Category: Mental Health

Categories : Mental HealthTags :

Life Imitates Art: Google Searches for Lorazepam Spiked with TV Show

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In season three of the hit television series The White Lotus, the character Victoria Ratliff takes the prescription anti-anxiety medication lorazepam to help with her social anxiety and inability to sleep. Her casual usage of the powerful benzodiazepine – often in combination with white wine – leads to her becoming visibly loopy, slurring her words, and falling asleep at dinner.

A recent study led by researchers at University of California San Diego has found that the show’s portrayal of lorazepam use was associated with a surge in Google searches for the medication, including queries related to acquiring it online.

The findings, published in JAMA Health Forum, suggest that the show generated 1.6 million more searches for lorazepam over a 12-week period than what would normally be expected for the time period. This increase in interest was not observed for other commonly prescribed benzodiazepines, such as alprazolam and clonazepam, which were not mentioned in the show.

“It’s a really interesting phenomenon of how entertainment media can really reflect and drive human behavior,” said lead author Kevin Yang, M.D., resident physician in the Department of Psychiatry at UC San Diego School of Medicine.

The study also analyzed searches for how and where to acquire lorazepam online.

“We saw significant increases in searches related to acquiring lorazepam as well,” said senior author Eric Leas, Ph.D., M.P.H., assistant professor at UC San Diego Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science and affiliate faculty at Qualcomm Institute. “It shows that there might be a subset of people that are actually wanting to figure out how to obtain that medication online.”

During the course of the season, Victoria Ratliff offers lorazepam to her husband Timothy, who eventually steals her pills and develops a dependence on the drug amid a personal financial crisis.

“Not only would he take it, but he would also combine it with alcohol, which we know is very dangerous,” said Yang. “ For the treatment of anxiety, lorazepam is typically prescribed for the short term  because long-term use can lead to tolerance and dependence as well as misuse. Studies have shown that almost one in five people who are prescribed benzodiazepines eventually end up misusing them.”

That’s concerning because the show emphasized the benefits of lorazepam usage, not the potential risks, such as dependence, respiratory depression and cognitive impairment, according to Yang.

“It didn’t really portray any of the adverse effects that might come from taking too much or from stopping it all of a sudden,”  he said.

Yang recommends that the entertainment industry and show producers take note of the potential impact of depicted drug use on viewer behavior and develop best practices around this type of content, which could include warnings at the beginning and the end of each episode. He also recommends that search engines provide informational warnings when people search for how to obtain the drug online, focusing on accurate, evidence-based information and support resources.

For viewers, Yang suggests taking a skeptical approach when searching for information online.

”My suggestion would be to take everything that is portrayed in the media, whether that’s on TV, film or in music, with a grain of salt,” he said. “It’s only showing one aspect of the medication, and that there are possible downsides. But ultimately, for things like medications, it’s important to talk with your doctor.”

The study was published on November 14, 2025 in JAMA Health Forum.

Source: University of California – San Diego

Categories : Mental Health PaediatricsTags :

Mental Health and the NICU Mom: The Silent Battle Behind the Glass

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If you’ve ever walked through a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), you’ll know the atmosphere – quiet, sterile, filled with tiny machines keeping even tinier lives stable. What you might not see, though, is the emotional toll it takes on mothers standing behind that glass.

For many moms of premature babies, the NICU isn’t just a place of healing – it’s a battlefield of fear, hope, and heartache. Studies suggest that up to 70% of mothers with babies in NICU experience symptoms of anxiety or depression, and a significant number show signs of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) even months after discharge.

“Having a baby in NICU can be one of the most emotionally isolating experiences a mother faces,” says Sr Londe, independent midwife and Vital Baby South Africa’s trusted advisor. “You’re told to be strong, to hold it together. But inside, you’re scared and feel powerless.”

Unlike traditional postpartum depression, which often develops after birth, NICU-related mental health challenges can begin immediately; triggered by medical uncertainty, feelings of guilt, or the inability to bond physically with your baby.

“You may only be allowed to touch your baby for minutes at a time,” says Sr Londe. “That separation can deeply impact bonding and confidence.”

Feeling numb, struggling to sleep even when your baby is safe, replaying traumatic moments, or feeling disconnected from your child – these are all warning signs of trauma or depression. And yet, many mothers dismiss them.

“There’s still a stigma around maternal mental health,” says Sr Londe. “We need to normalise the conversation and remind mothers that they’re not alone.”

Talking to your healthcare provider, joining a support group, or connecting with a therapist who specialises in perinatal mental health can make a world of difference. Hospitals are also increasingly introducing peer-support programmes where NICU graduates’ parents help new families navigate the emotional maze.

“It’s okay to need help,” says Sr Londe. “You’re not failing as a mother, you’re processing an extraordinary experience.” 

As the conversation around maternal mental health grows, brands like Vital Baby are helping raise awareness that caring for moms is as important as caring for their babies. Because behind every incubator, there’s a mother who needs healing too. 

Vital Baby is a family-run business with over 45 years of experience in the baby industry. Our mission is to create products that make family time effortless and enjoyable for parents. The Vital Baby range is 100% BPA-free and covers every stage of your baby’s development, from feeding and weaning to hygiene and soothing. Explore the range online at Vital Baby® (vitalbabyshop.co.za) and enjoy delivery within South Africa or find us on shelf at Clicks and Dischem.

Categories : Gastrointestinal Mental HealthTags :

No Evidence of a Link Between Gut Microbiome and Autism

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There’s no scientific evidence that the gut microbiome causes autism, a group of scientists argue in an opinion paper published in the international Cell Press journal Neuron.

They say conclusions from past research that supported this hypothesis – including observational studies, mouse models of autism, and human clinical trials – are undermined by flawed assumptions, small sample sizes, and inappropriate statistical methods. 

“Despite what you’ve heard, read, or watched on Netflix, there is no evidence that the microbiome causally contributes to autism,” says first author and developmental neurobiologist Prof Kevin Mitchell from Trinity. 

The hypothesis that autism is caused, at least partially, by the gut microbiome stems from the fact that many people with autism suffer from gastrointestinal symptoms. 

In addition, the recent rise in autism diagnoses has led some to believe that environmental or behavioural changes are driving an increase in autism, though the authors note there is strong evidence that the rise in diagnoses reflects increased awareness and broadened diagnostic criteria rather than a biological mechanism.

Nevertheless, researchers have pursued the microbiome-autism hypothesis by comparing the gut microbiomes of people with and without autism, by studying mouse models of autism, and by conducting clinical trials involving people with autism. The authors argue that in all of these studies, the results are flawed and unconvincing.

“There’s variability in all three of those areas, and the studies just don’t form a coherent story at all,” says senior author and developmental neuropsychologist Dorothy Bishop of the University of Oxford. 

In the most highly cited studies comparing the gut microbiomes of people with and without autism, researchers used sample sizes ranging from 7 to 43 individuals per group, whereas statistical recommendations call for sample sizes in the thousands.

“Autism is not rare, so there’s no reason to be having studies with only 20, 30, or 40 participants,” says co-author and biostatistician Darren Dahly of the University College Cork.

These studies also used varying methods to characterise microbiome composition, which makes their results difficult to compare. And although some studies found differences between the microbiomes of people with autism and controls, these differences were often contradictory—for example, some studies found lower microbial diversity in the guts of people with autism, while others found the opposite.

These differences also disappeared when the studies accounted for other variables, such as diet, or when they compared the microbiomes of children with autism with their neurotypical siblings. 

“If anything, there is stronger evidence for a reverse causal effect, in that having autism can affect someone’s diet, which can affect their microbiome,” says Prof Mitchell.

Mouse models of autism that have claimed to show a link between the gut microbiome and autism are also unconvincing, the researchers say, because of behavioural, cognitive, and physiological differences between humans and mice. 

“There’s no evidence that ‘autistic-like’ behaviours in mice models have any relevance to autism, and the experiments themselves had methodological and statistical flaws that undermine their claims,” says Prof Mitchell.

Several human clinical trials have tested the microbiome-autism hypothesis by performing faecal transplants or by administering probiotic therapies to people with autism and then monitoring changes in their characteristics. Again, the researchers say that most of these studies used inadequate sample sizes and inappropriate statistical methods that undermine their findings, and many didn’t use a control group or randomisation.

 “The consensus across the studies that we surveyed is that when you do the trials properly, you don’t see anything,” says Dahly.

Based on the lack of convincing evidence, and the lack of progress in the field, the researchers argue the hypothesis that the microbiome causes autism has reached a dead end.

“If you accept our message, there’s two ways you can go. One is to just stop working on this area, which is something that we would be quite happy to see,” says Bishop. “But given that realistically, people are not going to stop, they need to at least start doing these studies in a much more rigorous way.” 

Source: Trinity College Dublin

Categories : Medical Industry Mental HealthTags :

Investing in Nurses Reduces Physician Burnout, International Study Finds

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A landmark international study finds that hospitals with better nurse staffing and work environments not only benefits nurses but is significantly associated with less physician burnout and job dissatisfaction. The research, published in JAMA Network Open, provides a clear solution to the global crisis of physician burnout.

A research team, led by Penn Nursing’s Center for Health Outcomes and Policy Research (CHOPR), surveyed more than 6400 physicians and 15 000 nurses across the United States and six European countries (Belgium, England, Germany, Ireland, Norway, and Sweden). The findings show that hospitals with better nurse staffing, supportive work environments, and effective interdisciplinary teamwork had substantially lower rates of physician burnout, job dissatisfaction, and intent to leave.

“Physician burnout is a global crisis, but few actionable solutions have been identified,” said Linda H. Aiken, PhD, RN, FAAN, FRCN, Professor of Nursing and Sociology and Founding Director, CHOPR. “Our study provides evidence that investing in nurses is a ‘two-for-one’ solution – improving both nurse and physician wellbeing while also strengthening patient care.”

Key findings include:

  • In US hospitals, a modest 10% improvement in the nurse work environment including staffing adequacy was associated with a 22% reduction in physician intent to leave, a 25% reduction in physicians unwilling to recommend their hospital as a place to work, a 19% reduction in physician job dissatisfaction, and a 10% reduction in physicians experiencing high burnout.
  • In European hospitals, a 10% increase in nurse staffing adequacy was linked to 20% lower physician intent to leave, 27% lower odds of not recommending their hospital, 15% lower physician job dissatisfaction, and 12% lower odds of high burnout.
  • Hospitals with stronger physician-nurse teamwork consistently reported better physician outcomes.

The results come at a critical time, as both physicians and nurses face unprecedented levels of stress, burnout, and turnover. According to the study, 20–44% of physicians surveyed reported intentions to leave their hospital positions due to dissatisfaction, and up to 45% reported high burnout.

“These findings highlight a path forward that hospital leaders can act on immediately,” said Karen B. Lasater, PhD, RN, Chair in Nursing and Health Policy, Associate Professor, and Associate Director, CHOPR. “Improving nurse staffing and creating supportive work environments are organisational reforms that are feasible, evidence-based, and capable of retaining both nurses and physicians.”

Source: University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing

Categories : Mental HealthTags :

Sertraline Improves Core Depressive Symptoms Within Two Weeks

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One of the most common antidepressants, sertraline, contributes to a modest improvement in core depression and anxiety symptoms, including low mood, within two weeks, finds a new analysis of a major clinical trial led by UCL researchers.

The study, published in Nature Mental Health, analysed the findings of the PANDA trial, which first published results in 2019 and found that sertraline may have an earlier impact on anxiety than depressive symptoms.* Researchers have now conducted a network analysis of the results, which is an innovative statistical method that allowed them to explore how specific symptoms respond to treatment.

The analysis revealed an improvement in symptoms such as low mood and suicidal thinking within two weeks of taking sertraline, while side effects of the drug led to symptoms such as low libido, low appetite, and tiredness. These side effects can also be symptoms of depression.

The researchers propose that the effect on all depressive symptoms put together in the initial analysis obscured the benefits of the antidepressants on some of the core depressive symptoms.  

In the new analysis, the early improvements from sertraline were found to be on feelings of sadness, self-loathing, restlessness, and suicidal thoughts.

The PANDA trial was a randomised controlled trial testing the effects of sertraline on people with depressive symptoms, including a wide range of patients in England whose symptoms ranged from mild to moderate. In a paper published in The Lancet Psychiatry in 2019*, scientists reported that within six weeks, sertraline improved anxiety symptoms and people reported an overall improvement in their mental health, but depressive symptoms did not meaningfully improve until participants had been taking the drug for 12 weeks. The new analysis, using data from 571 participants of the trial (those who had complete data for each symptom), suggests that sertraline improves some core depressive symptoms more quickly than previously believed.

The somatic (physical) symptoms that worsened, including libido and poor sleep, can be seen as side effects of antidepressants, but they are also common symptoms of depression, which can complicate interpretation of treatment effects.

Lead author Dr Giulia Piazza (UCL Psychiatry and UCL Psychology & Language Sciences) said: “We have now painted a more complex picture of sertraline’s effects on the different symptoms of depression.

“Instead of thinking of depression and anxiety as each being a single, uniform condition, network analysis considers that they’re each a constellation of symptoms, that can appear in different combinations for different people. These symptoms influence each other over time; for example, poor sleep can lead to problems with concentration, which may then impact self-esteem.

“Our analysis was borne out of this theoretical approach, in order to gain deeper insights and add nuance to the results of the PANDA trial.”

The researchers found that sertraline contributed to improvements in anxiety symptoms and in the emotional symptoms of depression within two weeks, and a modest worsening of somatic symptoms. The effect on somatic symptoms plateaued after six weeks, while the improvements in emotional symptoms and anxiety continued to improve from six weeks to 12 weeks.

Dr Piazza added: “It appears that the adverse effects on somatic symptoms like poor sleep and libido may stabilise after six weeks, which is then counteracted by continued improvements in emotional symptoms, the core symptoms of depression.”

Antidepressants are the standard pharmaceutical treatment for both depression and generalised anxiety disorder. Sertraline is a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI), the most common class of antidepressants.

Co-author Professor Glyn Lewis (UCL Psychiatry), who led the PANDA trial, said: “Our findings provide robust evidence that continues to support the prescription of sertraline for people experiencing depressive and anxiety symptoms. These findings will help patients and clinicians to make more informed decisions about treatment.”

Co-senior author Professor Jean-Baptiste Pingault (UCL Psychology & Language Sciences) said: “We found that the beneficial effects of sertraline can be detected very early on, as soon as two weeks after people start taking the antidepressant.

“Beyond this study, our results highlight the importance of considering symptom-level effects when developing novel drugs and evaluating existing drugs in psychiatry, and how this can help us to understand how these drugs work and how they can help patients.”

Source: University College London

Categories : Mental Health Obstetrics & GynaecologyTags :

Postpartum Psychosis Should Be Recognised as a Distinct Disease, Experts Say

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An international panel of leading experts on women’s mental health is recommending that postpartum psychosis be recognised as a distinct category of mental illness and classified accordingly within standardised medical coding systems.

The recommendation, published in Biological Psychiatry, follows a comprehensive review of the scientific literature on the illness.

Postpartum psychosis is an acute and severe psychiatric illness that sets in within weeks after delivery. Most women with postpartum psychosis experience severe mood symptoms, including mania, mixed episodes, or depression with psychotic features. Impaired cognition, irritability, and agitation are also common.

The condition is considered a psychiatric emergency and, in most cases, requires hospitalisation of the mother. If left untreated, postpartum psychosis is associated with high risks of suicide and infanticide. However, if it is detected and treated in time, patients respond well to treatment and most women return to their previous functioning.

Despite being one of the most distinct clinical phenotypes in psychiatry, postpartum psychosis is not recognized in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-5) or the International Classification of Disease (ICD), which are used to code diseases and medical conditions for treatment and billing purposes.

The panel, in close collaboration with patient advocacy organisations and key interested partners, recommended classifying postpartum psychosis as a distinct category within the bipolar disorders chapter of the DSM and ICD.

“Postpartum psychosis is the most severe perinatal mental health problem, and yet one that is often misdiagnosed and mismanaged, with severe consequences for women, and their children and families. A proper nosological classification of this disorder is an essential step towards its correct identification and treatment”.Professor Paola Dazzan, Professor of Neurobiology of Psychosis, Vice Dean (International) at King’s IoPPN and a member of the research panel

Due to the risks to the patient and the infant, the rapid escalation of severity, and its severe and sudden course, it is imperative that postpartum psychosis is recognized, diagnosed, and treated as early as possible. To facilitate such care, the panel recommends DSM-5 and ICD-10 include the following criteria for a diagnosis of postpartum psychosis:

  • The onset of at least one of the following states within 12 weeks of childbirth, lasting at least one week and present most of the day, nearly every day, or any duration if hospitalisation is necessary:
    1. Mania/mixed state
    2. Delusions
    3. Hallucinations
    4. Disorganised speech or formal thought disorder
    5. Disorganised, confusional, or catatonic behaviour
    6. Depression with psychotic features
  • The episode is associated with an unequivocal change in functioning that is uncharacteristic of the postpartum period.
  • The disturbance in mood and the change in functioning are observable by others.
  • The episode is sufficiently severe enough to cause marked impairment in social functioning and in the care of the baby or to necessitate hospitalization to prevent harm to the patient, baby, or others.

“We have been working with the American Psychiatric Association and the DSM steering committee since 2020 to find a solution that will facilitate diagnostic accuracy and the provision of timely and evidence-based treatment to improve the quality of treatment and outcomes for women with postpartum psychosis and to prevent the tragic outcomes of suicide and infanticide. We are committed to continue this work,” concludes Dr Veerle Bergink, Director of the Women’s Mental Health Center at Mount Sinai and first author of the paper.

Source: King’s College London

Categories : Mental HealthTags :

Ketamine no Benefit for Patients Hospitalised with Depression

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Researchers from Trinity College, St Patrick’s Mental Health Services, Queen’s University Belfast, Ireland, investigate use of twice-weekly ketamine infusions as an add-on treatment for inpatients with serious depression

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Findings from a randomised and blinded clinical trial investigating repeated ketamine infusions for treating depression have revealed no extra benefit for ketamine when added onto standard care for people admitted to hospital for depression. The paper is published in the journal JAMA Psychiatry.

The KARMA-Dep (2) Trial involved researchers from St Patrick’s Mental Health Services, Trinity College Dublin, and Queens University Belfast, Ireland. It was sponsored by Trinity College Dublin  and led by Declan McLoughlin, Research Professor of Psychiatry at Trinity College Dublin and Consultant Psychiatrist at St Patrick’s Mental Health Services.

Depression has been recognised by the World Health Organization as a leading cause of disability globally.  According to the Health Research Board’s most recent report, there were 15 631 adult admissions to psychiatric services in Ireland in 2023. Similar to previous years, depressive disorders accounted for the highest proportion (about 24%) of all admissions.

Studies show that about 30% of people with depression do not respond sufficiently well to conventional antidepressants, which mostly target monoamine neurotransmitters, for example serotonin, dopamine and noradrenaline.  There is thus a need for new treatments.  One such novel treatment is the dissociative anaesthetic ketamine when given intravenously in low sub-anaesthetic doses. Ketamine works differently to other antidepressants and is believed to mediate its effects in the brain through the chemical messenger glutamate.

Single infusions of ketamine have been reported to produce rapid antidepressant effects, but these disappear within days. Nonetheless, ketamine is increasingly being adopted as an off-label treatment for depression even though the evidence to support this practice is limited. One possibility is that repeated ketamine infusions may have more sustained benefit. However, this has so far been evaluated in only a small number of trials that have used an adequate control condition to mask the obvious dissociative effects of ketamine, e.g. altered consciousness and perceptions of oneself and one’s environment. 

KARMA-Dep 2 is an investigator-led trial, sponsored by Trinity College Dublin and  funded by the Health Research Board. The randomised trial was developed to assess antidepressant efficacy, safety, cost-effectiveness, and quality of life during and after serial ketamine infusions when compared to a psychoactive comparison drug midazolam. Trial participants were randomised to receive up to eight infusions of either ketamine or midazolam, given over four weeks, in addition to all other aspects of usual inpatient care. 

 The trial findings revealed that:

  • There was no significant difference between the ketamine and midazolam groups at the end of the treatment course on the trial’s primary outcome, which was an objective measurement of depression. This was assessed with the commonly used Montgomery-Åsberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS).
  • There was no significant difference between the two groups at the end of the treatment course on a subjective, patient-rated, scale for depression.  This was assessed with the commonly used Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptoms, Self-Report scale (QIDS-SR-16). 
  • No significant differences were found between the ketamine and midazolam groups on secondary outcomes for cognitive, economic or quality-of-life outcomes. 
  • Despite best efforts to keep the trial patients and researchers blinded about the randomised treatment, the vast majority of patients and raters correctly guessed the treatment allocation. This could lead to enhanced placebo effects.

Speaking about the impact of the findings, Declan McLoughlin, Research Professor of Psychiatry at Trinity College Dublin and Consultant Psychiatrist at St Patrick’s Mental Health Services, said:

“Our initial hypothesis was that repeated ketamine infusions for people hospitalised with depression would improve mood outcomes. However, we found this not to be the case. Under rigorous clinical trial conditions, adjunctive ketamine provided no additional benefit to routine inpatient care during the initial treatment phase or the six-month follow-up period. Previous estimates of ketamine’s antidepressant efficacy may have been overstated, highlighting the need for recalibrated expectations in clinical practice.” 

Lead author of the study, Dr Ana Jelovac, Trinity College Dublin, said:

“Our trial highlights the importance of reporting the success, or lack thereof, of blinding in clinical trials. Especially in clinical trials of therapies where maintaining the blind is difficult, e.g. ketamine, psychedelics, brain stimulation therapies. Such problems can lead to enhanced placebo effects and skewed trial results that can over-inflate real treatment effects.”.

Source: Trinity College Dublin

Categories : Mental HealthTags :

Emotion Plays a Major Role in Psychosis Onset and Persistence

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New research from King’s College London has highlighted the important role that emotions play in the onset and persistence of psychosis.

The research, published in Early Intervention in Psychiatry, advocates for the development of emotion-focused interventions that seek to prevent a person’s relapse in their health as well as maintain their recovery.

Psychosis is a symptom of mental illness typified by hallucinations, delusional thoughts and disorganised thinking. While previous research has implicated emotion in the onset and continuation of psychosis, there has not yet been a universally acknowledged theory to account for the influence that emotions can have on it.

Researchers in this study conducted a systematic review of 78 studies comparing the experiences of healthy controls with individuals at Clinical High Risk (CHR), a diagnosis of schizophrenia (SZ), and those experiencing their First Episode of Psychosis (FEP). Researchers wanted to better understand both the role of emotions, as well as emotional coping strategies, in their experiences.

This systematic review found that SZ and CHR individuals demonstrated significant impairments in their emotional awareness, their understanding of self and others, and their ability to regulate their emotions when compared to healthy controls. They also demonstrated a heightened emotional reactivity.

The researchers, from the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN) at King’s, found that individuals with schizophrenia reported high levels of “Negative Affect” – a reduction or absence of normal emotional expression – which was a strong predictor of paranoia.

“Experiencing emotions is a natural part of everyday life. However, our study highlights that people with psychosis experience emotions with more intensity, which can significantly contribute to the emergence and maintenance of their psychosis symptoms. Therefore, psychological interventions that explicitly target emotions and emotional coping in psychosis could help prevent relapse and maintain recovery.”

Dr Anna Georgiades, a Lecturer in Early Intervention in Psychosis at King’s IoPPN and the study’s senior author

The researchers also wanted to explore how individuals at CHR and those with schizophrenia employed coping mechanisms to manage emotional situations. They found that, while the healthy controls were more likely to adopt “Adaptive Coping Strategies”, in which individuals seek to manage stress and difficult situations in healthy and constructive ways, people with psychosis were more likely to employ maladaptive techniques that were associated with an increase in their symptoms and increased depression.

Dr Anna Georgiades, a Lecturer in Early Intervention in Psychosis at King’s IoPPN and the study’s senior author said,  “There are two ways in which a person might manage an emotionally stressful situation; either by removing the stressor, or by seeking to manage the stress that is being caused.

“From the studies we reviewed, we consistently found that people with psychosis used more unhelpful emotional coping such as avoidance and suppression rather than helpful emotional coping such as problem solving or changing the way they think about the situation.

“By reducing unhelpful emotional coping and by increasing more helpful emotional coping (ie, by increasing active problem solving and the skill in changing one’s view of a situation), we could prevent relapse and maintain recovery. This therefore has important implications for the psychological treatment of psychosis.”

Source: King’s College London

Categories : Mental HealthTags :

Tweeting at Night Linked with Worse Mental Wellbeing, New Study Finds

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Posting on X (previously known as Twitter) throughout the night is associated with worse mental wellbeing, according to a new study from the University of Bristol published in Scientific Reports.

Tweeting throughout the night explained almost 2% of variation in participants’ mental wellbeing, which is comparable to activities like binge drinking and smoking marijuana (as measured in previous studies).

Researchers suggested that actively using Twitter during the night could both disrupt and delay sleep, which could reduce the quality and quantity of sleep, harming mental wellbeing. Nighttime tweeting showed a weaker relationship with depressive and anxiety symptoms (compared to mental wellbeing), although this became stronger after results were split by age and sex.

Seventy-four per cent of UK adults keep their phone in their bedroom at night, while twenty-six per cent say they would check their phone if they wake up in the night, according to a 2022 YouGov survey.

Regulation and guidance for nighttime social media use

The study’s findings support calls for more regulation and guidance for nighttime use of social media. For example, TikTok, the online video-sharing app, introduced the tool “Wind Down” in March this year which shows meditation videos at night to encourage younger users to stop scrolling.

Researchers say top-down approaches to change the user architecture of apps, like TikTok’s wind-down mode, as well as education campaigns to raise awareness within vulnerable groups, could help improve the safety of social media use.

Daniel Joinson, Doctoral Researcher and lead author of the paper, said: “Whilst social media is often treated like a monolith, its impact on mental health will depend on the exact behaviours the user performs and the experiences they have on these platforms. Our paper highlights the potential harm of a very specific behaviour: nighttime content posting.

“Research like ours could help inform interventions or legislation that aim to deter harmful social media use, whilst enabling beneficial behaviours or experiences. This is made possible by having access to actual social media data, which is essential if we are to build a deeper understanding of the relationship between social media and mental health.”

Novel data collection approaches

The research drew on longitudinal data from 310 adults (aged between 18-60+) in the Children of the 90s study who consented and were eligible to share their Twitter data, with 18,288 tweets included in the data. Participants’ mental health was measured at multiple timepoints using standard questionnaires, including the Short Mood and Feelings Questionnaire (SMFQ). Importantly, instead of classifying people as simply depressed or not, mental health was measured on a scale, giving a more detailed picture. Participants’ tweets from within two weeks of these questionnaires were included in the analysis, but all others were not.

Uniquely, the study used data directly from Twitter (with the consent of the participant). This enabled the researchers to collect precise measurements of the time of day participants posted on Twitter.

However, the authors noted that the study participants were all adults, almost entirely white, and were more likely to be female. This data was collected during the COVID-19 pandemic, a unique time for social media usage and mental health patterns.

The research team are now looking to understand more about how the patterns of emotion expression and social interactions relate to mental health and wellbeing.

Source: University of Bristol

Categories : Mental HealthTags :

Nonmedical Use of Prescription ADHD Drugs Among Teens has Dropped

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Despite concerns about increased stimulant prescribing, nonmedical use of ADHD drugs among adolescents has declined in the last 20 years, a University of Michigan study shows. While medical use of prescription stimulants for ADHD among adolescents increased slightly between 2005 and 2023, nonmedical use declined more.

“Lifetime medical use was 2% lower in 2005 when compared to nonmedical use, and is now 2% higher,” said study co-author Philip Veliz, U-M research associate professor at the U-M School of Nursing and Center for the Study of Drugs, Alcohol, Smoking, and Health.

This reversal is important and “is what all parents want to see,” he said.

Recently, prescription stimulant dispensing has increased in the United States, especially among adults. While nonmedical prescription stimulant use has decreased among teens, no national studies have examined medical and nonmedical use patterns among US adolescents. One concern is that nonmedical use could have increased along with medical use.

To answer that question, Veliz and colleagues analysed data from 2005 to 2023 from 19 cohorts of 8th, 10th and 12th grade students in the Monitoring the Future Study, an annual survey at U-M that tracks student substance use and other related trends.

The current study, supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse and the US Food and Drug Administration and published in JAMA, found that lifetime use of nonmedical stimulants in 2005 was at 10% and dropped to 6% in 2023. Lifetime medical use was roughly 8% in both 2005 and 2023.

“In other words, while the lifetime prevalence of medical use was relatively stable, with a modest increase in current use, we still saw a decrease in both lifetime and current nonmedical use,” Veliz said. “Accordingly, these fears of an uptick in misusing these prescriptions may be slightly overstated given the current trends shown in this study.”

The decline in nonmedical use of prescription stimulants among adolescents follows similar declines in other types of nonmedical prescription drugs use, such as opioids and benzodiazepines.

“This more than likely is linked to public health messaging, prescribing practices and stimulant shortages as it relates to these types of drugs,” Veliz said.

He said the findings were not surprising given how substance use has been declining among more recent cohorts of adolescents, and that they will help clinicians and policymakers to consider population-level trends in medical and nonmedical use patterns when weighing the risks and benefits of prescription stimulants.

Source: University of Michigan