Future of Mental Health

A yoga instructor practices a breathing exercise.

How Does Breathing Affect Your Brain?

Neuroscientist are piecing together how the rhythm of respiration influences everything from cognition to emotion

The project started eight years ago, when artists Heidi Quante and Alicia Escott had no words to describe the anxiety they were experiencing over California’s drought.

How Two California Artists Can Help Personalize Your Eco-Grief

Alicia Escott and Heidi Quante founded the Bureau of Linguistical Reality to create words to help describe people's feelings about climate change

Past research has found that people’s personalities are relatively immune to changes following collective stressful events, but Covid-19 appears to be an exception.

Has the Pandemic Changed Your Personality?

Research suggests younger adults’ dispositions shifted the most during Covid-19

Scientists are beginning to understand when and why minds start to wander.

Why Do Our Minds Wander?

A scientist says mind-wandering or daydreaming help prepare us for the future

Many workers today feel frazzled, overwhelmed and ready for a vacation.

How to Deal With Work Stress and Recover From Burnout

These evidence-based strategies can help you achieve healthy work-life balance

Patients who are struggling with everything from ADHD to eating disorders have turned to art therapy for help.

How Making Art Helps Improve Mental Health

With depression and anxiety on the rise during the pandemic, more professionals may adopt art therapy as a treatment

More than 10,000 mental health apps are available, according to one estimate. In order to pick the most reliable ones, researchers say you should consider their privacy policies, effectiveness, and costs.

Can a Mental Health App Help You Deal With Anxiety?

Experts say the aids can be a first step to meaningful treatment if you choose an app based on three criteria

ElliQ can make small talk, answer questions, remind users to take medication, help contact friends and family, initiate conversation and help with other daily activities.

New York State Purchases Robot Companions for the Elderly

The state has bought more than 800 ElliQ robots to combat loneliness in older adults

Later this summer, people will be able to call, text or online chat the number 988 to connect with mental health counselors.

Beginning in Mid-July, Dial 988 for the Mental Health Hotline

The three-digit code will be like 911, but for mental health emergencies only

Researchers at Cambridge University, Oxford University and Boston College will study how the four-day workweek affects workplace productivity, employee wellbeing, gender equality and the environment.   

The U.K. Is Launching the World’s Largest Four-Day Workweek Experiment

More than 3,300 employees at 70 companies get an extra day off each week for the next six months—without a reduction in pay

A new study shows that children who play individual sports, like tennis, may have more mental health issues than those that play team sports or don’t participate in sports at all.

Should Parents Worry About New Research Linking Kids’ Mental Health and Individual Sports?

According to the study, children who played team sports had fewer mental health difficulties than those who didn’t play sports

School children protest climate change outside the Scottish Parliament in 2019 as part of a worldwide demonstration.

Your Crushing Anxiety About the Climate Crisis Is Normal

A Stanford researcher shares what she’s learned about the ways climate change affects mental health and offers practical advice

Many Americans struggle with risk assessment when making decisions during the pandemic.

Why It’s So Hard to Make Risk Decisions in the Pandemic

Our brains weren’t built to do public health calculus like this, but following a few pieces of advice from the experts will help as you weigh your options

A patient uses the gameChange virtual reality program.

Inside the Effort to Expand Virtual Reality Treatments for Mental Health

Medical professionals are embracing the technology to help patients deal with PTSD, anxiety disorders and more

Psilocybin, the active ingredient in magic mushrooms (pictured here), has been designated by the FDA as a breakthrough therapy for treatment resistant depression.

Why Psychedelic Drugs May Become a Key Treatment for PTSD and Depression

Ecstasy and the active ingredient in magic mushrooms have shown promise in clinical trials, but more testing is needed

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force released draft recommendation statements for anxiety, depression and suicide risk in kids earlier this week.

Kids as Young as Eight Years Old Should Be Screened for Anxiety, Task Force Says

This guidance comes as experts warn that children are experiencing a mental health crisis, which the pandemic has worsened

High social media use may simply be a coping mechanism, rather than a cause, of adolescents' mental health challenges. 

Negative Effects of Social Media May Impact Adolescent Girls and Boys at Different Ages

A new study suggests certain 'windows' of development when youngsters appear most sensitive to technology

Most people who had only mild Covid-19 infections are not at higher risk for persistent mental health challenges.

Lasting Depression and Anxiety Can Follow Severe Covid-19 Cases

Some patients with serious reactions to the virus reported mental health symptoms almost a year and a half after infection

Runners in Hawaii exercise at sunset. Exercise has profound effects on brain structure and provides more subtle mental health benefits as well.

How Exercise Boosts the Brain and Improves Mental Health

New research is revealing how physical activity can reduce and even ward off depression, anxiety and other psychological ailments

Eating disorders affect hundreds of millions around the world and are dominated by negative thoughts and behaviors around food, eating, weight and body shape. Current research reveals the best evidence-based psychological therapies and some new avenues for treatments.

The Search for a Better Treatment for Eating Disorders

Cognitive behavioral therapy is working well for some, but scientists are seeking new innovations to help people with anorexia, bulimia and binge eating

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