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In 2021, Philadelphia saw a record number of 486 homicides by shooting as well 1,846 non-fatal shootings. According to clinical psychologist Leah Blain, exposure to trauma, including to gun violence, increases the risk of negative health outcomes.
In research done using rats, Penn Nursing’s Heath Schmidt and colleagues found that males that engaged in voluntary nicotine use had offspring more likely to do so, too. Some offspring also developed impaired memory and anxiety-like behavior.
A new Penn Medicine study finds that late-life depression is not linked to inflammation when other inflammatory conditions are excluded, but that depression occurs independently of inflammation.
It’s been a long and uncertain road, with some groups shouldering a disproportionately greater burden of mental anguish from COVID-19. Yet now there’s a glimmer of hope. Has the page finally turned?
Researchers can’t yet pinpoint definitive reasons, though they surmise it was a combination of factors, including stress, an outsized focus on weight gain and personal appearance, and maybe even symptoms of COVID-19 itself.
Research from the School of Veterinary Medicine, Perelman School of Medicine, and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia points to the involvement of the immune system the brain as a contributor to mental disorders such as schizophrenia.
A new book from Penn’s Edward Brodkin and psychology doctoral candidate Ashley Pallathra focuses on the science and practice of attunement, the process by which people can most effectively connect to themselves and others.
A return to the next normal post-pandemic may trigger anxiety for people anticipating a more public-facing life after a year of isolation.
A new visual screening tool for autism spectrum disorder may reduce disparities in diagnoses, especially when English is not a family’s primary language.
An interdisciplinary initiative called the Message Effects Lab aims to understand, tap into, and develop communication around what motivates specific behaviors for specific populations. Its first projects center around COVID-19 testing and vaccines.
Research co-led by the Perelman School of Medicine and Leonard Davis Institute found an increase in people hospitalized for eating disorders amid the pandemic. They attributed the rise to several factors, including delays in access to outpatient care, the closing of schools and colleges, and changes to the grocery shopping process.
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William R. Smith, a psychiatry resident at Penn Medicine, commented on a new clinical trial exploring psilocybin’s effects on depression. “The trial is encouraging, being a larger sample of patients with a control group than earlier [treatment resistant depression] studies,” he said.
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Thea Gallagher of the Perelman School of Medicine discussed the pandemic’s toll on mental health. Rather than forcing a confident, upbeat exterior to appease others, Gallagher recommends “being real and authentic, and talking about the struggles that you are having.”
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Jaya Aysola and Lily Brown of the Perelman School of Medicine spoke about the underreported effects of violence and poverty on Philadelphians’ mental health. “When someone is shot on my street, it might be something that neighbors come out of the house and actually see, or it’s on the news—it’s in the conscious awareness of a lot of people in the community,” Brown said. “In context, having a death from COVID-19, by all accounts it can be a horrific experience, but it’s not documented in the same way.”
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David Mandell of the Perelman School of Medicine spoke about why Asperger’s syndrome was removed from the DSM and incorporated into the diagnosis of autism. “Clinicians were not reliable in differentiating between Asperger's and autism,” he said. “Part of the reason for this is that the presentation of autistic people can change dramatically with age and over time.”
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Yvette I. Sheline of the Perelman School of Medicine spoke about Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation, which uses a magnetic field to help patients with treatment-resistant depression. Fifty percent of patients see a 50% improvement, and 30% have full remission, she said.
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