiating stamens

St Johns wort: uses, evidence, dosing and safety

Aug 5, 2026

An older woman wrapped in a striped shirt looking away in a brick-walled room

Swinging mood predicted dementia better than low mood

Aug 4, 2026

A woman in a kitchen leaning over a pan to smell food on a wooden spoon

Thinking your smell has faded tracked depression best

Aug 3, 2026

Close-up of two hands holding and scrolling a smartphone

Likes drove more posting in people with depression

Aug 3, 2026

A woman resting on a sofa with headphones on and her eyes closed

The IBS hypnotherapy app lost to a human, but not to nothing

Jul 29, 2026

The weathered hands of an older person resting on a knee

Mental illness before 35 tracked with dementia after 50

Jul 28, 2026

Red sugar-coated sweets spilling from a tipped glass jar on a red background

Babies born under sugar rationing had less depression

Jul 28, 2026

A doctor listening to an older patient's chest with a stethoscope in a clinic room

Severe mental illness carries 2.6 times the death rate

Jul 27, 2026

An older man sitting on a bed with his head resting in his hand

Nearly 4 in 10 dementia cases tied to modifiable risk factors

Jul 26, 2026

A wooden bowl of fried snack curls on a table

Ultra-processed food tied to more depression in over-70s

Jul 26, 2026

Blister packs of blue and white pills

Pramipexole eased depression's loss of pleasure in a trial

Jul 24, 2026