News for You

Did you Know? News updates from Psychology Today's Blues Busters

Lasting Legacy

• New evidence linking childhood abuse to adult depression
comes from a study of 32 women. Among 21 with a history of prepubertal
physical and/or sexual abuse, the left hippocampus was 18% smaller,
suggesting that the trauma had direct neurotoxic effects.

Outsmarting Poop-Out

• Sometimes antidepressants stop working during maintenance
treatment. But Italian researchers show that a course of cognitive
behavior therapy boosts responsiveness as much as raising the dose of
drug.

SAD News

• Canadian scientists find that those most at risk for
seasonal affective disorder are women, especially those with ADHD. Both
SAD and ADHD may share a defect in a gene that codes for dopamine
receptors.

Perfection Peril

• How well do people function after depression treatment
ends? One new study shows it depends on personality factors, particularly
perfectionism, which strongly influences stress reactivity.