Skip to Content Skip to Content

Psychiatry

Writer Jenny Lawson on the unusual cure for her depression: ‘I had happiness drilled into my head’

Writer Jenny Lawson on the unusual cure for her depression: ‘I had happiness drilled into my head’

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.

A tool for more inclusive autism screening
Young child with autism plays with a large beach ball.

A tool for more inclusive autism screening

A new visual screening tool for autism spectrum disorder may reduce disparities in diagnoses, especially when English is not a family’s primary language.

When the message matters, use science to craft it
Close-up of a smiling person in a black V-neck shirt, standing outside near marble pillars.

Jessica Fishman, director of the Message Effects Lab, is a faculty research associate with appointments at the Annenberg School for Communication and in the Department of Psychiatry at the Perelman School of Medicine. (Image: Courtesy of Annenberg School for Communication)

When the message matters, use science to craft it

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.

Michele W. Berger

Public psychiatry’s mission: Providing mental health care to those who need it the most
Rachel Talley portrait.

Rachel Talley, clinical assistant professor of Psychiatry. (Image: Penn Medicine News)

Public psychiatry’s mission: Providing mental health care to those who need it the most

Rachel Talley on public psychiatry, the impact of COVID-19 on community mental health, and how she went from an internship at the White House to championing public health at Penn’s department of Psychiatry. 
Wellness resources at your fingertips
Person performs a yoga pose in a home

Wellness resources at your fingertips

When facing the challenges of the current moment, Penn students, faculty, and staff have options to promote their emotional, mental, and physical well-being.

Katherine Unger Baillie

Long-term effects of COVID-19 and support to cope
microscopic image of covid

Long-term effects of COVID-19 and support to cope

Millions of people around the world have already survived a bout with COVID-19. Clinicians are learning how cases can trigger lasting consequences for the body.

Katherine Unger Baillie

Brain scans of 9- to 11-year-olds offer clues about aggressive, antisocial behavior
A person standing along a glass wall in a building with a yelllow waffle ceiling.

Rebecca Waller, an assistant professor of psychology, studies antisocial behaviors and parent-child interactions.

Brain scans of 9- to 11-year-olds offer clues about aggressive, antisocial behavior

Two new papers, one about gray matter, the other about reward behavior, suggest that at the neural level not all conduct problems look the same.

Michele W. Berger

The overlooked effects of fireworks
On the left side of the screen, fireworks in the night sky, on the right, two military members in combat gear in front of an explosive device.

The overlooked effects of fireworks

For veterans living with post-traumatic stress disorder, fireworks and loud pyrotechnics can add stress and trigger physical reactions, as they mimic the stimuli of combat.

From Penn Medicine News