Mental Health

Mental Health Services in Battle Creek MI | Consult Psychiatrist Online

Mental illness refers to a wide range of mental disorders that affect your mood, thinking and behavior. Examples of mental illness include depression, anxiety disorders, schizophrenia, eating disorders and addictive behaviors.

Many people have mental health concerns from time to time. But a mental health concern becomes a mental illness when ongoing signs and symptoms cause frequent stress and affect your ability to function.

A mental illness can make you miserable and can cause problems in your daily life, such as at school or work or in relationships. In most cases, symptoms can be managed with a combination of medications and talk therapy (psychotherapy). Please call us. We can help you live a better life.

Mental Health Services in Battle Creek MI | Behavioral Health Care

Distress leads to higher COVID vaccine rates, less adherence to distancing guidelines, study finds

Distress leads to higher COVID vaccine rates, less adherence to distancing guidelines, study finds

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.
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Study uncovers differences in saliva bacteria of students with recent suicidal thoughts

Study uncovers differences in saliva bacteria of students with recent suicidal thoughts

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.
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Feeling anxious or blue? Ultra-processed foods may be to blame

Feeling anxious or blue? Ultra-processed foods may be to blame

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.
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Study examines distorted time perception during pandemic

Study examines distorted time perception during pandemic

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.
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Study with military suggests 'blended' individual and team mindfulness is at least as effective as standard mindfulness training

Study with military suggests 'blended' individual and team mindfulness is at least as effective as standard mindfulness training

New study suggests that a 'blended' eight-week mindfulness program that adds Team Mindfulness Training (TMT) to a shortened version of the mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) course for individual mindfulness is just as effective as the standard MBSR course alone. It may even offer further benefit by increasing collective stress management skills.
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Hepatitis C drugs may reduce PTSD symptoms

Hepatitis C drugs may reduce PTSD symptoms

A new study found that the medication combination glecaprevir and pibrentasvir had the strongest association with PTSD symptom improvement among the DAAs most prescribed in the VA.
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Deep brain stimulation to brain area linked to reward and motivation is potential therapy for treatment-resistant depression

Deep brain stimulation to brain area linked to reward and motivation is potential therapy for treatment-resistant depression

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) to the superolateral branch of the medial forebrain bundle (MFB), which is linked to reward and motivation, revealed metabolic brain changes over 12 months post-DBS implantation, making it a strong potential therapy for treatment-resistant depression according to researchers.
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Routine depression screening may capture underdiagnosed patient populations

Routine depression screening may capture underdiagnosed patient populations

Screening for depression at the primary care level could dramatically increase the likelihood of treatment for those who are traditionally undertreated -- racial and ethnic minority individuals, older adults, those with limited English proficiency and men -- according to a new study.
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Early-term births associated with higher rate of ADHD as reported by teachers

Early-term births associated with higher rate of ADHD as reported by teachers

Among children born at term (37--41 weeks), those born before 39 weeks are more likely to experience symptoms associated with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), according to a new study.
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Vitamin D supplementation seems to alleviate depressive symptoms in adults

Vitamin D supplementation seems to alleviate depressive symptoms in adults

An extensive meta-analysis suggests that vitamin D supplementation may alleviate depressive symptoms in adults with depression. Conducted by an international team of researchers, the meta-analysis includes dozens of studies from around the world.
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