Depression, anxiety, worry, perceived stress, and loneliness measured early in the pandemic, before infection with COVID-19, were associated with up to 45% increased risk of developing long COVID. Distress was more strongly associated with developing long COVID than physical health risk factors such as obesity, asthma, and hypertension. The increased risk associated with distress was not explained by health behaviors, such as smoking, or by physical health conditions, like asthma.

After a 60-minute walk in nature, activity in brain regions involved in stress processing decreases.

Scientists hypothesize that circadian rhythm disruption is a psychopathology factor shared by a broad range of mental illnesses and that research into its molecular foundation could be key to unlocking better therapies and treatments.

Researchers have shown that mice respond more to the antidepressant effects of the drug ketamine when administered by men and not by women. The group demonstrated that a stress response in a specific region of the mouse brain from handling by a man is essential for ketamine to work.

About 50% of all mothers of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) had elevated levels of depressive symptoms over 18 months, while rates were much lower (6% to 13.6%) for mothers with neurotypical children in the same period, researchers report.

People who were more distressed -- showing signs of anxiety or depression -- during the COVID-19 pandemic were less likely to follow some best practice recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, according to a new study. However, those same people were more likely than their non-distressed peers to get vaccinated. The authors refer to this as differential distress: when people act safely in one aspect while disregarding safety in another, both in response to the same psychological distress.

Adding to a growing body of research on mental health and the human microbiome, a new study compared the bacteria in the saliva of students with and without recent thoughts of suicide, called suicidal ideation.

More than 70 percent of packaged foods in the U.S. are classified as ultra-processed food and represent about 60 percent of all calories consumed by Americans. A study in 10,359 adults 18 and older found those who consumed the most ultra-processed foods as compared with those who consumed the least amount had statistically significant increases in the adverse mental health symptoms of mild depression, 'mentally unhealthy days' and 'anxious days.' They also had significantly lower rates of reporting zero 'mentally unhealthy days' and zero 'anxious days.' Findings are generalizable to the entire U.S. as well as other Western countries with similar ultra-processed food intakes.

The passage of time was altered for many people during the COVID-19 pandemic, ranging from difficulty in keeping track of days of the week to feeling that the hours themselves rushed by or slowed down. In prior work, these distortions have been associated with persistent negative mental outcomes such as depression and anxiety following trauma, making them an important risk factor to target with early interventions, according to a new study.